When we read and hear about various plans proposed by military leaders who know and knew what they were talking about concerning the future of Iraq and Afghanistan, it generally results in political comebacks about getting out, the cost and an array of other remarks that in some instances may be of the best intentions, but in reality can be the worst of alternatives. Regardless of the countless history lessons, political gain and detachment from future reality seem to win out, resulting sometimes in an upgraded version of a repeat of history. If we were to take a poll and ask how long Germany was occupied after the end of WWII, we would likely get either "When the war ended" or "Aren't we still there?" It is doubtful that most people would know or even believe that it was almost ten years to the day before the Allies ended the occupation, and most people likely would not even understand why occupation is necessary.and a necessity. The below reprinted article from History.com gives a brief account of the day the Allied ended the occupation of West Germany.
Allies
end occupation of West Germany
May 5, 1955
The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) becomes a sovereign state
when the
United States, France,
and Great Britain end their military occupation, which had begun in 1945. With
this action, West Germany was given the right to rearm and become a
full-fledged member of the western alliance against the
Soviet Union.
In 1945, the United States, Great Britain, and France had assumed the
occupation of the western portion of Germany (as well as the western half of
Berlin, situated in eastern Germany). The Soviet Union occupied eastern
Germany, as well as the eastern half of Berlin. As
Cold War animosities began to
harden between the western powers and Russia, it became increasingly obvious
that Germany would not be reunified. By the late-1940s, the United States acted
to formalize the split and establish western Germany as an independent
republic, and in May 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was formally
announced. In 1954, West Germany joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO), the mutual defense alliance between the United States and several
European nations. All that remained was for the Americans, British, and French
to end their nearly 10-year occupation. This was accomplished on May 5, 1955,
when those nations issued a proclamation declaring an end to the military
occupation of West Germany. Under the terms of an agreement reached earlier,
West Germany would now be allowed to establish a military force of up to a
half-million men and resume the manufacture of arms, though it was forbidden
from producing any chemical or atomic weapons.
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| West German Flag |
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| East German Flag |
The end of the Allied occupation of West Germany meant a full recognition of
the republic as a member of the western alliance against the Soviet Union.
While the Russians were less than thrilled by the prospect of a rearmed West
Germany, they were nonetheless pleased that German reunification had officially
become a dead issue. Shortly after the May 5 proclamation was issued, the
Soviet Union formally recognized the Federal Republic of Germany. The two
Germany's remained separated until 1990, when they were formally reunited and
once again became a single democratic country.
Link to History.com: Allies end occupation of West Germany
In Author Carol
Schultz Vento’s The Hidden Legacy of World
War II: A Daughter’s Journey of Discovery, Carol Schultz
Vento weaves life with her
paratrooper father into the larger narrative of World War II and the homecoming
of the Greatest Generation. More info and link to Amazon here and at Carol’s website. 
Forgotten Soldiers: What Happened to
Jacob Walden by Warren Martin, is a fictional Cold War mystery about
an Air Force Captain shot down in Vietnam in 1970 and never returned home.
Journalist Ted Pratt investigates the story and shocked by what he finds
