NATO Grounds Flights to Honor Show Victims
NATO air forces grounded all military training flights Sunday in memory of the 70 people killed and the more than 300 injured when three Italian jets collided at last year’s Ramstein air show.
In an ecumenical memorial service in Ramstein, Protestant Pastor Hansdieter Heck urged politicians and the military “to think up other ways to safeguard peace than with weapons and soldiers.”
The service was attended by 350 invited guests, including U.S. and Italian air force representatives, politicians and relatives of those killed when one of the Italian jets plunged into the crowd at the U.S. air base last Aug. 28.
The Bonn Defense Ministry said North Atlantic Treaty Organization air forces in West Germany heeded a call by West German air force commander Lt. Gen. Horst Jungkurth to ground flights Sunday.
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