American soldiers stationed at U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria, Germany, marched with residents in Grafenwoehr from the city hall to a church as part of a ceremony on April 8, 2025, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Grafenwoehr and the end of World War II. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — On April 8, 1945, hundreds of American bombers unleashed a wave of ordnance over this Bavarian village, destroying much of a sprawling military training base and setting surrounding buildings ablaze.
Eighty years to the day, U.S. soldiers who now run the training area came together with their hosts in the old town to honor the World War II dead, as well as show a commitment to peace and stability on the European continent.
Large ceremonies that recall WWII and the Allied advance are a rarity in much of Germany. It’s a different story in a handful of rural towns like Grafenwoehr, where residents have forged decades of deep relations with American forces.
An American soldier carries a wreath during a march through Grafenwoehr, Germany, April 8, 2025, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Grafenwoehr and the end of World War II. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Brig. Gen. Steven Carpenter, head of the 7th Army Training Command, speaks to soldiers and residents in Grafenwoehr, Germany, during a ceremony on April 8, 2025, celebrating 80 years of peace following the bombing of Grafenwoehr in 1945 and the end of World War II. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Steven Carpenter, commanding general of 7th Army Training Command, joined residents in Grafenwoehr, Germany, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Allied bombing of the city. The ceremony on April 8, 2025, laid wreaths to honor the day's events and celebrate 80 years of peace. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Wreaths are laid at a church in Grafenwoehr, Germany, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Grafenwoehr and the end of World War II during an event on April 8, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
On Tuesday, about 100 German civilians, soldiers and firefighters joined leaders from U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria and the 7th Army Training Command for a service at the Ascension of Mary Church. They followed with a march to the town hall, where they laid wreaths at a war memorial.
Afterward, they walked to the nearby cultural and military museum to hear some of the last survivors recount their memories.
Hans Heindl was a 6-year-old when the bombs fell. After surviving a prior attack in the basement of the family home, he and the rest of his family members fled to Freihung, about 10 miles south.
“Thank God, as you can see, the house is still standing,” he said as he showed an old picture of it.
The war came to Grafenwoehr with American air raids on April 5 and April 8, 1945, according to local historian Gerald Morgenstern’s book “Grafenwoehr Training Area: Yesterday and Today.”
The Hubertus post office in Post Square is seen here following U.S. air raids on April 5 and April 8, 1945, in Grafenwoehr, Germany. (Archiv Gerald Morgenstern)
The former site of the Hubertus Post Office in Post Square is a doctor's office as of April 7, 2025, in Grafenwoehr, Germany. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
A bombed out bank on Alte Amberger Street in Grafenwoehr, Germany, is seen here following U.S. air raids on April 5 and April 8, 1945. In 2025, the site is home to the Rio Restaurant. (Archiv Gerald Morgenstern)
The Rio Restaurant as seen on Alte Amberger Street in Grafenwoehr, Germany, on April 7, 2025. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
The town hall in Grafenwoehr, Germany, is seen here in this archival photo from around 1910. (Archiv Gerald Morgenstern)
A war memorial stands outside the city offices in Grafenwoehr, Germany, as seen on April 7, 2025. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
During the initial raid, bombers first attacked around 11 a.m. from the east, striking the Mark Forest.
The bombs narrowly missed the German army’s largest poison gas depot, which was hidden in the woods. A strike on the 3 million gas grenades and projectiles would have been enough to extinguish life in the northern Oberpfalz region, Morgenstern said.
The bombers then struck the northern part of the main camp. Seventy-four people were killed, including 15 civilians.
Three days later, over 200 B-17 bombers from the 3rd Air Division hit the German base and town for nearly two hours with conventional and fire bombs, Morgenstern said. Over 200 buildings were destroyed and 3,000 residents lost their homes.
The Grafenwoehr Water Tower, seen here in this archival photo from around 1915, was completed in 1911. Today, it is a main attraction at the U.S. Army's Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany. (Archiv Gerald Morgenstern)
The Grafenwoehr Water Tower, seen here on April 8, 2025, is located on the U.S. Army's Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
A former German military supply building with a dining facility, foreground, and a larger barracks building behind it, seen in this archival photo from the 1960s, survived the Allied bombings in April 1945. The barracks is today home to the headquarters for U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria. (Archiv Gerald Morgenstern)
The former German military supply and dining facility is today home to the 7th Army Training Command's headquarters, as seen on Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany, on April 8, 2025. The headquarters building for U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria, a former German military barracks, can be seen to the left. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
Eleven civilians were killed along with hundreds of German soldiers and prisoners of war, though the exact number is not known. Civilians rode out the storm in cellars and basements. The buildings along Alte Amberger Street, just outside Gate 1 today, were destroyed.
Soldiers from the 11th Armored Division faced little resistance when they entered the town on April 19. The German commander of the training area, known to the Germans at the time as the “Grafenwoehr Fortress,” surrendered the following morning.
U.S. forces began training on the approximately 90-square-miles of live-fire and training ranges the following year. The training area’s role and importance expanded during the Cold War. Buildups to support a brigade sized element and brigade combat team occurred on nearby Rose Barracks in Vilseck in the 1980s and 20 years later on Tower Barracks.
Commanders with U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria and 7th Army Training Command marched along with residents in Grafenwoehr, Germany, on April 8, 2025, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Grafenwoehr and the end of World War II. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
American soldiers stationed at U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria and residents of Grafenwoehr, Germany, gathered on April 8, 2025, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Grafenwoehr and the end of World War II. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Hans Heindl, a resident of Grafenwoehr, Germany, who was 6 years old at the time of the city's bombing, recalls some of the events that took place 80 years prior during an event at a local musuem on April 8, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Toni Wittmann, a resident of Grafenwoehr, Germany, who was just four years old at the time of the city's bombing, recalls some of the events that took place 80 years prior during an event at a local museum on April 8, 2025. (Lydia Gordon/Stars and Stripes)
Today, it is the Army’s largest permanent European training area, where U.S. and NATO forces hone their tactics for a variety of global missions.
Standing in front of the town hall, training command head Brig. Gen. Steven Carpenter spoke of the importance of remembering and learning from the past. He also reiterated the U.S. commitment to Germany and the people of Grafenwoehr.
Alex Richter, the chief of the Grafenwoehr fire department, said that in these times, events like this keep us grounded.
“We need this ceremony,” he said, turning his attention to the soldiers in attendance. “We have great friends.”
