In 1972, I had been on active duty (U.S. Army) for 6 years, and was serving my country as a shift supervisor in a communications relay located in on a plateau in the city of Asmara, in what was then the northern most province of Ethiopia...ruled by Emperor Haile Sallassie... Today that province is properly the nation of Eritrea. They fought a long and bloody civil war to win their independence. I was a witness to some of the insurgency, but they didn't bother the U.S. base (Kagnew Station), because the American presence brought millions of dollars of revenue into the local area... Seems like a hundred years ago now.
BTW, Kagnew Station was the ONLY U.S. Army military installation on the African Continent. It was built right after WW2 and the last American military forces left there in the 1974-1975 time frame. Civilian contractors operated the base until 1977, when the American presence was ended.
End of the history lesson for today...
