All of us who spent some of our youthful years at that now almost forgotten Air Force base in northeastern
France were profoundly touched, and probably changed, by the experience. For us, it certainly shaped our world view,
and influenced the kind of people we became in later life. For those younger who attended the Dependent School,
it provided an educational experience that their contemporaries in the United States never got, and I believe
they turned out the better for it. We lived in a close knit, supportive military community on base, and,
at the same time, lived in a cosmopolitan world of French villages and towns with Germany just a short distance away.
Our girls were too young to attend school while we were at Toul-Rosieres, but in subsequent years they too had
the experience of being educated in Air Force Dependent Schools in Spain and in Texas until they were in Junior
High. Being military "brats" was the best thing that could have happened to them, and they both have fond memories
of their school days in Madrid, El Paso, and Sevilla. Both eventually chose careers of public service; Cynthia as
a home care physical therapist and Valerie as a high school Spanish teacher. In these essays about our lives at Toul-Rosieres during those formative, critical years; I believe I am writing about a little bit of history that should
not be forgotten. Our experiences were similar to thousands of other Air Force families who lived there during those
few short years in the 1950s and 1960s. I want us all - the Air Force families and the children who attended the
Dependent School - to be remembered as an American community which existed and thrived in France more than a half century
ago.
About the Burtons
Richard and Helen served twenty years in the Air Force. He then taught high school
history, English and Spanish in Oklahoma City and San Antonio for 38 years. They are now retired in San Antonio, TX.
Cynthia and her husband, Warren Watson, live in Eldorado, a suburb of Santa Fe, NM.
Valerie, her husband, Leandro Suarez, and their daughters, Rachel and Sophia, live in San Antonio, TX.
