25/08/2026
🇺🇸 REMEMBERING RHEIN-MAIN: THE 1985 TERRORIST BOMBING 🇩🇪
August 8, 1985 — Rhein-Main Air Base, West Germany
For those who served at Rhein-Main Air Base, August 8, 1985 is a date that should never be forgotten.
At approximately 7:15 in the morning, as Airmen and civilian employees were arriving for another day of work, a car bomb exploded in the parking area near the headquarters of the 435th Tactical Airlift Wing.
The explosion ripped through the heart of Rhein-Main.
Windows shattered. Vehicles were destroyed and overturned. Debris was thrown across the area. A crater was blasted into the parking lot.
And two Americans lost their lives.
🇺🇸 Airman First Class Frank H. Scarton
A1C Scarton was just 20 years old, from Woodhaven, Michigan. He was assigned to the 437th Military Airlift Wing at Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina, and was at Rhein-Main on temporary duty.
🇺🇸 Becky Jo Bristol
Becky was a 25-year-old American civilian and the wife of Senior Airman John R. Bristol, who was stationed at Rhein-Main.
More than 20 other people were injured in the explosion.
But the story of August 8 actually began the night before.
ANOTHER AMERICAN LIFE WAS TAKEN
On the evening of August 7, 1985, U.S. Army Specialist Edward Pimental, only 20 years old, left his barracks in Wiesbaden for an evening out.
He would never return.
Pimental was murdered, and his U.S. military identification card was taken.
Investigators subsequently determined that his military ID was used as part of the terrorists' operation to gain access to Rhein-Main Air Base.
Hours later, the bomb exploded.
The attack was claimed by the West German terrorist organization Red Army Faction (RAF) together with the French extremist organization Action Directe.
The RAF—also widely known through its earlier association with the name Baader-Meinhof Group—carried out a campaign of terrorism in West Germany that targeted government officials, businesses, NATO facilities and American military personnel and installations.
Rhein-Main was one of those targets.
The terrorists concealed the explosives inside a vehicle displaying counterfeit U.S. Forces license plates and succeeded in getting it onto the installation.
At approximately 7:15 a.m., it detonated.
The blast damaged buildings and dozens of vehicles and devastated the area around the headquarters complex.
For the men and women who were at Rhein-Main that morning, however, these aren't simply historical facts.
They are memories.
Some remember the sound.
Some remember the smoke.
Some remember shattered windows and damaged buildings.
Some were Security Police, firefighters, medics and first responders running toward the destruction while everyone else was trying to understand what had just happened.
And some remember Frank and Becky.
Today we remember them, too.
🇺🇸 A1C Frank H. Scarton — 20
🇺🇸 Becky Jo Bristol — 25
🇺🇸 SP4 Edward Pimental — 20
Three young Americans whose lives became forever connected to the terrorist attack against Rhein-Main Air Base.
We also remember those who were wounded, the first responders who rushed to help them, the Security Police who secured the installation, the medical personnel who treated the injured, and every member of the Rhein-Main community affected by what happened that morning.
A memorial was later placed at Rhein-Main to remember Frank Scarton and Becky Bristol at the place where they lost their lives.
The base itself is gone now.
The aircraft are gone.
The gates are gone.
Many of the buildings familiar to generations of Rhein-Main Airmen have disappeared or serve entirely different purposes today.
But our history did not disappear when Rhein-Main closed.
It lives through the people who served there.
And through us, their names and their stories continue to be remembered.
Rhein-Main Air Base
Gateway to Europe
1945–2005
🇺🇸 A1C Frank H. Scarton — Never Forgotten
🇺🇸 Becky Jo Bristol — Never Forgotten
🇺🇸 SP4 Edward Pimental — Never Forgotten
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WERE YOU AT RHEIN-MAIN ON AUGUST 8, 1985?
We especially want to hear from the members of our Rhein-Main family who experienced this day firsthand.
Where were you when the bomb exploded?
What do you remember seeing or hearing?
Were you a Security Policeman, firefighter, medic, first responder, investigator, or assigned to the 435th?
Did you know Frank Scarton, Becky Bristol, John Bristol, or Edward Pimental?
Do you have photographs of Rhein-Main from immediately before or after the attack—or photographs of the memorial that later stood on the base?
Please share your memories, photographs, unit, and years at Rhein-Main in the comments.
Firsthand accounts are an irreplaceable part of preserving our history.
Their stories deserve to be remembered.
