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Hungarian people -- and pigs -- brace for U.S. troop onslaught

December 4, 1995
Web posted at: 12:30 p.m. EST

ZIMANY, Hungary (CNN) -- Many of the 20,000 U.S. troops who will go to Bosnia-Herzegovina will pass through Hungary on their way from their bases in Germany. And one place they will see is the tiny southwestern village of Zimany, just north of Bosnia. It is situated near an air base built during the Cold War.

Townsfolk haven't had much peace since then. On Sundays, for example, church bells and the voices of the faithful can drown out the roar of jet planes overhead only for a little while.

When Hungary got rid of the communists, the people of Zimany finally could complain about the noise, and they managed to curb the number of flights. But now that Americans are coming, the people there believe their troubles are starting all over again. "Nobody even bothered to ask us," complained Mayor Imre Farkas. "We weren't officially told they'd use the air base. I read it in the papers."

The runway at Taszar Air Base is right at the edge of this sleepy village. And it is not only Zimany's 597 inhabitants who are bothered by the noise. "The planes are flying right over our cowsheds and pigsties," said the mayor. "The noise of the planes is disturbing our livestock."

pigs Tibor Szepics has some 80 pigs and 400 cows to worry about, and he's concerned about how all that racket will affect them. "The animals here are obviously nervous but we don't know how much the loud noise hinders production and reproduction because the planes never stop flying long enough for us to measure," he said.

Another farmer complained that the planes' flight path takes them right over his house. "It's not just a question of noise, but the frequency causes damage to our walls," he said.

There are those in town whose concerns are even loftier. Balazs Kovacs has seen a lot in his 86 years and it is not the planes he's worried about. "Who knows what their mission is," he wondered. "The Russians also came with good intentions, yet they destroyed our entire country. Look where Hungary is now."

But most in this village don't suspect the Americans' motives for coming. All they want is a little peace and quiet.

Hungarian people -- and pigs -- brace for U.S. troop onslaught

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