(5 Jul 1999) Spanish/Nat

US troops are pulling out of Panama prior to a December 31 deadline, many wrenching themselves away from what has become a second home.

Many have married Panamanian women, and their wives now face the prospect of an uncertain future in a new country.

For the troops and their families leaving Fort Sherman, which closed last week, leaving family and friends behind in Panama is proving harder than they expected.

The lowering of the US flag at Fort Sherman was an emotional moment for the troops and their wives who are stationed there.

Packing up a lifetime of memories brings nostalgia for the family of US Major Kevin Huggins.

He and his wife made a home in Panama knowing that the country would return to Panamanian control in 1999.

That knowledge, however, has not made their departure any easier.

Like many Americans who are leaving, they have made their lives in Panama, married Panamanian women, and began to raise families in this tropical nation.

For Major Huggins, the idea of beginning again away from his wife Carmen's family seems difficult.

SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"Leaving this again, I know it's going to be permanent. You're going to have the memories. The sadness you have when you leave something you're fond of and this is definitely Panama."
SUPER CAPTION: Major Kevin Huggins, Fort Sherman

Carmen Huggins has already seen some of her closest friends move to the States.

She says it hasn't made her own departure any easier.

SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"Many of my friends have left feeling sad. The last day, everyone is crying when we see this. You have your house, your home, and then it's over."
SUPER CAPTION: Carmen Huggins, Major Huggins' wife

Sergeant Erick Pierson and his wife Vilma do not have children yet.

Vilma, however, breaks down and cries at the idea that her children will be born in the States.

She worries that they will never know the country where their family began: Panama.

The troops of Fort Sherman are not the first, nor the last, to go through this experience.

The United States has already handed over Fort Davis and Fort Gulick to Panamanian control.

More bases scheduled to be transferred later this year include Fort Kobbe, the Clayton Base and the Howard Air Force Base.

The terms of the agreement were laid out in the 1977 CarterTorrijos Treaty.

If the Americans are finding it difficult to leave, for many Panamanians, this moment couldn't come too soon.

At the height of the American military presence, 65thousand American soldiers were stationed here.

There is continuing bitterness over the unexploded ammunition the Americans are leaving behind buried in a 7,400 acre jungle firing range near Fort Sherman.

Outside Wednesday's handover ceremony for Fort Sherman, one lone protester chanted, "Only one flag, Only one country."

At least in Fort Sherman, where Americans have lowered their flag for the last time, the Panamanian flag now flies alone.

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