Honor Page - Excellent history stories from proud veterans

		H o n o r P a g e s PRELUDE GUEST AUTHORS © Berlin-Brigade.de
	Excellent history stories from proud veterans This special website section is dedicated to U.S. veterans only! All stories, sent to me by proud Berlin veterans, are edited & copyright protected by this website! Choice of photos & photo-layout also is done by myself. Commercial use or illegal use on other websites is strictly prohibited! I'm grateful & appreciate it to publish following articles. It's 'Cold War' history & it's part of our life. Many -THANKS- to the authors!

PRELUDE TO MY HONOR PAGES
by Lloyd E. Keller
1^st BG, 26^th Inf. 1961-62
-Blue Spaders-
E4, US Army

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Hello Reinhard !
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Do me a favor and walk with me in your beloved Grunewald a little bit. Hey, look over by that tree. Isn't that where the blonde Spader Sixty gunner was? He was your friend for a few weeks and he was very nice to you. You never have seen him since, but everytime you come here you remember him. Look over there by the bushes, - yes, right there. You once found some C - rations there. Large green cans with Cookies, Candies, Peanut Butter and other items you once loved so much. Were they lost or did some nice GI leave them where you could find them?

Listen, can you hear the voices, probably a squad leader urging his soldiers on. You can hear the clack clack of the M1 or M14 rifles as they fire blanks at the pretend enemy. Such wonderful memories from your childhood. Listen to the sound of the powerful engines of the Deuce and a half. Over there you once found some smoke grenades. Even now you can kick the dirt and still uncover empty cartridges. The clear back printings are showing you the year of production and its ammo plant.

It is a bit foggy out here today, but I think that I can see a squad of soldiers crossing the ridge over there. All of these childhood memories you can always have just by walking in the Grunewald.

Now lets get in the car and take a drive. Remember the huge U.S. tanks on this street? Do you remember the traffic jam? Look this is one of the roads that you used to patrol when you worked with the MP's while you were a policeman of PMO.
Every time you drive you see things that give you good memories. You said that when you were a child that the GI's were your family. All you have to do is to drive or go to the Grunewald and your memories are there and clear.

It is not the same with us old Berlin veterans. An ocean separates us from the great city that we once helped to defend. Thousands of miles away. Only a very few are lucky enough to be able to go back for a visit. Even then it might only be one time. The older Berlin veterans, like myself, many times cannot always remember everything that we experienced while there. Many years have passed and many other things have happened in our lives. We cannot drive the streets of the beautiful city of Berlin to refresh our memories. We cannot go to the Grunewald as you can, to refresh our memories.

We rely on you and your great website to help us. On your website we can look at pictures and they might spark something in our memory and all of a sudden we remember. We read a veterans story and a few words or something in the story that he did reminds us that we did that also. When an old man like me can sit in front of his computer and look on your website and all of a sudden you see a smile or a twinkle in the eye, you know that he remembers. He is taken back to his youth. He no longer is an old man, but a young soldier again, he remembers. Your wonderful website is needed by all of us. There is no other place that we can go to get what you so unselfishly give to us. Many thousands of us look to you to regain our youth, if only for a few moments, to get back our memories of the great city, and to hear from our comrades.

Yes, there are "enemies" out there, but not enough of them to matter! They cannot torpedo all of your great work. Please do not ever stop. We need you, my friend. If you need strength then look to the blonde Spader gunner, he is your strength. Look to the squad of soldiers on the ridge, they are your strength. The great 287^th MP's that you patrolled with, they are your strength. John Parmenter on your left, he is your strength. Me on your right, I am your strength. Soon thanks to Buddy Green, we will forever be by your side. Buddy also is your strength. You, my brother, are surrounded by strength. Do not ever stop your work. We all need you. I am sure that many many others feel as I do, and they also are your strength. We can never ever thank you enough for what you do.

Your friend, your brother, Gene!

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