Honor Page 27

Hi, Reinhard, I finally went ahead and wrote that article. I thought a long time about putting the words down. I didn't want to come across as some type of hero. I just wanted to write about a young grunt that was in Berlin at that time from a personal prospective.

I enlisted in Army after I graduated from high school in 1961. I signed up to go to Europe. At that time I had no idea of what my enlistment would be. I was processed in at the induction center in Oakland, California on July 25, 1961 and boarded a bus for the trip to the basic training center at Ft. Ord. I was in a training company on the hill when the Berlin Wall went up on August 13, 1961. I was supposed to continue on at Ft. Ord into AIT at the basic army administration school. All that changed after news of the Berlin Wall going up and I was reassigned. My step dad was an ex-marine and he taught me and my sister to shoot when we were teenagers. I was a hunter. I qualified expert on the M-1 at the training center. I don't know if that was the reason I was reassigned. A couple of weeks after news of the Berlin Wall, I was told to report to personnel. I still remember my conversation with the personnel sergeant. He told me that I was now a "111.00" and I was being transferred to the 1^st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kansas. I was a green recruit and asked him what a 111.00 was? He had a southern accent and chuckled when he told me that I was going to be a grunt, a line animal. There were fifteen of us recruits drawn from different training companies that were lead by a SP5 on our trip to Ft. Riley. We took the bus to Oakland and boarded the train. We stopped in Sparks (next to Reno) for a few minutes during the trip and I remember looking around and wondering when I would see it again. We were wearing out green class A uniforms on the train and a few of the passengers were asking us if we were headed to Berlin. Needless to say we had no idea of what was in store for us. A few of the passengers wanted to buy us drinks, I was eighteen at the time and I looked like I was sixteen. No one bothered to ask us for I.D.'s

The train stopped at Ft. Riley and I boarded a three-quarter ton truck and proceeded to leave the main post and go up Custer Hill. We were met by a large number of Cadre. I was assigned to Co. D 2^nd BG 12^th Infantry. I remember standing in formation as an E-6 came down through the line. He was looking us over. He only stood about 5' 6' and with his loud command voice and facial expression, he appeared to be meaner than a junkyard dog. His name was Sgt. Bias. He stopped in front of me and I kept thinking, please don't let him pick me. He looked me over and asked me if "I thought I was tough", I answered back. Anyway, he picked me. He was our squad leader all the way through finishing basic / AIT, cold weather training at Terryall in the Colorado Rockies, deployment to Wildflecken and into Berlin. He taught hand to hand combat during AIT. My first assignment was as a 3.5 rocket launcher gunner, sniper for a short time and then as a .30 caliber Browning machine gunner (later equipped with the M-60). I fired expert on them and the M-14 rifle. I guess due to those days of hunting back in Nevada. We started training for possible deployment, when we returned from Terryall. We had classroom instruction on Russian and East German Army units (uniforms and armament) in East Germany and in and around Berlin. We learned how to field strip and fire the AK-47. We also practiced riot control training like the Berlin Brigade was participating in to assist the West Berlin Police in case of major disturbances. We started keeping all our field gear packed to be ready to move out on short notice. We also started practicing "Alerts". There was an increase in escape and evasion training and I remember on one three day field exercise we were all assembled in the Day room and told that Russia had declared war on the United States. I know that there was some psychological reason for this, I guess just to see how we would react. As it got closer to summer there was an increase in the number of alerts both day and night. We would load on the cattle cars and wait until we were told to stand down. On one of the alerts we actually left Ft. Riley and preceded to Forbes AFB in Topeka, the alert was cancelled and we returned to Ft. Riley. It was during early summer that we were advised not to make any phone calls home discussing our situation.

It was around the 1^st week of July. that we were restricted to the barracks and we had what would be our final alert. We loaded on the cattle cars and proceeded to Forbes AFB for deployment to Germany. During the last two hours of the flight, I remember they issued us parachutes. We were not trained as paratroopers, so that caused some tension. After we landed at Rhine Mien AFB in Frankfurt, we convoyed to a staging area in the woods near Karlsruhe. We were issued our new weapons and equipment. I had already trained with the M-60 at Ft. Riley and now I was issued a new one. We removed the Cosmo line. The next day we convoyed to Wildflecken where our combat readiness was tested against troops of the 504^th airborne. There were three of us that volunteered to be aggressors against the airborne outfit and 7^th Army outfit that was training at Wildflecken. I know the old saying never volunteer but I was a field soldier and had performed as aggressor several times at Ft. Riley. It paid off; all three of us got a three day pass and went to Frankfurt.

In September we received orders to convoy into Berlin. I remember we were at a briefing given by an M.P. Officer and before he addressed us from the Podium he looked at his watch and said nothing for about two minutes, when he spoke he said "gentlemen that's is about your life expectancy if the balloon goes up in Berlin"; needless to say this got out attention. During the briefing he told us to expect the Russians to put on a show of force at the troop count at Helmstedt. On September 20, 1962 we convoyed to Checkpoint Alpha at Helmstedt. I remember there was some top brass there and I think a couple of reporters. We dismounted from the trucks and got into formation. Our C.O. and a Russian Officer came through the ranks; I was at port arms with my M-60. After the count we mounted back into the trucks and waited. I remember a loud argument ensued between the Russians and our C.O. I was a couple of trucks back from the crossing and I heard Capt. Dullea yell back we are going through. I remember on both sides of the Autobahn there were Russian Tanks lined up. They followed us for a short time and then disappeared. I remember thinking I wish I had my rocket launcher instead of the M-60 in case something occurred. When we stopped at the rest areas, we checked our trailers to make sure that no East Germans had tried to hide in them to make an escape attempt into the American Sector.

I think my company headed to Andrews Barracks as we approached we changed direction and headed to McNair Barracks. My platoon was on the third floor. Our weapons were secured in racks in the center of the barracks. I wasn't prepared for the dress code in Berlin at that time. I had one pair of slacks and a sport coat. Charlie the tailor and I got acquainted. On our first pass a few of us went to the Resi Bar in our class A uniforms. I don't know if it was because we were a new unit or if they remember the Big Red One from WWII; we received a complimentary bottle of wine sent to our table from the management. During our orientation upon arrival we were again reminded about how to conduct ourselves, when were on pass - keep our mouths shut and our eyes open. We were reminded again of the situation in the city and the number of foreign agents operating there. We were advised about the alert siren and that there were codes to designate where we would be deployed in the city during those alerts.

We went on our orientation tour into the Eastern sector sometime during the first part of October. We were instructed not to take pictures. At Checkpoint Charlie we picked up a truckload of VOPOS that followed our bus through the tour of the Eastern Sector. I remember we dismounted from the bus at the Soviet Memorial at Treptower Park. There were a few East Berliners in the entrance area and a couple of them looked at us. We were in our green class A uniforms and a man started towards me like he wanted to have a conversation and then turned away with a look of fear on his face. Right after we left the bus the volpos dismounted from the truck and started clearing the entrance plaza of all the East Berlin civilians. This was the first time I got to see them up close. There were in a group as we were and they give us a menacing stare, which we in turn returned. Their uniforms reminded me of ones that I had seen in WWII movies and newsreels. The MP in charge led us into the park and we went up the steps to the Statue of the Russian Soldier holding a baby and crushing the swastika with a sword. We went inside and looked at the murals on the wall and at the large red star on the ceiling. Later the MP told us that the STASI had a camera in back of the star and that they took pictures of people who entered the room.

Our C.O. ran patrols on the Spree River. We were again reminded that in case of an escape attempt that we could only assist the person if they made it to our side. We could not return any fire unless directly fired upon under penalty of court martial. We were not to create any international situations. I remember Berlin was a city of Binoculars. The East German Patrol Boats patrolled the waters of the Spree next to Oberbaumbruecke (bridge). I remember the sound of the motors when they spotted someone trying to escape. At that time they didn't try to apprehend the escaper. They fired a short burst and his body floated to the western bank. He was lifeless and pulled ashore. Sgt. Charpentier reminded us that we could not return fire. I remember one middle age Fraulein who just stared at me. I don't know if they realized our standing orders. Most of the Berliners loved the Americans except when an escape went bad. Even the then mayor of West Berlin, Willy Brandt was critical of the Americans asking what good are the Americans.

West Berlin for me was a city of different extreme landscapes. The Berliners drank and danced at various clubs and Gasthouses. Night life was like in any Metropolitan city, when a few blocks or a mile away was the wall. I remember walking along one section of the wall one night, where there was section of the wall that consisted of buildings with bricked up windows somewhere in that area was a few flowers a make shift memorial to someone who didn't make it over. I had a couple of brews earlier at one of the clubs. I went up on one of the viewing platforms and looked across. It was quiet there were a couple of border guards walking by one of the towers in the distance.

We had our PT training and run each morning on the 4Ring. We also practiced riot control training there.

At Ft. Riley we had a lot of practice alerts, back then I don't think we realized that this training would be that useful. We found out quickly after our arrival that it would be utilized on quite a few occasions especially when the Cuban Missile Crisis surfaced in October 1962. On some of the alerts we just mounted the trucks and waited and the order to stand down was passed down the line and we returned to our barracks. On some we deployed to the Grunewald area and dug in or deployed to some area of the city. On one of the night alerts during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis during DEFCON2 the alert siren went off and I grabbed my M-60 and .45 and headed for the truck. I loaded up and when I sat on the bench, I saw my squad leader, Sgt. Blas grinning at me and saying with a sarcastic laugh, "it looks like a good night to die". We pulled out of McNair and headed somewhere out in the Grunewald area. We unloaded and broke out ammo. We marched down one of the roads and then we were ordered to set up a perimeter line and dig in. After about half an hour Sgt. Charpentier came down the line and gave us the order to lock and load. I looked at my assist. gunner Al Seth and we didn't say anything; we thought the balloon might have really gone up in Cuba. I just remember thinking what is my FPL; not that it would matter we would probably would be dead anyway. About an hour later, we heard what sounded like a couple of gunshots echoing over water somewhere in front of our position. I don't know if someone had tried to make an escape or what. Needless to say I thought the next thing I might see was a whole lot of Russians. Anyway, we waited for the rest of that very long night. The order to stand down came in the morning and we marched back to the trucks, loaded up and headed back to McNair.

On Thanksgiving we had a holiday dinner at the consolidated mess. There were also a few invited Berliner guests at the dinner. They had shrimp cocktails as part of the dinner. I love shrimp and I ate several of them. After the dinner I caught a bus to go to the Kudamn. The bus was pretty crowded and I got sick. I couldn't get off the bus in time and vomited. The conductor was angry and made sure I got off. I was in civvies and I think he thought I was just drunk. I hailed a cab to get back to McNair. We had to stop twice on the way back. I barely signed in and got to the latrine before it hit both ends and I doubled up and keeled over. There were a lot of ambulances outside when a couple of medics hauled my sorry butt out on a stretcher. I remember the nurse at the hospital giving me an IV and later some seven-up, when I was more coherent. I could have kissed her. When I woke up the next morning my Platoon Sgt. Was in the bed next to mine and several members of my company were in the sick bay. There were a large number of troops from my company listed on sick call during that morning formation. It turns out that the shrimp was not kept refrigerated and we all came down with severe food poisoning. There were about 180 soldiers and Berliner guests that were stricken. It was a thanksgiving I will never forget.

We received orders and left Berlin sometime in January 1963. I remember sitting in the back of the truck with my M-60 between my legs and looking back at the wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate. It was a cold gray winter day and I remember thinking to myself that I would never see that wall come down in my lifetime. We made a turn at the Victory Statue and left the city. My daughter was watching TV when the Berlin Wall came down. I was outside in our yard and she came out and told me what was happening. I went inside and saw the newscast. I got a little emotional. I'm not ashamed there were a couple of tears. My daughter looked at me and I don't know if she really understood what that meant. I just wished I could have been there hammer in hand to tear it down.

I was only there for four months but I have a lot of memories of the good times and some bad ones. I didn't know if I wanted to go back. When the BUSMVA Berlin Reunion in 2006 was announced my wife kept insisting that I go back. I remember sitting in a window seat on the commuter flight from Munich to Berlin. It was late afternoon and I was looking down at the city as we were on our landing approach and we flew over a building with a clock tower and I thought I think that is McNair. It had been forty-four years but it was still there. I thought maybe the man up above was giving me a sign that I was suppose to make the trip...

Reinhard was good enough to pick me up at Tegel. He showed me some of the sights that were from my time period in the city, including going back to the Spree River. It seemed strange to see it again and not see or hear the sound of those East German Patrol Boats just a pretty sunshine day with a the sound of traffic and a slow summer breeze.