I was stationed with the Berlin Brigade as a Corporal, then a Sergeant and finally a Staff Sergeant in Bravo Co (Bull Dogs) 6th Battalion of the 502 Infantry Regiment (B Co 6-502 Inf) at McNair Kaserne in the southeast American sector of Berlin from 1986 to 1990. My family and I lived at 14B Taylor Strasse in BB housing, which was about half-way between the American movie theatre and the BB Burger King on Clay Allee, the main road through the American residential area.
I was in the last American unit to guard Rudolf Hess (he died somewhat mysteriously under the Brit command not long after we turned Spandau Prison over to them) and was on BB Guard the night the Wall came down and we went to full alert at Clay Compound (locked & loaded & VERY nervous). We were wondering if it was tanks or what that was "bringing the wall down" for a full 20 minutes till we were re-called and then spent the rest of the night watching German TV in the break area trying to figure things out. I still remember the exact time the siren went off (Thursday at 2110hrs, 9 NOV 1989) and telling my men, "Boys, remember well this moment. You are now forever a part of world history!" I was also enterviewed on CBS Good Morning as the first American Berlin Soldier to be interviewed after the fall of the wall, though it was six months till I ever saw how I looked. Not bad, if I say so myself.
Since I didn't drink and I had my family with me, many of my "recreational" remembrances may differ quite a bit from the average BB soldier. Any weekend I wasn't in the field I had my family with me as we'd take the double-decker buses, U-Bahn (subway) and S-Bahn (city trains) on EVERY route there was in the city to explore. If it looked interesting, we'd get off and walk about. My entire family (including the 3 kids) would practice our German whenever we could. The very first weekend we were in Berlin I instructed my wife and daughter (the oldest, only 11 yrs old, though) on how to use the U-Bahn map and then gave them some US money, a small translation dictionary and told them to exchange the money (I DID explain how), go to a certain stop way up north in the French Sector and purchase anything that could prove they'd been up above ground and return home. The trip involved six car changes at three different stations. They were terrified and did a lot of whining. They came back the giggliest girls I'd ever seen and were never afraid to take off together there after. After our first year there we bought some nice bikes at the 4-Seasons and I'd often ride with my daughter all the way to the Brit Barracks and downtown. We'd go see every museum and historical site there was and took lots of pictures.
We'd often do the same in East Berlin when we could. I'd wander off away from Potzdamer Platz and Unter de Linden and off into the smaller neighborhoods to check out shops I was only followed once by anyone and they soon went away. Doing this, I discovered this great little magic shop owned by an old German & his wife. After a few months, they started inviting me to have lunch with them (totally against the rules) and I'd spend a couple of hours with them talking about how it was at the end of the war and when the Russians came. They were both around 12 years old at the time. It was eye-opening how much they suffered and still did as they wouldn't join the Communist Party so he couldn't have a shop closer to downtown. I'd try and bring bananas and oranges and even candy bars to them when I could as they were not something they had had or even seen in many years. I even brought them some shoes and toilet paper as they never seemed to have any in the stores. After the wall came down I went to visit them one more time and they showed me the secret radio they had so they could listen to Radio Free Europe and the BBC. They then moved to join relatives living near Munich.
Those are just a very few of the things I did and remembered from my most memorable and often enjoyable time in the Berlin Brigade. I was also very proud to be in one of the very top units to have been in the BB performance-wise. It always helps to be in a kick-ass unit.
I never cared much for the god-awful cold while out in the field, whether in Doughboy City, in the Grunewald forest or clear out in the Freedom Zone of West Germany. I certainly didn't care for the quarterly 12 mile forced marches with 100 lbs (plus) ruck-sacks, or the 11 mile runs once a month to show off to the Brits downtown, or "knowing" ahead of time when an Alert was coming so I couldn't sleep well waiting for the phone to ring. But I always loved freezing at the Christmas market in Steglitz and Spandau. The rides and games at the Christmas market in East Berlin
I was in the last American unit to guard Rudolf Hess (he died somewhat mysteriously under the Brit command not long after we turned Spandau Prison over to them) and was on BB Guard the night the Wall came down and we went to full alert at Clay Compound (locked & loaded & VERY nervous). We were wondering if it was tanks or what that was "bringing the wall down" for a full 20 minutes till we were re-called and then spent the rest of the night watching German TV in the break area trying to figure things out. I still remember the exact time the siren went off (Thursday at 2110hrs, 9 NOV 1989) and telling my men, "Boys, remember well this moment. You are now forever a part of world history!" I was also enterviewed on CBS Good Morning as the first American Berlin Soldier to be interviewed after the fall of the wall, though it was six months till I ever saw how I looked. Not bad, if I say so myself.
Since I didn't drink and I had my family with me, many of my "recreational" remembrances may differ quite a bit from the average BB soldier. Any weekend I wasn't in the field I had my family with me as we'd take the double-decker buses, U-Bahn (subway) and S-Bahn (city trains) on EVERY route there was in the city to explore. If it looked interesting, we'd get off and walk about. My entire family (including the 3 kids) would practice our German whenever we could. The very first weekend we were in Berlin I instructed my wife and daughter (the oldest, only 11 yrs old, though) on how to use the U-Bahn map and then gave them some US money, a small translation dictionary and told them to exchange the money (I DID explain how), go to a certain stop way up north in the French Sector and purchase anything that could prove they'd been up above ground and return home. The trip involved six car changes at three different stations. They were terrified and did a lot of whining. They came back the giggliest girls I'd ever seen and were never afraid to take off together there after. After our first year there we bought some nice bikes at the 4-Seasons and I'd often ride with my daughter all the way to the Brit Barracks and downtown. We'd go see every museum and historical site there was and took lots of pictures.
We'd often do the same in East Berlin when we could. I'd wander off away from Potzdamer Platz and Unter de Linden and off into the smaller neighborhoods to check out shops I was only followed once by anyone and they soon went away. Doing this, I discovered this great little magic shop owned by an old German & his wife. After a few months, they started inviting me to have lunch with them (totally against the rules) and I'd spend a couple of hours with them talking about how it was at the end of the war and when the Russians came. They were both around 12 years old at the time. It was eye-opening how much they suffered and still did as they wouldn't join the Communist Party so he couldn't have a shop closer to downtown. I'd try and bring bananas and oranges and even candy bars to them when I could as they were not something they had had or even seen in many years. I even brought them some shoes and toilet paper as they never seemed to have any in the stores. After the wall came down I went to visit them one more time and they showed me the secret radio they had so they could listen to Radio Free Europe and the BBC. They then moved to join relatives living near Munich.
Those are just a very few of the things I did and remembered from my most memorable and often enjoyable time in the Berlin Brigade. I was also very proud to be in one of the very top units to have been in the BB performance-wise. It always helps to be in a kick-ass unit.
I never cared much for the god-awful cold while out in the field, whether in Doughboy City, in the Grunewald forest or clear out in the Freedom Zone of West Germany. I certainly didn't care for the quarterly 12 mile forced marches with 100 lbs (plus) ruck-sacks, or the 11 mile runs once a month to show off to the Brits downtown, or "knowing" ahead of time when an Alert was coming so I couldn't sleep well waiting for the phone to ring. But I always loved freezing at the Christmas market in Steglitz and Spandau. The rides and games at the Christmas market in East Berlin
