20 Years: The Fall of the Berlin Wall

comiso90 · Nov 10, 2009

Does anyone else have their "Flag Orders" for driving through east Germany to get to West Berlin?

I think I'll scan them tonight... Russian time stamps....

DerAdlerIstGelandet · Nov 10, 2009

I don't have mine. We never drove through East Germany to East Berlin. The several times that we went we always took the Duty Train from Frankfurt, West Germany. I do have the orders that allowed us to take the Duty Train through East Germany. I have thought about getting it framed with some pics, my pieces of the Berlin Wall and my Passport with the Checkpoint Charlie Stamp in it.

DBII · Nov 10, 2009

I was stationed in Fulda from 83 to 87. I could not believe it when it happened.

DBII

drgondog · Nov 10, 2009

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:
Actually she did. She personally flew to the United States and spoke to the US people in front of Congress. She personally thanked the American people and said that her country will always be greatful and never forget the the United States contribution to the fall of the wall. In her speech in Berlin she also personally mentioined the American people as well. If Reagan were alive, he certainly would have been invited and been there.

I do however agree that Hillary should not have been there. Obama should have been there instead.

Chris - without being argumentative can you point out her remarks thanking Reagan in a similar vein or even in comparison to Gorby? I certainly missed it an I thought I read the entire transcript.

With all due respect it wasn't the "American people" holding Gorby's feet to the fire - it was our CIC Reagan who was not well respected or liked by the EU community.

vikingBerserker · Nov 10, 2009

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:
I don't have mine. We never drove through East Germany to East Berlin. The several times that we went we always took the Duty Train from Frankfurt, West Germany. I do have the orders that allowed us to take the Duty Train through East Germany. I have thought about getting it framed with some pics, my pieces of the Berlin Wall and my Passport with the Checkpoint Charlie Stamp in it.

Now that would be cool!

DerAdlerIstGelandet · Nov 10, 2009

drgondog said:
Chris - without being argumentative can you point out her remarks thanking Reagan in a similar vein or even in comparison to Gorby? I certainly missed it an I thought I read the entire transcript.

With all due respect it wasn't the "American people" holding Gorby's feet to the fire - it was our CIC Reagan who was not well respected or liked by the EU community.

Well in my opinion, her speaking before congress to the American people is more than enough. To me it means more than what she did for Gorby. Like I said, without making a mountain out of a mole hill and trying to find faults in something that is good, I believe that if Reagan were alive he would have been there.

Maximowitz · Nov 10, 2009

20 years ago...phew. Tempus fugit.

I do remember at the time a BBC reporter commenting that with the wall being torn down it was like The Beatles reforming.

But hopefully without the world tour.

comiso90 · Nov 10, 2009

Process for driving from West Germany through East Germany to West Berlin:

Check in and receive briefing and a packet of flash cards. The flash cards are in German, Russian and English. In case of a break down, you were ordered to place a card against the window saying, "I demand to speak to a Russian Officer." We were prohibited from interacting with East Germans or Enlisted.

Receive time stamps a different check points. At each check point I had to do proper facing movements, salute the Russian officers and present my papers. I received the stamps and was allowed to continue.

You can see all the time stamps... If an unacceptable time was marked, we were in trouble. NO STOPPING NO SPEEDING

Maximowitz · Nov 10, 2009

Christ, it looks like Croydon.

RabidAlien · Nov 10, 2009

LOVE the backlit pic of the figure seen through the hole in the wall! Excellent shot!

Colin1 · Nov 11, 2009

Looks like things have picked up a bit since then...

Berlin's somber past and vibrant present - CNN.com

timshatz · Nov 11, 2009

I heard yesterday that the speaches did not include any reference to Communism. Go figure.

DerAdlerIstGelandet · Nov 11, 2009

comiso90 said:
Process for driving from West Germany through East Germany to West Berlin:

Check in and receive briefing and a packet of flash cards. The flash cards are in German, Russian and English. In case of a break down, you were ordered to place a card against the window saying, "I demand to speak to a Russian Officer." We were prohibited from interacting with East Germans or Enlisted.

Receive time stamps a different check points. At each check point I had to do proper facing movements, salute the Russian officers and present my papers. I received the stamps and was allowed to continue.

You can see all the time stamps... If an unacceptable time was marked, we were in trouble. NO STOPPING NO SPEEDING

The movement orders that I have for the train are very similar to that. The only difference is that there are no time stamps or anything like that because we were taking a train.

comiso90 · Nov 11, 2009

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:
The movement orders that I have for the train are very similar to that. The only difference is that there are no time stamps or anything like that because we were taking a train.

It was a real charge saluting and presenting papers to a Russian officer flanked by guards with AKs..
Funny part was we were in a friends Buick with Texas plates. The guards maintained their demeanor but you know they had to be thinking... "TEXAS....???"

I was in civilian clothes too...

a cool side note... I blared the theme song to "Patton" on the car stereo when crossing into Austria and Germany... yes i know ugly American but we enjoyed it and the border guards prob didnt get the reference.

(I drove from Sicily to Germany)
.

DerAdlerIstGelandet · Nov 11, 2009

comiso90 said:
It was a real charge saluting and presenting papers to a Russian officer flanked by guards with AKs..

That was actually the biggest shock for me as well. The train pulled up to the border crossing into East Germany and the train stopped for quite some time. I remember seeing East German soldiers and then some Russian soldiers as well going through all the papers and everything. Seeing the red star on the hats of the Russians was probably the biggest shock. It kind of gave me a rush actually to realize he was the enemy and had been so for so long. They were very friendly with us though.

I will have to dig out my pictures of East Germany and East Berlin. It was a really exciting time actually. I have pictures of me actually posing with Russian and East German soldiers at this big war cemetery.

20 Years: The Fall of the Berlin Wall

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