This guard tower stands in the center of no man's land between West and East Berlin.

World War II left Berlin shattered and Germany devastated. Over time, the United States, Great Britain and France were able to stimulate West Berlin's economy. Four million East Germans had escaped to the West to share in the growing prosperity, economic opportunities and freedom of expression not found in the East.

The Soviet Union built the Berlin Wall overnight to prevent more citizens from fleeing. The American military stationed in Berlin between 1961 and 1989 touched the wall that separated the German people into different worlds for more than 28 years.

"I was in Berlin in 1962, just after the wall went up. It was very tense. For the first 30 days, anyone stationed there would have to be back in by midnight. We called those Cinderella passes," said Jerry Mohr, Intelligence Support Group electronics technician at the Air Intelligence Agency.

"The wall was a one way wall. Walking towards it, the guards wouldn't question you, but you wouldn't want to find yourself on the wrong side," said Mohr.

"I remember seeing stockpiles of coal on the street that were left over from the Berlin Airlift. The Berliners never knew if they were going to get blocked off again. Some stockpiles were a city block long and were fenced off. Germany gets very cold in the winter, so they kept it in case of an emergency," said Mohr, who was a staff sergeant assigned to the 6912th Security Squadron.

"A tavern owner, a chimney sweep escapee from the East, myself and a Hungarian who was a prisoner of war during World War II used to sit around and talk. We were an odd group who would argue all night long about politics and policies off the top of our heads. No one would be on any side. They wanted to know what the Americans thought about the Germans or what we get from our president or how our senate works," said Mohr "On the East, you would see the breadlines. There would be anywhere from six to 40 people standing in line. They were mostly older people, mothers and

Brandenburg Bridge

grandmothers. Sad would be the only way to describe it. I remember seeing the faces in line whether it was raining or snowing. I was never in a position to stand in a line for food. It was an eye opener," said Tech. Sgt. Edward Spate, AIA Logistics Flare 9 systems manager.

Looking into East Berlin near Duppel housing.	Checkpoint Charlie, an allied checkpoint, was the processing station to enter East Berlin.

"In the West, there was a contrast between the old and the new. You would see a bombed out church and in the block next to it there would be a brand new one," said Spates, who was there from 1981 to 1985.

"I reenlisted at the wall. When our captain set up the flag, the Russian security force started taking pictures. We started to gather at the wall and the guards in the tower went ballistic trying to see what they could," said Spates.

"There was a joke that every time we had a fire drill, the Russian in the tower would be doing a headcount to see who was there and who wasn't."

Jerry Wucher, former commander of the 6912th Electronic Security Group between 1983 and 1985, describes Berlin as a "neurotic, exotic World War II movie."

"I loved it. Berlin was 110 miles inside a communist-controlled zone. For the business the Electronic Security Command was doing, you couldn't get any closer to the action. You could touch, smell and see it. We did not have a morale problem. It was very easy to motivate people because of the mission. We got a lot of visibility and visitors."

"The people who lived through World War II were very appreciative of the Americans. They experienced horror at the hands of the Russians and we were worried that the same thing would happen to them if the Allies left," said Wucher.

"West Germany paid for the air force base to be in Berlin. Housing was better there because the Germans were paying for it. It compensated for the fact that you were isolated," said Wucher.

Sherri Holzer, AIA operations production requirements analyst, remembers the shopping trips groups of Americans would take in East Germany.

"If there were six East Germans working the counter, all would disappear except for one to make the Americans stand in line and wait," said Holzer.

Tech. Sgt. Spate gets souvenir in April 1990.

"This was their form of harassment. Americans would buy lots of stuff. They wouldn't just buy one of something. They would buy 10 feather deckers and spend more money than an East German would make in six months. I didn't buy in mass. I was ashamed at how some Americans would go over there and flash wads of East German bills."

"I lived away from the other Americans and got German television. I would watch "Sesame Street" in German.

"The Germans got a big kick out of listening to me try to speak German because they thought it sounded so cute. I felt pretty silly because I knew I was slaughtering their language, but I'm glad I was able to converse with them," said Holzer, who was secretary to the 6912th Electronic Security Group commander. Suzie Watts, AIA operations intelligence specialist, remembers the day the wall came down. "I was with an American who was a stringer for a French wire service. His boss called and said the wall was coming down and they were opening the border to get there.

"We didn't go to Berlin because it would be crawling with reporters. We went to a small town near Eschwege on the East/West border. "The town was split in half. Houses had been torn down to build the wall. On one side you could see half a house," said Watts, who was a commissioned intelligence budget analyst for headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe.

"We thought that the local people hadn't gotten the word. We thought we could set up the camera and wait until the word was announced before anything would happen.

"Crowds were already forming on the West and one or two people were standing on the East. How the people on the East knew, we didn't know for sure because there was no announcement made. Relatives must have shouted across the wall," said Watts, remembering how scared the East Germans were.

"They were afraid of the guns, mines and dogs. About 40 East Germans, mostly older people with young children, came to the fence where the West Germans were waving, jumping and shouting to them.

"Some East German guards walked off and abandoned their posts and others layed their guns down and said come on. It's OK. We won't shoot.' If someone started to cross, a fellow East German would shout No! No! No! They'll shoot you!' They finally realized it was OK for them to go to the other side."

"I cry everytime I talk about the grandmother. She was from East Germany and had never touched her grandchild who lived in the West. They picked her up and carried her to the other side," said Watts. The East Germans could not grasp the fact that they were now part of the other side."

The fall of the Berlin Wall started the healing process of one country divided into two worlds.