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When I was in the army stationed in Hanau, Germany during major alerts my bn (23rd eng bn) would go to Fulda. I especially remember at night while I was on guard duty I saw ALOT of lights with guards, a fence & barbed wire. I don't think that was east Germany. Right ? I am quite sure it was Fulda I was at. I think Fulda is about 1 hr east of Hanau. I always thought all these years I was looking at east Germany. During my 2 yr tour I never visited berlin, Amsterdam & Stuttgart & I regret that. This was before the wall came down.
I checked the info online & I was right. It was east Germany & the soviets I was looking at. I did bring my camera & the commanding officer said NO picture taking.....period. He didn't explain why & you don't question your CO.
Didn't know Fulda was in east Germany. My grandmother had relatives there, think in Pomerania and in Riga ,latvia.
My dad's side is bavarian and we have relatives in the Black Forest.yeah, you don't want to get caught taking any pictures of the russians,
Didn't know Fulda was in east Germany. My grandmother had relatives there, think in Pomerania and in Riga ,latvia.
My dad's side is bavarian and we have relatives in the Black Forest.yeah, you don't want to get caught taking any pictures of the russians,
Fulda is west Germany. It was just strange to me looking at armed men that were also looking at us. If I took pictures (I forgot camera) & got caught I would of been given a article 15. Pulling guard duty at night was kind of scary. The lights in east Germany were blinding & it was quite a experience.
The Fulda Gap was deemed a most likely place the Warsaw Pact would mass their armor during any penetration into West Germany; the terrain was most suitable for it. The A-10 and AH-64 were developed in part as a result of the Fulda Gap scenario. The other likely avenue of approach was the Northern German Plain, which is where I was an ALO, but half the year it's largely impassable except on the roads. However, I did tour the Fulda Gap after completing the Euro-AGOS course at Sembach, with an ALO who was aligned with the 3/7 CAV at Mannheim. In the late 80s the IGB was a very interesting place.
I don't remember seeing the Fulda gap. My unit was training in the woods near the east german border. I do regret not touring Fulda during my off duty time. Hanau is about 1 hr away. I was with the 3rd armored division (spearhead), 23rd engineer bn, C company (later on I was attached to HHC).
Fulda is a good 10 miles from the former border..you would have needed some pretty good binoculars to see the East German and Soviet troops from Downs Barracks in Fulda. There were however several U.S. military observation posts at the border directly around the small villages to the east of Fulda. I imagine that's where you spotted the hostiles.
Fulda is a good 10 miles from the former border..you would have needed some pretty good binoculars to see the East German and Soviet troops from Downs Barracks in Fulda. There were however several U.S. military observation posts at the border directly around the small villages to the east of Fulda. I imagine that's where you spotted the hostiles.
My unit was up on a hill over looking east Germany. If I walked to the border from where my unit was it would of taken me 5 minutes tops. It was really surreal at night looking at the east Germany. Lights were everywhere across the border (it was very dark where I was). I wanted to ask my platoon sgt if I could get a closer look (in the daytime) but I was quite sure what his answer would of been. I was also only a private with not even a year in service so I kept quite. My unit was very strict as would be any combat engineer unit. I still regret not taking a trip to Fulda during a off duty weekend (we often worked on Saturdays).
I also trained in Grafenwoehr & Wildflecken (both in the winter). It was brutal. Combat engineers spent loads of time in the field.
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