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I spent the mid 1970s in the US Army, stationed in what used to be West Germany for nearly 4 years. I was at Wildflecken Kaserne, about 12 kilometers west of the former inner German border and wall, just south of what was known as the Fulda Gap. I was also at McNair Barracks in the former West Berlin for nearly a year. The cold war was literally all around me for those years.
I drove countless times back and forth from West Berlin to West Germany through the former East Germany, with my military travel papers in English & Russian, stamped by US and USSR military police as I passed through checkpoints Alpha (at Helmstead) and Bravo (at the Dreilinden entrance to West Berlin). Unlike the citizens living in West Berlin, there were never any delays for allied military personnel going through the US and Soviet checkpoints. Civilian West Berliners were often subjected to hours long delays by East German Volkspolizei conducting intensive vehicle searches.
Many times, I went through Checkpoint Charlie into East Berlin wearing US military uniform, and visited many of the famous historical sights and museums in the former capital of East Germany. The post WW2 Potsdam agreement granted allied military forces in uniform access to all parts of Berlin. As part of the cold war psychological game, US military enlisted personnel (like I was) were often encouraged to visit East Berlin to show that we were able to freely walk around without any officers or political escorts and with no worry about us failing to return to our garrisons in West Berlin. It clearly irritated the local police and authorities in East Berlin, but they were not allowed to bother us as long as we did not do anything dumb or illegal. Wearing a US military uniform, walking around East Berlin in the mid 1970s was the ultimate cold war experience that I remember.
Very interesting and specific memory! Thank you for sharing.
My brother went to Poland and took like 10 jeans with him, he did not sell anything because they were not Levi's. Travel were frequents and cheap, but generally people went out of curiosito and enever returned.
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