The new year, 1961, had started like all the others before.
Every afternoon, after school, I could barely wait to go home. In Germany, the elementary school ends after
the 5
th or 6
th lesson, between 1 and 2PM. I always rushed home to have enough time
to look for my special friends, the American GIs.
So the months went by, and the 6 week summer vacation was nearly there.
This year I had some mixed emotions because my mother and Oma had planned a trip to Austria, which was to
include me plus my two younger sisters. It was the very first journey together with my Oma, and also the
very last, as I later realized.
On the one hand I was a bit sad to miss the good times with my U.S. friends in the Grunewald, but on the
other hand I was happy to have finally a real holiday far from home. My family never had enough money to
take such vacation trips, and even on this occasion my grandpa had to stay home for the lack of money.
Austria with its high mountains looked wonderful. Everyday we experienced this fantastic nature by climbing
and hiking around. But to be honest, I really missed the Berlin Brigade.
We lived in a small pension in 2 narrow rooms, right next to the local "Gasthaus" (restaurant). For dinner
or supper everybody assembled there and talked about the daily news. We kids were allowed to watch TV, so
we enjoyed also that time.
One evening I will never forget, was August 14, 1961!
I wondered why some of the older ladies suddenly were crying. There was none of the usual laughter, nor
even happy faces. My Oma suddenly also started to cry; big tears ran down her face. My sisters and I were
very confused and shocked. My mom tried to calm us but it really was not easy, a sleepless night followed
for most of us. Some people said that West Berlin was blocked off by the Russian troops, so that nobody can
get out or back in again! That was, thanks God, not entirely correct, but the fact was, the infamous "Berlin
Wall" had been erected the night before.
From that moment on our vacation fun was spoiled and we just waited to travel back home to see our Opa.
A few days later our travel bus rolled down the "GDR Zone" Autobahn. Never before had I seen this many
foreign military along that route. Lots of tanks, tracked vehicles, trucks and jeeps, probably belonging
to the USSR and GDR (German Democratic Republic), were everywhere. We had to wait a long time before we
could enter and exit the GDR Zone. Finally we reached West Berlin, full of joy to get home, and we finally
could take our Opa into our arms.
He told us about the overnight GDR activities, and the high danger of a new war. Nothing had visibly
changed for me. Just as always, I noticed the U.S. military vehicles passing by our house on Onkel-Tom-Str.
to get to the Grunewald or back to their base.
Next morning I went, as usual, to the Grunewald, and right at the edge of the woods I met up with a recon
platoon. Wow, I loved what I saw because their M38 jeeps had .30 cal Browning machine guns mounted which
would surely fire a lot of blanks! But what was this? The loaded ammo belts held live cartridges; I had
never seen this before. I remember also that the top of the bullets had different colors; red, black or
yellow. The GIs appeared very serious, not like the "funny green giants" as before! They also pointed at
me, indicating that I have to leave the area. What frustration! Confused I continued my way. About one
mile ahead, behind the Autobahn, I bumped into some infantry, what luck! Those guys looked much more
advantageous for me, the riflemen wore, as usual, cloth ammo bandoleers around their chests. Finally!
I asked one of them where and when they would fire their ammo. His answer was another shock to me when he
replied, "I hope no and never", and he pulled a live 8-round M1 'Garand' cartridge clip from his bandoleer!
Scared I ran home. My life, Berlin, and my American friends had suddenly changed. Every evening we watched
the news on our TV. The newspapers were full of horror reports about murdered escapees at the new border
perimeter. I could not believe what has happened.
Then, in November 1961, suddenly the delayed big autumn maneuvers started. Finally, - everything looked
as before, with thousands of empty "blanks" everywhere! Although the GIs no longer looked so serious, that
tense autumn had changed them again. But now the troops exercised their guns almost every day, never before
had I observed such intensive maneuver activities. Day and night, except of Sundays, was the sound of
firing in the air. I suppose that one alert has replaced the other, the mission to be ready all the time
probably was written on each schedule. What a stressful time for our Berlin Brigade!
'Blue Spaders' in Berlin
