9 November in History - 1989

SCPO Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 12:02:21 -0500

Twenty five years ago the Berlin Wall effectively fell when the East German authorities ordered that people be allowed to freely cross through the border checkpoints to West Germany and West Berlin. It had separated West Berlin from the rest of Germany since construction was begun in 1961. The end of the Wall in 1989 heralded the demise of the Warsaw Pact and led to the eventual reunification of Germany in 1990.

Do you have memories of serving in Germany at this time? What was like? What crazy things did you see?

http://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/index.php/de/Start/Index/id/652147/

Fehlerseite | Chronik der Mauer

Response by SSG Jeremy Siebenaller made Nov 8 at 2014 1:50 PM

SSG Jeremy Siebenaller — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 13:50:30 -0500

SCPO Private RallyPoint Member Its the little least known things in history that you really don't think about while being in a different country. I was alive when the wall came down, but never thought much about it while in Germany! Thanks for the share

Response by CSM Michael J. Uhlig made Nov 8 at 2014 4:27 PM

CSM Michael J. Uhlig — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 16:27:42 -0500

I was stationed in Pirmasens, Germany at the time. The DM (West German currency) rate was very favorable (about a 1.80 DM to the Dollar) - for instance, I bought a six year old 7-series BMW for $1,800! I remember that before the wall came down, my unit organized a trip for us to ride the freedom train (had to ride the train at night and you were not allowed to open the curtains) to get to Berlin (all public transportation in Berlin was free then) and go into East Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie....you stayed in Class A's, going through Checkpoint Charlie and the feeling of being watched the entire time we were in East Germany.....the people seemed skittish like they were all scared to interact with us, I bought two things while I was there - a gun and some gold ingots.....the exchange rate in East Germany was incredible....it was about 20:1 towards the Dollar so we all bought stuff really cheap.....unfortunately I cannot find the gold ingots. Another thing I remember is that the cars were very very small cars, and they warned us that they would try to get us to take a taxi to smuggle someone out of East Germany and we'd be held as a conspirator if we took a taxi....a lot has changed since then. Recently, Germany celebrated a holiday called reunification day, it is held every year in early October.

Response by SPC(P) Brian Brown made Apr 11 at 2015 8:39 AM

SPC(P) Brian Brown — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 08:39:50 -0400

Do I know about that date in history? I do! I was stationed in Berlin when the wall opened up. The day (night) it did we were doing an attack on Doughboy City.

Response by SPC David Thompson made Apr 23 at 2015 9:38 PM

SPC David Thompson — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 21:38:40 -0400

I was there when it happened. I served with Brian Brown (posted earlier). We had no warning or rumor at all. We finish an early morning assault on Doughboy City and were having MRE's for breakfast. 1SG Gustafson came and said "did you hear the news?" "No 1SG" I said. He replied "the Wall came down last night." I responded "yeah right, and the Soviets are living in our barracks." On the trip back to McNair Kasern we could tell something was different. There was alot more traffic and Traubi's and Wartung cars were everywhere.