B is for Berlin

An Alphabytes Entry

Since I am not going from the list Alphabytes has, I thought I'd go my own way 100%. :)

I moved to Berlin in 1981. I was yanked out of Italy, with about 9 days notice. My dad was an SEA at our base in Italy and the Commander had moved to Berlin. He got there and decided he wanted my dad up there, and called him and told him he was having orders cut for him and we should expect to be there within 3 weeks. So, within 4 days the movers were there. My friends who were out of town on vacation, came home to find my house empty and us living in the hotel off base. Preparing to leave. I had a grudge against Berlin because it was removing me from such a happy place in my life.

We drove into Berlin, stopping at Checkpoints Alpha and Bravo, both Soviet and Allied checkpoints. We drove through a city of the likes I'd never imagined. I think I was in love with Berlin, within the first few moments. Italy became a passing memory. We drove in to Templehof, the Air Force base. My father was a history teacher for the University of Maryland, in his free time from the AF. You can bet, every foot of Berlin we were taking in, through our windshield, he was giving us a history lesson. Templehof was the crown jewel in my father's lesson that day.

It was one single building, the entire AF base of Templehof, existed in one single building. From the sky, Templehof was built to resemble an eagle, of the Third Reich. This huge stone building was commissioned by Hitler, prior to WWII. It was the air port for a time. But the runways were too short to accommodate more modern air traffic. As we pulled in, he was pointing out areas where fires had burned 32 years before. (Soviets got there first, and destroyed much of it.) I had no idea how much history I was about to learn. I just kept thinking "Wow, this is the third largest building in the world?" (I forget what it ranks now, 6th or 7th?)

We parked and were following the signs to the billeting when we were rushed by a group of armed airmen (SPs) racing the other direction. As they ran past, they were saying "Out of the way, out of the way, hijacking" At the foot of the steps we headed towards, baffled by the "hijacking" comment. We met our sponsor. As he shook hands with my dad he asked if we'd like to go watch a hijacking unfold. He was so jovial about it, we thought surely it was an exercise. So we walked down to the Red Baron Ice Cream Parlor and grabbed an ice cream and a seat and watched a Polish hijacking. I knew, the second I realized it was for real, that I was going to love Berlin.

We walked up through the Flag Hall to the Command Section, to be shown my dad's new office and to see Col. S. (My dad's former commander from Italy.). My dad was so excited, I don't think his feet hit the floor. He looked back at us, my mom grabbing us to slick our hair down and fix our clothes...What a laugh! He said "You guys ready for this? The adventure begins."

He could not have been more right. The nearly 6 years we spent there were incredible.

I cut school in my freshman year, with a group of boys and we went to Duepple and broke into some bunkers that had recently been uncovered, having not been opened in 30+ years. Not as smart as I'd like to have been, I was busy looking for metal goodies (lugars) and never stopped to pick up the papers all over the ground. We were caught by some Germans who owned the construction company. They held us for hours and questioned us forever. They kept threatening to call the police. We pretended to know nothing. They finally let us go when Gary finally convinced them he was an insulin dependent diabetic. (He was, and fading fast.)It was such a near miss, I did not tell my parents about it for 2 years. Then it was an accident. My dad was only angry that I'd never picked up the papers on the floors. Who knows what I missed?

I attended Jr high and high school there, I got married and had my son there. I met two presidents there (Reagan and Bush Sr.) and one Chancellor, Richard von Weizsacker, and several celebrities, including William Shirer. I had some of the best moments in my life, start there. I made friends I hold dear to this day, from there. We attended special invite only picnics every 4th of July, with the Soviets at Potsdam. We were close with our Allied counterparts and their families. Life was always an adventure in Berlin.

There's no real way to end this little memory adventure, since it was so endless, for so long. So I'll simply close it here and save my wanderings for another day.

-30-