moose135
2009-11-09, 08:12 PM
Tonight marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I know it sounds like ancient history to some of the younger members here, but for some of us of a certain age, it's still hard to believe that it happened. Growing up, it was a given that there would always be a Soviet Union, and there would always be two Germanys. As an Air Force pilot, sitting EWO alert, it was more than just an abstract idea. And having gone TDY to RAF Mildenhall, refueling West German Tornados over the Buffer Zone adjoining East Germany, it was very real.
Months of turmoil and protests in the fall of 1989 caused the East German government to ease travel restrictions between the East and West. On November 9, a government spokesman announced the upcoming easing of restrictions. When asked when the changes would take effect, and not having any additional instructions, he replied "Immediately". When this news got out, thousands of East Berliners swarmed the wall, demanding to be let through the gates.
I remember watching the news that night, astounded at what I was seeing. As I said, growing up, the Berlin Wall was a fact of life, and seeing it fall was something that I never expected in my lifetime.
The Berlin Wall came to symbolize the separation between the East and West. Along with the larger Inner German Border, the fortified frontier which separated East and West Germany, it came to be a physical manifestation of what Winston Churchill had called the Iron Curtain. Over the years, thousands risked death or imprisonment by attempting to escape across the border, and more than 1,000 have been reported to have died in their attempts.
Months of turmoil and protests in the fall of 1989 caused the East German government to ease travel restrictions between the East and West. On November 9, a government spokesman announced the upcoming easing of restrictions. When asked when the changes would take effect, and not having any additional instructions, he replied "Immediately". When this news got out, thousands of East Berliners swarmed the wall, demanding to be let through the gates.
I remember watching the news that night, astounded at what I was seeing. As I said, growing up, the Berlin Wall was a fact of life, and seeing it fall was something that I never expected in my lifetime.
The Berlin Wall came to symbolize the separation between the East and West. Along with the larger Inner German Border, the fortified frontier which separated East and West Germany, it came to be a physical manifestation of what Winston Churchill had called the Iron Curtain. Over the years, thousands risked death or imprisonment by attempting to escape across the border, and more than 1,000 have been reported to have died in their attempts.