‘The Potsdam Agreement’ divided GERMANY into four zones of occupation

1. My memories of Berlin 1963 to 1966 ‘The Potsdam Agreement’ divided GERMANY into four zones of occupation British, French, American, and Russian BERLIN BERLIN (The Divided City) was in the Russian zone and the City of Berlin was divided into four sectors. After the Berlin Wall was built the City was divided again into Communist East, and Free West Berlin.

2. Company F 40th Armor was the only American Armor unit located 110 miles behind the iron curtain, inside of Soviet occupied East Germany, and surrounded by 17 divisions of Russian troops West Berlin was truly in a awkward position, surrounded by hostile East Germany, The Russian army, and held hostage by the newly built Berlin Wall

3. Company F 40th Armor Berlin Brigade Turner Barracks Co”F” 40th Armor was located in West Berlin in the borough of Zehlendorf. It was a oversized tank company with 32 tanks

4. Lichterfelde The Berlin Wall stretched over a hundred miles. It ran not only through the center of Berlin, but also wrapped around West Berlin, entirely cutting West Berlin off from the rest of East Germany.

5. Lichterfelde West Berlin was an island of freedom within Communist East Germany

6. “Have Guns Will Travel” That freedom was guaranteed by the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the French and British allies

7. Potsdamer Platz 1963 Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev referred to Berlin as "the testicles of the west vulnerable to his iron grip”

8. Potsdamer Platz 1963 “When I want the West to scream, I squeeze on Berlin"

9. Ernst Reuter Was the first “cold war” mayor of West Berlin “People of this world … look upon this city and see that you should not, and cannot abandon this city and this people!“ ~ Ernst Reuter

10. "Nobody intends to put up a wall” ~ Walter Ulbricht Walter Ulbricht was the Leader of the GDR, The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) He said the above quote two months before the Berlin Wall was built

11. Walled up Versöhnungskirche (Church of Reconciliation) The Church was in the Death Zone and demolished by the GDR Bernauer Strasse became especially symbolic of the inhumanity of the Berlin Wall. People attempted escapes through upper floor windows. Pictures of these escape attempts were seen around the world

12. East German guard shack Top center The GDR border guards shot and killed more than 600 East Berlinerstrying to escape to the west

13. East German guard. He would not look at the camera The population of Berlin was understandably scared

14. Looking east, across the wall and barbed wire Well over 100,000 citizens of the GDR tried to escape across the Berlin Wall

15. Sign in the west, facing so the east German border guards could see it The division is inhuman. The Shooting orders are criminal

16. Lichterfelde Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt appealed to American president John F. Kennedy to make a morale-boosting visit.

17. “Checkpoint Charlie” The symbol of the Cold War President Kennedy came to Berlin and delivered one of the most famous speeches of the 20th century

18. All -- All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin. And, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner.“ Picture from the internet On June 26, 1963, in a speech before 200,000 citizens of Berlin, President John F. Kennedy declared “Ich bin ein Berliner,” meaning, “I am a Berliner.”

19. "We will never have another day like this as long as we live," said Kennedy as his plane lifted off from Tegel airport. He died just a few months later American Flag at half-staff for President Kennedy's assassination Anybody that was in Berlin that day will remember the cannons going off at (BB)Berlin Brigade headquarters on Clayallee. The cannons went off every hour it seemed for weeks.And the genuine love the Berliners had for president Kennedy. Everything closed down.Stores had pictures of Kennedy draped in black in the windows. It was a sad time for everyone

20. Lichterfelde Only a few thousand American, British and French troops stood in the way of complete Russian domination of West Berlin

21. Motor Pool - American Flag I asked a German friend, what the best thing was about Berlin . The reply “the American flag at the Panzer Kaserne”

22. Company F 40th Armor Berlin Brigade Turner Barracks We were a tripwire for World War III, but what a great tripwire we were. If an invasion had ever occurred we would have inevitably lost, but the price that the enemy would have paid to take Berlin would have crippled them ~ posted on the Berlin Tankers web group 21 August 2005

23. The following pictures are just a few from my time. Thousands of soldiers served at Turner Barracks from 1951 to 1990. August Santini Conrad Schornhorst

24. Roberts,  Schleupner,  Pauley,  Thompson,  Henderson,  Fitzpatrick Note: Everyone has a hand on a beer

25. August Santini Isaac W. Seay John Tavares Conrad Schornhorst (Flag) Arnold Perry

26. Grafenwöhr Toledo Rivera

27. Ronald L Newlin

28. Santos Gamino Ronald L Newlin

29. James F Vogel Leslie T Cason

30. Ray Guidry  James Vogel William Hatcher

31. Hatcher Mayer

32. Newlin Ramsey Perry Grobaker Irzarry Short Trznadel

33. Ramsey Davis Hoffman Perry Newlin Trznadel Grobaker

34. Ronald L Newlin John Trznadel

35. Gordon Iles Bill Knock Bill Harbin

36. Grafenwöhr Dunham Fugate

37. Elmore Newton Roland Brown

38. Irzarry

39. Marc Cowe was 17 when he arrived in Berlin. He left Berlin in 1966 and went on to distinguish himself in Vietnam along with many others from Turner Barracks When He left the service he was disabled Marc took his own life with a single shot in April 1997 When a free nation sends men and woman to war their sacrifice must be honored and rewarded. These people deserve our thanks, respect, support and more importantly a place in our memories. - Oliver North Marc A Cowe

40.  Command Sergeant Major Kent Vickers Vietnam Berlin Kent Vickers was a First Sergeant in Vietnam 2nd Squadron,17th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)

41. Sergeant Bill Moyer Korea, Berlin, received a Purple heart in Vietnam Bill Moyer

42. Command Sergeant Major Jerry Sodosky U.S. Army 1961 to 1988, Vietnam Veteran, Two tours in Berlin (1963-1966 and 1967-1970) Served over 20 years overseas duty, Highest Award: Legion of Merit

43. Command Sergeant Major Jerry Sodosky

44. Ramsey did 3 tours in Vietnam Rick Ramsey

45. Stuart Short 1st sergeant, Vietnam Veteran 1967-1968 Tank 15  Aggressor forces in the Grunwald

46. Berliner Kindl & Currywurst Not far from the U-Bahn station Oskar-Helene-Heim Stuart Short  

47. Here’s a few more random pictures Picture from Conrad Schornhorst Ed Sullivan at Co F 40th Armor

48. Company Tailor

49. This was our ‘Slop Chute’ a small room in the basement of Turner Barracks slop chute noun slang:a tavern frequented by military men

50. Brandenburg Gate Winter 1964 Picture from Ray Guidry “The Brandenburger Tor” is a monumental gate built in the 18th century as a symbol of peace. During the Cold War the gate became the sad symbol for the division of Berlin and Germany.