<rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"><channel><title>fredkempe</title><description>fredkempe</description><link>https://www.fredkempe.com/reader</link><item><title>A Hair Trigger From World War III</title><description><![CDATA[by CARL A. BENNER, VMI ‘60 My name is Carl A. Benner and I was at Checkpoint Charlie during the standoff with the Russian T54 tanks in October 1961. (My memories are a little different than you portrayed in the book.) I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting that extremely tense time in my life. What a great read!I graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in June 1960 and was commissioned a 2nd Lt in the Infantry; proceeded thru Ft. Benning: Basic Officer, Ranger and Airborne schools and shipped<img src="http://static.parastorage.com/media/38d13d_634c754f230445329f646bff1410aa8d.jpg_256"/>]]></description><link>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2014/05/01/A-Hair-Trigger-From-World-War-III</link><guid>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2014/05/01/A-Hair-Trigger-From-World-War-III</guid><pubDate>Thu, 01 May 2014 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title>&quot;He Only Wanted Freedom&quot; — Berlin Wall Memorial</title><description><![CDATA[by CHARLES RAGER I was drafted into the Army in December of 1961. I arrived in Berlin Germany in June of 61. I was assigned to the weapons squad of C Company, 2nd Battle Group, the 6th Infantry’s “Chargin’ Charlie”. One of my most memorable times happened while touring around the Brandenburg Gate. There were four or five of us that went together. As we walked a few hundred yards below the gate we arrived at the memorial for Peter Fechter. He was a young man of 18 who, on August 17, 1962, tried]]></description><link>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2013/05/06/He-Only-Wanted-Freedom-%E2%80%94-Berlin-Wall-Memorial</link><guid>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2013/05/06/He-Only-Wanted-Freedom-%E2%80%94-Berlin-Wall-Memorial</guid><pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title>Preventing World War III</title><description><![CDATA[by AMB. STEPHEN BARRETT I was Deputy Political Adviser in the British Military Government Berlin from 1959 to 1962. In August 1961 I was 29 years old. My career was entirely in the British Diplomatic Service where I worked successively in Cyprus, Berlin, Helsinki, Prague, Ankara, Teheran, finishing as ambassador in Prague (1985-88) and then Warsaw (1988-91). I have omitted intervening postings back to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and a year spent at Harvard in the 1970’s. I am now 80 and]]></description><link>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2013/05/06/Preventing-World-War-III</link><guid>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2013/05/06/Preventing-World-War-III</guid><pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title>Waiting For Russia To Attack</title><description><![CDATA[by WALT MICKLER “Es lebe Freiheit!.” Those were the thoughts of most West Berliners in 1961. When asked by an American soldier what the best thing about Berlin was, his German friend pointed to the American flag in front of the Berlin Command Headquarters. The soldier asked, “What that? I thought most Berliners think that Americans are oversexed, overpayed, and over here.” The Berliner replied, “The flag is not Russian.” West Berlin was 110 miles deep in East Germany, surrounded by 17 divisions]]></description><link>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2013/05/06/Waiting-For-Russia-To-Attack</link><guid>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2013/05/06/Waiting-For-Russia-To-Attack</guid><pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title>Growing Up In The Cold War</title><description><![CDATA[by DANIEL REVAS I arrived in West Berlin as a somewhat naive 17 year old soldier fresh off the plane from Nebraska. In many ways I “grew up” in Berlin. While bullets were not flying, the Cold War that was going on there was as real as any war, and there were casualties. The first time I went on “wall patrol,” seeing the memorial crosses and wreaths honoring those who had lost their lives attempting to escape to freedom in the West, was a sobering experience. The first time I travelled to East]]></description><link>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2013/05/06/Growing-Up-In-The-Cold-War</link><guid>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2013/05/06/Growing-Up-In-The-Cold-War</guid><pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title>Berlin: The Happiest Place on Earth</title><description><![CDATA[by LINDA NOLTEN In June 1962, my West German husband to be (he a recent graduate from the Universität München’s Medical School) and I (a recent graduate from Wayne State University- having spent the previous three years in München) traveled by Bundesbahn through East Germany on one of the post WWII established train corridors to West Berlin (then composed of the British, French and American Sectors). We were thoroughly checked entering and leaving East Germany. Our passports were examined and we]]></description><link>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2013/05/06/Berlin-The-Happiest-Place-on-Earth</link><guid>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2013/05/06/Berlin-The-Happiest-Place-on-Earth</guid><pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title>I Was At Checkpoint Charlie</title><description><![CDATA[by MICHAEL F. RAFFERTY On November 9th 1989 I was relaxing in my home watching the Armed Forces Network, when it announced that East Germans would now have the ability to travel. This of course caught my eye and I called my friend Staff Sergeant (SSG) Nathaniel Brown, who I was supposed to relieve at 6:00am the following morning. I asked if he had heard anything about travel of East Germans and if he had noticed anything different. He told me it was business as usual, no crowds or anything out]]></description><link>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2013/05/06/I-Was-At-Checkpoint-Charlie</link><guid>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2013/05/06/I-Was-At-Checkpoint-Charlie</guid><pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title>An American Doctor Behind The Iron Curtain</title><description><![CDATA[by AMMIEL SCHWARTZ I was posted to US Army Hosp Frankfurt July 1956. After I had been there for six months, I was asked if I would like to be the chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Berlin. I said “no.” I had heard of that job — no coverage, Autobahn, Checkpoint Charlie, Russian tanks, cars and people disappeared, need to get Russian permission to travel, etc, etc. My commanding officers said they valued my opinion and asked me to please pack my stuff. So I arrived and found myself the only]]></description><link>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2013/05/01/An-American-Doctor-Behind-The-Iron-Curtain</link><guid>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2013/05/01/An-American-Doctor-Behind-The-Iron-Curtain</guid><pubDate>Wed, 01 May 2013 09:57:49 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title>Crying For Those Lost</title><description><![CDATA[by CODY K. CARLSON In the summer of 2005, I was an undergraduate student attending the Freie Universität Berlin international summer program. I had long had an interest in German history and was delighted for the first time to visit that beautiful country and its haunting capital city. My primary interest in German history was its participation in the World Wars, and especially the Nazi era. At the time my knowledge of Cold War Berlin covered only the basics. Certainly I was aware of the Berlin]]></description><link>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2013/02/06/Crying-For-Those-Lost</link><guid>https://www.fredkempe.com/single-post/2013/02/06/Crying-For-Those-Lost</guid><pubDate>Wed, 06 Feb 2013 17:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item></channel></rss>