In 1987, celebrating the 750th anniversary of its founding, the two sides of Berlin – the capitalist West and the socialist East – spent the year competing to see who could present the best cultural, historical and political events .

On a hot summer day in June, I was among U.S. Army and Air Force officers at Tempelhof Airfield watching on television as President Ronald Reagan delivered a long-awaited speech at the iconic Brandenburg Gate and the infamous Berlin Wall, built in June. 1961 to prevent East Germans from moving west.

When Reagan said, “As long as the door is closed, as long as this scar of a wall may remain, it is not the only German question that remains open, but the question of liberty for all mankind.” clapping in the room. Then, when the president exclaimed in his polished Hollywood voice, “If you seek peace…come here to this door!” Mr. Gorbachev, open this door! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! The group erupted into prolonged cheers and applause.

After the speech, Reagan traveled to Tempelhof, where he joined a group of American officers and diplomats for lunch and made other private remarks. To my surprise, Reagan revealed that he had held secret but productive meetings on strategic arms reduction with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev for months and had already asked him to make a major peace gesture like opening of the Berlin Wall. Gorbachev responded that the wall was a German problem and that if East Germany decided to open the wall, the Soviets would not intervene. The diplomats, suspecting deception, took their concerns to the president, who assured us he would “trust but verify.”

As an infantry company commander in the Berlin Military Brigade, I told other company commanders that I intended to immediately request an extension of my enlistment in order to be in Berlin when the wall fell. . “You heard the Gipper,” I reminded them, “he just told Gorby to tear down the wall.” So now it’s just a matter of time. Everyone laughed when a fellow commander told me, “If you want to be here for this, you better plan for a hundred year extension!” »

My tour was extended and the pressure for glasnost continued to build on East Berlin’s inflexible and aging regime. In 1989, Gorbachev publicly declared that the Soviets would not interfere with reforms in other Warsaw Pact countries and opened a section of his fortified border with Austria to Hungary. Soon, East Germans began pouring into the Hungarian breach and organizing large-scale weekly street demonstrations in Leipzig and other cities to demand reforms. Finally, on November 9, 1989, tens of thousands of East Germans gathered in West Berlin with the opening of the Berlin Wall, and the party began.

The following cold Sunday evening, they returned home to the East, preparing to go to work Monday morning with lives transformed. Three Americans, including me, had been standing for hours on the Berlin side of the Glienicke Bridge, famous for its spy exchanges during the Cold War, shaking hands and greeting the endless stream of people crossing the bridge back to Potsdam. German chants of “We are one people” filled the air. Many held cans of West German beer in one hand and West German flags in the other, while others staggered under the weight of their purchases, carrying with them every electronic and food item unimaginable in the East and taken for granted in the West.

They welcomed us with joy, offering us chocolates and oranges as well as their life stories. Everyone was happy. Three days ago, they were the enemy. In 11 months they would be NATO allies. This is how quickly things can change.

On another hot June day in 1991, four years after Reagan’s speech, the wall was being removed and Germany had unified as one nation, under the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of ‘Germany. I had been extended again and was now serving as a U.S. military liaison officer to the new German Armed Forces Headquarters in Berlin. In this capacity, I attended a ceremony to reopen the church in Heiland, on the Havel River, which had been closed for years because it was located in the “death strip” area, near the wall .

The pastor delivered a brief sermon before dignitaries, including military officers and diplomats from Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union. Next, German army musicians played a wind quintet by Johann Sebastian Bach. The ceremony embodies a rare moment in history: allies and enemies from World War II and the Cold War sitting together in church to pay tribute to peace.

Over the past 18 months, what was once inconceivable has now happened, thanks to peaceful protests, the unified voice of the people, and a few enlightened leaders with the vision and courage to take appropriate action for change. .

Hopefully this process can now be repeated in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Will we learn the lesson of World War II – “never again” – or will we let recurring fights over territory, ideology, ethnicity, political ambition and escalating reprisals drag us into a Third World War?

To honor Veterans Day and the memory of my grandfather, an infantry company commander who lost his leg in combat with the German Army in late 1944, I hope that our current leaders – American and Europeans – will have the courage to say that “never again”. means “never again”.

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