Berlin and the American Military: A Cold War Chronicle

This book is not a scholarly study of the topic. Instead, it reads like a yearbook. There are photos and maps of barracks area, headquarters, and the various duty stations. If you were a member of Berlin Brigade, as I was (1970-1972), it is a great book for remembering old times. If you weren't, it helps you to understand the the general atmosphere of the times and place. As in any yearbook, many of the personal memories that individuals would like to see appear are missing, because there just isn't space enough to satisfy everyone's nostalgia - nothing about the British NAAFI (PX equivalent), with its wonderful bookstore, delicious cheese sandwiches on rolls (which I'd love to be able to duplicate), men's clothing (suits, etc. - the American PX was weak on dress clothing) or the French PX, where married couples (and a few single people) bought glassware and gourmet foods or any of the many civilian places to shop or go for entertainment. On the other hand, just as in a good yearbook, there are a lot of items, such as the German-American Volksfest, that I had mostly forgotten until pleasureably reminded by this book. A reader can get some idea of what it was like to ride the duty train or be at Checkpoint Charlie or go on a training exercise or live at the old Prussian Cadet School, with the 1933 Olympics swimming pool at hand and Nazi era adminstration buildings converted into a PX, movie theater and serviceman's club. If you or someone close to you is a Berlin Brigade veteran, or even you're not, but would like a look into what it was like, I highly recommend this book.