War and Peace
by Melanie Hemry
The pewter sky over Berlin in February 1989 looked as icy as the Spree River. Keith Kurber’s footsteps crunched in the snow as he paused to look at the river. Many people, including children, had drowned while trying to cross the Berlin Wall that, for 28 years, had loomed beside the rushing waters. Rescuers were forbidden to help them.
The wall, made of reinforced concrete, stood 12 feet tall and 4 feet wide and was topped with an enormous pipe. Huge guard towers manned by soldiers who were ordered to shoot escapees on sight, created an environment of constant menace. On the East German side of the wall, a strip of soft sand, floodlights, vicious dogs and soldiers patrolled an area aptly called the Death Strip.
Despite the danger, thousands of East Germans had still risked their lives to escape to freedom. Some jumped out of windows next to the wall. Others crawled through sewers or dug tunnels. A few escaped in the dark of night by hot-air balloons. Just days earlier yet another young man had been shot attempting to flee to West Germany.
Keith sighed. More were sure to die in the future.
Berlin was a dangerous city caught in the grip of notorious groups such as the East German Secret Police, the Soviet KGB and Russian Special Purpose Forces. They were all undercover and could be anywhere.
Keith, however, was unlikely to attract their attention. Speaking German and dressed in locally procured civilian clothes, people passing him on the street assumed he was a native. In truth, he was a U.S. citizen—a Green Beret who had been trained for clandestine operations deep behind enemy lines. For more than 40 years during the Cold War, Green Berets had carried out some of the most sensitive operations in a country teetering on the brink of World War III.
BVOV : 19
