I was one of the lucky American soldiers to be stationed in Germany when the Berlin Wall fell, but what I want to share about that event was how the wall come down from the start of a trickle, like ice melting in the mountains, a drop of water rolling down picking up volume and speed, so much so that when it reaches the valley below, it becomes a force that can transform the landscape.

I arrived in Europe (West Germany to be exact) I was there witnessing the whispered unrest coming out of East Berlin, particularly, and Eastern Europe in general.  I witnessed with pride (and I say pride because I was an American, product of liberty, justice and apple pie.  And East Berliners were a product of fear, darkness, and the Bogeyman).  I watched as, one by one, East German leaders resigned, ending with one named Egon Krenz, who spewed promises to be a different leader than those that preceded him.  He promised to relax the decades of restriction, and everyone should calm down and within time, he would bring fought the wanted social adjustments.  Now, as you can guess the populace was not going to wait, the proverbial genie was out of the shattered bottle, and Pandora’s box was smashed open.  There was no turning back. 

One of the East Berlin protesters ran for the wall. The guards who were always trained to shoot, hesitated as the protester climbed the wall and was greeted with a tremendous cheer as he was assisted over the wall by West Berliners who had gathered by the thousands at Checkpoint Charley on the West Berlin side of the wall.  Another East Berliner ran to the wall, and climbed over with the same results, now fearless, ten charged the wall, then fifty, then hundreds of East Berliners began charging the wall, and climbed over.

The East Berlin guards sensing that they were in the path of a tsunamic historical event, did not want to find themselves on the wrong side of history.  The lowered their weapons and stepped aside, most, disappearing into the human tide that swept toward the western shores.  Thousands on the west side lent aid to the fleeing easterners by lowering ropes, some produced hammers and started chipping away at the wall, thousand aped this action and soon gaps, then holes, then huge spillways started appearing as sections of the wall collapsed.

East Berliners flooded into the west through these openings.  I watched transfixed, heart-pounding, tears flowing, as long-separated people were once again united.  The pride threatened to explode in my chest as I realized that I was part of the mechanism that united these people, that I was an American soldier stationed in Germany, and that I helped bring this iconic change in human history….