It was really the first time a country had built a wall not to keep people out, but to keep people in. I visited West Berlin several times in the 1970s, and my Boy Scout troop even camped out within eyesight of it once, and let me tell you, it was a life changing experience. To see the guard towers, to hear the stories of the people that were shot or blown up by land mines trying to escape to West Berlin, and then to travel inside East Germany and see the Russian Soldiers with their guns walking on the streets--it's not a memory I'll ever forget.
One time I accidentally entered East Germany with proof that my father worked for the US Department of Defense on my person. (Not a good move--Wow was my dad mad at me that day). Another time we were taking a train through East Germany and Russian soldiers came into our berth and searched all of our luggage--screaming at us in a language we couldn't understand.
East Germany was simply the scariest place I've ever been. I'm so happy that it's gone forever (as it was in the 60s and the 70s).
