European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 12, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                June 1985 the stars and stripes Page 9 we Are the ss3s Lovit an East German guard Tower left As seen by a Pupil of bad Hersfeldt elementary the schoolchildren gaze across the River and fences into East kids get a glimpse into East Germany  want to live Over there in a million years by Don Tate staff writer its the the bad Hersfeldt gang is going to see the Guys who live on the other any Chance we can Cross the line a fifth grader asks the army Buzz Van under no dont Cross that you never know what could the line is the Border Between East and West no Yelling or screaming or acting cautions the  be watching Calls out Oakley principal of bad Hersfeldt elementary As 26 fifth and sixth graders scramble aboard the show them How american kids make them Arent americans Good Are the kids All Here a grownup glances around wait a wheres Robert which Robert Hersfeldt elementary Only about 8 Miles from the is the closest american school to that other the study trip Mceachren has arranged is to give them a glimpse of something they wont learn from Dick and something of value to think about As the school year Why is there a Wall Between the anyway teacher Jann Van Dyke asked her to keep tourists and Riffraff out of East is one Windshield wipers thumping in a drizzly the bus lurches Wayne turns his baseball Cap around backward and he int scared of any whatever they and if their old guard dogs come at Why hell just Tell them to Bug his Wiser Robbie talking past a sizable potato Chip in his says Hes heard you dont get much food Over All they got Are army no regular excitement Ripples through the theres the first observation the Young people pile led by their military Charles Bumgardner of the 1st 11th army the sergeant takes them Down a Road that suddenly he Calls it the Berlin to Frankfurt autobahn that Hilter was building to last a thousand it never got halt Hier says the sign near the White pole with the red Stripe at the that the stretching out behind that Are three steel mesh Gray the says the Are fed Only every three they dont want them to get too they want them hungry and the rear continues is the new signal Fence with Power antennae and electrodes in it that set off silent alarms in control panels in the the old Fence had tripwire flares and mines on when someone touched they knew they were in now they dont know anything until a patrol grabs the kids Are listening and gawking at it i cant get these binoculars to someone is i keep getting two of there Are i see them i see them cries 11yearold Jill the dogs there in the Tower cries another somebody hiding in there a Little Black spot is moving i see a four legged says Bob what it they dont give them anything to so if anybody tries to come they just eat Bumgardner is pointing toward two villages in the near the people in that Little town have to show them How american kids make them Arent americans Good get permission to visit the people in that other Little even though there almost i  go Over there in a thousand says i see says his i think there going to Tell the general now the kids crowd Back on the bus that soon brings them to the second observation on this Side of a Brown Little River running in front of a quiet Little a very quiet Little the Middle of the River is the Bumgardner tells the the russians took the top off the Bridge to keep the people from getting people have escaped across Here but now its really they usually have a directional microphone Over there Thall pick up just about so if you dont want them to hear dont say wheres my twinkle somebody what is that Castle up there on that Hill a boy wants to its just the Castle on the replies a person is in a what whats in there a person i dont think anybody in says the peering through his nobody supposed to be in on Over that Way theres a russian where Are the people in the town wonders Renee in the Middle of the i dont see any theres a guard staring at but where Are the real people Bumgardner Aims a forefinger at houses across the theres some Flowers Over but you never see anybody tending there May be some old people some very old 1 know there used to be an old Man and old woman in that it used to be that every time one of our helicopters would Fly along the the old Man and woman would get up in the top window and one Day an East Ger Man patrol spotted went nailed the window then painted Over it so they  see out any see that Little old lady behind the tree a boy Shes wearing the Little old lady in red she must be a Little old communist i dont want to be a Joanne wags her me bubbles Bob i see a Guy standing in the Castle window with a big machine gun youve got Good says raising his 1 cant see its a big Long machine gun like i Hes swinging it Back and now theres two of i see says another eyes i think i see were sure getting Good intelligence out chuckles the shaking his the boys and girls file Back to the discussing what they saw and what they think they saw and what it All i  want to live Over there in a million whispers from beneath his baseball on the Way its raining and the kids seem a Little As the bus winds through the Hills away from the one voice another picks it then and pretty soon there All singing the we Are the world the bad Hersfeldt gang we Are the children there Are people dying its time to lend a hand t the bus Rolls on in the away from the the Gray and the Tittle old lady in