European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 20, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A few words people enjoy a sunny Day in East berlins the stripes photo Don Tate a trip into East Berlin is unsettling experience by Don Tate staff writer i put Down a 5mark the re faced bartender handed me a gleaming in the with a big head of foam on then he gave me Back 6 Marks in i liked the Way they sold Beer in East or at least at the Berliner Beer Garden in Alexander not Only was this the land of free you earned interest while you drank the waving me would not take Back the extra i liked a mistake was a mistake was a it was a warm saturday afternoon in the Beer All up and Down Karl Marvallee red flags there were cops on every sometimes several i sat Down at one of the Little White tables with a uniformed american we were the Only two americans among the Eastside Beer the sergeant was he had driven a West Berlin tour bus Over at the next table a Jack booted East German Soldier held hands with a Blond there was a lot of landholding going on in the who in addition to his military work had driven tour buses from West to East on saturdays Par time for had seen some interesting sights in he told of soviet and other communist soldiers approaching him and asking what the stripes on his uniform could possibly they had been taught that because i was i  have any rank or they insisted Black people we rent allowed to do anything in America but sweep streets and clean i told them it want like but it was no use telling them they just gave me funny Spring in East the sergeant talked about the he called it a Case of temporary insanity that kept getting i noted that some of the Young holding hands and gazing into each others didst seem to care which Side of the Wall they were on this Lovely if youve never known How can you miss it the sergeant a lot of them dont even know it As the they know it As the anti fascist protective to keep people like us if youve never known do you miss it he pointed across the Square toward a heroic mural stretched across the entire Side of a depicting the Joys of being alive on this Side of the anti fascist protective a camera comes nosing out of that picture every so he like some animal coming out of its it looks around the then goes Back into watching you protecting just like the when you see you Start getting a bad he is where the communists show tourists should Stop the deeper in you the worse the feeling it just wraps around kind of even the air seems to in the Flowers were in the mostly visitors from other communist were they were so the children were so the babies were so where were the crying babies b where was the Joie de the singing Energy you saw along the Kud amm on the other Side of the Barrier in there were quiet but no belly hand holding seemed the hottest ticket in there was More smiling among the people inside the Beer Garden than out of out of the Beer besides holding quite a few people ate Little ice Cream some of the older people licked their ice Cream Cones so grimly it was As if each lick was their perhaps they had known better ice or knew other the next a Man would be shot to death trying to escape Over the anti fascist protective heading in August some people a Day were streaming from East Berlin heading just before the anti fascist Barrier was in the old ice Cream eaters sat in the Licking their Little ice Cream now a Man and a boy walked and after a few Uncertain sat Down at our the Man had a dark moustache that curved Down around the Corners of his he looked like somebody out of an old it seemed a bold stroke for him to sit Down with with a Black sergeant being interviewed by a White journalist from the other whoever he he could speak a Little he said he was from he said he was trying to get the his Fivey Earold to the boy had a serious ear he but there was supposed to be a doctor in Paris who could fix it was supposed to be All arranged for them to reach he the Man pulled out a picture of himself when he was a Small he seemed to want to prove that the boy was really his the picture looked much like the the boy looked at the picture and the Man continued to try to communicate their need to get to he pulled out train schedules All the Way from Romania to he had jotted Down each major Stop in a Small he hoped to get there he or at least a number of people in the Beer Garden were eyeing us one had to wonder was this some kind of setup some anti fascist trap now the Man asked whether we knew i the sergeant seemed a we All tried to talk about the Way Paris must be in the must be a great different from there was much shaking of furrowing of the boy moved Over and put his arms around the the Man looked almost a Little desperate in his a Little run Down looking in his old movie he kept trying to communicate the meaning of getting to it seemed to mean a lot to and the boy in his 20 stripes Magazine june