European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 3, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Patrol it s never routine by Don Tate staff writer the dogs.,. It s harder to fool he dogs. First one barks then another and Mother until noses lifting they re into full throated howling. Not the most comforting of sounds on a Bleak Day. You ran fool the sometimes Blind its the East German Border troops but the dogs know. And anyone approaching them knows. The dogs make a statement that chills. Each time the dogs Start up this 10-Man american patrol stops dead in the Forest. Or flattens out in the Blanket of leaves. Or fades into the weather. Three times the its on the other Side of the tall Fence come searching binoculars peering into the dribble Mist of the sloping Forest. The Trees on this Side Are mostly Bare but the patrol led by Sec. Jeffrey Herman of Lancaster pa., stays unseen. Then they re humping again. It s hard to work quietly because the footing is treacherous zigzagging Miles of steeply Uphill and downhill terrain Over big Slippery rocks gurgling streams and wet Greasy Brown yellow and Black leaves covering Hills of mud. They re sliding sometimes falling. Crabbing hold of thin trunks and pulling jerking themselves upward tree by tree at times. One Man goes Down hard just misses impaling himself on a Long Sliver of Wood up thrusting like a Slimy Bayonet from a fallen tree. The patrol accompanied by a medic pfc. John Higgins of Cupertino calif., is in full Battle gear carrying m-16s and Light loads of ammo. One troop carries an m-60 machine gun and another 200 rounds to feed it. If they ran into real trouble they would have to use he ammo sparingly until help arrived. The idea of course1, is not to become a flashpoint in history. Not is snarl the tanks to rumbling but to prevent a thai. But this Border has t been called the Iron curtain for nothing. Routine patrols Are never just routine. Anything could happen that s he reality and these men All seriousness that certain look in their eyes Are primed. This patrol out of Fox troop 2nd so 11th army Cav regt is moving flush to the Border which along the rugged stretch North of the Meininger Cap is often marked by no More than a couple of Blue and while strips of paint on tree trunks. It is not unknown for a  roller walking on the sides of his boots along the sharper slopes to find himself sliding downward into East Germany before scrambling Back. The Border of Trees twists sharply this Way that Way. Watch out or you re Over there. Weather that usually ranges from misty foggy to Rainy snowy with the sunlight briefly seeping Between cracks in the Clouds troops bet on what minute during the Day the Sun makes it through can also be less than an ally. Soldiers say that one patrol Leader groping trough the fog recently looked up and saw looming just ahead the East German 50 meter Fence. He shot Back the other Way. The language of Border patrols is Fence this and Fence  there s the 50-meter Fence the one 50 meters inside the Border. It s old Rusty Brown in places but with Long stretches new and Silvery and the mesh so narrow you can t get your fingers into it which is the idea. Farther Back is the 500-meter Fence electronically tuned. Touch it and it flashes a signal in the nearest guard Tower. Then the its come and the dogs. There were mine Fields they re gone now a gesture of humanity from the other Side. But the rest of it in the Era of glasnost openness the fences and towers the guards and guns the anti vehicle ditches Haven t moved. Nor have the dogs that howl like wolves. Those dogs Are part Wolf part German Shepherd part lord knows what the soldiers say. They Are not poodles. I saw some of them Frozen last year fee s Raigh up in the Snow says a trooper. The East germans came by in a truck scooped them up tossed them in Back and tied Down some More in their places the dogs helped to slow but have never stopped the desperate flights to the West. Even the not so desperate. In a nearby East German town a few weeks ago two Iron workers got to drinking and conjecturing about what life on the other Side would be like. Drinking and conjecturing. Conjecturing a Little More drinking a Little More. In their euphoria they made a dramatic decision break out sure Freedom was what they wanted. One of the besotted Iron workers having just spotted with his Girlfriend Felt payback was in order. So he and his Friend borrowed her motors cooler and according to accounts with no apparent plan at All except hopping on and aiming the Scooter West they sped wildly toward the Border. In one of the More bizzare dashes to Freedom they breached some said that in heir Light headless hey simply floated Over the electronic Fence then rashly cleared the last Fence before befuddled guards could Slop them. Sheer alcoholic audacity had won the Day. Sobering up the next Day however the Iron workers grown less steely even Meek rethought their daring deed. Tails Between their legs they decided to return to their comrades and girlfriends in he East. And were allowed to. Whether they Are now happily reunited no one has heard. One of the great adventures any patrol could run Inlo would be an escape attempt. Their orders Are to put their bodies Between those who have crossed Over and those trying to bring hem Back. That could mean has meant shooting. On this Day nobody is breaking out. Lust chainsaws whining and fires burning where the East germans Are Clearing land near he Fence the easier to see would be escapees. The patrol keeps going. Bull labor up and Down Down and up. The patrol is re conning a 12-mile stretch of the Bleak and Gray dodging the other sides probing eyes most of the Lime strolling almost innocently out in the open at others showing the uniform. Whatever they see they radio Back As Lac reps tactical reports to Camp Lee a few Miles behind the Border. All very by the numbers. There is Only so much grim in an american patrol s veins however. Gazing through binoculars into a Tower across the Fence spec. 4 David Call of soul port n.c., can t help cracking to spec. 4 Kevin Smith of Salem ore., who packs the radio do you realize that Guy Over there looks just like you he s a sorry looking mama then grunts Smith. When the patrol emerges from the Hills to gobble some lunch in a Clearing across the Fence from the Village of helpers they spot a by hiding in the Brush Halfway up a Hill Binos glinting watching them eat. I see you you sneaking so and so laughs pfc. 1 in Cronin of Millis mass. Communists can always be spotted by a Good  or even a Republican. It Crabtr 3, 1987 Tori put Migu int 13