European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 7, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A dilapidated Fence separates a now obsolete East German watchtower left from a . Tower near Fulda along former Border that split Germany. A amps Guy Schuettz omission accomplished i by Serge Schmemann new York times the two watchtowers near Fulda Germany stand vacant and silent now the Fence Between them ripped and the cracked Concrete sprouting Hawthorn. Their confrontation seems All the More obscure in the Beauty of a Golden autumn afternoon. The wind whistling through the broken panes brings snatches of a tractor chugging across a Distant Field or the bark of a dog from the tile roofed Village nestled in the Hills. Otherwise nothing moves. Like something from Shelley s ozymandias the watchtowers seem to Rise from the forests and Fields like monuments to forgotten rivalries and vanished empires. A scant year ago heavily armed men stood in those at each other and reporting every move they saw. The was the front line of the cold War the trip wire of world War Iii where the Border Between East and West crossed the fabled Fulda Gap the ancient invasion corridor through which the soviet army would try to punch if Moscow chose to Challenge the West on the Western Side men of the . Army a crack 11th army Cav regt stood at what they called the Quot Frontier of Freedom Quot with the latest in american Armor an soldiers along former Border Ponder future electronics. On the other German democratic Republic Border guards sat watching and photographing the americans but even More their own countrymen who occasionally tried to Rush the formidable fortifications at the risk of their lives. Behind the Hills to the East the soviet 8th guards army manned the Periphery of what was still the threatening soviet bloc. Master sgt. Robert Mccord still remembers the strange feeling when the Quot enemy Quot first came Over. Quot it was unnerving to see an East German officer whom i clearly recognized from the cameras walking through Fulda Quot he said. A that was in december a he d been on Border patrol in the morning and came Over to shop in the  More recently he said soviet officers have begun to come Over some in full uniform. Quot it can be confusing a you develop the perception that this is the enemy and suddenly he a in your Back  even More disorienting is that the former East German soldiers Are now Allied German soldiers and their soviet made equipment is now on the Western Side. Quot All your life you train to defeat these tanks and now they re yours Quot said Mccord. The sergeant also remembered the first time he stepped Over the Border himself. Before the Wall came Down the Border was the front line and to Cross it was to violate everything the 11 the armoured was trained to  we always had strict exercises on not crossing the line. We practice this we showed this to our people a Here s the line Don t Cross it Quot he said drawing an imaginary line through the ground. Quot so when i did it the first time i Felt i was doing something immoral. It was a very strange  Mccord and his German born wife now visit regularly on the Quot other Side Quot and friends from there visit them. There is no Border anymore its All just one Germany. A newly paved Road crosses the former line near observation Post Alpha. The 11th armoured is still there but the patrols along the Border stopped in february and the officers have been careful since then to keep their tanks and radars Quot Over the horizon Quot from the former Border. The Mission now is continued on Page 14 november 7, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 13