Fulda

Ah, beautiful Fulda. I spent 3 years here in the early 1980's. As a soldier, it's main claim to fame is it sat in the Fulda Gap. The main area between Eastern Europe and the west that doesn't have any natural barriers such as mountains. Napoleon traveled thru it to invade Russia. Invaders from time immortal have used it. And the US Army figured that the Russians would use it if they were to ever invade the West. I think our survival time in an offensive was about 15 minutes. Good thing they never tried anything.

I had several jobs while I was in Germany. I went from a combat engineer (love those demolitions), to Border Operations Radio Operator/Shift Sergeant, to Border Tour Guide for USO and other types of tours, to Flight Observer on the East/West German Border, to Secretary to the Commander (I guess because I was burnt out on the border and I could type). It was very interesting and I truly enjoyed it.

This was the main church in town. After 3 weeks of seeing old ass churches, this got a yawn from the kids.

This got into the mix because when I ran the tours, we went thru town. We always went the same route. Out of the post, by the old church above, then through this arch. All went well, till I had my first double decker bus. It never dawned on me that it wouldn't fit. My bad. Let me tell you, there were more than a few krouts that were pissed off at me. We had to back that damn bus halfway thru town before we could get to an alternate route out to the border. Again, my bad.

This was the headquarters of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. I was with the 1st Squadron of the 11th ACR.

This was the main parade grounds. When I was there, there were no cars or bricks or lines. At times, it was just a bunch of mud with guys and tanks marching around in it. Ahh, the memories.

This is the building I worked in. Headquarters for the 1st Squadron. In Border Ops, I was in a basement by the far door. I lived, for all of 3 months, on the second floor. Ahh, the memories.

This was the building that housed the 14th Combat Engineers.

Our unit patch.

This all happened well after I left.

When I was last here, these kids weren't even a twinkle in my eye.

This is the van that we toured the Alps and Germany in. We needed something big enough to fit us and all our bags. This was a lot bigger that I wanted but it was all I could get (They had a mini Cooper but I passed). Can you imagine trying weave this thing (a stick shift) thru the Alps or driving in German cities. When we turned it in a Frankfurt, it wouldn't fit in the garage. I dumped it on some guy wearing a Europecar shirt. I got away with it, even though there may have been a couple of extra dents in it. My bad.

They knew I was coming into town so they put up a welcome sign. I says "We know you are hung like horse so we have prostitute for you, Bob, you rock more than Madonna". My German may be a bit rusty.

On the way we stopped at the town closest to the old border. I used to bring the tours by here for lunch after we saw the border. The place hadn't changed a bit.

I spent many an afternoons behind this bar.

I think I was here when the plaque on the left was presented. In 1983. Wasn't Michael Jackson not only still alive then, but black.

When I was here, we call it Observation Post "A" (OP "A").

This is a view very close to the old border. The cross is from a failed border crossing attempt in the 60's. When people were killed trying to cross, the locals would put up crosses to remember. Now they do it with smaller white crosses on the side of the road. We in America have also adopted this tradition. Technology marches on.

This is close to what the border looked like in 1985. The maker on the right was a border marker. The fence was behind it and a tower in the background.

This is Jake and I crossing bending the fence. They used to hang directional mines on this side of the fence.

I never thought I'd see the Observation Post from the East side.

This flag flew all the time for everyone on the east to see. I have one of the flags that flew on the border. They were replacing it when I was doing an inspection. Now it's mine.

The view from OP "A".

The town of Geisa. I photographed this town so many time, I thought I'd puke. I never thought I visit it.

The barracks.

A M113 Personnel Carrier. I drove one once. Didn't run over anything. Didn't kill anyone. A good day.

A M-60 Main Battle Tank. We had these for the first year I was there and then we transitioned to the M-1 Abrams Tank.

This is a 2 1/2 ton truck. I drove one of these quite a bit. I think I may have driven this one. You never know.

Us in front of an OH-58 (Bell Jet Ranger). I spent many hours in one of these, doing Observation Flights. The pilots were crazy. I'd be looking down to do a report, see something out of the side of my eye, and realize it was a fence post. No Fear (them, not me).

Kathy and I.

This was an entry made by the guy I used to work for. He was a Lt. Colonel at the time but you could tell he was heading for bigger things. After all, they named a tank after his father. His name is John Abrams and he retired as a four star General.