West Berlin Archives

You will Discover and learn About West Berlin Archives you don't want to moss Norm's Story!  

In 1962 I was in a retail management training program and decided that this would be my business future.  I had already quit Fordham U., Cornell U., and had some courses at NYU and Hunter College. I had a draft number that would have been called when I was 26 years old.  The company that I was with suggested that I could volunteer for the draft (two years service) and when I got out I would get incremental increases and a promotion.

I volunteered and showed up at Ft. Dix in early March, 1962.  In our initial muster we were told that they had some trainers sent to Vietnam and asked if anyone had military experience.  I had 2 years of ROTC, had passed officer qualification exam and, not having a fraternity at Fordham U., joined the Pershing Rifles precision drill team (which spent school breaks at Ft. Clark, NYS National Guards training facility) developing  and testing combat techniques for possible use by the Green Berets.  I was handed pull-on sergeants' stripes and became Company H, 3rd Platoon acting Sergeant.

I was the only one sent to Germany.  The day after arriving in Frankfurt and after a short interview, I was on may way to Berlin and was engulfed in what became, and still is, the most emotionally and unforgettable time of my life.  After 60 years of keeping secret's, I still remember every minute that I was part of the of this democratic and cultural resurrection of the people of Berlin.