Surreal…Bizarre…Unprecedented
Words like those above pour out of every television newscast and almost every conversation during this most unusual time. Some of the feelings associated with those words came back to me this week. I’ve had them once, and only once, a long time ago.
About five years back, I began a project that I never completed. When Helen and I returned home after an Army assignment in Europe, we brought with us over 1,300 slides sitting in trays and locked up to gather dust in the attic. I discovered those slides when we downsized and realized that I needed to preserve them, or a lot of great memories would be lost. After I purchased a slide converter from Amazon, I started the process and converted 500 of the slides to JPEG digital images and stopped there, promising to complete the task within a few days. A few days lasted five years.
We had rainy weather on Thursday, and I decided to look for the slides and complete my unfulfilled promise. They were in a box under some blankets destined for the Rescue Mission. I pulled out 300 of them, thinking that would be enough for the day. I found the slide converter in a closet in the Man Cave and plugged it in—all the lights came on, and the SD card was in good condition. Game on! The first slides I converted in this batch were from a trip to Tangiers, in Morocco in 1974.
Before I get into a description of the remaining slides, I should provide a frame of reference for the period covered by the images I want to show to Easin’ Along readers. Please forgive the grainy photos. Some were taken with a Kodak Instamatic.
In 1972 Helen and I moved to Germany after graduation from the University of Tennessee. I received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant through Army ROTC. We both were very excited about the adventure that lay ahead. After all, the world was at relative peace, the pay and benefits were good, and I needed a job to support my new bride of four months.
After two years and a delightful variety of assignments within the 3rd Infantry Division in Wurzburg, Germany (Northern Bavaria), the Division Commander, MGen Sam S. Walker, selected me to serve as his Junior Aide-de-Camp. General Walker, a no-nonsense kind of a guy, proved to be a challenge to work for, but I considered the selection as an honor and jumped right in at the ripe young age of 23.
Within a few weeks, General Walker received an assignment to serve as the US Commander of Berlin. He wanted Helen and me to go with him. Although we loved Wurzburg and the friends we made there, the opportunity to serve in a quasi-diplomatic post near the heartbeat of the Cold War appealed to me greatly, and we climbed aboard.
My first task was to drive the General’s car through Communist East German checkpoints and on to Berlin. The General and Mrs. Walker took the train. At Checkpoint Alpha, I was waved into a parking spot by an East German soldier and directed to enter a small guardhouse to have my papers scrutinized. Carefully, I gathered my ID’s, Passport, and the registration for the General’s car. I had read too many spy novels by this time, and I was confident that the East German and Soviet soldiers standing around knew that I represented a high ranking American official. At any moment, they would pull me into the rear of the guardhouse and beat me with a rubber hose until I spilled all the Top Secret information entrusted to me. I passed my papers through a hole in an obscure window to a pair of waiting hands.
Suddenly, a door beside the window opened, and a Russian soldier came and stood next to me. He was tall with a shaved head. His thigh-high black boots shined almost mirror-like, and he looked very young…maybe 18 at best. I looked down to see if he had cuffs or a rubber hose. Seeing none, I breathed easier and waited for the return of my papers. As I waited, the young Russian began to make hand motions to his lips while staring at me. At first, I had no idea what he was doing, but he began uttering a soft hissing sound almost stuttering. Finally, that hissing sound became a very butchered pronunciation of the word “cigarette.” The young Russian wanted a Marlboro, and I did not have one to give him. He was very disappointed, but handed me back my papers and sent me on my way—no cuffs needed. We made it through Checkpoint Bravo and on into Berlin without incident—except for the East German guard at Bravo, who asked me for a Playboy magazine, and if I’d I had one, I would have given it to him. We were now behind the Iron Curtain.
That story takes me to the slides I mentioned at the beginning. As I worked through them on Thursday, I came to the slides from Berlin, and I once again felt the feelings that were always in the background there. The Berlin Wall was not far from our quarters–and my pregnant young wife. Tanks would roll down the street in the middle of the night, rattling our windows. Almost weekly, the news would come over Armed Forces Radio detailing the killing of an East German fleeing oppression and attempting to make it over that wall. I made many trips to the wall and to Checkpoint Charlie to try and understand the need to keep a country’s citizens contained. I wanted to run across the border and ask the “why” question, but barriers, barbed-wire, and the threat of bullets prevented that.
There was no need for social distancing back then, and, as energetic young people, we socialized and made the very best of a life lived behind a wall, much like we do today while standing six feet apart. We wore uniforms, not masks, and every one of us stood together, doing our part to deter and defeat an enemy we barely understood. We did it one day at a time. We’re in a fight against a different enemy now.
Helen and I were long gone when that wall fell and life improved for the East Germans. The circumstances now are much different, although death is among the potential outcomes. This wall will crumble too. It will require all of us to work together, but it will happen. When this barrier drops, life is sure to be different, hopefully for the better. Maybe we will no longer have to hear words like surreal, bizarre, and unprecedented.
We’re stayin’ home, but we’re still Easin’ Along.
Emory Kassern, Wuerzburg Elementary, KaDeWe, Edelweiss lodge and 100mph in my VW.
My husband and I met in Wuerzburg, fell in love in Berlin and got engaged in Garmish—in 1980. When the wall fell I had a friend send me a piece.
The last few weeks have reminded us of the lines and snitches of East Germany, and the veil I had to wear when we served in Saudi.
We took many pictures of the countryside—we should have been taking pictures of the people. WE are, hopefully, going back to Garmish in August.
Thanks for taking me back to those wonderful days!
Good morning, Janette,
You have some wonderful memories…cherish them. We returned to Wurzburg in 2000, but it had grown much larger and some of the charm was gone. Have not returned to Berlin. Hope you make it to Garmish. Our niece is working there as an intern after graduation and loves it. She’s probably doing 100mph in her VW! Thanks for visiting Easin’ Along. Stay well. Joe
I was just describing to my PT therapist what we had to to do to drive from Berlin thru East Germany to get to West Germany. People didn’t or don’t realize that Berlin (East AND West) was an Island city surrounded by a wall of barbed wire, cut glass on the top of a wall, guard towers with armed guards who looked like they were 17, and more. I remember thinking I’d see only barbed wire out my kitchen window and was pleasantly surprised at the beauty & size of the city! Plus we were lucky to be stationed there twice! (And what a difference 10 years made). Thank you for writing this and thanks for the “no” fashion comments🤷♀️Hope to see you guys soon!! 😘
Hey, there!
I kinda liked the fashion…that was a cute dress! I agree that no one realized the effort required to drive to Berlin. Most took the train and a few more flew in (and out). I’m hoping you can remember the names of the folks in the photo because I only recognize some of them. Looking forward to seeing you later this year. Talk soon and stay safe! Joe
Thank you for your sharing these memories. It is so good to have the digitized versions.
I recently converted quite a few slides using a similar device. I ran out of energy and time. Just before Christmas, the downtown library launched a free service, allowing you access to good scanners to convert slides to digital. It works well, but is limited to two machines, by appointment. They do ask you to come down for a “checkout” before you start.
Then, I noticed a promotion of Groupon (I think) for half price services by Legacy Box. They are located in Chattanooga and seem to be a first class outfit. They document every step of the process and keep you updated. I was quite pleased with the outcomes. They send you shipping materials, you load it and inventory it and return it. The confirm receipt and update the process. I was very pleased. You can get results online to download or via cd or memory stick for varying prices. I used the download and it went quite well.
If you have questions, let me know and we can talk.it sure saved a lot of effort. I will be having more done soon.
Vernon
Hi, Vernon,
I thought about using Legacy Box and if I had known about the Groupon, I would have used them. My process is going ok, and I only have a few more trays to complete. This has been a fun project, and I should have stuck with it when I started almost five years ago. It’s been one of the better things to happen during this chaos. Thanks for stopping by. Stay in touch. Joe
Hi, Joe – This is such a facinating history! Thank you for sharing it with us.
I am very impressed by your work on your slide conversion project.
My photo cleanup project is moving along VERY SLOWLY! 😀
Hey, there,
The time to finish my slide conversion has been one of the better things coming out of this mess. Great memories. Our time living in Germany was very special. I would love to hear about some of your memories of Beijing. Be safe and stay well. Joe
What incredible memories, Joe! How fabulous you found the slides and are converting them. A worthwhile project, indeed. My husband’s father was a young man in Germany during WW2. He eventually made his way to the states in the 60s via Colombia and Chile where his kids were born. I never met him, as he passed in 1995, but I understand he was very German! He worked for PSA in San Diego for years before computers and hubby tells me it took 3 people to replace him. Best wishes on converting your slides! May we all discover life affirming tasks during this unusual time !
Good morning, Terri,
The one thing I loved about the Germans I befriended is that they worked very hard. They also knew when to take a break and loved to spend time on Sundays taking long, slow walks in parks and gardens. I can’t help but think that this period we’re in will cause some Americans to realize the value of slow walks and taking the time to focus on what’s important. At least I hope so. I have 200 slides left to convert. It really has been a fun project looking back 30 years or more. As soon as I complete that project, I going to use some slides of past pets in the Sunday Stills challenge. So glad you stopped by! Joe
That’s quite an intriguing walk down Memory Lane, Joe! Not only was this a perfect project for your time at home, but I’ll bet it generated some excellent conversations with Helen as you re-lived your past. I’ve been re-living part of my past, too, from my banking career days. As in, why did I keep these two boxes of training materials for 30 years?! Good to know you’re staying busy – and productive!
Good morning, Mary,
I’ve had a very good time with the slides. Finally got into some taken when our second child was born and in the early years after. He always wanted to know where his baby pictures were. Well, we found ’em! Bank training materials?? Surely there’s a museum somewhere that would love to have those. Stay well and stay safe up there. We’re planning to hit the road in June and getting excited. I want to reflect around a campfire…