HISTORIC NARRATIVES

          I enlisted in December 1958. Basic training was at Ft. Dix (N.J.) followed by advanced training at Ft. Devens (Mass.). After a number of weeks I was transferred to Frankfurt as a German linguist. Others receiving this assignment were products of the the Defense Language Institute in Monterey (Calif.)  I had learned the German language earlier and “tested into” the German MOS at Ft. Devens.                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Our first posting in Germany was to Frankfurt, billeted downtown in Gutleut Kaserne next to the train station.  Daytimes we were bused to the I.G. Farben building, headquarters for the Supreme Allied Command, where the ASA had offices and where we practiced telephone intercept in preparation for the assignment in Berlin. Transfer to Berlin occurred in late spring of 1959, where our group of five arrived for billeting at Andrews Barracks. Our work station was at the easternmost “tower” of Tempelhof airport.                           The laid-back character of duty in Berlin is well described elsewhere on this site.  In October 0f 1960, it came to an abrupt end when officers and enlisted men from the Berlin mission were transferred out of the city following a security breach. I completed my enlistment at Herzo Base in southern Germany before returning to my home in New York City.                                 Stateside, I completed Master’s degrees in linguistics and librarianship, later working as librarian in Long Beach, Calif. (California State U.) and retired in 2005 from the University of Southern California.  Post-unification, I made numerous trips to Germany, especially Berlin. In retirement, I had the good fortune to work as docent and archivist at the “Wende Museum of the Cold War” in Culver City, Calif. With its focus on Berlin and divided Germany, this volunteer occupation has really brought me full circle.

Armen Tashdinian has written about the 280th as he knew it. I remember him from my first year there along with two of the people he mentions in his bio, Doug Moore and Jon Miller. For many years I remained in contact with Jerry Gathings from our group but none of the others. 

It's truly amazing how the years melt away after contact with people who are 40-plus years distant. Thanks to John Hanft and Bev Howard for supplying the blowtorch to that half-century iceberg.  

I guess most of us formerly associated with the 280th have done OK.  After all, we were, and maybe still are, "the cream of the crop."  I live on a golf course in Jacksonville, Fla., after an eminently successful career in the periodical publishing business in NYC.  My wife, Beth and I, have two wonderful children and three grandchildren.  The sad part is that they live so far away.  My daughter in Darien, CT, and my son in Richmond, VA.  All in all, we have a terrific life doing whatever we please.  

By the way of a biography, when I occasionally reflect on my time in Berlin, the people I knew, the common experiences we all enjoyed and most importantly, the coming of age as a man, I am almost overcome with nostalgia, wanting to relive those golden memories.  In my heart, I feel putting those memories on paper would somehow betray them

My late father, David Barrett, worked as a Russian language translator and intelligence analyst from ?"1956-1961 in Japan and Germany after studying Russian and Spanish at Syracuse and Berkeley. 

Dave was in Heilbronn and then Berlin assigned to the 280th ASA when it was being restructured and renamed the 78th ASA until he resigned not long after the wall went up. 

He was delighted when he read the memories collected by Bruce Mouser in 2014. He was impressed and remembered it all, especially the Zigeuner Keller, a Hungarian restaurant on the Ku'damm. My father and my German mother, Gisela, were among the few who lived in an apartment on the Ku'damm. 

Professor Mouser's reminiscences created an opportunity for us to talk about those years, which he almost never did. Interestingly, he became a computer systems analyst when he left the NSA and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area with my mother.

Nicole Keshav

Daughter of David Bruce Barrett 

I arrived in Berlin November/December 1960.  I wanted to go to Germany when I joined the Army.  My recruiter told me that the Army Security Agency was a good unit to join having a very good chance of being sent to Germany.  With the results of the aptitude test, after basic training, I was sent to Fort Devens for Morse Code training.  

After completing Morse Code school I was asked to, and agreed to, an additional 8 weeks to Radar Jamming School.  The top finishers had choices for stations.  Of the top five finishers all of us chose Germany.  We didn't know our final station until we got to Frankfurt.  We had to wait for our security clearance and when they came three of us went to Berlin, one to Kassel, and the other to Bad Tolz.

In May of 1961, after 5 months of settling in and getting used to my job, I met the young lady that would become my wife for 58 years.  After a Mid Shift, a couple of friends and  I had a few bottles of beer and continued our immersion blending into West Berlin.  We went to the Wannsee to spend the day at the beach.  I saw two girls on a blanket close by and told my buddies that I was going to get a date with one.  I introduced myself and got a date to a movie at the Outlook Theater.  We got married two years later.  Unfortunately, when I submitted papers for permission to marry a German National, I lost my security clearance and was reassigned to the mail room - Goodby Grunewald.  

I was shortly told to pack up as I was being sent to Frankfurt.  We were escorted to the Bahnhof by four MP's two in front and two behind.  No one was allowed near us.  In Frankfurt, between April and June I had multiple jobs.  Since I was the ranking NCO in the processing detachment I had te job of helping processing people with their appointments.  Every morning at roll call I gave everyone their assignments for the day.  When President Kennedy came to Frankfurt on his way to Berlin we spruced up the Gutleutkaserne painting some large rocks that lined the roads and walks.  Keeping me busy, I was also teaching some servicemen's wives how to drive.  Another connection - one of the wife's husband's retired and was on the staff at the University of Maine Medical Center, and she and my wife became good friends.  After discharge and separation from the Army, I finished my degree in structural engineering. 

My journey began one night in August 1956 when Little Rock Central High School classmates returned from basic training in the Army. We enthralled with their tales of Ft. Bliss and Juarez.  One evening, as we observed the manual of arms demonstrated with broom sticks, we made a wager that changed our lives. “Ten bucks says you won’t go down to the recruiting office with me in the morning.”                                                                                                                                                                                                               After basic training at Ft. Chaffee and a train ride to Ft. Devens, the Army split my buddy up with him going to Hawaii and me to Russian language school and on to Berlin, Germany. Over the next 22 months in the 280th I made life-long friendships and experienced things I had not imagined. Who can ever forget Chateau Briand at the Mason de France, dancing waters at the Resi, an early morning Schultheiss at the Wiener Stub’l, or Orazio Reale? After an 87 day break in service, during which I enrolled at Arkansas State College, I re-enlisted.   A 3-year tour with the National Security Agency was followed by another tour in Berlin, only this time there was a wall dividing east from west and I had a wife and infant daughter. My duty station was in the Grunewald, not Tempelhof (Times had changed.)

In 1966-68 I matriculated at Georgetown University in WDC on an Army program. I sometimes shared a lunch sandwich with another Arkie, a future President named Bill. I received a BS in Languages and Linguistics had another daughter, and in retribution for the two years at a university I was sent to remote Sinop, Turkey. (Anybody ever see the movie Papillion?) I didn’t have to swim out, though, because my parole came in the form of a direct commission to 2nd Lieutenant.

 Spook school at Ft. Holabird and another six years in Munich interspersed with brief stints stateside and I wound up back in Maryland where I retired as a major in 1979. During this period a neighbor once asked my wife if she knew where I was on one of my frequent official absences. She replied, “I know where he is, just not who he is.”

 In 1983, I returned to run a small multi-association management company in partnership with my wife. I had long whined because I didn’t have time to put in print the stories clamoring to get out of my head, so one day she said, “Stay home and do it, get on with it.” For the next two years she ran the business and I wrote “Valley of the Blind,” a semi-autobiographical tale. Maybe I’ll get around to making the agent’s suggested revisions and you’ll see it in better discount book stores someday. On March 1, 2003, we tired of the daily grind and closed the business.

In 1959 I was in my first year of college in California and ended up with a Honduran roommate.  After a year in school, my roommate decided to go home for a visit.  I decided to go with him.  After 6 months in Honduras, I returned to the U.S.A. and went back to school.  My draft board, however, noting that I had dropped out of school, said it was time to join the Army.  After taking the multiple tests required as you go into the service, I was given an option.  Sign up for three years (as opposed to being drafted for two years), and they would send me to the Army Language School in Monterey, CA for a year of Russian language study.  I took the three year option.

After a year of studying Russian, I was sent to Frankfurt Germany for several months of "on the job technical training".  Then, in the fall of 1962, I was sent from Frankfurt to West Berlin and got into real work.  I enjoyed the work very much and managed to tolerate the Army. Promotions came quickly, and Berlin was wonderful.  I met the lady who became my wife. At the end of my three years, I left the Army as a Staff Sergeant (E-6).  After travelling in Europe for several months, I went back to California, got my BA and MA degrees from UC Berkeley and immediately joined the U.S. Foreign Service.  That was 1967.

After a career in the Foreign Service of almost 30 years, with tours of duty in Panama, Poland, Singapore, West Germany and Bolivia (including a number of tours in Washington, D.C. and a number of temporary duty assignments overseas) I retired and ended up in Tennessee, where I sill reside.

I was born in California in 1946.  My dad worked for the phone company and mom worked for Howard Hughes when he was building the "Spruce Goose" and was the phone operator for General Patton before the invasion of Africa.  They moved to Oregon before I was a year old.

 At 2, I was confined to bed with an unknown malady, and was forced to stay there for 6 years.  We found a doctor who was participating in some children trials.  We traveled 100 miles every two weeks while I got my prophylactic penicillin, and he got his test results.  Due to the illness and confinement, I learned to read at a very early age and was doing my dad's college math and science homework by the time I was 6.  

With little or no exercise I was not athletic and when I graduated from high school I figured the Army would reject me. I dropped into the recruitment office and the doctor there passed me.  Due to my ability to test well, they offered me Army Security training.  I did not have a clue what that meant.  I went to Fort Leonard Wood for basic training, and then to Fort Devens for Morse Code Intercept Operator training.  I just couldn't type fast enough without mistakes so the Army diverted me to Non-Morse Intercept Operator training which I passed first in my class.  They offered me 3 years in Berlin or Vietnamese language training - I took Berlin.

I spent 3 years in Berlin working at Teufelsberg.  I was  a young man, turned loose in one of the greatest (and still is) cities in the world.  I met a kind, intelligent young German woman and got married.  My family came to Berlin for the ceremony provided by my father-in-law at a royal hunting lodge in the Grunewald.  It snowed the night before and many of the guests couldn't get out of their homes, but the horses showed up on time with a polar bear rug for our lap.  I was discharged in Berlin and we travelled through Germany, Austria, and Switzerland before heading home to Oregon.

I went to Portland State University, but didn't graduate. I became a professional taxicab driver and had a lot of fun.  After 7 years, we got divorced and stayed friends. Eventually, we each met someone new and remarried about the same time.  The next thing you know, you've been married to someone else for 43 years.  The last 20 years of working I was driving a 53 foot trailer mostly locally.  I worked for the same company and retired when my wife said she was ready for a new experience.

We couldn't have children of our own and we started housing exchange students.  After a while, we started taking full-year, regular high school juniors (16 years old), and had 6 of them.  They are still "our kids".  We have travelled all over the world to spend time getting to know their families and have become real family members.  My wife has been "Mother-of-the-Bride" at three weddings, and we have 7 grandchildren (so far).  All of the natural parents have accepted us into their families, with grace and pleasure.  That is how we managed to retire in Hungary. On a second visit to our Hungarian son's family we realized we could live quite comfortably on our SS benefits.  We bought a 3 BR house, pay a little for national health insurance and the only tax we pay is on our car.  I have lived a  life of joy , and continue to test wines for the Hungarians as a public service.

I was born in Hayward, Ca. in 1935.  I grew up living  throughout the USA following my fathers career as a reverend.  After attending college at Penn State and Ohio State I enlisted in the Army and had a long, successful career.  I qualified, (approved by the National Security Agency) to join the Army Security Agency and after basic training I went to the US Language School in Presidio, CA.  After graduating as a Russian Linguist I was sent to the ASA station in West Berlin.  When my tour of duty was up, I was an E5 Trick Chief.  After my discharge and going home, I found it difficult to get a job and re-enlisted.  They said I was qualified to be an officer in the ASA and I accepted.  After additional training I was sent back to Berlin commanding a SIGENT Team operating on the relatively new station on the Teufelsberg. 

I had a long and successful career for more than twenty years in military intelligence as a Captain in West Germany, a Major in Vietnam and other jobs for the NSA, I retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.  My service included 2 Legion of Merits, a Bronze Star, a Joint Services Accommodation Medal, 2 Meritorious Service Medals, 2 National Defense Service Medals, an Army Accommodation Medal and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm.  The basis of this success was mostly because of the education I received about freedom and democracy while living among the West Berliners. 

I continued service in retirement working in military and intelligence industry for more than thirty years including Ford Aerospace and TRW, as well as many years as a consultant to the industry.

I enjoyed retirement in San Luis Obispo, Ca. for the last 25 years.  I kept active in politics, active in Veterans' organizations, and fighting for the rights and benefits for all of our veterans.

I grew up in Luana Iowa (Northeast Iowa).  I left college in my junior year and got my draft notice in the spring of 1961.  Instead of the draft, I enlisted in the Army ASA.  I had my basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo.  I was the top rifle marksman in my company and was scheduled for Arabic Language Training at US Army Language School in Monterey, but switched to the 12 month Russian Language program.

I was shipped out to Frankfurt in Sept. 1962 and was on my way to Berlin in Oct. 62.  As a point of reference - The building of The Berlin Wall had started in Aug. 1961.  I was a Russian Language communication interceptor on  B Trick.  We would typically work 6 Days (from 8 AM to 4 PM), 3 days off, 6 Swings (from 4 PM to Midnight), 2 days off and 6 Mids to 8 AM with 3 days off.  This schedule and unlike the Regular Army troops, the OK to be off base in civilian clothes (Tie & Jacket) allowed me to interface with Berliners and explore the city's culture attending concerts and opera.

I took a European discharge and traveled through Northern Europe and East Africa.  I attended many colleges and universities and lots of diverse job explorations.  I finally settled on owning and operating a Montessori Preschool in a Seattle suburb with my wife and two children.  I have lived in the Midwest, San Francisco and am currently living in Santa Fe, N.M.

Life has been good. 

I enlisted in the Army in March 1967.  I was sent to Ft. Dix, NJ. for basic training and then went to MP school at Ft Gordon Ga.

I was assigned to Field Station Berlin after MP school (the 78th ASA later became the 58th ASA.  I worked all three remote sites off and on, doing the 6 days on 2 days off rotating shifts.  I preferred working the Hill, since there was always some in and out traffic as opposed to the sites in the Grunewald and Rudow.  I need to mention how everyone loved it when the British Fish and Chips  truck showed up.  Eventually I was assigned to "The Cage" at Headquarters working permanent daylight hours.  When off duty it was great come and go as you pleased from Andrews Barracks and mingle socially into West Berlin

I fondly recall traveling as courier/security on the overnight duty train from West Berlin to Frankfurt.  Although forbidden, at stops in East Germany we interacted with the Russian/East German border guards.  In exchange for our small pistol lighters, Playboys and the like for Russian Uniform medals and Russian Army Belts and buckles.

I was promoted to Sgt E-5 in March of 1969.  I became a squad supervisor of 6 or 6 other MP's.  When I married a German national in 1970. I subsequently lost my TS/Crypto clearance and became the driver for Col. Hamilton.  I was discharged at Ft. Hamilton , NY on March5 1971.  

I returned to my hometown of Columbus, OH and became a police officer for the Columbus Police Department.  After 7 years working patrol, I was assigned to the detective unit working on a variety  of assignments.  I took advantage of the VA benefits and financial aid from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration to obtain a Bachelor's in Criminal justice.  

I retired from the police department in 2000 and my German wife passed a year later.  I worked as a Private Investigator, site inspector for the US Department of Health and Human Services, background investigator for the US Customs and Border  Protection, and the National Security Agency.  I remarried in 2003 and we love to travel.  In addition to most of the western European countries, we have been back to Berlin three times (WoW!!! has it ever changed over the years).

I was born in Youngstown, Ohio in November 1941 and raised in a nearby rural township. I graduated from high school in 1959.   Lacking funds for full time college, I found a clerical job and began evening courses in art and math at Youngstown City College.  I faced a military draft that would catch me before I could finish college.  A pre-emptive Army enlistment with a choice of vocational training looked like good way to gain useful experience and dig out of the snow. 

After a battery ot tests my scores showed I was qualified for a top-secret Army Security Agency that worked with electronics and foreign languages. I was told that this was almost certain to have an oversees assignment. This appealed to me as a way tp get as far as possible from the dreary Mahoning Valley.  I took the bait, was sent to New Jersey for basic training and on to Massachusetts to become a Morse code radio intercept operator.  I enjoyed a great New England summer.  Eight to five in classes and weekends touring New England under the tutelage of a young local girl I met through fellow soldier-student from Boston.  I did well in school and chose an assignment in Europe over one in Asia.  I was sent to Frankfurt and then Berlin, after a miserable North Atlantic troopship crossing in November 1960.   

I was initially dismayed by my Berlin assignment, 110 miles behind the Iron Curtain.  I had hoped to travel around Europe on my free weekends and vacations, but access to Berlin was limited to a special American ‘Duty Train’.  My dim vision of Berlin was based on the “Third Man” movie, set in 1946 Vienna and piles of rubble and seedy bars.  Arriving in the middle of Winter didn’t help.  Short, cold, and overcast days with long and even colder nights.  My childhood Alemannic German, along with a few key words like  “Umsteigen”, “Pils” and “Currywurst” got me around and kept me nourished while I explored the city.  The Army’s ‘Language Lab’ at Andrews Barracks where I slept helped bring my German along while many Berliners my age had studied English and were happy to “practice” with me.

Our work in Berlin was directed by National Security Agency civilians, although the Army’s attempts to maintain military discipline when we were off work were a constant irritation.   We worked in the middle of the Grunewald forest along the Havel River monitoring radio broadcasts from Soviet agents in the West and their controllers in the East.

The off-duty advantages of a Berlin assignment quickly became evident when spring arrived.  My co-workers, many college educated, or financial drop-outs like myself, taught me to appreciate Berlin’s cultural life, classical music, and opera.   I continued painting, pencil sketching buildings and city scenes around the city and filling them in at the barracks win ink, water and oils.  I enjoyed concerts by Ella Fitzgerald. Louie Armstrong and others.  I took evening college courses through the Army’s Extension program and earned two years of college credit.   I also made life-long friendships, met my future wife, and learned to sail on the Wannsee.  

I returned to Ohio in June 1963 with enough money to attend undergraduate school at the State University in Columbus.  A year later I brought my Berlin fiancé to Ohio where we married. Hanna (nee Hannelore) worked as a librarian while I did odd jobs to fund my undergraduate studies. We lived in a basement apartment until I earned a degree in Business Economics.

 I returned to Berlin with Hanna to begin Graduate studies at the Free University in 1966.  Her parents took us into their Wilmersdorf apartment.  I tried black market ‘jobbing’ and landed an evening position running a Laundromat for the American Military. This kept me free to study and gave me access to the to the Army’s sailing fleet on Wannsee. Student protesters closed the Free University halfway through my second semester.  I returned to Ohio and finished my dissertation. 

I became an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  I finished my PhD and worked up to VP of research.  An offer to a Swiss bank in Zurich was attractive.  I got to publish the quarterly UBS International Finance, an analysis of economic problems and prospects.  I took an early retirement where I can wander the fields and woods around my home on Zurich’s Uetliberg Mountain.

After finishing basic training and language school I was  posted to the walled city of Berlin and assigned to the 78th ASA-SOU from early 1963 to late 1964.  I was a German/English translator at the recording desk, at the east tower of Tempelhof  Airport. We watched the single engine plane escaping from Poland buzz the field and land and watch the DC4's, 5's, 6's and 7's disappear between rows of apartment buildings before landing.  Sitting on the Tempelhof East Tower roof and watch the summer sun rise at 1:30 AM was one unique experience having grown up in South Georgia.  Another unique experience was the lesson learned that first winter what the meaning of "Cold" and how important the right clothes are when I came close to frostbite simply waiting for a bus at 2:00 AM.  When we were moved up to the station on the Teufelsberg (Devils Mountain) the view became a spectacular view of the city that was becoming an emotional part of me.  Berlin Currywurst becoming my favorite street food also helped.

I  didn't drink, so I and my camera did more prowling around Berlin than many, most of it via on one of the, then newfangled, "10 speed" bikes to the point where I could get to most parts of the city faster than by car, bus, or subway (shhh).  The Ku-damm was a frequent destination for us since we worked rotating 'tricks' and there was still high activity after midnight.  Occasionally, walking through our residence we would stumble across the units resident guitar virtuosi and join with college scholars debating philosophy

When I arrived, the unit was still in a "lockdown" following the retention by one of our unit members who fell asleep on the S-Bahn and woke up in East Germany and was turned over to the Russians.  The general atmosphere in the unit during my stint was a very hard core "us against them" where the "us" were operators working for the National Security Agency - mostly on a single enlistment, and "them"  were the regular army cadre who didn't seem to know or care what our job was, and that came across as hate with a passion that we faced with our 10 or so hour work shifts.  From our living quarters at Andrews Barracks, we could occasionally hear machine gun fire from the East/West fence near us.  The regular sound of East German machine guns underscored the importance of the mission, so we worked our asses off to assure it was carried out and accomplished despite interferences from whatever source.   Decades later, I had an unexpectedly strong emotional reaction the night the wall came down... it was an interesting journey.

A COMMENT FROM THE LATE BEV HOWARD'S WIFE, REBECCA:   Bev cared deeply about the impact the 78th made during the critical period in which he served. He shared many treasured memories with me and friends throughout his life. In later years Bev stimulated memories and connection with other veterans who served during this time. He created his 78th forum to do this. The feedback and interactions he had with those who participated in any way meant a lot to him and he found joy in working on the forum facilitating a place for everyone to share memories and thoughts. One of his last wishes was that he would find someone to take over the forum. I'm eternally grateful to those of you who have done this and more! I know that Bev is grateful also. Thank you! 

It started in Iota, Louisiana, - Cajun country. By the time I was six years old, I had lived in La, Tx, Ak, Ca, back to La. in third grade then back to Ca. for sixth grade. I graduated from Reseda HS, having lived in 13 different homes. 

After high school, I worked as a linotype operator at Deluxe Check Printers and a drill-press operator at Bendix Aviation. I was attending Pierce Jr. College. I quit my job at Bendix and attended LSU.  When I couldn't get a job at Bendix for the summer, I worked at Flying Tigers. I couldn’t save up enough money to go back to LSU.  I hitched across the country for a month and decided to join the Army. I took a battery of tests and qualified for ASA. I chose ASA as it was a chance of going overseas and being able to attend an Army school. 

I enjoyed boot camp at Fort Ord and  I decided to sign up for Air Borne. When the ASA recruiter heard about that, he came to see me and asked what the hell I was thinking.  I said, “I want to jump out of an airplane.” He  set me straight and I was back in ASA.

My first day at Fort Devens ended up in the hospital. I slipped on some ice ( never living in a cold climate before) and smashed my index finger on the corner of the foot locker.  Ten days later, I got out of the hospital and was given a 30-day medical leave. When I got back, I started Morse code intercept school.  I graduated high enough in my class and was able to choose to go to Europe and was sent to Berlin. My classmate, John Sutterfield, was also sent to Berlin. My first week in Berlin I was sent to help clean up the top of the “rubble pile (Teufelsberg)”  I was then assigned to B trick. My first day, I was designated to drive the deuce and a half to work. Never  having driven in ice or snow, I scared the hell out of the guys in back sliding around.

My last year, I was promoted to trick chief.  Homies I remember on B trick were: Bob Suttles (who married a German girl (who named his son after me), Newman, Newt Samson, Cal Rollins (056), Bob Hardwicke (maintenance), Chuck Wassel, Bob Rosen, Martin (E5 from Turkey) and Brian Desmond. 

During my time in Berlin, I became friends with several British soldiers, two of whom I am still (2023) in contact with. I also got to be friends with a German family. I was just getting to the point where I was learning a little German when I left for the States on the USS Rose. I loved Berlin and made many friends. 

After the Army I got married, finished my education and ended up in Chico, California, teaching handicapped students. I retired in 2001 as the Director of Special Education for Butte County Office of Education. 

I must mention my “brother” and roommate Phil Kraus. When he got out, he came to California and became part of my family. I was fortunate enough to be best man at his wedding, and he is godfather to my daughter, Jill. We see each other  at least once a year. He also finished his education, worked for the Veteran's Association, went back into the reserves and retired as a Command Sergeant Major. 

I made great life-long friends in the Army. 

I was born on a train somewhere around Belle, WV.  I went ot West Virginia U in 1962 where I discovered freedom, bars, and women.  When the university and I parted ways, Uncle Sam quickly greeted me. I just as quickly enlisted with at least some hope of where I wanted to go.  I was told about the ASA and told to pick 3 language choices. I chose Chinese, German, and Russian, and the Army said Russian.  Then I was off to Fort Dix for basic training, the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Ca. and on to Goodfellow Air Force Base for security training. 

My flight to Frankfurt is a story itself.  Left Morgantown WV. to LaGuardia in Jan. 1968. No crew available for our plane and we loaded most of the baggage ourselves and sat in the plane with no heat waiting for the crew.  When we finally took off we had to return due to engine trouble. We sat in the plane for 8 hours - no A/C, no food, no water, full toilets.  Tried again and didn't get off the ground.  The next day, fortunately, the flight was uneventful.

After my interview in Frankfurt I was sent to the SIGINT unit on the Teufelsberg. There I ended up as a Russian Scanner. The last 6 months I was on a computing project aimed at automated collection, interpretation and related processing.  I had the good luck to live off base and spend time with the Berliners.  I truly enjoyed the work, the people and the sometimes wacky adventures.  I could have made it a career had my first wife didn't object to military life.

I returned to WVU, finished a BA in Russian and got a MA in German while teaching Russian and German.  Logically putting all that good training and education to use: 1975-1977 I worked at the school's personal rapid transit system, 1978 moving into the university's computing service group as technical writer and retired in 1999 as computing director.  From 2000-2004 I was a National Science Foundation principal investigator for a project delivering information technology courses via internet to the state's colleges and universities.

I new many students, faculty, staff  and management during my university time, but very few of them came close to the talent and humor of the ASA folks that I knew and worked with in West Berlin.  When I returned to Berlin for a unit reunion in 2000, I felt that we had accomplished what we were supposed to do.  When I see the internet pictures of Teufelsberg today, I'm positive we did.  My Monterey and West Berlin years, plus the people I met, remain a highly cherished part of my life. "Missio Perfecta" 

Born September 27, 1939, I was given the name Henry Neal McKenzie but was called “Neal” by my family, friends and everyone else in Lanett, Alabama. As one of the lower level of supervisors at the mill, Dad could not provide for his family of a wife and six children and pay for college education.  If I were to go to college, I would have to pay for it myself.  Having worked in the mill during my last two years in high school, I had enough money for a couple of terms at what is now Auburn University.  After two terms in school, I dropped out to work for two terms and continued this pattern for about three years. By late 1960 I had completed  about two years of college study. In the middle of the Fall term of 1960, I dropped out without notifying the officials at Auburn. This resulted in grades of F in all of the courses that I abandoned.  After a few months learning that I was not suited for selling encyclopedias and realizing that I could be drafted at any time, I decided to take advantage of the US Army’s offer of “Choice, not Chance”.  I told the Army recruiter that I would sign up if I could go to the Army Language School and learn the Russian Language. The recruiter gave me a contract that, after Basic Training, I would be assigned to the Russian program at the Language School. The fine print said that I had to pass a language exam, but this was rather easy .

After a couple of months at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and a month’s leave back home in Alabama, Private E-2 Henry N. McKenzie was enrolled in a 9 month Russian language course at ALS in Monterey, California.  I was a so-so student but performed well enough in class to avoid assignment to Alaska or northern Japan.  In June of 1962 I arrived in Frankfurt, Germany  learning what I would be doing with my new and sketchy, knowledge of Russian.  In mid-August, 1962 I arrived at Andrews Barracks in Berlin to begin nineteen months of listening to, translating, and transcribing Russian Army tactical communications, - “low-level traffic”. While at times the routine communications were tedious, at times interesting, and from time to time, of use to people up the Chain of Command, all the way to the White House.  My first work location was at Tempelhof Airport. Then we moved our location to “The Hill” in the Grunewald Forest. Our positions were manned 24/7, and we were assigned to “Tricks” that rotated our days and hours of work with six “days” from 8am to 4pm and two days off, six “swings” 4pm to 12am and two days off, then six “mids” from 12am to 8am followed by three days off. To the best of my memory, I was assigned to “D” Trick for my first year or so in Berlin but, in late 1963, was assigned to “straight” swings from 4pm to 12am, five days a week, giving me a high level of independence for my last several months on the job. I had no sergeant to answer to, and I could virtually come and go as I pleased. 

Since I had no regular “contact group” with whom to interact, my association with the other “Spooks” like me exerted a life forming impact. There were only a few of us in Berlin during my time there. Most were very intelligent young men, many college dropouts, we felt like we had some good training, and we were doing important work, and growing in knowledge and experience.  Much of what I have done in the 60+ years since my 19 months in Berlin has been influenced by what I learned from, and experienced with, the other members of the 78th ASA SOU.   Thanks, Guys!

ln 1964 I returned to civilian life in Alabama.  My parents had moved to Auburn, and they bought a house two blocks from the campus. I moved in with them and finished a BA degree.  In December, 1966 I again dropped out of school (master’s program) and moved to Atlanta, Georgia to look for my “life’s work”. I found a job, and found and married the love of my life. As I write this we are in the fifty-seventh year of an extremely happy marriage that included a daughter and a son. Shortly after the marriage, the educational benefits of the G.I. bill were reinstated and I went back to school. This time, I was a rather good student who earned a Ph.D. in Economics. This led to a thirty-two year career as a classroom teacher - the perfect “life’s work” for me.  Somewhere along the line I also became an ordained Baptist minister and am now a frustrated would-be-author who has a great story in his head but has been unable to transfer it to paper.

Ruth Myers

Military History:

I joined the U.S. Army in 1979. Completed basic training at Ft. Jackson went to Ft. Devens for morse code training.  After that, my duty station was Field Station Berlin. When I first arrived in West Berlin, I stayed in the old SS (Andrews) barracks but several months later the new barracks were built and I was bilited there. 

The mission on the Hill was very important and I think everyone stationed there knew it. It is an extreme privilege to have been stationed there and to have worked with some of the finest people in the Army. I still get together with several of them and I organized a reunion some years back and need to do it again.

I went on to be a teacher of U.S. History in the high school arena. This mostly took place in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. My husband, Bobby, and I moved to Waynesville, N.C. in 2019 and I retired from teaching in 2022. We sell kettle corn now at big events and farmer’s markets. Our goal is to travel around the U.S. in our camper and see all the national parks. I traveled a lot when I was stationed in Germany and now I hope to see more of the good ‘ol U.S. of A.

I attended Michigan State University from 1959 to 1963, majoring in Zoology.  Following that, I enlisted into the Army Security Agency in Coral Gables, Fl. in October 1963.  I had my basic training at Fort Jackson, SC and was then assigned DLIWC for the 37 week Russian language course in January 1964.  I got married in DLIWC chapel in June 1964, then graduated with honors in December 1964.  I was then sent to Vint Hill Farms, VA for advanced technical training.  In April 1965 I was transferred to serve in the 78th Army Security Agency Special Operation as a Russian Linguistic/Voice Intercept (MOS 98G4L63).  I achieved the rank of Specialist 6th Class in February 1966, and was promoted to Staff Sgt in May 1966, while maintaining my Russian Linguist/Voice Intercept.

After my discharge, I returned to the US to continue my studies at Michigan State U. in March 1968 earning a Masters Degree in Vertebrate Zoology in 1970. 

From 1971 to 2001, I taught various subjects including Russian, Math, Biology, Chemistry, and Computer Science at the secondary level.  I then worked in Remote Sensing for MSU Sea Grant, Fisheries and Wildlife, and the Horticulture Department from 2001 to 2005.  Since then I've being enjoying retirement.

Despite my limited three-year stay in Berlin, the experience has has a lasting impact on me.  I had the opportunity to take multiple pictures of  both the culture (ie; German/American Volksfest) and the historic heart of West Berlin.  In the late 90's, I had the opportunity to work as an interpreter during a visit by the Mikoyan Design Group to the Kalamazoo Air Show, which allowed me to use my language skills directly with Russian Engineers and test pilots.  I often reflect on the lives of my A-Trick friends and wonder how they have fared.

I became interested in the Agency in early 1960 after talking to my brother who had just returned from Berlin as a Russian linguist.  Being at a 'ripe draft age' I enlisted and followed in his footsteps.  I took the aptitude test, signed up for 3 years and was off to Ft. Dix, NJ.  After basic I went to get my orders for Army Language School, all the classes there were full so I headed to Ft. Devens.  I failed the ditty bop test and was assigned to 6 months of Traffic Analyst training.  Finishing in the top tier of the class, I had first shot at assignments - Berlin, Germany was my choice.

In January 1961, I crossed the Atlantic on the USNS Geiger.  After a short stop in Frankfurt, I was on the duty train to Berlin. I arrived at the 280th ASA orderly room the next morning unshaven and slightly disheveled.  I was told that Lt. Col. Macdonald wants to greet all incoming members.  I entered his office, saluted and said "Good morning sir:", and got an ass chew for the condition that I was in.  I was told to get a room, clean up, and return for a 'chat'.  

My tour started.

It turned out to be a great experience.  I was assigned to C Trick at Site 3 (Tempelhof) working with a great group of guys.  We intercepted the communication that the Russians would allow the passage of the 24th Infantry Battalion into Berlin unimpeded as the wall was being constructed in August 1961.  I drafted the CRITIC (Critical Information Report) that was sent to DIRNSA (Director of the National Security Agency).

Later we moved to the new facility on the Teufelsberg (Devils Mountain).  In 1963 I married a  lovely German lass that I met in 1961, became proficient in German and linguist was added to my MOS.  At this time ASA needed Bulgarian linguists and I was assigned to Syracuse University for language training in 1964.  My waiver (married a foreign national) was denied and I was reassigned.  I reported to Fitzimmons General Hospital in Colorado in Jan 1965 as Admin Specialist assigned to the Inspector General's Staff.  During inspections of the various units on base I became aware of, and interested in, computers.  In 1966, I attended programming school at Ft. Monmouth, NJ.  After I completed training in April '67 and experienced assignments automating supply systems within various Army units in Thailand and Ft. Le, Va.  

This experience was the platform for my career in the computer industry. in August '69. I started as a programmer with RCA systems and retired as Director Systems Development  with Unisys Corporation.  

I received the Army Commendation Medal for my contributions while assigned to the 280th/78th USASA SOU from Jan '61 through Dec "64.

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. Smith, 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.

When basic training was over, I was given travel orders to Ft. Devens, MA. Elint Training School.  8 of our class of over 20 were sent to Europe.  I was the only one sent to Germany.  The day after arriving in Frankfurt and 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 democratic and cultural resurrection of the people of Berlin.  When not working we socialized and laughed with Berliners, we felt their emotions of freedom and democracy when Pres. Kennedy made his "Ich Bin Ein Berliner" speech and we felt the deep sorrow they felt when he was killed. I cried in my car driving home when news of the the Wall fell.

I was born in Eastern Washington State and, as a teenager, was working with my grandfather in his blacksmith and welding shop learning the fundamentals of that trade, as well as a common-sense approach to life in general.  After graduating from high school, I attended Washington State University where two years of ROTC was required.  In my sophmore year, I injured my neck and had to drop out of school.  Not being in school I received a draft notice but assumed that I would not pass the physical exam and be exempt.  Oop's, the Army was seriously looking for operatives for the Army Security  Agency (ASA) and in a surprise, I scored so high on the IQ and aptitude tests they overlooked the injuries and I was drafted.

After basic training at Fort Ord, California and Electronic and Morse Operations  at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, I was posted to West Berlin, at one of the most interesting times (1960)  doing very interesting intelligence work.  While there I was promoted up the ranks to Trick Chief (E5) and was in charge of a group of men intercepting radio communications being sent by Russian agents.  

The emotion of the time was so strong, that when our Top Secret Cryptological Codeword clearance was expired, and with memory assists from others that I had lived and worked with, I wrote and had published a book of our time - "Spooks In The Woods".  I took most of the 200 plus pictures that are in the book.

That emotion seems to still be with all of us.  We were members of the Army of Occupation, yet in some sense, we were and still are Berliners.  When we weren't gathering intelligence we mixed with the populace, felt their emotions and share our culture with them.

Before The Wall went up, August 13th 1961, thousands of East Berliners came to West Berlin monthly.  The Space Race started when Yuri Gagarin went into orbit August 12th , 1961 followed by John Glenn February 20, 1962.  The Cuban Missile crisis was October 1962.  Our U-2 spy pilot Gary Powers, shot down and captured by the Russians and then was exchanged for Russian spy Rudolf Abel on the Glienicke Bridge between East and West Berlin on February 10. 1962.  President John F. Kennedy visited Berlin on June 26th, 1963 and convinced us that all free men are Berliners. at heart (Ich bin ein Berliner).  He was assassinated  November 22, 1963 and, while on active alert, we mourned along with over 3 million Berliners.

My father, born in an Armenian Village in eastern Turkey before World War I was sent by his parents to join his older sister in Fresno, California, and escaped the Armenian tragedy of 1915. He settled in Sacramento and met my mother (born in Canada to Ukrainian parents) and where I was born.  I went to the University of California at Berkley.  Tiring of school, I decided to do my military service and enlisted in the army in 1957. After basic training at Fort Ord, the next step was ASA and the language school. 

After a few days in Frankfurt, I was assigned to Berlin where I worked for about two weeks at Tempelhof. I was then sent to Frankfurt for training as a translator/transcriber.  The training class consisted of just three persons:  me, Doug Moore Jr., and John D. Miller III. Once back in Berlin, they rented a house in the Wannsee area to retreat to when not working.  We were a very privileged group; we had none of the usual Army duties and got a cash food allowance to boot.  When on base, I spent time in the library where I discovered the plays of Bertolt Brecht, the music of Kurt Weill, and other fascinating parts of Berlin’s pre-Nazi culture.  My Berlin days, beginning in May 1958, lasting two full years, are among my happiest memories.  I was fortunate to have a college friend who, during my first year in Berlin, had a Fulbright at the Free University, and I was able to get a broader exposure to Berlin’s cultural life.  By my second year, I had come to know several real Berlin families and get a better idea of their experiences.

I was “best man”/witness at the wedding of a fellow ASA’er that had attended Colgate University. After a simple ceremony we went with the bride’s parents, to a French restaurant on the Ku’damm for the celebration dinner. The restaurant, part of a French cultural center, was noted for its food, dance band, and the fact that the Germans were allowed in only if they were accompanied by “Allied” personnel.

After the army I passed the Federal Management Intern exams.  I was offered positions in several Federal agencies. I chose the training program of FAA, and specialized in staffing and management studies at their Washington headquarters.  After three years at FAA I was moved, to the Office of Education.  During the academic year 1968-69, I was awarded a sabbatical by the National Institute of Public Affairs and spent the year at Princeton U. studying national education issues and take courses in humanities subjects.

When returning to the Office of Education, I was transferred to the National Endowment for the Humanities, responsible for policy planning, budget and special projects.  I was promoted to the Senior Executive Service. I took an early retirement and, after a two-year vacation, I became a licensed Washington tour guide. I have worked showing foreigners and fellow Americans this beautiful capital city.

In the way of personal interests: I buy many more books than I’ll ever read, concentrating on history and biography.  I was fascinated by German history, especially the Nazi and Communist periods, and the ethical issues posed by life in dictatorships.  I enjoy traveling, particularly in Europe:  In the 70’s and 80’s I concentrated on Berlin and East Germany where I have several friends. These years included Turkey, Russia, the Baltic lands Munich and Switzerland. 

I joined the Army right out of High School. No money for college.  At the recruitment station the ASA recruiter said he was impressed by my Artificial Language Test score. and would I like to go to language school in Monterey. Sounded good to me, so i signed up for an extra year to be guaranteed.  The test was right; basic Polish was fun.

I did a tour at Herzo Base (North of Nuremberg) that ended just as the great consolidation to Augsburg took off.  The Army asked if I would like to go back to Monterey for Russian.  I said yes.  About half way through basic Russian, I requested if I could stay for Intermediate Russian.  My stay in Intermediate Russian ended after lunch the first day.  They had graded the Evaluation Tests for the new students and I was moved to the Advanced Russian course starting the same day.  I graduated and received orders to Field Station Berlin.  I was there from 1974 to 1977.

When my tour ended they wanted me to go to a tactical unit at Fort Huachuca.  There was no language requirement and I went to Grad School on the GI Bill, and had more fun, before going back to work with Russian and Polish. 

At end of my second year of collage (1966), the U.S. was involved in Viet Nam.  I decided that I needed time to explore what I wanted to do the rest of my life and dropped out of collage that summer.  I had a military deferment while in collage and the draft boards were pouncing on college dropouts to fill their quota for combat in Viet Nam.  I dropped into my local Army recruitment center to see what they had to offer.  After taking a battery of tests, I was called to a private meeting.  I was told that I had very high scores and I should consider becoming part of the Army Security Agency.  After going through all of the "benefits", including that after Basic Training, I would move on to assignments where the military aspects of Army life would fade into the background.  The only drawback was that I had to enlist for four years.

After basic training, I spent almost a year at the Defense Language Institute where I studied German for 8 hours a day, and then to San Angelo, Texas for about 4 months training 'voice intercept.  I was then shipped off to Frankfurt Germany, for processing and then on to Berlin - where the fun began.

During the next two years, the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia and we worked 12 days on 12 days off for more than a month for fear that the Russians would take the advantage and roll on to occupy all of Berlin.  In addition the USS Pueblo Navy intelligence ship was captured by a North Korean patrol boat.  The Captain didn't scuttle the ship and military frenzy followed.  Ideas of how to blow up all of our machines and material on the Teufelsburg were seriously discussed. 

The regular Army didn't have much control over us because we were under the auspices of the National Security Agency and I was transferred to Fort Meyer in Washington DC to work in a language program.  After 6 months I was transferred to Fort Bragg and a civil affair unit.  I was able to qualify for an appointment to a carpentry program and I was assigned to be the teacher for the rest of my enlistment.

The following years I worked as a correspondent tor the Philadelphia Bulletin and then, a reporter and subsequently editor of The Sentinel-Ledger, an Ocean City New Jersey weekly.  I received a number of awards for investigative reporting.  After about 8 years, I took a job with the President of the New Jersey Senate writing speeches and position papers for his Senate office and as a trouble shooter in his advertising agency.  I met my wife during this period and left with her and created a local sevices division for a marketing agency serving national  accounts.  After 3 years there, we formed our own marketing agency.  We serviced three community banks.  Seven years later, my wife and I closed the agency and retired.  We moved into my childhood home in 1996 to take care of my parents and aftere 21 years there, we moved to Winston-Salem, NC. where we have been living happily ever after.

I was born and raised in Buffalo, NY.  When I turned 19, I lost my job, the economy was terrible and the Selective Service was breathing down my back.  I decided to enlist. 

I was sent to Fort Dix, NJ, for basic training, where I earned a sharp shooters medal. I was told that I’d most likely be going to Sharp Shooter’s School but Polish was spoken at home. That knowledge and four years of Latin helped qualify me to attend the Army Language School (Now the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center) in Monterey, CA, to learn Russian. 

I graduated in April 1962, nine months after The Wall went up. I was sent to Frankfurt, Germany, then Berlin. I worked first at Tempelhof Airport and then on Teufelsberg, where we were housed in communication vans and ate in a Quonset hut. Those

vans got very cold during the winter. Breaks were in the Quonset Hut to warm up. My unit was tasked with focusing on Soviet

tank movements in East Germany. 

During my assignment in Berlin, my knowledge of Polish was also used. The Air Force was suddenly intercepting Polish conversations and needed help translating. A fluent Polish translator had yet to be assigned to their unit. My military records showed that I also knew the Polish language, so the Army gave me a week of Temporary Duty to the Air Force to translate Polish until their translator showed up.  In February 1964, when I was discharged, the first building on Teufelsberg was built and occupied. It was a much more comfortable working environment.

After leaving the service, I continued to use Russian. A Russian instructor at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA (my hometown at the time) had a medical condition that required him to take off one semester. A friend who taught there knew I understood Russian and suggested me for the position. They said it made no difference when I explained that I did not have teaching-Russian experience. I had a degree, and it was a beginning class. They claimed I only needed to stay one day ahead of the students. After the semester finished, I was told that many students enjoyed my instruction so much that they continued studying the language. I used the methods taught to me at the Language School.

I was born in Flora, Indiana; the small town we live in now and I grew up in Indiana. During WWll my dad worked for Allison making V-1710 motors for the U.S. Air Force P-38 and P-39 combat planes. We lived close to the Indianapolis 500 race track and could see race cars on the backstretch from our window during the 1941 race. We moved to Indianapolis just as the war ended.  During my second year of high school we moved to the far East Side of town. I joined the Civil Air Patrol Cadets and rose to the rank of Cadet Captain.  I was concerned about being drafted and by chance, the Master Sergeant in charge of recruiting for the ASA in Indianapolis attended our church and we got acquainted.  He asked, why I should enlist if he could get me into the ASA. He had the usual spiel of "I can't tell you much about it, except that I'm sure that you'll like it." 

After basic training, I was sent to Fort Devens to train as a Radio Morse Code Interceptor -"a Diddy Bopper" as we were referred to.   I was in a class with Gary MacGowen. He finished first and I was second and we ended up in Berlin during the flap about the guy on the S-Bahn.  I was on C trick in the woods, and must have done something right as I was put on straight days for a while.  I think I'd shown a propensity for finding stray targets.  My wife and infant son joined me six months later.  I had found an apartment as far as you could go east in Zehlendorf and across the field was the border and an East Germany Army foxhole. 

My wife immediately got pregnant and decided to have our daughter the day I was called into the unit for promotion to E-5.  The First Sergeant stuck his head in the anteroom and yelled, 'Wheeler, "Get out here. Your wife's having a baby".  One of the NSA reps drove me home.  Our landlady was a MD as was her son. Her maid called her and she came home and delivered my daughter. Because she was delivered in Germany, she was the first American born in Berlin since before WWII.  

Off hours we were Berliners and enjoyed the cities culture.  VP Johnson and a battle group showed up within days after the Wall was starting to be built to assure the West Berliners that we had their back.  Ed Sullivan with a show of American culture came about the same time with Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Connie Francis. The Regular Army was seated “down front” and since we didn’t exist we were in the upper decks.

This is a short tale of our stay in Berlin. My major accomplishment in later life was that I joined the Cadillac and LaSalle Club, and served a four year term as President in 1986. I managed a Richman Brothers (700 Fussy Tailors) men's clothing store for 29 years.  A nice life (amazing memories).