Marking The 25th Anniversary Of The Fall Of The Berlin Wall

Three-year-old Hulda puts flowers in a crack of the former Berlin Wall to commemorate the victims of the wall at the memorial site at Bernauer Strasse in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

When the Berlin Wall went up on August 13, 1961, U.S. diplomats watched human tragedies unfold as family members wept across barbed wire. It was unquestionably the world’s most compelling symbol of the moral and material bankruptcy of communism.

A hideous 96-mile complex of 302 watchtowers, innumerable searchlights, anti-tank obstacles, dog patrols and ditches that cut through the once bustling historic German capital was the site where at least 136 people were killed or died in other ways directly connected to the GDR border regime, including 98 people who were shot, accidentally killed, or killed themselves when they were caught trying to make it over the Wall; 30 people from both East and West who were not trying to flee but were shot or died in an accident; 8 GDR border guards who were killed while on duty by deserters, fellow border guards, fugitives, or a West Berlin police officer; and at least 251 travelers from East and West who died before, during, or after inspections at checkpoints in Berlin. These figures do not include the people who died of grief and despair over the Wall's impact on their personal lives.

On June 12 1987, Berlin celebrated its 750th anniversary. President Ronald Reagan traveled to West Berlin and issued a challenge to the leader of the Soviet Union that moved the world: “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization; come here to this gate!  Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!  Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

According to accounts from the book “At Reagan's Side: Insiders' Recollections from Sacramento to the White House” by Stephen F. Knott and Jeffrey L. Chideste, President Reagan met “immense resistance from the State Department and the NSC” about using those exact words.  But he insisted because it was “the right thing to do.”

His determination was spurred on when he was taken to the Reichstag and given a pair of binoculars where he could look over the wall.  He saw East German police pushing the people who had come to hear him speak and it made him mad. 

So, today as Berlin marks the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, German Chancellor Angela called it an example of the human yearning for freedom.

Incidentally, the banner that adorns this blog depicts the piece of the Berlin Wall that was donated to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in 1990 to commemorate his "unwavering dedication to humanitarianism and freedom over communism."

A Nobel Peace Prize was never awarded to the three leaders who were instrumental in advancing the cause of peace and human values—Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul and Margaret Thatcher.  In 2009, less than nine months in office, The World’s Most Dangerous Community Organizer was a recipient of the award.

50 Years Later The Former Soviet Union Has The Last Laugh

On April 12, 1961, the Soviet Union put Yuri Gagarin, the first human, into space.  On February 20, 1962, at the height of the Cold War, John Glenn’s historic flight renewed American pride.  That was 50 years ago.

On February 1, 2010 The New York Times reported, “President Obama is calling on NASA to cancel the program that was to return humans to the Moon by 2020, and focus instead on radically new space technologies.”

Two months later, former astronauts Neil Armstrong, James Lovell  and Eugene Cernan urged President Obama to reconsider what they warned would be "devastating" new policies for the future of NASA.  Here are excerpts from their letter to the President:

“The United States entered into the challenge of space exploration under President Eisenhower’s first term; however, it was the Soviet Union who excelled in those early years.  Under the bold vision of Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, and with the overwhelming approval of the American people, we rapidly closed the gap in the final third; of the 20th century, and became the world leader in space exploration.”

[SNIP]

 
“World leadership in space was not achieved easily.  In the first half-century of the space age, our country made a significant financial investment, thousands of Americans dedicated themselves to the effort, and some gave their lives to achieve the dream of a nation.”

[SNIP]

“America’s only path to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station will now be subject to an agreement with Russia to purchase space on their Soyuz  (at a price of over 50 million dollars per seat with significant increases expected in the near future) until we have the capacity to provide transportation for ourselves.”

[SNIP]

“It appears that we will have wasted our current $10-plus billion investment in Constellation and, equally importantly, we will have lost the many years required to recreate the equivalent of what we will have discarded.”

[SNIP]

“...the USA is far too likely to be on a long downhill slide to mediocrity.  America must decide if it wishes to remain a leader in space.”