Those photos of that time fascinate me. I have a handful of pics when I went up to Hof border camp and went on a tour. I’ll have to dig them out. Wasn’t up to any mischief like 18 Bravo though 
!
I always thought that Martin Luther had hammered his stuff into the door of a church in Hannover or Hamburg… ah well 
No, but I hammered my stuff in both of those cities. 
There was no sickle, but there was a hammer…
A few more Cold War photos of mine -
This is me on the right waiting for Anatolii Scharanskii to be released. He refused to come across as the Soviet spies we released made their way back, saying he was not a spy but rather a dissident, and would not be seen to be being “exchanged” for them.
My photos turned out better than the one published in Star and Stripes the next day. I talked my way past everyone to eventually get the best spot.
Does it make you an OMF if you’re in the same photo as a dude wearing a fedora who is not auditioning for American Idol?
The “O” is for “old” in case you’re stumped.
Or the family friendly version is OG 
I think you knew the answer to that when you typed it…
Cool photos. Thank you.
More pohotos from the goold old days.
I’m pretty sure you weren’t allowed to take photos of NVA bases…
You also weren’t supposed to photograph Russian Soldiers along the corridor in the DDR. I hid an Instamatic camera inside of a book and got this one:
This may be one of my few “legal” photos in this thread thus far. (how boring) Lenin’s Tomb in Moscow.
I got to tour through Lenin’s tomb in 1987 with my sister-in-law’s dance exchange group. I went on the trip as the video camera guy. My daughter was less than a year old and I carried her through the tomb with a baby bottle in my suit jacket pocket, That bottle of liquid drew much attention from the guards, but no issues. She slept and I was good. Nice trip
Why do I feel like there’s a much bigger story than just you roaming around behind the Iron Curtain with a hidden camera?
As a newly promoted Sergeant I had to visit Berlin in 1980 for a series of briefings; part of the visit involved a trip along the Wall itself, conducted by the Royal Military Police. Their party piece was to show me a section of Wall that opened upon demand. To prove it they pressed a bell push, and slowly but surely a section of concrete wall slid open. I was duly astonished; once opened I could see an East German Border Guard in a tower frantically racking a lever to get the section closed again. The story behind this was that a German couple owned some land in what was the eastern sector which they used as a sort of vegetable allotment/garden. Somehow, they had secured rights to tend it and this section of Wall was modified to allow them, and them only, access. It was not meant to be used as a showpiece for the RMP, who took great delight in baiting the Border Guards.
If it sounds surreal – it was! Just imagine, all you have to do is press a bell push and the Wall opens!
In '84 I had heard stories about places where you could walk unimpeded into the East, but we were never told where, so I didn’t give them much credence. Now with your info I know why - guys like me wouldve been getting into trouble all the time.
It’s unlikely that it was the Berlin border. The British sector had far more border with the DDR proper, so it was more likely to have been in the western portion of the Brit sector, maybe around Spandau.
We did the same early in Afghanistan until we had enough ballistic blankets.
Hi, sorry to revive an old thread but I’m making an impression/living history kit (not quite modelling, but its close lol) for 4/6/5th ID during the Panama invasion and I would love to ask you some questions if you were there!
I’m still around. Ask away. I may not have the answers you need, but I can look for them through some old friends hopefully.
I’m currently building my kit for a 2LT PL in B coy 4/6. I have three questions (for now):
1: Were there squad radios issued to yall? Out of the three pictures of LTs I have, only one has a radio handset on his suspenders (reference attached). If so, were these PRC-126s or PRC-68s?
2: How did you store your personal equipment? I’ve seen some buttpacks floating around, were those super common? Did you guys just throw your rucks inside of the track or did you leave your stuff in a duffle/A-Bag and then toss that in?
3: What was the SOP for helmet scrim? I see regulars from B and C coy with the burlap scrim, but then also some other 5th ID guys (D coy?) with bare helmets.
Thanks in advance!
I never saw PRC-126 or PRC 68 squad radios issued in my time with 4/6. We had good old PRC-77s assigned to each track, and platoon leaders often had a second radio issued aside from the one that was installed in the track. It was commonly carried on the basic pack and strapped to the open TC hatch for easy use mounted or dismounted.
But packs were a personal choice, some guys had them, some did not. They were not issue items. I would say less common, depending upon the experience and background of the individual soldier. Rucks and duffel bags in the tracks were situational. On long term field ops, duffle bags would be strapped to the top deck, while rucks were strapped down inside and on the top deck. There were unit SOPs as to what was carried in duffel bags and rucks. Rucks were more tactical, carrying MOPP suits, wet weather gear, extra socks and underwear, shave kit, etc. Duffle bags had extra uniforms, and other larger items. We were only issued medium rucks, being a mech unit. Anyone with a large ruck bought that item on their own.
There was no unit SOP on helmet scrim. Aside from what was part of Common Task Training, camouflage self and individual equipment. One of the methods taught in that was to use foliage and/or burlap strips for breaking up outlines. Sandbags were a common issued expendable squad item for use in fighting positions, and they would get beat up from constant use, so old ones could be cut up for helmet and rifle camouflage. Other guys would use scrap pieces from issue camo nets, the type used on vehicles and equipment, which I saw more commonly. And other guys just were perfectly fine with the basic helmet cover as is.
Thank you so much for the quick and detailed responses! I think that clears up most of the question marks I still had regarding the unit. I am still waiting on an M9 bayonet to come in (kind of surprised they got the new bayonet, but it’s in a lot of reference pics), after that my kit will be complete. I’ll put a picture in here when that’s done, in case I messed up something major.