The Communists' East German wall was virtually complete.
Behind it, Red Boss Walter Ulbricht could whip his
sullen millions into line without fear of an other mass exodus. But
barricading Berlin was just the first surprise Old Spitzbart had in mind for the West. Last week, pointedly, arrogantly, he
began to reach for more, and as a result, on the tense and anxious
Berlin frontier more and more armed men faced each other with weapons
at the ready. Just before midnight, word of the latest Communist move was flashed to
duty officers at U.S. headquarters in West Berlin. Not satisfied with
damming up the flow of refugees from East Berlin, the Reds now blandly
announced restrictions on Westerners who wanted to enter the eastern
half of the city. From that time on, said the East-zone radio, a West
Berliner would have to get a pass and use only selected border
crossings; “foreigners,” i.e., Western Allied civilians and officials,
would be allowed to use only one route for entering and leaving East
Berlin. This was violation enough of the Four Power agreements
guaranteeing free movement throughout the entire city, but the East
Germans audaciously added another new “rule”: Westerners on their own
side of the line must stay 100 meters back from the walled
frontier “for their own safety.” On the Line. Hurriedly, U.S., British and French troop commanders met,
decided on a tough reply. “The three Western commandants take a most
serious view of [this] effrontery [and] are taking the necessary action
to ensure security and the integrity of the sector borders,” they
announced. Within hours, a thousand heavily armed Allied troops were taking positions all along the
25-mile East-West city frontier. Where the Wilhelmstrasse enters
Communist territory, a hard-bitten U.S. sergeant and his crew raced up
in a Jeep armed with a 106-mm. recoilless rifle and parked with the
gun's muzzle pointed directly across at the Reds. At
Friedrichstrasse—the one entry point now open to non-Germans—a
platoon of American infantrymen moved up directly to the border
opposite a group of East German Vopos and a water-cannon truck; an M48
tank and two armored cars rumbled up and parked near by. Hour after hour, Western tanks, armored cars and armed Jeeps rumbled
slowly back and forth along the frontier, making certain that the
Communists did not try to enforce their 100-meter rule. West Berliners
remained free to travel the border streets as they pleased. Overhead,
U.S. helicopters kept constant watch. Next day, when one water cannon
fired a stream at a crowd of West Berliners, G.I.s of the 6th Infantry
Regiment, who were also splattered, reached grimly for the tear gas
grenades that they carried conveniently on their shoulder straps. The
squirting stopped abruptly.
