A Wonderful Moment in Time

This particular wonderful moment in time began at nearly the midpoint of what was a special intelligence operation that existed from 1954 to 1965 in the city of L beck, Germany. This fairy-tale city is located smack-dab on the East/West German border not too far from Denmark. The men who were manning that lonely detachment came to be known as the L beckers. It is quite likely that becoming a L becker was a totally unique experience, with unique individuals doing unique things under conditions that had never before existed in the U.S. Army and probably will never exist again. There were, over the years, only about 500 good men (and a few slackers) involved. Most of the people of L beck didn't even know we existed - and refused to believe it. I remember telling one citizen that I was an American soldier and his answer, "but there are no Ami's here." Well. guess what, my friend. Our work was highly classified, but no more, so it's ok to get into some of the details. Since we were strictly kept to our own specialties, (Need to know.) I had no idea of what exactly was going on in other areas. And I didn't care. To be honest, we figured out a way to do all this sneaky stuff without sacrificing life and limb. Well, maybe just a little. A Wonderful Moment in Time is my story, about my experiences learning lessons about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. All that good stuff. I cannot speak for anyone else, but included are several anecdotes and tales written by other L beckers who were more knowledgeable and more fearless and frisky than I ever hoped to be. In L beck, we were with shouting distance of about 10,000 Russian troops. There were about 30 of us, so I guess we were relatively expendable. Those were the days, now seemingly forgotten, when there was a real mean, nasty enemy in big tanks with big guns. It was our duty to help make sure that the Cold War didn't suddenly get Hot. Much of this book isn't really about the Army - or being a spy. Instead it's about growing up away from home in unfamiliar circumstances and, best of all, learning to accept and appreciate those delightful human creatures of the feminine gender. The bonds formed during those days are still strong today.