The formal unconditional surrender of Germany at the end of World War II occurred this month 75 years ago at San Souci, the summer palace of the Hohenzollern dynasty in Potsdam, Germany. Prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, not many Americans ever got to see that site, as it was in East Germany, under Russian control. We did have a very small US Military Mission which was stationed at San Souci.

In 1961, I got to see San Souci. A formal celebration including military and diplomatic officers in Berlin from he U.S., Russia, France, Great Britain, and the city of Berlin. The commanding officer of the U.S. Army Hospital Berlin asked me to be his driver to the occasion.

Incidentally, to set to Potsdam, we had to cross the Gliedecke Bridge, the bridge featured in the movie, “Bridge of Spies” and the site of the formal exchange of Russian Spy Rudolf Abel for U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers. The drive to Potsdam was memorable – past Russian guards with submachine guns, through a drab town which showed repression in every sense, past Russian military barracks and motor pool. San Souci itself was beautiful, with the grounds located on Wansee, a big lake at the southern edge of Berlin.