I have an interesting question I would like answered please.......

Most of you guys know your stuff hereabout the military. I have a question, and I can't really find clear answers online. During the late 70s/ early 80s, would it be possible for a guy from America (Vietnam draftee, no action in the war, and shortly after, lived all throughout Europe while working for General Electric) to enter East Germany (saw passport with stamp), and his story is he "worked on radars"? I really don't want to say more than that, don't know what trouble it could bring up on a website like this. Just want to make sure I'm not the only one who finds this story odd, and would like to know if it could be true in any way. Thanks guys.

Berlin. It was on the Communist side. They blockaded it once so we airlifted everything there. Eventually the Russians allowed us to use trucks to supply our half of the city.

I think....

If you have some binding non disclosure agreements it may be good to seek legal advice, there might be ways around it but very technical otherwise just spit it out. It sounds like you are talking about something used to shot down UFO's? Don't worry, there are plenty of tin foil hats around here.

reply to post by kwakakev


It has absolutely nothing to do with me, but someone I know. Worked throughout Europe for General Electric and entered East Germany, yes Berlin was the crossing point, he worked in the west first, then in the late 70s early 80s (not sure how much time was spent there) crossed in the EAST and worked on a "radar" (this is what he says...radar). Does this last part seem true? Would the East let an American in who was working on "radars"? Is there any info online about Americans being ALLOWED to enter East Germany at this time?

reply to post by RustyShakleford92


It is sounding like Project Paperclip www.bibliotecapleyades.net...

Good Luck

reply to post by kwakakev


Yea, that was in my head.... I'll have to look more into it. Thank you

sounds fishy that someone would work 'both sides' in something technical like that. boths sides were very, very careful about who was going in and out.
I'm guessing a LOT of gray-area stuff was going on there in those days.

personally I wouldn't ask a lot of questions!

reply to post by works4dhs


The banks work both sides all the time, has been pretty profitable for some. Has also provided some stability to the international money market. Gets complex the more you look into it.

Yes, people from the West were allowed to enter East Germany. The visa process was fairly involved, but it was do-able. There were several crew members from my ship who went while we were at Wilhelmshaven. Now if he is saying he went into the East to work on radars, this would be a different thing. There were a few instances of 'cooperation' projects, especially towards the middle '80s and I seem to remember an upgrade to civilian eastern airport systems being one of them....

But things are pretty hazy anymore in the old noggin!

I know of many civilians who visited Warsaw Pact countries during the 70's and 80's though. A group of teachers, parents and students went to Russia every summer from my high school. Many business people went as well. It wasn't really all that uncommon.

reply to post by Montana


Thanks for the great info. Yes, he went East to work on radars while working for General Electric. That's the story, and it didn't sit well with me. I didn't understand why they would need a western "engineer" for help and I can't get much more out of him. I know it was allowed to travel to the USSR of course........ but under business, especially while previously working on military equipment/ radars all over Europe, didn't sit well with me.

reply to post by RustyShakleford92


Like someone else said he could have been working on a civilian cooperative project like flight control radars.
Also to travel to west berlin by train you would need need to go through east germany thus getting east german pass port stamps.

It is very possible. Both of my parents were stationed in Hamburg during the late 70's - early 80's. My brother was even born there in 1980.

My father worked on radar for the US Army, which required him to work in both East and West Germany. At the time, East Germany was in a severe population decline. The economy was pretty well shattered thanks to the Soviets. And they had brought in outside help from all over. Primarily from Turkey, but there were also civilian workers from the US, Canada, and a number of European countries.

It is very possible that whoever the OP talked to did some work in East Germany. At the time, the wall was still up, but East and West Germany were attempting to reunite as one country on a political basis.

This is a weird thread. If something needed to happen, then it most likely would happen.