SEATTLE -- I was in Berlin covering the fall of the Berlin Wall when it came down 20 years ago on those tumultuous days in our history.

It was quite a technical feat broadcasting live from the Brandenberg Gate at the Berlin Wall for KOMO News. It was 2 o'clock in the morning when we went live for our 5 p.m. But what an experience!

My most vivid memories: watching the German people take down the Berlin Wall in bits and pieces, beginning the reunification of their country that had been divided for almost 30 years. (I ended up bringing home a few pieces of the wall that I was able to chisel off with the only tool I had handy -- a nail file!)

It was an extraordinary sight -- hundreds of thousands of East Germans flooding the border crossings that had been closed to them for so long. We watched many reunited with friends and loved ones they hadn't seen for years. There were a lot of tears of joy.

There were long lines at banks as East Berliners waited for their welcome gift of $60 in Deutsch Marks. There were even longer lines for many of the luxury items they had been denied for so many years.

While we were there, 22 border crossings were opened, including the famous Checkpoint Charlie. That's where we became some of the first journalists to walk freely into East Berlin.

Though the guards had to let us in, you could tell they weren't used to inviting Westerners to roam freely in the communities that had been under tight Communist control.

And when we arrived in East Berlin, we literally walked into a military parade. It was one of those things you seen in the movies, with goose-stepping officers wearing uniforms from the World War II era.

Compared to the wealth and exuberance of the streets in West Berlin, the streets in East Berlin were nearly deserted. We found people hungry for the economic reform that might one day give them what their countrymen had in the West.


We also found a lot of people from the Northwest celebrating all over Berlin. I remember Joe Gray from Aberdeen who told us, "This is incredible! It really is. I'm glad to see the wall come down. It's great to be here and see history in the making."

Being able to share a front row seat to that history was something I'll never forget.

For more KOMO News coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall, click here.