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yeah so I'm from Massachusetts I went to

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Boston University little town Wrentham

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Massachusetts is where I grew up I went

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to Boston University and was involved in

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their RTC and got a regular army

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commission from the ROTC there and

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joined the Army in July of 55 did my

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basic training in that the basic

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officers training at Fort Benning went

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on to airborne training and then was

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assigned to Europe Germany to the 2nd

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Armored Division in worms Germania

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battalion there and after I've been

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there about six months but most the time

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in the field of Corps and maneuvers

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there was a requirement from West Berlin

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for some for junior officers and they

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chose three from my battalion and then

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we all ended up in West Berlin with the

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6th Infantry Regiment I was in the 2nd

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battalion 6th Infantry Regiment and I

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was a 2nd lieutenant at the time

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promoted to First Lieutenant I yes well

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it was there and our job was to you know

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if something happened if the balloon

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went up as they say was to protect a

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portion of Berlin was my best we could

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but of course the Russians were all

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around and at that time the wall hadn't

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gone up yet so I remember taking tours

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over at East Berlin and I remember going

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to the Opera in East Berlin we get

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dressed up in our dress blues and

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another officer and I and walk across to

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the Opera yeah

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did anybody was there I mean just walk

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across was it that easier to they check

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your well um yeah they would examine you

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know your ID car but there was no wall

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or fence or anything no checkpoint

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charlie no nothing

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not no I had been put up yet yeah so the

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line was defined pretty much I can't

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remember exactly how but there was no

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wall per se and it was during my time as

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a lieutenant in Berlin that I was

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selected to be a commander of the guard

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at Spandau and as you know the at that

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time Spandau prison which was a

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Victorian era brick structure very

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forbidding very depressing with the

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towers and the gate and all that it

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housed a number of the prisoners from

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Nuremberg I recall seeing Albert Speer

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Walther funk pond sheriff oh and and

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Hess yes right I remember seeing the

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four of them now what that involved was

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each of the four occupying powers

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rotated the prison guard

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we followed the Russians so the Russians

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the Americans the British and the French

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we each at a month of guard and it was

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the exterior guard the interior guard

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actually were the wardens who handle the

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prisoners and they had their own staff

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we didn't handle the prisoners we

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essentially manned the guard towers and

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did a roving patrol and our job was not

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only was really not so much to keep the

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prisoners in but to keep others out if

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there was any sort of effort to break

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them out I never thought that was much

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of a possibility but it was a fear that

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they had and so that was what we were

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instructed to do interesting when we

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when we replace the Russians before we

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replace them at Spandau we went to a

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we're invited to a party and the

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Russians hosted the party and my

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battalion commander was with me yes I

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was a lieutenant maybe 23 at the time

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and you know I I wasn't familiar with

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those kinds of social activities my

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battalion commander said to me Hank just

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get ready to drink a lot of alcohol and

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on the way out if you need to lean on me

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I'll be okay well any rate we went in

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and as I recall it was a reception area

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and there the Russians served cognac and

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maybe some hors d'oeuvre of some kind

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and then we toasted the president United

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States the prime minister or whatever

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the Russian leader was called at that

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time little bit Khrushchev yeah I would

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ring Khrushchev yeah and other

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dignitaries so that I must have had at

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least three shots of vodka you know just

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like biz down the heads before we went

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in to dinner and the dinner it was at

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noontime was chicken and wine Russian

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wine and vegetables and we started the

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dinner game with the toast and then

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after dinner we went back to the

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reception room where we had vodka oh no

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cognac

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preceded the doze begin so after that I

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was I held my own but and I didn't have

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to lean in my battalion commander but I

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got out of there with my D with the okay

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but I was he said you just need to go

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and I did slept it off but it was very

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interesting because that was the first

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time I'd interacted with the Soviets and

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their guard platoon was there their

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warders were there and I guess we had a

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couple of translators following that I

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guess a week or so later we actually had

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the changeover ceremony and the Russian

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Mattoon was lined up inside to formation

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of three squads with the officer guard

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in front

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probably a captain and I March my

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platoon in through the gates on the

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picture that gave you

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I was on the right we exchanged salutes

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we marched to the first guard tower and

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I took my soldier and the Russian

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officer we climbed up into the guard

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tower and posted my guard and then he

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took his garden I went down and we

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proceeded around the installation out

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along with the guard duty being two

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hours yeah yeah yeah two hours off two

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hours on and then relief no did anybody

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sit down and give you a briefing as to

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who the four prisoners were bit of the

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background right right the the American

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Morden did that we got a very thorough

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briefing as to who was there and and the

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problems the guards would face and the

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fact that it wasn't so much an interior

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guard to keep the prisoners from

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escaping but rather watching the

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exterior of the prison for any possible

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activity was there any intelligence that

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you got or anybody got thinking that

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there was somebody out there that was no

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no never

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yeah no I don't my up personal belief

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was it never really was a threat but

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there must have been something it could

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be that the most hostility towards the

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prisoners from what I understood was

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from the Russians of whether they were

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trying to do anything in our night I

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don't know the other thing I remember

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clearly is seeing the prisoners

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themselves in the colder month whatever

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month that was they would walk around

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the prison yard and they had the path

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sworn in the hit the soil so and in the

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summer months maybe fall because seemed

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to me their gardens will we're well

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along they were able to have their own

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little plots of vegetables and things

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whether they all did that and I don't

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know but I remember seeing one or two of

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them out there working I think I could

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identify

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Albert Sphere spear because he was the

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tallest one Hess was thin but I wouldn't

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be able to tell a difference we're on to

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Shiraz and funk I don't think but at one

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time they were all out there so I've

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seen them all yeah they just they do an

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exercise which is the walking walking

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yeah there was I never saw any organized

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exercise outside I just saw them working

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in their garden and walking their path

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my general impression of the place was

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it was very bleak egg the exterior not

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very well cared for I mean the lawns

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weren't mode of a you know it was pretty

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pretty bare-bones II I knew about

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Nuremberg I knew about the trials I and

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we've given it we've been given a good

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briefing so I knew it was an important

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duty and but I never felt that I was a

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player in history fatigue Julie

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17 1987 but even his death is fraught

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with inconsistency the official version

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is that he commits suicide by hanging

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himself but some historians claim he's

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murdered autopsy reports state that

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marks on his neck indicate that he was

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strangled