It's been 20 years?

I thought I'd post on this today because it's an event that really colored my gaming and young adulthood. I'm a child of the 1980s. I may have come of age in the 1990s, but the 1980s really were my formative years. Most of my favorite games are from the 1980s. I miss a lot of TV shows from the 1980s, even if they didn't always age well, and well, I still judge Presidents by Reagan.

The Berlin Wall coming down was to me, the end of an era. An era that could have ended another way, with missile trails and the crack-boom of high velocity tank rounds flying in both directions across the plains of North Germany and in the confines of the Fulda Gap. That would have ended one way in my mind..bright flashes and loud booms over the world's cities. I would have died faster than most. From 1981-1983, the years of maximum danger, as it turned out, I was a navy brat at NAS Rota, Spain. There was an SS-20 with our names on it. Every time I go to the Smithsonian Air and Space on the Mall, I make a point to stop and take a quick look at the SS-20 they have on display. It was a practice model. Never was aimed at anyone...but one just like it was. Sobers you a little. I still game the period. I always did..but gone, thankfully, was the prospect of this kid from Albany crossing swords with some kid from Kiev. Even with what's going on now, we're still better off the Cold War's done. I may miss it tongue and cheek, but miscalculation then had far larger consequences. To all the military professionals on both sides, thanks for doing your duty...and not allowing deterrence to fail.