Parade Marks Allies' Last Berlin Days

BERLIN -- Western Allied troops have marched together for the last time in Berlin as part of a stirring farewell to the forces who have protected the city for nearly half a century. An estimated 100,000 people stood three- and four-deep along Berlin's grandest boulevard, the 17th of June Avenue, as 2,000 U.S., French and British soldiers tramped by with bayonets fixed and brass bands crashing through a medley of marches Saturday. The festivities were part of a summer-long string of departure events, which will culminate on Aug. 31, when the last Russian troops leave the former East Germany, and on Sept. 8, when the Western Allies formally leave Berlin. Such arrangements are spelled out in the 1990 treaty that led to German reunification and the pullout of all ex-Soviet occupation forces. This was the 27th parade held by the British, French and Americans, a tradition begun in 1964 as a show of unity following the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961. The annual event was suspended in 1989 after the wall fell but was reinstituted one final time to honor the forces that arrived as occupiers at the end of World War II but soon became guarantors of the city's freedom. "During the last 50 years, you and your comrades have been in the front line of the defense of not only the freedom of West Berlin but the freedom of Europe and people's right to self-determination," Mayor Eberhard Diepgen told the troops in a brief ceremony. Some spectators expressed feelings of nostalgia and regret as the troops filed past in a cool, intermittent drizzle. "They've been here so long. Somehow it's strange to see them go," said Christa Vogel, wiping away tears. "We haven't had much contact with them personally, but they're part of the landscape."