Checkpoint Charlie

[Loren A. Billings]

Paul Gallagher usually knows what he's talking about, but this time I'll
have to disagree with the text he quotes. I begin, however, with what I
agree about (out of order in his posting):

> So you see, "Charlie" is just military jargon for the letter "C"

Thus, whatever Russians think the word _Charlie_ means (e.g., in the earlier
posting), Paul is right about this part. And yes, the famous checkpoint is
called Charlie because it's the third in alpbabetical order. However, the
remaining part is fundamentally wrong. I pick through it bit by bit:

> ...There were four zones in Berlin: the Soviet zone, which was walled
> off as East Berlin; and the French, British, and American zones.

No, the four parts of Berlin were called "sectors"; the four parts of
Germany (aside from Berlin) were called "zones" (and the U.S. military
personnel in Berlin referred to West Germany colloquially as "the Zone").
I've corrected "zone" to "sector" in the remaining text:

> Each of these 3 western [sectors] had one checkpoint for those crossing to and
> from the east:

No again. The point of Checkpoints A, B, and C was that the French, British,
and American forces, during the Cold War, got together and required their
own personnel to use only these checkpoints. There were other ways to cross
between the two parts of Berlin (for example, by train through
Friedrichstrasse Station), but western personnel were ordered to use only
Checkpoint Charlie to cross between East and West Berlin.

I'm not entirely sure of this point, but I believe the main way for West
Germans to cross into East Berlin was through Friedrichstrasse railway
station. Even today (or a couple months ago, when I happened to be there), a
building stands next to the station that was called the house of tears
(loose translation), because that's where GDR citizens had to say goodbye to
their visitors from West Germany.

> the French processed East Germans at their checkpoint, codenamed "A" Able; the
> British took West Germans at "B" Baker;

No once more. Checkpoint A was located between West Germany and East
Germany. (Earlier, "Able" was used; later, "Alpha" became the NATO standard
for A.) And Checkpoint B (earlier "Baker" and later "Bravo") was located
between Potsdam (in the Soviet zone of Germany outside Berlin) and Wannsee
(in the American sector of Berlin). Thus, if diplomats at the U.S. embassy
in the GDR were to travel from the West by car, they would go through
checkpoints A, B, and C in that order. There were also rail crossings at
checkpoints A and B through which the duty trains of the three western
occupying powers passed to get to West Berlin. There were also three air
corridors connecting Berlin with West Germany. (When the GDR closed the
surface links, the western powers resorted to the Berlin Airlift to keep
supplies reaching West Berlin.)

But that's not all, as I recall (and I am not completely sure about this
point), because the U.S. didn't recognize any part of Berlin as part of the
GDR, thus they'd need to cross from the Russian sector (or Berlin) to the
Russian zone (outside Berlin) to where the embassy was located.

> and the Americans had foreigners at checkpoint "C": Checkpoint Charlie.

Although Checkpoint Charlie was located between the American and Soviet
sectors, it wasn't just for American personnel. And "foreigners" (or even
U.S. tourists) were not required to use that particular portal.


Loren A. Billings, Ph.D.
Associate professor of linguistics
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature
National Chi Nan University
Puli, Nantou County 545 Taiwan

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