The Bridge that Did Not Fall

摘要

I remember my assigned cold war mission very clearly. In July 1987,1 was directed to lead a flight of four Fairchild A-lOs to strike a bridge-overpass in the Thuringer Wald, a mountain range about 100 miles northeast of Frankfurt in what was then East Germany. The brick and concrete structure supported a train line that was expected to be used by units of the Soviet 8th Guards Army if Warsaw Pact forces invaded Europe. The train track passed over a key road; by destroying the structure, we could cut that track, and the resulting rubble would block the road below.