About Us

Welcome to the web site of the Berlin U.S. Military Veterans Association! We’re glad you dropped in and invite you to check our pages. This web site is for and about the U.S. military, U.S. and host nation civilians, and interested persons relating to the occupation by U.S. and Allied forces of the assigned portions of Berlin, Germany, from 1945 till Reunification in 1990. Service continued for many until deactivation of the various units and the Berlin Brigade in 1994.

History abounds with accounts of what transpired during those years, from the occupation of the associated sectors stemming from the Potsdam Agreement of August 1945, to the historic and amazing Berlin Airlift in 1948 which fed, clothed, and fueled the populace of West Berlin. We saw the refugee influx throughout the 1950s, the initial construction of the Berlin Wall and dangerous standoff at Checkpoint Charlie in 1961, and we experienced the various Cold War events through the years culminating with the sudden and stunning opening of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and eventual Reunification of East and West Germany in October 1990.

Membership

If you served with the U.S. Armed Forces in Berlin from 1945 till 1994, your experience, viewpoints, and stories are valuable. BUSMVA seeks to preserve that information and the effort you made in keeping Berlin – the undeniable focal point of the Cold War – and the rest of Western Democracy free. Our group is finite, meaning our total membership is limited. That’s why YOU are valuable. If your Berlin service was during those dates and you were honorably discharged, please consider becoming a member of The Berlin US Military Veterans Association.

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Reunions

BUSMVA holds annual reunions, generally during the summer/early autumn months. The potential sites are investigated, researched, and selected by the Reunion Director, generally two years in advance.

Welcome Home Tours
Welcome Home Tours
2024 Berlin Reunion Hotel - The Dorint
2024 Berlin Reunion Hotel - The Dorint
Leadership
History

The first contingent of approximately 175 U.S. Army troops, led by Colonel Frank Howley, a Civil Affairs officer specializing in military government, entered the Berlin area (Babelsberg, near

Potsdam) on July 1, 1945. Their defined mission was to assess and occupy the sector expected to be assigned to the U.S. in the aftermath of the war. Colonel Howley’s book, Berlin Command, well documents his experience within the city and his personal and professional relationships with his contemporaries during those turbulent four years in the immediate aftermath of the war.

The city lay in ruins from the incessant Allied bombing campaigns and the brutal house-to-house fighting between the Soviets and the last-ditch German defenders, which left very little in the form of public services. Howley’s contingent set to work upon arrival in coalition with their Allied partners – the British, French, and Soviets, all of whom operated under the Allied Kommandatura arrangement agreed upon in earlier conferences, to bring order from chaos.

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Patches, Pins, Memorabilia

Order your BUSMVA patches, pins, decals, license plate frame and Challenge Coin using this online form! Only active BUSMVA members may order these items.

Please Note: You may submit this information online, but you must remit your payment, including shipping and handling ($3 per order) by check Payable to BUSMVA. Please mail your order and payment to:  Jerry Bryson, Quartermaster, 269 Club Trail, Chatsworth, GA 30705