Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
5:00 | It was one of the incidents that could have started World War III. The Soviets had blocked the land route to Berlin and Patrick Malloy's infantry unit was moving lock, stock and battle tank right down that road toward the border.
Keywords : Patrick Malloy Vietnam Russia Communist Berlin Nikita Khrushchev Sandhofen
Patrick Malloy was first generation Irish American and he worked his way through Georgetown University in the Foreign Service school. He didn't think the draft would take him because of his football knees but, with rise of Communism, the physical standards were lowered and he found himself in basic training at Fort Dix.
In basic training, there were city boys and there were country boys. City boy Patrick Malloy, who had no familiarity with weapons, explains why he was better at marksmanship than the country boys. He decided against Officer Candidate School and kept on marching with his college degree and bad knees.
Vietnam was heating up but Patrick Malloy was sent to West Germany, where the Berlin Wall and the Communist land blockade of Berlin were just as hot. He was looking forward to seeing Europe and considered himself lucky, but as time passed, he considered it a different way.
He had to wear his uniform when out on the town in Berlin, and the grateful West Berliners paid for every meal and bought every beer, says Patrick Malloy. He served there and remembers the stark contrast between the sparkling West and the drab East.
He had a week's leave and Patrick Malloy set off with a buddy to visit Vienna. They slept in the car outside Munich and woke in a mist which cleared to reveal the gates of Dachau.
Near the end of his tour in West Germany, Patrick Malloy was made the Troop Information Specialist, which meant he conducted classes in the Constitution, military law and tradition and the separation of the military from politics. This was made necessary by a general who crossed the line.
He wasn't leaving a shooting war but short timers are the same everywhere. Patrick Malloy referred to himself as the number of days he had remaining. You became that number. Back home, he eventually landed at the Export-Import Bank of the United States, where he had a great career.
Years after his service in West Germany, Patrick Malloy was walking down the street when a stranger walked up to him and spoke. This began a new life long tradition for the surprised veteran.
