ne bright spring day of 1991, at a small college in the middle of Missouri, Gorbachev gave a speach. It wasn't just any speach. It was a formal declaration. There was pomp and regallia...important emissaries from both the United States and Russia. A piece of the fallen Berlin wall was the backdrop for the sixty foot long stage. And I had the perfect position to see it all.
I sat perched on the feeble arms of a twenty year old maple tree. I watched as the crowd was assembled and as the security forces found their positions. They occupied the top corner of each building in the area. Finally, the stage was set and the processional began. Today Gorbachev was not there to make a declaration of war, but one of peace. Forty years prior Winston Churchill had been in Fulton, Missouri to declare the Cold War, now Gorbechav was there to end it.
Representatives from the world's armies had gathered and from my nest I had a wonderful view. Unfortunately, the Secret Service didn't like my choice of seats. At first the roof-top snipers looked my way, and then men in nice suits with hearing aids began working their way through the crowd toward my position. When one gentleman caught my eye, he waved me down from the tree. I didn't argue, and ended the day watching with the rest of the groundlings.