A friend of mine just got back from a business trip to Berlin. 20 years ago, he would have been laughed out of the Board Room, because back then, there was basically no business in Berlin - its western half being a walled and divided city sitting as an island in a sea of political diversity known as "The Cold War".

I've always had an affinity for Berlin, and a particular interest in the Berlin Wall. While a "military brat" in Europe, I played baseball for a youth group which visited Berlin for a 'home-and-home' series when the wall first went up in 1961. Unbeknownst to my parents, and certainly against their wishes, I and some teammates had actually gone into East Berlin just prior to the overnight appearance of the first barbed-wire "wall".

I returned to West Berlin as a visitor on many occasions, including one in my own military role. I fell in love with the city ... the "attitude" of West Berlin, West Berliners, and everything it stood for.

When President Ronald Reagan issued the challenge to his Soviet counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, I knew the "writing was on the wall" ... the wall would eventually come down.

And so it did - on this very night 14 years ago, November 9-10, 1989. Within a fortnight, I found myself in Berlin once again, to witness this moment in history - first hand. I went alone. Just watching ... and, listening ... and, yes, reveling. The constant and deafening sound of pick-hammers chipping away at the wall as I walked the miles of its run, remains a mental "sound file" I will never forget. And as I'd done 28 years earlier, I went into East Berlin to witness and absorb the notion of these freedom seeking people getting their wish.

I'm not sure we ever gave President Reagan his due for triggering this change. But I trust he knows and remembers. I certainly do. Thank you, Mr. President.