Berlin Crisis of 1961

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[[File:Soviet tanks in Berlin 1961.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Soviet T-55 tanks at Checkpoint Charlie, October 27, 1961.]]

[[File:Soviet tanks in Berlin 1961.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Soviet T-54 tanks at Checkpoint Charlie, October 27, 1961.]]

Immediately afterwards, 33 [[T-54/T-55|T-54]] Soviet tanks drove to the [[Brandenburg Gate]]. As one of the first to spot the tanks when they arrived, Lieutenant Vern Pike was ordered to verify whether they were indeed Soviet tanks. He and tank driver Sam McCart drove over to East Berlin, where Pike took advantage of a temporary absence of any soldiers near the tanks to climb into one of them. He came out with definitive evidence that the tanks were Soviet, including a Red Army newspaper.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kempe|2011|pp=470–471}}</ref>

Immediately afterwards, 33 [[T-54/T-55|T-54]] Soviet tanks drove to the [[Brandenburg Gate]]. As one of the first to spot the tanks when they arrived, Lieutenant Vern Pike was ordered to verify whether they were indeed Soviet tanks. He and tank driver Sam McCart drove over to East Berlin, where Pike took advantage of a temporary absence of any soldiers near the tanks to climb into one of them. He came out with definitive evidence that the tanks were Soviet, including a Red Army newspaper.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kempe|2011|pp=470–471}}</ref>