This used to be a cool thing to show folks from out of town. They never guessed there was a piece of the Berlin Wall hidden behind an office building in Mountain View. Now I worry that it will be defaced in its more visible location.

I'm glad to see that this is finally taking place! I was the first one to speak before the City Council on this topic and insisted that it be given a place of honor. This monument is an incredibly powerful reminder of what happens when the power of government goes unchecked. I lost the battle to have it located in City Hall Plaza, but the library location is definitely the next best choice as I think it will allow thousands of children to learn about history and perhaps even discuss with their parents and grandparents what it was like to live in the U.S. when Russia was still commanding the Soviet Union and how the wall came to be.


Jim Neal
Old Mountain View

I was at the library today and noticed that they have put some kind of plexiglass around the wall so know one can add additional graffiti.
I think the library is a very appropriate place for the pieces to stand. Since most Americans haven't a clue what the history of the wall is, they now have a place to do some research. I highly recommend the movie ( The Lives of Others )that also can be checked out at the library. Its a pretty accurate portrait of what life was really like in the former East Germany, I can personally vouch for its accuracy.

why? are we still in the Cold War??

@MadamPresident - Obviously you didn't hear about the incident in the last two weeks where Putin's people gave western diplomats goodie bags with usb drives that contained malware so he could monitor them:

Web Link

Those who don't learn from history ....

Well done! It's good to see that Mountain View is preserving a piece of history from a period that defined so many aspect of this country's history.

@MadamPresident: Oh this should be fun. Please continue to share your logical thinking about this, maybe bringing in other examples like the Normandy memorial, or the Vietnam war memorial, or simply any memorial to commemorate and remember the astoundingly harsh struggles of others.
Please tell us why you think there must be an active cold war or war in order to commemorate the struggles of the past. Waiting, ready to burst our laughing (again)

Too bad we dont have any history celebrate here in United States. Thank God for Europe!

Hey Jim!

Maybe we should hang those bags with USB drives down at the library . A bit more timely, maybe?

@You're a Genius

Son, talk to Vietnam veterans who though they were fighing against communism, until they found out they were fighting so American corporations have control over mineral deposits of tungsten and such

@AllYouCanEat -- LOL! I'm keeping all my plastic bags and reusing them for grocery shopping! I did this before the ban too, but now they're harder to replace! :)