Checkpoint Charlie: Morris County Honors Cold War Veterans
Published on December 26, 2025
New Veterans Compendium Project Launched
The Morris County Office of Planning and Preservation has launched the latest installment of its Veterans Compendium Project, honoring American service members of the Cold War on the anniversary of the Dec. 26, 1991, collapse of the Soviet Union, which officially marked the end of the Cold War.
Titled “Checkpoint Charlie: Morris County Cold War Veterans,” the project examines the global tensions and lasting impact of the Cold War, a period following World War II defined by prolonged political, military and ideological conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. While the two nations never formally declared war on one another, the era was marked by nuclear brinkmanship, espionage and global instability that shaped everyday life for Americans, including schoolchildren who practiced “duck and cover” drills in preparation for a potential nuclear attack.
“The Cold War was fought largely without battlefields, but its impact was deeply felt by the men and women who served and by families here at home,” said Commissioner Deputy Director Stephen H. Shaw, liaison to the Office of Planning and Preservation. “This Veterans compendium ensures that the experiences of Morris County veterans who stood watch during this uncertain and dangerous era are documented, preserved and honored.”
A defining symbol of the Cold War was the “Iron Curtain,” a term popularized by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in a 1946 speech describing the political and ideological division of Europe. That division became physically embodied in 1961 with the construction of the Berlin Wall, erected by East Germany to halt mass defections to the West.
Alluding to communist states, Churchill said, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.”
The Berlin Wall stood until Nov. 9, 1989, when the head of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens of the German Democratic Republic could cross the border freely. Citizens on both sides of the wall began dismantling it, signaling the beginning of the end of Soviet control in Eastern Europe.
One key remnant of that era remains: “Checkpoint Charlie,” the American military crossing point between East and West Germany that became an international symbol of the Cold War confrontation.
The Veterans Compendium highlights notable Cold War figures, including U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers, who was shot down over Soviet airspace in 1960 and later exchanged for a captured Soviet spy in a dramatic East-West exchange on Berlin’s Glienicke Bridge. It also reflects the cultural dimensions of the Cold War through the story of Cuban-born cartoonist Antonio Prohias, creator of Spy vs. Spy, whose work satirized the era’s obsession with espionage.
“The Cold War shaped global politics for nearly half a century, but it was the service of individual veterans that helped protect democracy during that time,” said Joe Barilla, director of the Office of Planning and Preservation. “This project gives voice to those veterans and reminds us that their service, though often unseen, was essential.”
The Morris County Veterans Compendium documents and preserves the stories of local veterans through research, oral histories and archival materials. Residents who were born in Morris County, or who lived in the county for at least ten years and served in the U.S. military during the Cold War era, are encouraged to participate.
Those interested in contributing, or family members wishing to share a veteran’s story, may contact Cultural and Historic Resources Specialist Jan Williams at jwilliams@co.morris.nj.us.
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Image 1: “Checkpoint Charlie,” the U.S. Army border guardhouse checkpoint in Berlin, Germany.
Image 2: A map of Iron Curtain, showing the boundary between the West and the Soviet-controlled communist East.
Image 3: U-2 pilot Francis “Gary” Powers.