The Eagles Nest at Berchtesgaden was a war prize; it was an architectural manifestation of the idealized vision of what the nazis thought about themselves, and they spared no expense making it a reality. Its capture by American forces was a kind of vindication of the rightness of our cause and the culmination of all our blood and treasure sacrificed in seizing that symbol at the war’s end. And nothing could be more American than a bunch of paratroopers (Easy Co., 506th P.I.R.) sitting atop that fortress and having a beer. 22 and I did likewise in the summer of ‘25. Hard to believe this incredibly historic place is gone. I’m glad we got to see it before it was destroyed. What a terrible shame.