Train station bomb

Train station bomb

Stationed in Wurzburg, Germany, in 1968 with the 3rd Infantry Division Band, I often went downtown when not performing to enjoy a beer and a bratwurst, and soak in the city ambience. Normally, a taxi ride back to the barracks was routine and uneventful, just a 15-minute ride through this old Bavarian city.
On this night, though, the ride home was not the normal trip back. I hailed a taxi that promptly picked me up. As we rode through the hauptstrabe, we encountered a roadblock with polizei and other emergency vehicles swarming the area. After a verbal exchange between the taxi driver and the cops, we detoured through narrow streets and along the Main River and eventually home.
With Russian forces crossing the Czech border, our military was on alert. I was concerned and anxious. I asked the taxi driver to explain what the heck was happening.
The good news was the Russians weren't coming. The story goes that construction was occurring at the train station where a World War II bomb was dug up and was being diffused. During the war Wurzburg was bombed heavily by American and British warplanes during a three-day assault. This one didn't detonate. I got to my barracks and went to bed.