re: Older folks: What do you remember about the Cold War?

I lived in West Germany from '70-'75. Visited the wall and checkpoint Charlie a few times. I was in my early teens. The threat seemed very real to me and my friends growing up on army bases. I seem to remember that the USSR had enough tanks amassed near the border to over run West Germany and France in hours not days. But I could be remembering wrong.

We payed very close attention to the news as the Viet Nam war was winding down. A lot of our dads were either there or had been there. It's hard to describe growing up like that. I was born an army brat and didn't live anywhere but army bases until I left home from Ft. Riley, KS in 1979.

So my perspective of the Cold War is probably skewed.