Transcript for the Piece Audio version of President Kennedy's legacy in Berlin

Kennedy?s eight hours in West Berlin in the summer of 1963 are remembered as a source of hope and inspiration for residents of the divided city. In the early 60?s West Berlin was an island of freedom surrounded by a sea of communism, walled off from East Germany, ground zero in the battle of ideology between the United States and Soviet Union. Retired State Department Foreign Service officer Bill Rugh was a student in West Berlin in 1963.
?The West Berliners felt under siege, and were very much afraid that they would be the first to suffer if there was a hot war or something broke out, and so they looked to America as protection."
Kennedy was visiting five Western European countries with the goal of spreading good will and building unity among America's allies. He?d already been to three West German cities by the time he landed in West Berlin on June 26th. Traveling with the young president was speechwriter and chief counsel Ted Sorensen. Now 80 and living in Manhattan, Sorensen vividly recalls one of three speeches Kennedy gave that day, the famous one, in front of the West Berlin city hall.
?I stood up there well behind the president, and there were people as far as the eye can see. All the streets leading into and out of the plaza were jammed with people. Every building, every window on the square was filled with people watching. And Kennedy would say later it was almost scary the way they shouted in unison ?ken-nuh-DEE, ken-nuh-DEE, ken-nuh-DEE.?
(crowd audio up)
?It was certainly one of the most enthusiastic welcomes he had ever received in his entire life.?
Kennedy was passionate when he told the throng of people that Berlin was a symbol of freedom in a world threatened by the Cold War. And he looked to the future of Germany.
?When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe.?
The speech was prepared by Kennedy and Sorensen, and included the now-famous line that Kennedy had rehearsed with Sorensen earlier that afternoon.
?All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words, 'Ich bin ein Berliner."
Again, Ted Sorensen.
?By itself it wasn?t a turning point, no. But it symbolized that dramatic and ultimately successful struggle to remain free.?
It was, adds senior political editor Thomas Habicht with Radio Berlin Brandenburg, just what West Berliners needed to hear.
?Berliners were depressed. And in this situation a U-S president came from the White House. Young, good-looking, attractive, saying ?ich bin ein,? I am one of you.?
Berlin has several memorials honoring JFK. One is next to the Brandenburg Gate in what used to be East Berlin. The Kennedy Museum has hundreds of photos of JFK and also items that once belonged to the late president. Historian and Museum director Kathy Alberts.
?People who come to the museum who were alive at the time and saw Kennedy still vividly remember what they were wearing. Some guests even come up from the exhibition crying because they so vividly remember the time how difficult the time was, and the hope John Kennedy had brought to the city.?
There?s a lingering story about the ?Ich bin Ein Berliner? phrase, that Kennedy was grammatically incorrect, joking that he was a jelly donut. Both Alberts and Ted Sorsensen say -- not true. It was grammatically correct, says Alberts, and people left knowing that Kennedy had said he was one of them. Sorensen says if Kennedy were alive now he would still think fondly of that day. He also would not have claimed credit, says Sorensen, for Berlin?s survival or its freedom. But he says Kennedy would have a sense of satisfaction in seeing a united Berlin and Germany.
I?m Dan Tritle reporting.