Book excerpt: Army bands do more than just march and play. They live and they breathe and they take their music seriously. Over 54 years, the 298th Army Band and its various designations came to the fore, played the gigs, and made history. Beginning with the 156th Infantry Band out of New Orleans to the London Base Command to the European Theater of Operations, to the 298th and 300th Infantry Bands, the soldiers that served here did so honorably and with distinction. They served so that America and eventually Berlin could celebrate freedom. Through the Berlin Blockade to the erection of the Berlin Wall and the confrontation at Checkpoint Charlie, those who served know. One hundred ten miles behind the Iron Curtain reveals the truth--that freedom comes with a price. The 298th Army Band served to help pay that price.