Jim Arwine ©Stars and StripesBerlin, August, 1978: U.S. Air Force Capt. Frank Sopato, an extra in the filming of "Breakthrough," gets dirt smeared on his World War II German uniform prior to a tunnel scene at Berlin's Spandau Citadel. Sopato regularly took leave from his official duties as a a communications officer to appear in films produced in the city. On "Breakthrough," he was also the coordinator of the approximately 200 American servicemembers and high school students hired as extras for the movie, which starred Richard Burton and Rod Steiger.

RELATED MATERIAL:Stars and Stripes' 1978 story about the American extras on "Breakthrough."