Oregon Doctor Heads to Landstuhl ~ Meet Dr David Street

Doctor Heads to Landstuhl to Volunteer His Talents

A Medford, Oregon vascular surgeon, Dr. David L Street, is leaving for Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, to volunteer for two weeks treating wounded soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I don't know what I'm walking into," he said. "I look at it as a chance to help guys that help us out. It will be vascular and a lot of general surgery. I don't know the need or opportunity, but will figure it out and be willing to go again if needed."

In a news release from his clinic, Street said, "There's a time in your life when it's just time to give back, and I'm there. We live in a great country that has been very good to me. It will be an honor to give back. I have the ultimate respect for what the military does for our country. It's a selfless goal to guard our freedom."

The entire article is here.
Thank you to Mary Ann for sending me this - you are reading her fabulous blog Soldiers' Angels Germany, right? Mary Ann volunteers untold hours at Landstuhl!

Lately, it's been a bit embarrassing to be an Oregonian. Then, you read stories like this and it makes your heart soar!

The Fall of the Berlin Wall ~ 20 Years Later

The Brandenberg Gate - then and now
A site where President John F Kennedy and President Ronald Reagan
both delivered speeches supporting a free and united Germany

Dancing on the wall as the Soviets lift travel restrictions

The Iron Curtain
Adding coiled razor wire to the top of the wall,
which was already embedded with large glass shards

The Yellow Line represents the location of the Berlin Wall

20 years ago, November 9, 1989, the communist East German government announced the lifting of travel restrictions between the east and the west. People from both sides ran to the wall in celebration. They climbed the wall - and weren't killed with bullets in the back for it. They danced on the wall. They tore the wall down. Families and friends were reunited for the first time since the division of the country after the end of World War II.

While the Soviets tried to starve West Berlin into reuniting under the rule of the east, they were kept alive by the heroic efforts of the Berlin Airlifts. I have written about the airlift here and the Candy Bomber here and the 60th Reunion of those who kept Berlin alive here and the memories of a child in Berlin during the airlift here.

The Berlin Wall stood for oppression and denial of freedom - the fall of the wall stood for freedom and prosperity.

For a magnificent photo history of the wall, click here.

And we must never forget what a truly great speaker sounds like ~ June 12, 1987

Child of Berlin Airlift Remembers

Mercedes Wild – subject of the children's book, "Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot” – signs books at Aukamm Elementary School on U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden, Germany.

U.S. Army photo by Karl Weisel

Child of Berlin Airlift Remembers

By Karl Weisel
Special to American Forces Press Service

WIESBADEN, Germany, June 25, 2008 – A storybook came alive for German and American youth here when the tale’s lead character appeared in person.

After having collaborated on a video project for the children’s story, “Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot,” in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, students from Aukamm and Hainerberg elementary schools on U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden and the nearby Nauheim Grundschule were treated to a visit by the book’s real-life title character.

“I’m of course much older than years ago,” said Mercedes Wild with a smile as she described what it was like to be a 7-year-old child in post-war Berlin during the Soviet blockade from June 1948 to May 1949.

“We had little to eat,” Wild told her young audience, explaining that the western section of Berlin had very little farmland. And though the Soviets tried to entice Berliners over to the eastern side with promises of food, those in the west knew better than to sacrifice their freedom. When Allied airplanes began delivering coal, food and other supplies, Wild said she was terrified bombs would once again fall on her city. “I asked my grandmother if we should go downstairs in the cellar once more, but she told me this time the planes were bringing food and coal.”

Wild and her husband, Peter, described the brutal winter of 1948-1949. “We had no good clothes, no shoes,” she remembers. “But we didn’t fear the cold; we feared the Russians.”

When a plane crashed barely 200 meters from her house, killing the two pilots, Wild recalled everything in sight being coated in white flour, adding that as a child her thoughts were: “It might have been our house … that the plane hit.” And she thinks back to “being very sleepy in the mornings because of the noise of the airplanes in the night.”

Peter told the German and American students that the flights between Berlin and other cities in Germany were only the tip of the iceberg. “The real airlift stretched all across the United States and the Atlantic Ocean, using airplanes, trains, trucks and ships,” he said, describing the incredible logistical effort involved in moving massive quantities of supplies to Berlin.

He also described the phenomenal achievement of building Berlin’s Tegel Airport from scratch as the airlift was in progress. “Ten thousand women built a new airport in three months,” he said.

As recounted in the story by author Margot Theis Raven, a young Mercedes watched as planes flew overhead, wishing that one day the tiny parachutes bearing chocolate would find their way into her hands. After completing a suggestion by her grandmother to write the “candy bomber,” Lt. Gail Halvorsen, Wild eventually received a response explaining the pilot was unable to spot her house and her white chicken from the air. Tucked in the envelope was peppermint gum. Although she gave away the treat, having never before tasted anything like it, “The most important thing for me was this letter. … Chocolate and chewing gum were unknown to us.”

Having lost her father during World War II, Wild said, she looked to Halvorsen as a surrogate dad. “My father was also a pilot in World War II, and he [went missing] early in the war. My mother and I didn’t know what happened to him. … The chocolate uncle became a symbol of my father.”

In the early 1970s, when Halvorsen was visiting Berlin, Peter approached the American with the treasured letter he had written to Wild more than two decades earlier. The meeting evolved into a long-term friendship with the Halvorsen and Wild families that continues today.

And it grew into a partnership program between the Gottfried Keller Gymnasium, where Peter taught in Berlin, and Provo High School, near Halvorsen’s home in Utah.

The Wilds also explained to the children how they learned “American, not English” after the war by listening to American Forces Network Radio. “The best teacher for German kids to learn [the vernacular] was AFN,” Peter recalled.

In 1997, during the 50th anniversary of the airlift at Templehof Airport in Berlin, Wild was invited on stage alongside Halvorsen and President Bill Clinton, where she had “the honor to say thank you on behalf of the people of Berlin.” “Without the help of the Americans [and the Allies], I wouldn’t be here,” Wild said. “I wouldn’t be alive to enjoy the freedom you brought to us Germans.”

(Karl Weisel works in the U.S Army Garrison Wiesbaden Public Affairs Office.)

More information on the Berlin Airlift:
A beautiful presentation by the Department of Defense: http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/2008/0508_berlin/index.html

Previous stories:
The Candy Bomber - http://gazingattheflag.blogspot.com/2008/05/face-of-freedom-col-gail-s-halvorsen.html

The Airlift - http://gazingattheflag.blogspot.com/2008/05/history-is-our-stories-berlin-airlift.html
Berlin Airlift Veterans Remember - http://gazingattheflag.blogspot.com/2008/06/berlin-airlift-veterans-remember-60.html

Berlin Airlift Veterans Remember 60 Years Ago

(Click to enlarge)

Air Force Staff Sgt. Dub Southers poses outside a Celle Air Base barracks during a break in his Berlin Airlift duties. Courtesy photo


Berlin Airlift Veterans Return to Germany for Anniversary
By Air Force Staff Sgt. Julie Weckerlein
Special to American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2008 - For 50 years, Dub Southers recalled the grueling hours he worked at an air base in northern Germany at the start of the Berlin Airlift, not the historical significance of what he helped to achieve as a flight engineer and crew chief.

He remembered well the coal being shipped in from local coal fields, the 196 missions he flew over Berlin and being a 20-year-old Air Force staff sergeant keeping the C-54 Skymaster aircraft flying. "Coal was our basic cargo," said Southers, now 81 and living in Texas. "Occasionally, we flew flour, but I can't recall anything other than coal."

It wasn't until 1998 that Southers started really thinking about the importance of the airlift mission, which lasted from June 1948 to May 1949 and provided vital resources to the German city cut in half by Soviet rule, he said.

As the anniversary approached, he asked his daughter to search online for activities happening in Berlin. Her search found the Berlin Airlift Veterans Association, and he became its secretary.

He ended up visiting Germany that year for the 50th anniversary, and he and seven other association members have returned to take part in 60th anniversary observances.

They will re-enact the first flight of the airlift, he said, and visit the memorial at Rhein-Main Air Base, get on a C-47 and fly the corridor from Frankfurt to Templehof Air Base in Berlin, where there will be another memorial service.

"I was amazed [in 1998] how much progress had been made in the Western sector of Berlin, and how little had been made in the Eastern Zone at that time," he said. "By the time I went again in 2004, it was better, though, and quite a bit more had been done."

In November 1948, Germany was much different. Southers arrived at Celle Air Base from his duty station at McChord Field, Wash., as part of the initial group of airmen sent in for the airlift mission. The Memphis, Tenn., native said he couldn't believe the amount of fog that blanketed the area.

"That was really surprising to me," he said. "It was actually a very nice area. After a few months, when we had enough people, we were allowed to go off base into the town, where there were actually some good places to eat and catch a show." The area hadn't been bombed. "I heard that the British monarchy actually owned a castle in the area," Southers said, "and they didn't want that destroyed."

Those short trips to the city were a brief respite from the busy work hours that dominated Southers' time at Celle Air Base. The base was located near coal fields, which were connected to the base. A platform was built right onto the bays along the flightline so the coal could be stacked and supplied to the aircraft right away.

The team of airmen was very short of personnel, especially mechanics, Southers recalled.

"When I first got over there, we were working around the clock, 12 [hours] on, 12 off, seven days a week. They eventually hired local German aircraft mechanics who worked alongside us. I remember them being very good, as they were older and more experienced."

Southers returned to the United States in July 1949. He left the military after three years, earned a degree in chemical engineering and settled down with his family. He now works as part-owner of a small software company.

"I didn't even think about [the Berlin Airlift] much," he said. "I'm not even sure that my family knew I was involved in it until a few years before the 50th anniversary. Of course, the history books didn't have much about it either."

He said by observing the anniversary and remembering the 31 Americans who died in aircraft accidents during the mission, Americans learn about the importance of the Berlin Airlift.

"At this point, I'm very proud of being a part of it," he said. "I know that we affected history big-time. We call it the first victory of the Cold War. Because of the Berlin Airlift, Europe is free. All of Europe would have ended up communist if we were run out."

He said during his first return to Germany, Germans actually approached him with appreciation.

"We were wearing caps that identified us as Berlin Airlift veterans, and I don't know how many times we were stopped and thanked for what we did," he said.

He also pointed out that the Air Force today and the way it does business is shaped by the Berlin Airlift mission.

"The cargo aircraft today was designed based upon lessons we learned," he said. "At least, that's what they tell us. The technology has changed, but a lot about the airlift mission today is based upon what we learned back then."

Today's Air Force senior leaders agree the Berlin Airlift was a huge moment for the service.

"The Berlin Airlift was a seminal moment for airpower and a pivotal event in world history," said Gen. Duncan J. McNabb, the Air Force vice chief of staff, during a recent ceremony honoring another Berlin Airlift airman, retired Col. Gail Halvorsen, also known as "the Candy Bomber" for his drops of candy and chocolate for local children. "It showed the deep compassion of the American people and sent a message of hope and liberty to Berliners and to freedom-loving people around the world."

Southers said he does not feel like a hero, despite the pride he and fellow airmen share about their role in the mission.

"The real heroes were the German people in Berlin who suffered the things they put up with in the Eastern Zone," he said. "People just disappeared under the communist rule, because they were speaking out for freedom. We provided what they needed to get by. They are the ones who held out and persevered."

More information on the Berlin Airlift:

A beautiful presentation by the Department of Defense: http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/2008/0508_berlin/index.html

Previous stories:

The Candy Bomber - http://gazingattheflag.blogspot.com/2008/05/face-of-freedom-col-gail-s-halvorsen.html

The Airlift - http://gazingattheflag.blogspot.com/2008/05/history-is-our-stories-berlin-airlift.html

The Face of Freedom ~ Col. Gail S. Halvorsen

Air Force Col. Gail S. Halvorsen

"The Candy Bomber"

While members of the allied air forces delivered millions of tons of food, fuel and vital staples in the Berlin Airlift almost 60 years ago, one American pilot stood out as a favorite of the sweet-toothed children in the German capital.

Now 87 years old, retired Air Force Col. Gail S. Halvorsen, known as the "Candy Bomber," gained popularity among West Berlin's young residents by tossing candy from his C-54 Skymaster aircraft as he approached a runway, showering the sky with sugary treats.

The idea grew out of a chance meeting with a group of hungry German school children gathered near Tempelhof Airport in Berlin to watch the giant airplanes land and unload, Halvorsen recalled in a February 2007 interview with Air Force Public Affairs.

"They were just grateful that we were bringing in the supplies," he said. "They had been through Hitler, and were going through Stalin," he continued. "After a while, I realized I had talked to these kids for an hour and they hadn't asked for anything. I found out there hadn't been any candy in months."

Halvorsen gave the two pieces of gum in his possession to the kids, half expecting them to fight over the rare treat. Instead, he recalled, the children split the sticks into miniature morsels, and those who didn't get any gum were given small strips torn from the foil wrappers so they could smell the confection's sweet residue.

The pilot promised to bring the children more gum and candy on his next flight into the airport. Though the decision could have earned him a court-martial for breaking flying regulations, Halvorsen vowed to drop the goodies as he passed over them before landing.

So they'd know which of the huge airplanes was his, Halvorsen said he told the children he would "wiggle" his wings as he approached their position.

When he returned to his quarters at Rhein-Main, Germany, then-lieutenant Halvorsen requested his fellow pilots donate their candy rations to disburse to the children. His Air Force comrades warned him of the consequences of throwing unauthorized objects from an aircraft in flight, but he refused to be swayed from delivering on his promise.

After attaching makeshift parachutes of handkerchiefs and string to each chocolate bar, Halvorsen brought the airworthy goodies onboard and kept his oath to the children during his missions over the following three weeks.

Upon returning to Rhein-Main after a flight into Berlin one day, Halvorsen found a message waiting for him. He was to report to the colonel's office, post-haste. I

n the midst of chewing out the young lieutenant for what felt like an eternity, Halvorsen recalled, the colonel produced a German newspaper with a feature article about "Uncle Wiggly Wings," a nickname the children of West Berlin had given Halvorsen.

"It turns out that the general had seen the article before the colonel," the maverick pilot said. "He called the colonel into his office asking which of his pilots had been dropping parachutes into Berlin and the colonel said none of us were.

"The general then told him, 'You'd better wake up, Colonel, because one of your pilots is dropping parachutes,'" Halvorsen recalled. "I think the colonel was more upset that the general found out before he did than he was at what I did."

Local newspapers picked up the story, and Halvorsen's fame started to spread. At his home base, Halvorsen began receiving mail from other pilots who wanted to help. Donors sent candy, volunteers made handkerchief parachutes and the tiny parcels began to fall all over Berlin.

On a brief trip back to the United States, an interviewer asked Halvorsen what he needed to continue his popular "Candy Bomber" operation. He jokingly remarked, "Boxcars full of candy!" Sure enough, shortly after his return to Germany, a train car loaded with 3,000 pounds of chocolate bars arrived for "Uncle Wiggly Wings."

Sixty years after the Berlin Airlift, or "Operation Vittles" -- the largest humanitarian effort in Air Force history -- the mission is remembered for relieving some 2.5 million beleaguered West Berlin residents and striking a blow against the communist Soviet government depriving them of essential goods.

Many also remember the American aircraft that dropped more than 23 tons of candy to the children of West Berlin during the Candy Bomber operation, later renamed "Operation Little Vittles."

For performing an act of valor and self-sacrifice in a humanitarian interest, Halvorsen received the prestigious Cheney Award in 1948, named for 1st Lt. William Cheney, who was killed in an air collision over Italy in 1918. Established in 1927, it's awarded to an airman for an act of valor, extreme fortitude or self-sacrifice in a humanitarian interest, performed in connection with aircraft, but not necessarily of a military nature.

"It's called service before self," Halvorsen told schoolchildren during a February 2006 appearance at an elementary school assembly. "Look at me. I've had a lot of great things happen and met a lot of people, but really it's all because of two sticks of gum."

(Compiled from articles by Air Force Tech Sgt. Ben Gonzales and Ed Drohan published on the U.S. Air Force Website.)

For more about the history of the Berlin Airlift ~ http://www.af.mil/history/spotlight.asp?id=123022256

History is Our Stories ~ Berlin Airlift ~ 60 years ago

At the end of WWII, Germany was partioned between the four members of the Allied nations. Additionally, Berlin was divided into four parts, even though it sat in the middle of the Soviet Union part. In 1948, the Soviets blocked access by ground and rail to Berlin. The Berlin Airlift commenced as a way to supply Berlin.

C-47's lined up to take off to take supplies to Berlin.

Berlin Airlift Monument
Berlin-Tempelhof
Engraved with names of the 39 British pilots and 31 American pilots
who lost their lives during the Berlin Airlift
and the inscription
"They lost their lives for the freedom of Berlin in service for the Berlin Airlift 1948/49"

The Berlin Airlift took place from June 24, 1948 - May 11, 1949.
This was considered the first act of the Cold War.

Words Have Meaning.... Multilateral

Throughout the debate on the Great War on Terror, the words unilateral and multilateral have been thrown around carelesly and repeated far too often, and they have been misused.

UNILATERAL - done or undertaken by one party or country

MULTILATERAL - involving several parties or countries

Regardless of your political stance, the word MULTILATERAL is the correct definition of the coalition that is fighting the Great War on Terror. 290 members of the coalition countries have lost their lives in Iraq and 226 in Afghanistan. I defy you to look at their families and tell them that their sons or daughters were not contributing to the fight against the War on Terror when they lost their lives.

This is the beginning of a series on the MULTILATERAL forces who are serving alongside the American forces. Thank you, all.

Albania - here
Armenia - here
Australia - here and here
Azerbaijan - here
Belgium - here
Bulgaria - here
Bosnia and Herzegovina - here
Canada - here
Germany - here
Great Britian- here
Japan - here
Korea - here
Italy - here
Poland - here and here and here

If the links do not work, click on the labels on the left at the bottom of the page.

Updated 8.18.07

Chely Wright Performs in Iraq

Country singer/songwriter Chely Wright performs for more than 1,000 Third Army/ U.S. Army Central servicemembers at Camp Buehring, Feb. 26. Wright's concert was the first of a 10-day, Stars for Stripes tour throughout Kuwait, Iraq and a welcome home ceremony in Germany. This is her fourth tour to the Middle East since 2003.

Country Singer Chely Wright signs an autograph for Cpl. Sammuel T. White with Marine Wing Support Squadron (MWSS)-273 after a Morale, Welfare, and Recreation show inside the theatre for service members stationed on Al Asad Air Base, Iraq. MWSS-273 is deployed as a part of MNF-W in support of Operation Iraq Freedom in the Al Anbar province of Iraq to develop the Iraqi Security Forces, facilitate the development of official rule of law through democratic government reforms and continue the development of a market based economy centered on Iraqi reconstruction. (Official USMC photograph by Cpl. Sheila M. Brooks)

Chely Wright just returned from a 10 day tour of Kuwait, Iraq and Germany on a "Thank You Tour" for the men and women serving overseas.

She stopped at: Camp Beuhring, Kuwait; Camp Slayer, Camp Liberty, Camp Prosperity, Balad Air Base, Camp Speicher, Al Asad Air Base, Iraq; and Ray Barracks, Germany. This was her fourth tour to the middle east.

"As long as there are boots on the ground and boots in the air, there are a bunch of us that just want to say thank you," Chely Wright told her audience. "I am commited to coming here as long as we have troops in Iraq. The folks back home pray every day for you, and I just want to thank so many who have asked me to come over here."

She always sings "Bumper of My SUV" for her military audiences. But, getting through it without being emotional is difficult.

Thank you to all of the entertainers who take the time to entertain our military!

The German Navy Pays Tribute

Lutjens ~ German Navy Destroyer

This email arrived in my inbox in late 2001 - it showed up again today. This is an e-mail from a young ensign aboard the USS Winston Churchill to his parents, written shortly after the September Eleventh attacks.

Dear Dad,

We are still at sea. The remainder of our port visits have all been canceled. We have spent every day since the attacks going back and forth within imaginary boxes drawn in the ocean, standing high-security watches, and trying to make the best of it. We have seen the articles and the photographs, and they are sickening. Being isolated, I don't think we appreciate the full scope of what is happening back home, but we are definitely feeling the effects.

About two hours ago, we were hailed by a German Navy destroyer, Lutjens, requesting permission to pass close by our port side. Strange, since we're in the middle of an empty ocean, but the captain acquiesced and we prepared to render them honors from our bridgewing. As they were making their approach, our conning officer used binoculars and announced that Lutjens was flying not the German, but the American flag. As she came alongside us, we saw the American flag flying at half-mast and her entire crew topside standing at silent, rigid attention in their dress uniforms. They had made a sign that was displayed on her side that read 'We Stand By You.' There was not a dry eye on the bridge as they stayed alongside us for a few minutes and saluted. It was the most powerful thing I have seen in my life. The German Navy did an incredible thing for this crew, and it has truly been the highest point in the days since the attacks.

It's amazing to think that only a half-century ago, things were quite different. After Lutjens pulled away, the Officer of the Deck, who had been planning to get out later this year, turned to me and said, 'I'm staying Navy.'

I'll write you when I know more about when I'll be home, but this is it for now.

Love you guys.

USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL DDG-81. This ship is the fourth US warship named after an Englishman and the 31st ARLEIGH BURKE class guided missile destroyer. As a courtesy to the ship's namesake country, a member of the Royal Navy is assigned to the ship's crew at all times.