Celebrating the People Who Keep Airlift History Alive
I have just returned from Utah, where I attended the Candy Bomber Gala and spent time with people who care deeply about Gail Halvorsen’s legacy and the story of the Berlin Airlift. It was a meaningful few days of remembrance, conversation, and connection.
One of the most important parts of the trip was the opportunity to interview three of Gail’s children, Denise, Marilyn, and Brad. Hearing the Airlift story through their family memories adds a personal dimension that no history book can provide, and I am grateful that their voices will become part of Voices of the Berlin Airlift.
This month’s newsletter also celebrates a rare aviation honor for Tim Chopp, shares a reflection on why knowing the past matters, follows the Airlift Penny Project to Gail Halvorsen’s grave, brings two updates from Faßberg, and looks ahead to the first official Wings of Freedom board meeting.
There is a great deal happening, and I am glad to take you along.
On wings of inspiration,
Bibi
✨ An Evening at the Candy Bomber Gala✨
I recently had the pleasure of attending the Candy Bomber Foundation Gala in the beautiful Utah State Capitol building. It was a wonderful setting for an evening dedicated to preserving Gail Halvorsen’s legacy and the history of the Berlin Airlift.
I had a Wings of Freedom book table at the event, which gave me the opportunity to meet so many interesting people. Many shared my interest in the Berlin Airlift, and some clearly shared my passion for keeping its stories and values alive. The conversations and new connections were among the evening's highlights.
With inspiring speakers, a lively auction, and such wonderful company, the gala was both meaningful and fun. I returned home grateful for the experience and encouraged by how many people remain committed to carrying the Berlin Airlift legacy forward.
🏅 FEATURED STORY 🏅
A Rare Double Honor for Tim Chopp
Photo courtesy of Eddie Ide/Berlin Airlift Remembrance Alliance
On September 4, the Federal Aviation Administration honored Timothy A. Chopp, founder and president of the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation, with two of its most distinguished aviation awards: the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award and the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award.
Both honors recognize at least fifty years of experience, professionalism, skill, and commitment to aviation safety. The Charles Taylor Award honors a lifetime in aircraft maintenance, while the Wright Brothers Award recognizes five decades or more of safe flight. Receiving either is an extraordinary achievement. Receiving both at the same time is exceptionally rare. According to the information provided for the ceremony, fewer than one percent of recipients have received both honors simultaneously.
For those who know Tim through the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation, the recognition feels especially fitting. His aviation expertise has been matched by decades of dedication to preserving and sharing the Airlift story. Through the Foundation and its flying museum, the C-54 Spirit of Freedom, Tim has helped bring that history directly to communities across the country.
The ceremony took place near Washington, Pennsylvania, where Tim made his first solo flight in 1962. More than sixty years later, he returned to be honored for a lifetime spent in the air, around aircraft, and serving aviation history.
Congratulations, Tim, on this remarkable and well-deserved double honor!
⭐️ FROM THE BLOG ⭐️
Knowing the Past, Creating the Future
PHOTO: Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F074398-0021 / Engelbert Reineke / CC-BY-SA 3.0 / CC BY-SA 3.0 de
“Those who do not know the past
cannot understand the present
and cannot create the future.”
These words from former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl capture why I continue collecting personal stories from the Berlin Airlift.
The Airlift was more than an extraordinary logistical achievement. It was a human story about freedom, courage, compassion, and the choices people made when others needed them. Each interview for Voices of the Berlin Airlift helps us understand not only what happened, but why those experiences still matter today.
In the new blog, I share more about the project’s big why and our responsibility to preserve eyewitness memories while we still can. Knowing the past isn't about staying there. It gives us the understanding we need to shape what comes next.
🟡 THE AIRLIFT PENNY PROJECT 🟡
A Visit to Gail Halvorsen’s Grave
During my time in Utah, Denise Halvorsen Williams and I visited her dad's, the beloved Candy Bomber, final resting place.
Standing there, I thought about the children who watched for his plane with hopeful eyes, the little handkerchief parachutes that carried hope into Berlin, and the many people who continue to carry his example forward. This was a simple act of remembrance, and a deeply meaningful one!
The Airlift Penny Project is built around moments like this: small, personal acts that honor the people behind the Berlin Airlift and help keep their stories present.
💡 WINGS OF FREEDOM UPDATE 💡
Our First Board Meeting
On September 18, Wings of Freedom held its first official board meeting. It was quite an administrative milestone, and for our new 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, it was an important step forward.
The work has already begun, but this was the first time our full board officially gathered to lay the foundation and begin shaping priorities for the next phase of Wings of Freedom together.
I am deeply grateful to have a board that brings together experience in finance, education, storytelling, organizational leadership, and the Berlin Airlift legacy itself. Each member believes in the importance of preserving the Berlin Airlift legacy and personal accounts, and finding meaningful ways to share them with future generations.
🌎 News from Around the Globe 🌎
Faßberg Brings the Airlift Story to Berlin-Gatow
The Luftbrückenmuseum Faßberg returned to the annual airfield festival at the Bundeswehr Museum of Military History in Berlin-Gatow during the first weekend of September. Nearly 22,000 visitors attended the two-day event, where the Faßberg team welcomed guests in Hangar 3 and shared the museum’s work preserving the history of the Berlin Airlift.
Led by Captain Martin Sagehorn and Ludger Osterkamp, the team represented both the military history collection of the German Air Force Technical Training Center and the association that supports the Berlin Airlift memorial site in Faßberg. The museum has participated in the Gatow festival for many years, and organizers said public interest in the Airlift and its history remains strong.
Source: Paul Hicks, “Das Luftbrückenmuseum Faßberg präsentierte beim Flugplatzfest in Gatow”
Seventy Years of Trust and Partnership
On August 27, Faßberg commemorated two important anniversaries: seventy years since the Royal Air Force handed the air base to the newly established German Air Force, and seventy-seven years since the last Berlin Airlift flight departed from Faßberg. The Bundeswehr, the municipality of Faßberg, and the local Berlin Airlift association hosted the ceremony at Platz der Luftbrücke.
Mayor Kerstin Speder welcomed guests, including fourteen members of the Royal Air Force from Brize Norton led by Wing Commander Gareth Thomas. Following a wreath-laying ceremony, speakers reflected on Faßberg’s transformation from an Airlift base into a symbol of reconciliation, restored trust, and continuing friendship between Germany and the United Kingdom. Flight Lieutenant Greg Harley, an RAF bagpiper, helped bring the commemoration to a moving close.
Source: Paul Hicks, “Celebrating the handover of Air Base Fassberg and Berlin Airlift commemoration”
🗓️ ON THIS DATE 🗓️
The Final American Flight
The Soviet blockade of West Berlin ended on May 12, 1949, but Berlin Airlift flights continued for several more months while the Western Allies built reserves of food, fuel, and other essential supplies in case the blockade began again.
On September 30, 1949, U.S. Air Forces in Europe made its final Berlin Airlift flight. The American C-54 carried a little more than two tons of coal into Berlin, bringing the American operation to a close after fifteen months.
By then, the American and British air forces had delivered more than 2.3 million tons of supplies to West Berlin. What began as an emergency response became one of history’s greatest humanitarian airlifts and a powerful demonstration that the people of Berlin would not be abandoned.
Seventy-seven years later, September 30 remains a day to remember not only the last aircraft, but every pilot, mechanic, air traffic controller, weather observer, loader, nurse, administrator, and civilian whose work made that final flight possible.
Source: U.S. Air Forces in Europe, “Lessons from the Berlin Airlift”
CLOSING MESSAGE
Returning from Utah, visiting Gail Halvorsen’s grave, and listening to the memories of Denise, Marilyn, and Brad brought me back to why this work matters. History becomes personal when we hear the voices, stand in the places, and remember the choices that shaped it.
That same thread runs through Tim Chopp’s lifetime of service, the work being done in Faßberg, and the Wings of Freedom board's first official meeting.
Each is a different way of protecting the past while building something for the future.
Thank you for following this work and for helping these stories continue to find their way home.
All the best,
