June 26, 2018 Happy Tuesday! Sorry I missed yesterday’s installment. If you’re a regular follower of this blog, you might have asked, “Where’s the blog?” or “Where’s he at?” I wasn’t idle, to be sure. As usual, I was posting some entries on the mistletoetom Facebook page, and researching for new stories about history & heroes to post today and for the next several days. As I’ve mentioned previously in an earlier blog, I make extensive use of the Library of Congress research site, the National Archives, NASA’s website, all the U.S. military websites, a few sports history sites, and several other government sites to find most of the stories I publish for our “On This Day” in history feature. Browsing through them, sometimes I get lost and lose track of time. There are so many interesting events and figures, and so many inspirational stories… it’s difficult sometimes to chose which ones to feature. During the past couple months, we have featured stories from the Revolutionary War era, the War of 1812, the Civil War period, World War I, World War II, Korea, the Cold War, Vietnam, the Age of the Space Race, and our latest campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obviously, I’m not old enough to have been around for most of those historical periods. But the more I browse through the stories of events that occurred within my lifetime, I often recall the historical event with some silent expression as I read through it: “I remember that.” Sometimes I remember exactly what I was doing or where I was when the event occurred. Sometimes my recall of the historical event is triggered by the recollection of my personal history. And it’s common for major events to be associated with a person’s life events. It’s equally common to hear the question, “Where were you when _____ happened?” 9-11 is a prime example. That morning, I was in the tower of the Grayling Air Gunnery Range in Michigan, assisting the Range Officer with the duties of monitoring military training flights. I could give you a detailed account of the timeline of my activities for most of that day, too. But that’s for another day. Today’s “Where were you?” is prompted by different events. Earlier today I posted on the mistletoetom Facebook page that “On This Day” in 1948, the first flights of the Berlin Airlift were launched to deliver humanitarian assistance to millions of Germans trapped by the Soviet blockade erected around Berlin. The nearly year-long mission of thousands of flights, dropping millions of tons of food, medicine and supplies is regarded as one of history’s greatest humanitarian efforts. Special Delivery: compliments of the United States Air Force! I wasn’t born yet. But eventually I delivered myself to the Air Force recruiting office. A second post made today recalled that “On This Day” in 1963, President John F. Kennedy delivered one of the most memorable speeches in the Cold War era to the people of Berlin, within sight of the Berlin Wall. It was in this speech that Kennedy made the noteworthy quote, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” His intention was to say, “I am a Berliner,” in the same way someone from the Big Apple would say, “I’m a New Yorker.” But it stands out because the German word “berliner” also means jelly donut. But the crowd understood his meaning, and they applauded and cheered his pronouncement. I was two years old. Too young to understand politics, but very likely to enjoy a jelly donut. In 1989, I was in my eighth year of service with the Air Force. From 1984-1986 I had been stationed at Prum Air Station in West Germany, near the Belgian border. The Cold War was still shaping world events. Reagan was the US president, and Gorbachev succeeded Chernenko as General Secretary of the Soviet Union in March 1985. Reagan was asserting “Peace through Strength,” and “trust but verify,” while Gorbachev was adopting policies of “glasnost” (openness) and “perestroika” (restructuring). The greatest concerns were the numbers of nuclear weapons developed and deployed by both sides.
In 1989 the Soviet Union collapsed, no longer able – if it ever was – to afford the arms race. Late in 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. I returned to Germany, for a very brief deployment, early in 1990. The memories of my assignment were still fresh: the prevailing feeling of the “cold” from the Cold War had subsided and given way to gladness for the people, but it was not forgotten. The memories of the images of the Berlin Wall being torn down were fresher still. In June 1987, President Reagan visited West Berlin, too. In one of Reagan’s most memorable quotes from his presidency, he called on Gorbachev to, “Tear down this wall.” When young people poured across the wall, began disassembling it with hammers, and congregated around it with their neighbors… I sat mesmerized. I sat in awe and wonder. I sat thinking that I had contributed in some small part to the effort to tear down that wall. I remembered the people who were stationed with me at that tiny base – but who had a vital tactical mission including frequent field deployments to train… just in case diplomacy failed. So, when I was in Germany in 1990, I purchased a few souvenir coins. The images associated with this blog installment show the Berlin Airlift; the Kennedy speech to the people of Berlin; and two West German 5 DM (Deutschmark) coins. Also included: an image of General Douglas MacArthur, for a very special reason. In May 1962, fourteen years after the Berlin Airlift, a year and one month prior to Kennedy’s Berlin speech, and twenty-seven years before the fall of the Berlin Wall, General MacArthur delivered his final address to the cadets of West Point. After decades of military experience, he bid farewell. And in his beautiful speech titled, “Duty, Honor, Country” he stated this truth: “… the soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.” Where was I? Still in diapers, but on my way to playing a part of history. And whether you believe it or not, in some fashion whether great or small, you’re playing a part in history too. And like MacArthur, I hope you’re praying – or hoping - that diplomacy does not fail. This blog is dedicated to many comrades-in-arms with whom I served, particularly these men and women who I served with at Prum Air Station, Germany: Pat Walker, Joanne Milton, Larry Milton, Rocky Salinas, Dave Trickle, Bill Goodman, Patti Ann Kolbmann, Tom Gimm, Brian LaBree, Jay Jacobs and John McMullen. It is also in memory of Ken Popham. Mistletoe Enterprises and Victory & Valor is proud to deliver educational content that spreads cheer and tells the stories of history & heroes. We hope you enjoy our blog and hope you’ll come back again! Have a great day! (I’m going to go get a donut!)
4 Comments
8/4/2018 03:28:56 am
That was a great idea of you. Thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful insight. I envy you for travelling a lot and doing some research and blogs. I have seen that in the last picture, there was an old coin. In other countries, selling old coins is quite expensive because the research department of governments preserves it well. I am so glad that they have that kind of activity so that future youths will be able to see this.
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Thomas Davis
8/4/2018 03:49:35 am
Thank you for your comments!
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Tom Davis
6/27/2023 08:49:04 pm
Thank you, Angela!
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AuthorTom Davis is the owner of Mistletoe Enterprises LLC. He also publishes and distributes the Victory & Valor Flyer, it tells the stories of heroes from all walks of life. Archives
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