Air Lift Veterans gather with Vice Consul Werner-Ciprian Fugel and contemporary witness Elke Mariotti in front of a "candy bomber".

On Friday, September 4th, the American Airpower Museum in Farmingdale held a ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift. In 1948/49, allied planes brought food, supplies and hope to the blockaded city of Berlin.

The Berlin Airlift was a heroic effort that saved more than two million men, women and children from starvation and death. For 322 days, in more than 270,000 flights, the airlift brought 1.7 million tons of food and supplies to the war-stricken people of Berlin. Fuelled by the will to save human lives and to preserve freedom, Berliners and Americans worked hand in hand. The Berlin Airlift united former enemies that were separated by World War II and also laid the foundation for the strong and trusted friendship between the German and American people.

Planes like the Douglas C-54 were the backbone and the workhorse of the “Big Lift”. Berliners lovingly called them “Rosinenbomber” (“Candy bombers”). One original plane, the „Spirit of Freedom“, now serves as a flying museum and was one of the highlights at the American Airpower Museum.

During the airlift, it took more than 300 aircrafts operating 24 hours a day to save the people of Berlin from starvation. Planes like the “Spirit of Freedom” (a C-54 Skymaster) could carry 10 tons of cargo. It took about 1300 C-54 flights to meet Berlin’s daily needs and almost every three minutes a plane took off to supply the blockaded city with coal and food.

Jeff Clyman, Gary Lewi and Günther Bier from the American Airpower Museum in Farmingdale welcomed veterans of the Berlin Airlift and contemporary witness Elke Mariotti, who experienced the heroic efforts as a child in Berlin. On behalf of Consul General Horst Freitag, the German Consulate was represented by Vice Consul Werner-Ciprian Fugel.

For more information, please visit the museum’s website:

www.americanairpowermuseum.com.

An experience of a lifetime

I took my flt this past Saturday, and just want to say it was a great experience. I could not imagine how the paratroopers felt going over the channel that night. You guys and the other people at the museum are doing a great job. I've never met a more friendly and helpful bunch of people. It's a pleasure every time I visit the museum. Keep up the good work. We can not afford to let what happened back then be forgotten and the sacrifices made by so many.

Thank you again for an experience of a lifetime.
Regards,
Thomas A. Hallock

Boy Scouts of America honors American Airpower Museum with a Certificate of Appreciation!

A Testimonial from September 19th, 2008

We were in awe at the wonderful displays and beautiful historic aircraft and memorabilia, and honestly, I had always known that Long Island has a long proud history in aviation, but I had no idea at the mass extent of it, we were truly impressed and will surely plan on another trip very soon.

Thank you for keeping the memories alive of all those who have sacrificed for us all in defence of our country, as well as for sharing your love for aviation with us. Your dedication to this museum and aviation is truly impressive.

Thanks again and we'll see you soon!
Kevin
Fairfield, CT

FLC-NE Event- 9/16 - Thank You!

Hi Larry and Jacky,

Thank you for hosting our event on Tuesday, September 16th, everyone had a wonderful time! The museum was very interesting and such a wonderful place for a casual reception. I received many compliments from our attendees about the venue and the volunteers that lead our tour. Everyone was so friendly, inviting and knowledgeable!

Again, thank you so much and I will be sure to keep the American Airpower Museum in mind for future events!

Warm Regards,
AS

Guenter’s Trip Report to European Battle Fields

My son and I departed JFK on 17 July and had a wonderful flight during the mid-summer night with daylight still present in the north all the way over the North Atlantic. We made landfall near Shannon, Ireland and arrived earlier in Frankfurt. After a 2-day rest at relatives we drove across the Rhein, just about were Patton crossed it near Oppenheim in March 1945. Our journey went through the famous Pfaelzer vine country and we passed Kaiserslautern and a few minutes later the huge U.S. Air Base at Ramstein with the nearby Landstuhl military hospital, the largest hospital outside the U.S. Soon we crossed into Luxembourg and arrived in L.-City. At its suburb Hamm our target was the American Military Cemetery. We found it to be a wonderfully created memorial with chapels, monuments and huge battle maps in ceramic mosaic. Sadly the main part are the many grave sites with white marble crosses and Star of David, all fallen heroes from the big battle of the Ardennes Offensive. Patton’s site is now up front between two flag poles and it seems he speaks to his troops. We left, I thinking back to 1945 what might it have been like in that area. One month later the 1st Army occupied our city east.

Our next visit was at the German Military Cemetery only about a mile away in Sandweiler. Soon we continued our trip across the next border into Belgium and arrived late afternoon in Bastogne. There we were expected by our friend and Tour Guide Henri who took us the next day into the former battle fields of the Battle of the Bulge. Surprisingly we viewed the fox holes of ”Easy Company”, now slightly grown over with moss in the dense Ardennes Forest. We also joined a group of 50 American students on a 21-day tour where Henri had a tour arranged. The bus took us up to Mardasson Hill, overlooking Bastogne with its huge monument. Down below inside the rocks we entered the Crypt and listened to Henri’s stories. The walls are decorated murals in colored mosaic, one for each faith. Henri asked me also to speak to the students about my experiences during WWII in Germany, located nearby where the Russian Armies were met on 20 April 1945. The entire area is filled with tanks, American and German, reminding all today of a terrible battle in December 1944. The local citizens will never forget the siege of the town when the 101st paratroopers defended the town against German takeover. We also visited the former convent where the 501PIR set up their Command Post during the siege. The last nun died about 2 years ago at age 100.

Soon we departed again and went back to Germany and on to Austria far east to Vienna. In this wonderful city we walked most of the attractions and on our way back to Germany we stopped in nearby Krems along the Danube and went up through the vineyards into its suburb Gneixendorf where STALAG 17B was located from 1938 to 1945. It has now become an aerodrome for small airplanes and parachute jumping. At the corner into the airfield some stone monuments remember of this famous prison camp. Then we went on to Linz along the Danube and back into Germany.

This completed a 2000-mile car trip, enjoying the scenery, history and lucrative food.

Kumano MS Euro's letter to American Airpower Museum

I and my child have visited your museum on July 26. I am a old Japanese and my son is a German/Japanese. We were interested (with deep impression) for showpieces and records and movies very much. If I will have a chance to go to U.S.A, I want to come again,

Regards from Germany___M.Kumano