What a great credo to live by. I fall so far short on that measure.
This is an excellent book about the Berlin Airlift. It is quite the story and was largely overshadowed by WW II a few years earlier.
Posted on 02/17/2022 12:23:08 PM PST by Borges
RIP.
Great story, thank you.
Yes, a great story. Hal was a little bit older than my Dad, also WWII in the Navy, though not a pilot. 6-25 this year will be his 100th birthday. I miss him.
what a man, and what a loss for us.
RIP, sir!
Bkmk
What a great credo to live by. I fall so far short on that measure.
This is an excellent book about the Berlin Airlift. It is quite the story and was largely overshadowed by WW II a few years earlier.
He was my base commander at Tempelhof when I was stationed there in the mid 70’s. He was well liked by everyone.
He had a great life and was a mainstay with the USAF throughout his life. Rest in Peace.
God Bless and thank you Mr. Halvorsen.
Halvorsen’s effort single-handily kept Berlin dentists actively employed.
Halverson came to Berlin during Reagan’s 1987 visit. We had a ceremony at Templehof honoring the Berlin airlift. Ten thousand mini parachutes with candy were dropped from the ceiling to honor Halverson and some of his colleagues. Reagan was at Templehof after his famous speech at the Wall. It was quite a day!
This man is still flying today...though now with Angels.....
.....I might have missed it somewhere but it is interesting that the picture of him shows him wearing British Royal Air Force pilot’s wings on the right side of his blouse and United States Civil Air Patrol wings below his USAF Command Pilot Wings....what an interesting life he must have led.....!! wonder how many hours and in what types of aircraft he had in his logbook....
I recall one time when Bill Clinton was talking bout this. Referred to Gail as “she”. Idiot didn’t know Gail was a man, or that Gail is a man’s name as well as a woman’s.
Bkmk
Quite a few pilots signed up to fly with the RAF in the early part of the war when the US still was officially neutral. They were organized into what the British called “Eagle Squadrons”.
This was a real pain for the Russian/E.German propagandists, an unscripted, voluntary ‘act of kindness’ towards the innocent children being deliberately STARVED by Stalin’s decree! Dictators have problems when human kindness / Christian Charity becomes the lead story, it is near impossible to bend to their directives! After the initial publicity got back to the States, whole communities started supporting Halvorsen and the other Airlift efforts!
A note on the aviation technology in the Berlin Airlift. While many think that it was the C-47/DC-3 that was the mainstay of this operation, that was true only at the beginning. Most likely, that was what the Soviets factored into their calculations that they could starve Berlin into surrender. The DC-3/C-47 had a capacity of around 8,000 pounds in a tail-dragger design.
It’s newer son, the DC-4/C-54 could short-haul 35,000 pounds in a tricycle landing gear. This made for a LEVEL unloading that was almost unique in the Allied Air-Bridge (American/British/French) and much faster. The turn-around ability for this aircraft is what kept Berlin going, to the point that at the end, the stockpiles were increasing! Thus, on the 11th of May 1949, Stalin & Soviet Russia admitted the FIRST defeat of the Cold War, after 11 months of the blockade!
RIP Col Halvorsen, and Blessings on your Family & Friends!
RIP, Goodspeed Uncle Wiggly Wings. Just think, those kids he gave candy to and in the 80’s and 90’s now.
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