The Idea

I doubt I will ever grow tired of the stories in and around the Berlin Airlift.  I find in them a crucible of human existence which distills us to the best and worst we have to offer.  As a boy I recall being awoken while in a train car to look out and see a dimly lit, haunting switchyard where everything was gray and silent.  I was traveling through East Germany on my way to West Berlin.  My dad, an officer in the USAF, wanted me to see first hand this place which was foreign to all of us in so many ways.  As an eight year old I did not understand the significance of what I was seeing.  But gratefully, I have since come to understand it more fully.  I never cease to be inspired by the relentless effort and the selfless sacrifice that brought about these pivotal, but often forgotten events in our history.  Whether learning of these stories for the first time and revisiting them anew I hope, that after your time in Berlin, you will find yourself the richer for it, as I have found myself in its telling.

--ERIK ORTON