WWII Rapid City Veteran, 94, Organized US-British Berlin Airlift Reunion Response

During the Great Depression, 14-year-old Chuck Childs had to leave his Dakota farm to ride the rails when he thought his family just didn’t have enough food to go around.  When the war broke out after Pearl Harbor, Childs worked his way up to become a B-17 pilot in the European theater, flying 37 combat missions against the Third Reich.  

     No sooner was the war over, when Childs found himself in the Cold War.  He donned his uniform once again, this time to protect the Germans during the Berlin Airlift in the later 1940s.  He has written books about all of these experiences.  He and wife Grace regularly share their lifetime experiences with the Black Hills Veterans Writing Group.

      As the current president of the Berlin Airlift Veterans Association, Childs found that the Internet and telephone made it possible to organize a massive airlift of veterans from both America and Britain who had served in the Berlin Airlift.   He just returned this week:

      What a wonderful experience we had in Berlin.  I brought 53 Berlin Airlift Veterans and their wives plus 35 British Airlift veterans and their wives to Berlin for the 65th Anniversary of Stalin ending the blockade.  We had 5 full days of red carpet.  Since I am the President of BAVA I was asked to speak at several occasions to include the US Embassy.  The pictures are

1. The Ceremony at the Memorial, where all 71 aircrew members who where killed on the Lift have their names engraved on the Memorial.

2. Myself after laying the USA wreath.

3.  The Mayor talking to me and a British Airmen.

4.  I am addressing the US Embassy and the US Ambassador is standing next to me.  We also had lunch with the Mayor and I sat at his table with Ambassadors from the US, England, France and Canada.  This was a trip that I will never forget.