Photo By Alexandra Shea | U.S. Air Force Cpl. Ralph Dionne poses for a photo while stationed at Westover Air...... read more read more
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ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. – Robins Air Force Base is located in the heart of Central Georgia. The base’s mission is to keep the Air Force and Navy’s fleets of F-15 Eagle fighter jets, C-130 Hercules, C-17 Globemaster, and C-5 Galaxy aircraft in peak performance to continue to ensure air superiority through scheduled depot maintenance.
On Aug. 16, 2024, Ralph G. Dionne and Baerbel “BiBi” LaBlanc were treated to a behind the scenes base tour, getting a look at the many men and women who ensure this mission, before they both spoke as part of the Museum of Aviation’s speaker series.
Even with Dionne being older than LaBlanc by 35 years, the two share a common place and point in time – June 24, 1948, the start of the Berlin Airlift.
Though World War II had ended by the time Dionne graduated from high school in his hometown of Nashua, New Hampshire, he enlisted in the Air Force as a C-54 Skymaster mechanic. He then volunteered for a temporary duty assignment in Germany.
“A notice appeared on our bulletin board that said the following officers and men will report to flight operations terminal in three days for a 90-day temporary duty transfer to Rhine-Main Air Force Base in Germany,” Dionne said. “Three days later, the C-54s were loaded with fuel, personnel and tools boxes for mechanics.”
Within days of arrival, Dionne and his fellow mechanics began working 12-hour shifts maintaining cargo plans from America and the United Kingdom. The planes were part of the Berlin Airlift, which delivered supplies by air to the people of West Berlin after the Soviet Union enacted a blockage to prevent the reunification of Germany at the end of World War II.
“Our barracks was a large building used by Hitler’s SS troops. We had four men to a room, but we never made friends because we worked so much and were on different work schedules,” Dionne recalled. “It was so busy. Planes were coming in every three minutes.”
Little did Dionne know, 7-year-old Irmelind Roth and her family would use supplies from airlift operations to survive the Soviet occupation. Roth would later become LaBlanc’s mother. Roth accompanied the tour and speaking series with her daughter.
“I remember them,” Roth said of the care packages. “I remember the powdered milk.”
“It was how we survived,” Roth said with a shrug of her slender shoulders.
Roth looked to her daughter to share her childhood memory.
“I was born in the American sector, two years after the Berlin Wall was built. Growing up, the wall running through the middle of my hometown became normal,” said LaBlanc. “It was guarded by sharp shooters in watch towers and patrolled by guard dogs and a strip of mine field called the ‘Death Strip.’"
LaBlanc recalled how she had a normal childhood despite the Berlin Wall and what it represented - Cold War and ideological spilt between the East and West.
“My dad’s brother and his family lived in East Berlin,” she added. “We could visit them, but they could never visit us.”
After returning from a trip to Africa while working for a German airline, LaBlanc received a call from her mother telling her that the Berlin Wall had fallen.
“I couldn’t fathom what she was saying at first. I did not think ever in my lifetime I would see the wall fall,” LaBlanc recalled. “My roommates and I drove to Berlin. It was a dark, cold November night, but on that day, there were cars parked left and right on the autobahn.”
“(We) found a big party. West Germans were welcoming East Germans through the checkpoint with hot tea and chocolate,” she said. “There was laughing, crying, and hugging as we all became a part of history in the making.”
Both Dionne and LaBlanc would continue on with their lives, each marrying and starting a family of their own. Dionne attended Boston University and earned a bachelor’s degree, worked in the technology and inventory fields, and earned his private pilot’s license. After LaBlanc met her husband, she became a U.S. citizen, book author and skydiving enthusiast.
More than 75 years after the Berlin Airlift concluded, Dionne, LaBlanc and Roth would meet to participate in the Museum of Aviation’s Heritage Series named “Remembering Berlin in the Cold War.” Each would learn a little of each other’s backstories while attendees would learn of the impact and significance of the Berlin Airlift.
“The price of freedom is high, but always worth the effort in human toll involved,” Dionne said. “I know I will never forget the pride of serving in the U.S. Air Force and the Berlin Airlift.”
| Date Taken: | 08.16.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.17.2024 09:16 |
| Story ID: | 480269 |
| Location: | ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 36 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Separated by time: US veteran, German native meet through airlift supplies, by Alexandra Shea, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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