• BJ LEWIS - Victoria Advocate
• Originally published May 18, 2008 at 11:37 p.m., updated May 18, 2008 at 11:37 p.m.

After months of washing planes to pay for flying lessons, Sidney Ward was told in 1936 he was going to fly solo. Ward dashed to his home in Shawnee Okla., to get a parental signature from his mother.

With a laugh, he recalled what his mom told him: “If you want to kill yourself, go ahead.”

Sidney didn’t kill himself. During his years of service in the air force and 13,000 hours of flight time, his skill at the controls of a plane was one thing that helped millions of Germans during the Berlin Airlift in 1948.

With Russians blockading the western portion of Berlin, the U.S. and its allies flew provisions to the residents of West Berlin.

“It was quite an experience,” Ward said. “It makes you feel good because you did something that helped save so many lives.”

Ward and other veterans were honored for their work in Houston on Saturday evening at the “Friends Always” Gala.

Ward was one of 13 veterans there. Of the 13, there were only three other pilots left.

“It was wonderful,” Ward said of the ceremony. “They were all appreciative of what we did during the airlift.”

Ward had been a private pilot when the airlift started.

“They brought in anyone who had pilot’s wings. We were running night and day,” he said.

Since flights were going around the clock, Ward said pilots slept when and where they could. Some slept in the planes, others under the wings, while planes were being loaded.

Ward made 185 trips carrying needed provisions to the German people.

“We literally saved 2.5 million people from starvation and freezing to death,” he said.

There were some near misses during the airlift period. Ward said at the beginning there was only one runway to land on and to reach it pilots had to maneuver over a seven-story apartment building. Later two more runways were built and the best approach back to the base was flying over a nearby graveyard.

On one occasion, Ward and his co-pilot overshot Berlin and ended up in Russian territory.

“That will make you suck wind,” Ward said. He said Russian planes would fly around them as they made their trips.

“They would harass us with their Yak fighters. More likely laughing at us. They didn’t expect it to succeed.”

As time goes on, Linda, Ward’s wife of 39 years, said his stories give her another view on the events of the airlift and other moments in this country’s military history.

“The older we get, the more I realize the significance of the contributions,” she said. “You get perspective when you get a distance from the event.”

Even though Ward retired in 1971, his family has had experience with other wars. The couple has a grandson currently serving his second tour in Iraq and their daughter is retired from the Navy.

The airlift was one of the highlights of his military career, Ward said. He retired as commander of Matagorda Airforce Base and now resides in Port Lavaca.

Despite the fatigue and the wartime dangers – they lost 37 members during the time of the airlift – it was “absolutely worth it,” Ward said.

“It’s important in history and something many people thought couldn’t be done,” he said.

Bj Lewis is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6535 or bjlewis@vicad.com.

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