The Airlift Penny Project: One Penny, One Name, One Act of Remembrance

Some ideas arrive fully formed. Others evolve. This one began with me doing some research for a road trip along the California Coast ... and evolved into a new way to remember, even though at first it did not work out quite as expected....

The Airlift Penny Project was inspired by the tradition of leaving coins at veterans’ graves. I began imagining what it would mean to leave pennies dated 1948 or 1949 at the resting places of Berlin Airlift veterans and at the sites where lives were lost during the operation.

My first planned visit was to a cemetery in Olema, California. I hoped to locate the grave of an Airlift veteran and leave the project’s first penny there. But after searching the cemetery, and a few phone calls later, it turned out this veteran was not here.

The idea, however, had already grown bigger than me. When I shared it with the members of Luftbrücke Frankfurt-Berlin 1948-1949 e.V., they immediately understood its meaning. They embraced the project and organized the first placement of pennies at the memorial on Steinkopf hill near Königstein in the Taunus.

And how fitting that the Airlift Penny Project began at the site of the Berlin Airlift’s first fatal crash.

Below, I share the story in two parts.

How a Penny Became a Project

The Airlift Penny Project began with a simple question: How can each of us personally honor the people whose courage, work, and sacrifice made the Berlin Airlift possible?

Inspired by the tradition of leaving coins at veterans’ graves, I began searching for pennies dated 1948 and 1949. Each one could become a small, tangible connection to the years of the Airlift.

The first attempt did not go according to plan. But sometimes an idea simply needs to find the right place to begin.

The First Pennies at Steinkopf in Germany

On July 8, 1948, only twelve days after the Berlin Airlift began, a C-47 carrying supplies to Berlin struck the wooded Steinkopf hill near Königstein in Germany.

The crash claimed the lives of 1st Lt. George B. Smith, 1st Lt. Leland V. Williams, and Karl Viktor Hagen.

Decades later, members of Luftbrücke Frankfurt-Berlin 1948-1949 e.V. returned to the memorial site to place the first pennies of the Airlift Penny Project.

Three lives were remembered, and a new project took its first step.

CARRY THE MEMORY FORWARD

The first pennies have now been placed, but this is only the beginning. Across the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and other countries are graves, memorials, airfields, and crash sites connected to the Berlin Airlift. Many are well known. Others are quietly waiting to be rediscovered.

The Airlift Penny Project is an invitation to take part in that search. You might visit the grave of a veteran near your home, stop at a memorial during your travels, or help identify someone whose Airlift service deserves to be remembered. Bring a penny dated 1948 or 1949, take a photograph, and share the person’s name and story with us.

One penny cannot tell the entire story of the Berlin Airlift.

But it can tell someone that a single life still matters.

With gratitude for every life remembered and every story carried forward,

Founder and President

Wings of Freedom, Inc.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization

Help us keep these stories alive. Help us pass them on. Together, we can ensure the timeless lessons of the Berlin Airlift continue to inspire future generations.