Besides posting this report to HP3000-L, I am also forwarding these
comments to my colleagues at SIEC (SigIMAGE Executive Committee) and to
selected people within HP.

I came to Berlin on "planned business" (with my trusty HP3000 918DX in a
suitcase and my Mac PowerBook as the HP3000's serial-based console and
Ethernet-based multi-session terminal).  A very compact and powerful
software development & demonstration package, if I may say so myself :-)

Little did I know that I would have to dynamically change my "planned
business".  Somehow, I had to steal at least a couple of hours a day from
planned activities in order to attend to the festivities of the 50th
anniversary of the Berlin Airlift (a totally unplanned event in my
otherwise full calendar).  The festivities are among the most amazing
things I have ever witnessed in my life.  The fact that I was barely a year
old when the Berlin Airlift began has made it even more stirring for me.

I would like to share a few comments that are uncannily applicable to the
HP3000 computer and its culture, particularly now that HP is investing such
heroic efforts on its own HP3000.  If Berlin could be saved against such
gigantic odds by such a prodigious effort, the HP3000 can certainly be
saved -- because the HP3000's odds are much better compared to the
alternatives and because the effort required from us is well within our
means (see the comments from Lucius D. Clay below).


Eberhard Diepgen, Mayor of Berlin:

        ... a masterfully planned [and executed] political and
logistical undertaking.

For 320 days, the Soviets blocked the land and water routes and attempted
to cut Berlin off from the West.  As a result, the city and its 2 million
inhabitants had to be supplied from the air... in a superb demonstration of
creativity and improvisation...



Lars Klaaßen:

        ... The western allies decided in July 1948 to build a third
airport at Tegel in the French sector.  Around 19000 Berliners worked
around the clock.  Tegel airport opened after only 85 days of construction.



Andrea Klippel:

        The war was over and hunger was everywhere.  No housing, no
infrastructure, no resources.  Nothing.



Lucius D. Clay:

        [American Military Governor and "father of the Berlin
        Airlift", as told by Robert Lochner, Clay's translator.]

        ... Then came the idea of the airlift.  Clay proposed it only after
a brief talk with West Berlin Mayor Ernst Reuter.  Clay candidly pointed
out to Reuter that he didn't know yet where he would find the necessary
planes to supply a big city by air.  The hardship would be very great for
the West Berliners -- at least at the start.  Could they take this new blow
so short a time after the horrors of World War II?  Reuter quietly
answered, "You take care of the airlift, I'll take care of the Berliners".
On the strength of that commitment from Reuter, with whom Clay had a superb
relationship of trust, Clay decided to propose the idea to Washington.



Clive Freeman, Berlin-based British journalist:

        For the British, the Airlift was a hughe challenge. The nation was
going through a painful period of transition at the time due to its war
effort..., which had cost a quarter of its net wealth.  But when the
Soviets cut West Berlin's access routes in the spring of 1948, there was
never any question but that Britain would come to the aid of the Berliners.
They... diverted British-bound grain ships to German ports -- a move that
led to bread rationing in Britain, which hadn't even been necessary during
the war.  But these sacrifices were small compared to those made by the
Airlift pilots and aircrews who flew supplies round the clock to
beleaguered Berlin...  Britain's then Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin, told
the House of Commons: "We cannot abandon these stout-hearted Berlin
democrats who are refusing to bow to Soviet pressure."

The British were up against it from the start.  Gatow, the only fully
operational RAF base in Germany, was undergoing repairs at the time, and
the British base at Wunstorf, near Hanover, was small and ill-fitted for
Airlift activity.  Worse, operations in the first few weeks were hampered
by appalling weather.  But the British crews managed to stick to their
daily tonnage targets...

By the time the world's biggest-ever air transport operation ended in
September 1949, British planes had hauled 23.5% of the total overall
tonnage supplied to Berlin -- a remarkable achievement for a nation still
weary from its war effort.


________________________________________________________



Looking back on my (more than) two decades of intensive work with the
HP3000 -- and looking forward to the HP3000 challenges ahead, I cannot
overstress the fact that Berlin was saved *because* everyone involved *did*
something against overwhelming odds.  They didn't just roll over and they
didn't just play dead.

I am sure Harry Sterling (General Manager of HP's HP3000 division, CSY)
will feel a deep resonance regarding the comments of Roman Herzog, the
President of Germany:

        The Berlin Airlift is an impressive example of how
        taking an unconventional approach to achieve specific
        goals is worth every effort...   the rewards of
        perseverance and patience, the power of ideas...




With best wishes for a successful HP3000 campaign,






















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|            r  |  Alfredo                     mailto:[log in to unmask]
|          e    |                                  http://www.adager.com
|        g      |  F. Alfredo Rego                       +1 208 726-9100
|      a        |  Manager, R & D Labs               Fax +1 208 726-2822
|    d          |  Adager Corporation
|  A            |  Sun Valley, Idaho 83353-3000                   U.S.A.
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