Courageous Stands for Liberty and Freedom!

My recent trip to Germany with my wife Cathy reinforced for me two great stories of courageous stands for liberty by two great American Presidents. The first story is about President Harry Truman with the Berlin Airlift and the second story is about Ronald Reagan’s famous speech at Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin.

Following the end of WWII, Germany was divided with the western half of the country under the supervision and control of the United States, and its allies France, and the UK, with the eastern half of the country under the supervision and control of Russia. The city of Berlin was located well within the eastern part of the country with the western part of the city (West Berlin) under the control of the United States. West Berlin depended on ingress and egress over rail, water, and highways in the eastern part of the country controlled by Russia. In June 1948, the Russians began to first impede and then fully block access to West Berlin in an effort to starve it and its residents and place it under Russian control. At that point, President Truman had a difficult decision to make. One option would be to acquiesce to the Russian’s illegal blockade and allow them to take control of West Berlin. This would have rewarded the Russians for their malevolent conduct in violation of the prior agreement reached between the United States and its allies and the Russians at the Potsdam Conference following the end of WWII. Another option would be to engage the Russians militarily and forcibly remove the blockade which might have resulted in a full-scale military conflict with Russia. Instead, President Truman wisely chose a different path with an airlift bringing food, fuel, medicine, and other supplies to West Berlin. In our visit to Germany, we learned from our tour guide that American planes landed in West Berlin every 30 seconds! This airlift was a daunting and dangerous undertaking, and there were several landing mishaps with American pilots injured and killed. Sadly, as I have said before in prior blogs, freedom is never free. But the United States persisted, and the Russians ended their illegal blockade on May 12, 1949. President Truman’s courage and ingenuity enabled the United States and its allies to overcome the tyranny and evil perpetrated by the Russians and maintain freedom and liberty for West Berlin.  

Fast forward to the late 1980s to an event that I recall with great pride and satisfaction. On June 12, 1987, at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin behind a bullet proof glass, just inside the Berlin Wall separating East and West Berlin, President Ronald Reagan gave what I believe is one of the most important speeches for freedom that any American President has ever given. To be sure, many of the President’s own advisers counseled against the President delivering the speech out of concern that it would be viewed by the Soviet Union as provocative. President Reagan would have none of their timidity and gave the powerful speech which contained the famous words, “Mr. Gorbachev (the Russian President), tear down this wall!” While many of the elites in this country downplayed the significance of the speech and some even made light of the speech, President Reagan’s demand became a reality on November 9, 1989, when massive crowds from East Berlin rushed forward and began to dismantle the Berlin Wall leading to the reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990.

Some folks may wonder why I would reference historical events decades ago from the Truman and Reagan Presidencies. For me, the answer is easy. Both Presidents understood that tyranny must be addressed prudently and courageously with both words and actions.

President Truman had no intention of allowing the Russians to violate agreements and take control of West Berlin. Instead he chose a path that accomplished this while avoiding a military conflict that could have resulted in WWIII.

President Reagan spared no effort in working with Congress to strengthen America’s military and national defense which gave the United States the opportunity to pursue peace through strength and lend credibility to his powerful speech at the Brandenburg Gate.

The world we live in today is no less dangerous than the Cold War which Presidents Truman and Reagan confronted in their Presidencies. In fact, it is even more dangerous with rogue actors pursuing global terrorism as proxies for Iran. There is also the same need for wise and courageous leadership from the President and the Congress to confront the evil and tyranny in our world which desires to promote death and chaos and destroy freedom. Let us pray that God will guide and direct our President and the members of Congress during this challenging season in our country.  

God bless you and thank you for the privilege of your time in reading my blog.

Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany