By Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

Harney County is a long way from Munich, Germany, but there is a bond of friendship that has spanned the distance for the past 15 years.

Viola Becker, who lives in Munich, has been visiting Hines resident Marge McRae off and on for the past 15 years, thanks to a chance meeting her father had with McRae about 20 years ago.

“My father was visiting the West coast, flying around in a Cessna 172,” Becker said. “He just picked out Burns from a map and flew in.”

“He called the Silver Spur Motel after he landed at the airport and asked if there was anyone who could pick him up and give him a ride to town,” McRae said. “I was working for the chamber of commerce at the time, so I went out to get him.” She added that Becker’s father had only planned to spend a day, but ended up staying a week.

Becker was a teenager when she began visiting Harney County. “I was 16 when I came with Dad for the first time. Then I came again when I was 18, and when I was 20. It was like being in a school exchange program,” she laughed.

Each visit included spending time with McRae and exploring the countryside. “I love to come here,” Becker said. “It’s just wide open spaces. In Europe, everything is so congested.”

Becker not only inherited her father’s choice of scenery, but his love of flying as well. She said she decided at a fairly young age that she wanted to be a pilot and began working toward that goal.

Because she couldn’t afford to attend flight school right away, Becker began her career in the sky as a flight attendant. “I was living at home, so I could save my money,” she said.

As the funds grew, she began her pilot training. Becker said her first training was actually in Florida, and she she finished up in Germany. “It took about two-and-a-half years, off-and-on, to get my pilot’s license,” she said.

Although Becker was patient and worked hard for her license, the timing of attaining it couldn’t have been worse. “It was just after Sept. 11, so there were a lot of airports shut down,” she said.

Becker did eventually secure a job with a flight ambulance company and spent two years flying Lear jets around the world, picking up patients. Becker said some of the countries she flew into included Pakistan, Sweden, Nigeria, Israel, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and the Ivory Coast. “It was exciting, but we never did have a chance to really visit the countries. All we ever really saw was the airports and the view from the plane,” she said.

There was also little time for private life because there was always a chance a call would come in, and Becker would be off again to a foreign country.

Leaving the Lear jets behind, Becker got a job with the German airline LTU and has spent the past year flying passengers around in an Airbus 320. She has attained the rank of First Officer and should be flying the larger Airbus 330 this year.

While pursuing her choice of careers, Becker has stayed in contact with McRae through letters and phone calls and just recently returned to Burns after a five-year absence.

The two ladies spent a lot of time catching up, looking at pictures and traveling around the county. “She’s just a little-bitty girl, and she’s flying those great big planes! Can you believe it?” McRae laughed.

After spending a week with McRae, Becker had to return to her homeland and her work. The night before she left though, McRae gave her another taste of Harney County. “We’re having sheep stew tonight,” McRae said.

They may be separated by thousands of miles, but they will always be connected by their friendship.