On this day in 1949 Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin lifted the Berlin Blockade. It had taken 10 months and 18 days of a continuous airlift of goods by the United States to foil Stalin’s attempt at isolating Berlin from the outside world. The U.S. kept more than 2.5 million Berliners in the Western sector of the German city from starvation and freezing ... supplying food, medicine, machinery, clothing and other necessities -- up to 13,000 tons per day. The airlift transormed West Berlin into a symbol of resistance to communism. During the blockade, the U.S. and its allies delivered 2,325,809 tons of supplies, including 23 tons of oranges. Two thirds of the tonage was coal to provide heat during the brutally-cold 1948-49 winter. The round-the-clock airlift, registered 277,804 flights, and a loss of 78 airmen, killed in crashes and other accidents.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
A Proud Moment in Our History
On this day in 1949 Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin lifted the Berlin Blockade. It had taken 10 months and 18 days of a continuous airlift of goods by the United States to foil Stalin’s attempt at isolating Berlin from the outside world. The U.S. kept more than 2.5 million Berliners in the Western sector of the German city from starvation and freezing ... supplying food, medicine, machinery, clothing and other necessities -- up to 13,000 tons per day. The airlift transormed West Berlin into a symbol of resistance to communism. During the blockade, the U.S. and its allies delivered 2,325,809 tons of supplies, including 23 tons of oranges. Two thirds of the tonage was coal to provide heat during the brutally-cold 1948-49 winter. The round-the-clock airlift, registered 277,804 flights, and a loss of 78 airmen, killed in crashes and other accidents.
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