Thursday, June 26, 2008

60 years later...



On June 26th Germans celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of "Operation Vittles" a.k.a the Berlin Airlift. When the Soviet Union blockaded West Berlin the U.S. and Britain began an airlift to supply food and fuel… Eleven months, 278,000 flights and 2.3 million tons of food later history had been made and the Soviet Union threw in the towel.

From this effort emerged many great stories and heroes, such as “Onkel Wackelflügel" (“Uncle Wiggly Wings” a.k.a. Gail Halvorsen) and the other “candy bombers.” Read the linked stories!

Gail Halvorsen – Wikipedia
Berlin Blockade - Wikipedia
The Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift
Germany remembers Berlin airlift
A Firsthand Account of Post-War Berlin
Retired Col. Gail Halvorsen Berlin Airlift "Candy Bomber"
Germany remembers Berlin airlift on 60th anniversary

1 comment:

  1. I heard this story on NPR, I thought it was amazing and heartening. The things we used to be able to do to make the world better...

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