The Berlin Airlift

Hoping to force the Allies to abandon Berlin, the Soviet Union instituted a land and water blockade of the city in an effort to take control of Germany and the rest of Europe. President Harry Truman and General Lucius Clay deemed it vital that the Allies remain in Berlin, and England, France, and the U.S.A. responded with an airlift that supplied more than 2 1/2 million Berlin citizens with food, fuel, medicine, and the hope of remaining a free society. The Army, Navy, and Air Force united to make this first mission of the fledgling U.S. Air Force a success. The massive airlift stopped the spread of Communism in Europe, Berlin remained free, N.A.T.O. was spawned, and U.S. foreign policy was set for years to come. Thirty-one Americans lost their lives in aircraft-related accidents: Ralph H. Boyd, Harry Crites, Jr, Joel M. DeVolentine, Edwin C. Diltz, Eugene Erickson, Karl von Hagen, Willis F. Hargis, Herbert F. Heinig, William R. Howard, Charles H. King, Craig B. Ladd, Donald J. Leemon, William T. Lucas, Robert C. von Luehrte, Johnnie T. Orms, Billie E. Phelps, Charles L. Putnam, William A. Rathberger, George B. Smith, Royce C. Stephens, Donald E. Stone, Robert W. Stuber, Norbert H. Theis, James A. Vaughn, Bernard J. Watkins, Robert P. Weaver, Lloyd C. Wells, Lowell A. Wheaton, Sr, Leland W. Williams, Richard Winter, and Richard M. Wurgel.

Riverside, Ohio · United States