Blips on the Screen: 19 Jun 08

Salute Marks 60th Anniversary of the Berlin Air Lift

Cross posted from Right Truth
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Fort Myer, Virginia


Veterans prepare for Final Berlin Air Lift 2009

An evening serenade and dinner, held at the Fort Myer Officers Club on 15 May 2008, marked the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Air Lift, the coordinated humanitarian effort of Allied Powers to relieve the German Capital, strangled under a Soviet blockade, between 28 June 1948 and 12 May 1949.

“The Soviets had calculated that an airlift of the scale necessary could not be sustained,” stated Dominick Chilcott, Deputy Head of Mission, HBM Embassy, in his keynote remarks. “But they were proved wrong. We salute the achievements and the qualities of those allied aircrews in their successful efforts to keep West Berlin free,” he continued. “And it is wonderful and humbling to do this in the presence of a number of airlift veterans,” Mr. Chilcott said.

“Sixty years have passed since the Airlift began, but we still remember your contribution and the contribution of all those who are not here today,” states Klaus Wowereit, the Governing Mayor of Berlin, in a message marking the occasion. “Every year on May 12, we recall the end of the most remarkable aid campaign in Berlin’s history with a ceremony at the Airlift Memorial in front of Tempelhof Airport. We will be there next year, too, in honor of the 60th anniversary of the end of the blockade, with a special commemorative ceremony,” he states. “Berlin would like to thank you personally for the active role you played in the Airlift. It was a magnificent logistic and humanitarian achievement, and it laid the foundations for a deep bond between the American people and the people of Berlin. You, the veterans of the Airlift, are among the men who helped to ensure the survival of a free Berlin.”

“These brave veterans struck the first major blow in the new Cold War, forcing Stalin to lift the blockade that impoverished Germany's capital, and thwarting the Iron Curtain's fall over the Western strongholds,” stated the Honorable Jeff Fortenberry, United States Representative, R-Nebraska. “As memories of World War II and the Berlin blockade fade with the passing years, I believe it is ever more important to commemorate the spirit of kindness that led our veterans to bring hope and joy to the weary and beleaguered city of Berlin.”

Major General Herbert J. "Hawk" Carlisle, USAF, Director, Legislative Liaison Office, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff Air Force, stated: "The pilots during the Berlin Airlift faced incredible challenges for such a young Service. The logistical shortages and operational elements that the courageous pilots faced in order to mount the largest air lift operation ever is mesmerizing. We owe our Berlin Air Lift veterans a great measure of gratitude for a job well done and it is humbling to stand in their midst tonight."

Delivering the evening’s keynote address, Colonel Gail S. Halvorsen, USAF-Ret., aka “the Candy Bomber,” reminisced about the personal experiences of those, who were on the Air Lift. “The Berlin Airlift was a great humanitarian effort. Berliners needed food and freedom, and we were able to give them both. The Airlift created a legacy of friendship between the German people and the United States, Great Britain and France.”

Speaking on behalf of the German Federal Government Brigadier General Dr. Henning Hars, the German Defense Attache, said: “The German people will always remember this noble humanitarian act with deep gratitude. The friendship that the heroes of the Airlift planted in the hearts and minds of the German people endures. At this historic junction, we join in commemorating and cherishing this friendship."

Read more here:
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A note from Radarsite: “The German people will always remember this noble humanitarian act with deep gratitude..."
"...between June 1948 and May 1949 the Great Satan had managed to extricate itself from its frenetic self-indulgence long enough to have flown 278,228 flights into Soviet-blockaded Berlin carrying over 2 million tons of food and supplies which, at the cost of 31 American lives, most likely saved a whole generation of Berliners from starvation and possible death." From Those Notorious Greeley Girls http://radarsite.blogspot.com/2008/02/those-notorious-greeley-girls-encore.html

This is just one more example of America's shameful record of cutthroat Imperialism. A story that is mostly forgotten or ignored by our current crop of anti-Americanists. Somehow, it just doesnt quite fit into their narrative. But we can remember. We will remember. - rg

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[60th Anniversary of the Berlin Air lift]

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14th July 2008
18:19:13radarsite.blogspot.com/2008/06/blips-on-scree-19-jun-08.html
[60th Anniversary of the Berlin Airlift.]