True, 7MMmag.
Curtis LeMay was the POC and Go-To Guy when the Roos-skis rolled around Berlin and began their Blockade/Embargo of the city. And is a personal God of mine.
LeMay initiated and laid the groundwork for the Berlin Airlift. Getting what C-47s and C-54s he could in Europe and the UK (and later the US) to begin flying in supplies of wheat and coal.
Though he took the wrong approach in making the flights more of a race. Which resulted in accidents and crashes. And his being replaced. Rather than the steady constant fall of a raindrop on a stone.
From there LeMay, became the fire-breathing Father of SAC!
What struck me about the film, then and now. Is that the cast. With Heavy Hitters like Scott and Hayden, most noted for drama (The Hustler, Asphalt Jungle) Slipped seamlessly into their comdeic roles and truly brought them to life!
Jack.
I'm also a LeMay fan. But the Berlin Airlift wasn't his idea (though he made it work and saved the city). The first such project was in the China-Burma-India Campaign, after the Japanese took control of Burma. Army Air Corp pilots (and a few American and other civilian cargo pilots) supplied Brits, Nationalist Chinese and a few Americans from India. Flying the Hump was the first Berlin Airlift.