FReeper Canteen ~ The Berlin Airlift ~ Part 4: The Legacy ~ 18 December 2022

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[Kathy in Alaska]

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The Berlin Airlift
Part 4: The Legecy

All info and photos from this website.

Link to Part 1
Link to Part 2
Link to Part 3

           

THE AIRLIFT'S LEGACY
 

The most obvious result of this confrontation was the 40-year Cold War with the Soviet Union, which ebbed with the construction of the Berlin Wall, and the Korean and Vietnam Conflicts.  The US also forged a newfound friendship with Germany, its former foe, and established the Federal Republic of Germany as a result.  In addition, the North Atlantic Treaty organization (NATO) was formed as a result of the crisis. 

Less politically, our aircraft and airway system we enjoy today was developed and perfected as a result of the Berlin Airlift.  Ground Controlled Approach or GCA was greatly improved as a necessity for the aircraft to land in Berlin, and our air traffic control system is a direct development of that technology.  Loading procedures and maintenance procedures are greatly improved as a result, too.

More importantly, the Berlin Airlift demonstrated the military need for Air Transport in addition to Bombers and Fighters.  A result is the Air Mobility Command and aircraft like the C-141 Starlifter, the C-130 Hercules, the C-5 Galaxy, and our newest transport, the C-17 Globemaster III. 

All of these political and logistical ideas came as a result of the resolve of the US, Great Britain, France, and Germany to resist totalitarian tactics and wage a battle of air transport.  This battle saved over 2.5 million people without firing a single shot.  In a matter of fifteen months in 1948-49, world history was changed by the greatest humanitarian aviation event in history, the Berlin Airlift. 

MEMORIALS: The Airlift Memorial at Rhein Main Air Base, Frankfurt, and on Luftbruckenplatz at Tempelhof  Airport in Berlin.

Each prong represents one of the 3 air corridors used during "Operation Vittles", and the names of the US and British Airmen killed in the process are inscribed on the base of each.

31 Americans lost their lives during the Berlin Airlift, paying the ultimate price for the freedom of others.  Let that not be forgotten.

1st Lt George B. Smith Tuscaloosa, Alabama	Captain James A. Vaughan New Haven, Connecticut	Cpl Norbert H. Theis Cunningham, Kansas
1st Lt Leland V. Williams Abilene, Texas	1st Lt Eugene S. Erickson Collinsville, Illinois	PFC Ronald E. Stone  Mt. Sterling, Kentucky
Mr Karl V. Hagen New York, New York	Sgt Richard Winter Seattle, Washington	1st Lt Ralph H. Boyd Fort Worth, Texas
1st Lt Charles H. King Britton, South Dakota	Captain Billy E. Phelps Long Beach, California	1st Lt Craig B. Ladd Minneapolis, Minnesota
1st Lt Robert W. Stuber Arlington, California	1st Lt Willis F. Hargis Nacogdoches, Texas	TSgt Charles L. Putnam Colorado Springs, Colorado
Major Edwin C. Diltz Fayetteville, Texas	TSgt Lloyd G. Wells San Antonio, Texas	1st Lt Robert P. Weaver Fort Wayne, Indiana
Captain Willian R. Howard Gunnison, Mississippi	AD/3 Harry R. Crites, Jr. Lafayette, Indiana	1st Lt Royce C. Stephens San Antonio, Texas
Captain Joel M. DeVolentine Miami, Florida	1st Lt Richard M. Wurgel Union City, New Jersey	1st Lt Robert C. von Luehrte Covington, Kentucky
1st Lt William T. Lucas Wilson, North Carolina	1st Lt Lowell A. Wheaton, Jr. Corpus Christi, Texas	2nd Lt Donald J. Leemon Green Bay, Wisconsin
PFC Johnny T. Orms Rhein-Main Air Base	Captain William A. Rathgeber Portland, Oregon	TSgt Herbert F. Heinig Fort Wayne, Indiana
	Sgt Bernard J. Watkins Lafayette, Indiana

 

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission!

[left that other site]

Hi Everybody!

(((HUGS)))

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, ML...((HUGS))...did you and Tippy see the sunrise this morning, even tho cold?

[left that other site]

Yep...we did the whole walk this morning. It was cold, but not windy or wet...makes a big difference.

[Kathy in Alaska]

~ The Berlin Airlift ~ Part 4: The Legacy ~

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[Kathy in Alaska]

Too true...windy and wet are not fun.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hello Veterans, wherever you are!!

[Bonemaker]

I was blessed by fate to be stationed in West Berlin during Cold War years of 1966-1969. Can’t begin to explain the impact of that experience.

[TigerHawk]

HELLO, KATHY,

THE LEGACY...THEY’RE ALWAYS YOUNG...EAGER AND DEDICATED.

YOU’VE PASSED ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF A VERY IMPORTANT EVENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, AND A VERY IMPORTANT LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR OUR MILITARY, TO GENERATIONS THAT MAY NEVER HAVE HEARD OF IT, OR APPRECIATE ITS IMPORTANCE IF THEY DID.

ISN’T THAT WHAT WE’RE REALLY HERE FOR?...TO CREATE THE NEXT GENERATIONS AND TO PASS ON TO THEM WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED.

YA DONE GOOD!

THANKS.

[PROCON]

Good evening and thanks, Kathy!

The Berlin Airlift is one of the greatest allied military victories in history, without firing a single shot.

Merry Christmas!

[radu]

Greetings to all at the Canteen!

To all our military men and women, past and present,

THANK YOU
for your service!

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

My uncle served in the BA. He died in the mid 70’s.

[Bonemaker]

Berlin Airlift?

[radu]

Howdy, Kathy.

I hope you’ve had a good day. Did you accomplish all your goals for the day? Still able to move after all the shoveling you’ve done?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Bonemaker...what an experience that must have been knowing all the history about the area!

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Yep.

[ExTexasRedhead]

The Nastiest Soldiers America Desperately Needed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVnhbxnBmIo

It was the night before one of the most transcendental military invasions in human history, and hundreds of C-47 Skytrains darted across the English Channel carrying thousands of brave paratroopers about to face the darkest chapter of their lives.

The warplanes carried a group of paratroopers unlike any other, with mohawk haircuts and tribal face paint. The outfit led by the rebellious and untamed Jake ‘McNasty’ McNiece laughed and joked even as their aircraft was engulfed by fierce German flak fire.

As the Skytrain lost altitude, McNiece ordered his men to prepare for the jump. The lights inside the cabin then turned red, and the men scrambled to their feet amid fire and thunder. As McNiece and his comrade Willy made it to the door, flak burst through the warplane’s belly, hitting Willy’s backpack and unraveling his parachute inside the plane.

Now significantly damaged, the C-37 continued to lose altitude as Willy desperately tried to gather his parachute and move away from the door so other paratroopers could jump. McNiece then jumped into the flak-lit skies over France, and the Skytrain exploded in midair only a few seconds later.

There was no time to mourn, as McNiece and the rest of the notorious Filthy Thirteen outfit were now behind enemy lines in Normandy, and they had a crucial mission to finish…

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, TigerHawk...you are most welcome. We post about the Berlin Airlift every December.

It is an event that MUST be remembered!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Merry Christmas, Pro. Working together, planning it out despite the obstacles, knowing you had to make it work...a monumental military victory...and you are right, not a shot fired. A truly amazing feat!

[TigerHawk]

“We post about the Berlin Airlift every December.

It is an event that MUST be remembered!”
_____________________________________________________________

THIS IS WHY I SO OFTEN THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO...AND I’M JUST LEARNING THE HALF OF IT.

AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!

G-D BLESS!