FReeper Canteen ~ The Berlin Airlift Part 4 - The Legacy ~ 23 December 2024

By Free Republic | Created at 2024-12-23 01:03:54 | Updated at 2024-12-23 05:28:59 4 hours ago
Truth
~ Hall of Heroes ~

The Berlin Airlift
Part 4 - The Legacy

All info and photos from
this website. Link to Part 1
Link to Part 2

Link to Part 3

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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 Tempelhf  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

 
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