The last "Operation Vittles" flight leaving Rhein Main Air Base, Frankfurt, Germany

On June 24, 1948 the Soviet Union set up a blockade of Allied controlled West Berlin. Moscow cut off every connection to the city with the hopes that the Allies would abandon the citizens of West Berlin and the city could be assimilated into Soviet-controlled East Germany.

Two days later, the Berlin Airlift began and Allied pilots began hauling food and supplies to the besieged city. During the operation which lasted 15 months, 31 Americans, 39 Brits and 9 Germans lost their lives.

Read about the Berlin Airlift, some of the heroes who lost their lives delivering over 2 million tons of aid to the citizens of West Berlin, and the recent 60th Anniversary ceremony that was held at Berlin's Tempelhof Airport in Kyle James' article at NPR.com.

Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot A True Story of the Berlin Airlift and the Candy That Dropped from the Sky

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