Paul Coverdell: “I rise today to speak on a resolution I introduced honoring the heroes of the Berlin Airlift. Today marks the fiftieth…”

“I rise today to speak on a resolution I introduced honoring the heroes of the Berlin Airlift. Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of this great undertaking. This massive Allied effort to provide relief to a post war Berlin held hostage by the Soviet Union displayed to the world, the resolve of the western world to fight oppression and began a long fight against Soviet Communism that culminated with the collapse of the Berlin Wall. The former Soviet Union, Britain, France and the United States occupied separate sectors of Germany after World War II. Berlin, located in the Soviet zone of Germany, was occupied in a similar fashion. In response to a failing economy the Western powers undertook an effort to reform the German currency. The Soviet Union, meanwhile, kept the old German currency from entering its zones by banning, on June 24, 1948, all travel into and out of the Western half of the city. The Soviets also cut the supply of electricity to this zone. Berlin's economy was in ruins and its citizens were under virtual seige. The response to this blockade was one of the most heroic and monumental undertakings in history. For fifteen months Allied transport planes shipped food, coal and supplies into Berlin. During the height of this effort airplanes were taking off every three minutes, twenty four hours a day, while delivering daily 14,000 tons of supplies.”