Military Officer - June 2008 - (Page 77)

pagesofhistory 60 Years Later This month marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Berlin Airlift, which saved 2.5 million residents of West Berlin from starvation during the Cold War. I n 1948, the Soviet Union closed the rails and roads leading from West Germany into the city of Berlin in an attempt to take over Berlin from the Americans, the British, and the French. But thanks to the efforts of Allied military cargo forces, 2.5 million West Berliners were saved from starvation. The airlift ofﬁcially began June 26, 1948, and although the Russians lifted the blockade May 10, 1949, Allied supply efforts did not cease until Sept. 30, 1949. By the time the airlift ended, there had been 278,228 ﬂights into Berlin on all types of Allied cargo aircraft, including C-47s and C-54s. The U.S. alone delivered some 1,783,571 tons of material on 189,963 ﬂights. This broke down to 296,319 tons of food and 1,421,118 tons of coal, with another 66,134 tons of goods classiﬁed as “miscellaneous.” This was the ﬁrst major victory for the west in the long Cold War with the Soviet Union. — Warren E. Thompson M Legendary Valor aster Sgt. Woodrow Wilson Keeble, USA, has been awarded posthumously the Medal of Honor by President George W. Bush. During a March 3 ceremony at the White THIS MONTH IN HISTORY I On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces invad- ed South Korea and headed toward the capital city of Seoul. The U.S., acting under a U.N. resolution to defend South Korea, fought a bloody war there for the next three years. PHOTO: COURTESY ALEX STOCKER House, Keeble was honored for his heroic actions during the Korean War. On Oct. 20, 1951, Keeble assumed command of a platoon to capture a crucial hill. Keeble made a one-man assault up the hill, destroying machine-gun positions with well-aimed throws of grenades — accomplished with more than 80 grenade fragments in his body from previous days of ﬁghting. Born in South Dakota, Keeble ﬁrst was called to duty in World War II. When he wasn’t serving his country on the battleﬁeld, Keeble served his country in a different way — as a teacher at the Wahpeton Indian School in North Dakota. He died in 1982, but his friends, family, and four U.S. senators continued their pursuit of Keeble’s Medal of Honor. MO JUNE 2008 A C-54 aircraft lands in Tempelhof, Germany, after a flight from the Rhein-Main air base outside of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. MILITARY OFFICER 77

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - June 2008

Military Officer - June 2008 Contents MOAA Online From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire MOAA Member Services Washington Scene Chapters in Action Financial Forum Ask the Doctor MOAA Scholarship Donors Cover Story: Mission to Modernize World War Web Playing to Win Fitness in Numbers Fighting Infection Pages of History Faces of MOAA Information Exchange Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - June 2008

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