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  • Berlin Airlift Dog Parachute

    This parachute was specially made for "Vittles," a dog that flew 131 missions with his owner, 1Lt. Russ Steber, during the Berlin Airlift. Gen. Curtis LeMay named the dog and ordered the parachute made for him. Vittles, a boxer, accumulated around 2,000 flying hours, but never had to use the

  • Coal: Berlin's Key to Survival

    The single most critical necessity for Berlin to survive was fuel. Coal became the major cargo of U.S. Air Force C-54s and ultimately made up 65 percent of the total tonnage flown into Berlin. Coal was dirty, dusty and heavy, all of which created major problems for both aircraft and crew. Coal dust

  • Coal, Candy Bars and Clarence the Camel: The Cargo

    The Berlin Airlift carried a total of 2,325,510 tons of cargo into Berlin with coal representing approximately 1,500,000 tons, followed by more than 500,000 tons of food. The rest of the tonnage was miscellaneous cargo that included dismantled steam rollers and electrical power plant machinery, as

  • Rubble to Runway: The Triumph of Tegel

    Air Force planners knew that the success of the Berlin Airlift depended upon rapidly expanding the capacity of Berlin airports. Potential at Tempelhof and Gatow for expansion was limited and difficult. A third, new airlift terminal facility was desperately needed. A site was selected at Tegel in the

  • Trummerfrauen: "Women of the Rubble"

    In the aftermath of World War II, Berlin was in ruins. Its population had been reduced by half, and nearly two-thirds of the city's 2.3 million citizens were women. Many of these German women -- known as Trummerfrauen, or "women of the rubble" -- worked hard to clean up and reclaim the city. In many

  • Berlin: City Held Hostage

    1948-1949: Humanitarian TriumphThe Berlin Airlift was one of the defining events of the Cold War. The 464-day effort to supply a city's needs solely through the air demonstrated the resolve of democratic nations to oppose communist repression. The massive humanitarian effort was an early triumph for

  • Cold War Gallery Overview

    The Cold War dominated the second half of the 20th century. This confrontation grew out of the clash between the ideologies of the Western democracies led by the United States -- and the communist nations led by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The ever-present threat of nuclear

  • A McDonnell Douglas KC-10 refuels a Lockheed SR-71

    (approximately 1/48 scale)Tankers, like the KC-10 and the smaller Boeing KC-135, permit the refueling of other aircraft in flight, extending their range to permit global missions. Fuel is transferred to the receiver aircraft by way of a boom mounted on the tanker's lower aft fuselage. Operation of

  • "Iron Mike"

    "Iron Mike," the mascot of the 317th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, prior to its deactivation in late 1969, is a classic example of Air Force esprit de corps. He was considered "fair game" by rival USAF units, and as such, was frequently abducted from Alaska, to

  • Berlin Wall: Concrete Symbol of the Iron Curtain

    In 1961, Berlin became the focal point of increased tensions between the Western democracies and the Soviet Union. Dissatisfied with the economy and the political conditions in East Germany, thousands of East German refugees fled into West Berlin, the only gap in the Iron Curtain running from the