After hearing Air Force stories from my Dad, I wanted to learn more about the history of the air force and there isn’t a better place to begin then the event that made the Air Force take off. After World War II, the Air Force got its separation from the Army and needed to make a name for itself. The Berlin Airlift was the event needed to do just that, showing the true ability of the Air Force and how successful they can be. The Berlin Airlift, or known as Operation Vittles, was the United States response to the Soviets placing a blockade of all transportation into Western Berlin by ground and water means. That left the Air Force to step up and bring in the supplies to keep Western Germany and its 2 million population from collapsing and the …show more content…
people starving. One of the pilots flying into and out of Western Germany was Gail Halvorsen. Gail Halvorsen retired from the United States Army Air Forces in 1974 as a Colonel after thirty-two years and fighting in WWII.
Mr. Halvorsen began his pilot career by gaining his private pilot license in 1941 and joined the United States Army Air Forces in 1942 (1). From there Mr. Halvorsen was trained as a fighter pilot with the Royal Air Force and then assigned to the South Atlantic Theater of Operations (2). It wasn’t until the Berlin blockade that Mr. Halvorsen’s career took off. Mr. Halvorsen volunteered to take a friend’s place to fly in “Operation Vittles” on July 10, 1948 as a lieutenant flying C-54 Skymasters cargo planes (2). “Operation Vittles” or better known as the Berlin Airlift happened when Stalin blocked the Western Allies’ railroads, road, and canal access to their controlled sections of Berlin, later called the Berlin Blockade. The blockade lasted from June 24th, 1948 to May 12th, 1949 when Stalin lifted the blockade after the airlift was clearly succeeding. The Western allies even got to the point where they were delivering more by air then was previously done by other means before the blockade. Consisting of the Royal Air Force and the United States Air Force, flights flew up to 8,893 tons of necessities each day, providing food and fuel for the Western Germans of Berlin to survive
(1). Mr. Halvorsen and his crew flew day and night, flying into Tempelhof Airport, where their cargo would be unloaded and back they would fly to do it all over again. Planes were landing every five minutes, would unload and refuel and then take back off. Mr. Halvorsen recalls from his first trip, “On that first flight to Berlin I was deep in thought. Hitler began his war of destruction. It had interrupted the orderly progress of my life. Now I was 27 years old. I should have had one or two children by now. Instead I wasn’t even engaged to be married. Several of my buddies had returned from the war to see their previously conceived child for the first time. Some of my buddies had not returned. They would not see their newborn child in this life.” (4). The uncertainty of how people could live in the ruined Germany where buildings were crumbling and falling apart. After the first landing, Mr. Halvorsen explains how he is feeling, “Not having seen many Germans, I wondered what these supermen were going to look like. When I landed that first 20,000 pounds of flour and opened the back doors, they came right up and put out their hand. Couldn't understand a word they said, but boy, the look in their eye and tone of their voice when they looked down at that flour. From that point on, we were on the same page.” (4) It wasn’t until one day in July that Mr. Halvorsen felt he was making a difference. In his free time, Mr. Halvorsen liked to take pictures with his camera as a hobby. That day Mr. Halvorsen took a jeep down to the end of the runway to film the planes on their approach and landing into the airport. While at the end of the runways one day he met around thirty children who would ask him “Don't give up on us. If we lose our freedom, we'll never get it back." (4) After a conversation with these kids, who only knew a little bit of English, Mr. Halvorsen had to hurry back to his plane to fly off. He noticed that after an hour of conversation, not one of them had put their hand out to beg for food. This would lead to Mr. Halvorsen giving them the last pieces of gum he had. As he left that day, he told them he would bring them more the next day, and that he would wiggle his wings to let them know it was him. On the next trip, the crew put all their candy rations together, consisting of Hershey’s, Mounds, Baby Ruth’s, and Wrigley’s Gum, and tied them into three pouches with handkerchief parachutes to slow the decent and allow the candy to land safely for the children. This continued for three weeks, three parachutes each time, until one day Mr. Halvorsen went into the operations base and noticed a huge pile of letters addressed to Onkel Wackelflugel, (Uncle Wiggle Wings). This scared the crew into stopping for about two weeks, but the crowd kept growing. So they decided to do it one more time, and on the next trip in, they took two weeks of candy rations and made six parachutes and dropped them as they landed. That very next day they were met by an officer as they landed and was informed that the colonel wanted to see Mr. Halvorsen. This scared the crew as they had thought they were in trouble, but it turned out the colonel understood what they were doing and after the okay from the airlift commander general operation little wiggles took off. The operation was so successful that news carried back to the United States and support was through the roof. The National Confectioners’ Association contacted Mr. Halvorsen about donating candy and sent them all they could. Even the handkerchiefs were all donations. Mr. Halvorsen said in an interview, “One day I went down to the post office and picked up three mailbags of letters—all filled with handkerchiefs. The news release said I was a bachelor. Some of the handkerchiefs were black lace, some perfumed. "I love what you're doing. Write me."(4) Then one day a letter by Mary Connors, a student in Chicopee Massachusetts sent a letter to the National Confectioners Association to volunteer with a group of others to tie all the candy to the parachutes. This really helped expand the operation and all of the ten planes in Mr. Halvorsen’s squadron was dropping the candies from their planes. Operation Little Vittles and Operation Vittles took off, traveling twenty-four hours a day dropping and unloading as much as they could for the Germans stuck in Western Berlin. Operation Little Vittles dropped a total of twenty-one tones of candy during the airlift, all stemming from two sticks of gum handed out on the one day in June. On May 5th, 1949, the soviets entered negotiations and final made an agreement to lift the blockade after noticing the blockade was a failure to deter the allied forces out of Western Berlin. Operation Vittles continued to September 30th where the airlift was finally ended. In total, 2.3 million tons of cargo was flown into West Berlin, with about 75 percent being flown on American Aircrafts totaling 189,000 flights and 600,000 flying hours. An estimate of 92 million miles were flown in the 15-month period no matter what the weather was. This all came at a cost of $224 million (US) and 30 United States Air Force pilots, one civilian, and 39 British pilots died after crashing in incidents. Mr. Halvorsen retired from the Air Force in 1974 and has been back to Germany 35 times, including three visits in 2009 and even flying the Spirit of Freedom, a restored C-54, back for the 50th anniversary of the airlift. Every trip Mr. Halvorsen is welcomed with open arms, usually by large groups of children who come to see Uncle Wiggle Wings and hopefully get some candy. Mr. Halvorsen has been awarded the Cheney Air Force Award, (and countless others) for his role in starting and leading Operation Little Vittles. One quote that stood out to me from his interview was “Without hope, the soul dies. And that was so appropriate for the day. In our own neighborhoods people have lost hope, lost function because they have no outside source of inspiration. The airlift was a symbol that we were going to be there—service before self.” I feel this quote is very effective in stating just how important the airlift was to the German people. Without it they would have been under Soviet control in no time and Europe would be different today.
The Silber Medal winning biography, “Surviving Hitler," written by Andrea Warren paints picture of life for teenagers during the Holocaust, mainly by telling the story of Jack Mandelbaum. Avoiding the use of historical analysis, Warren, along with Mandelbaum’s experiences, explains how Jack, along with a few other Jewish and non-Jewish people survived.
The United States of America is a powerful and well known force throughout the world. It has become a superpower of nations in just about three hundred years, being one of the newest nations in existence today. Its military reaches out into several countries in the globe and holds a presence as a peacekeeper and wielder of democracy. Of the US military’s five branches, the Air Force is the ruler of the skies, keeping control of the earth’s aerospace. Without the Air Force Special Operations, the military could not complete operations as effectively or efficiently as it potentially could. The United States Air Force is a key part of America’s mission to spread and assist democracy throughout the world.
World War II was one of the deadliest military conflicts in history. There were many different battles that took place within this war; some more important than others. World War II began once Germany’s new dictator, Adolf Hitler, decided that he wanted to gain power for Germany and for himself. One of Hitler’s first moves in power was invading Poland on September 1, 1939. Many other countries became involved in this war because of the alliance system. The two sides during this war were the Allies and Axis powers. German, Italy and Japan were on the Axis powers; France, Britain, and the United States were on the Allies. Germany first began with the Blitzkrieg tactic meaning “lightning war”. This tactic is based on speed, surprise and was the most popular tactic. It is set up with military forces based around tanks which are supported by planes and infantry. The Blitzkrieg tactic lead to air wars with airplanes between countries. All of the countries were allowed to participate in the air wars but the four main countries were United States, Japan, Britain, and Germany. During the 1920’s and 1930’s airplanes grew in size and structure giving them more power, and making planes more effective. Planes made it easier to drop bombs, or plan attacks. All of these countries fought over air superiority. Air superiority is the position in which the air force has control over all of the air warfare and air power of the opposing forces. Germany began with air superiority but they lost it when Britain defeated them at the Battle of Britain. Gaining control over the air is a very big advantage because it is easier to plan an attack on an opposing country. All of the countries relied on their aircrafts during this war. The issue about the use of...
The Warsaw Ghetto was a Jewish-populated ghetto in the largest city of Poland, Warsaw. A ghetto can be defined as a part of a city in which large quantities of members of a minority group live, especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure. Ghettos were commonly attributed to a location where there was a large Jewish population. In fact, the word Ghetto originated from the name of the Jewish quarter in Venice, Italy, in 16th century.The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest Ghetto, as a part of the Holocaust, and as an early stage of it, played a very significant role. Today, in our museum exhibit, we have several artifacts, including primary evidence relating to the Warsaw ghetto. We will be discussing how and why it was created, the lifestyle
John F. Kennedy, having been in Berlin numerous times already, returns to display the support of the United States government. Kennedy’s willingness for the survival of Berlin was vast and was never doubted. The strength of Berlin rested with the United States, and John Kennedy looks toward the positive of their situation. With his youth and energy, John Kennedy’s words are heard around the world yet again. On June 26, 1963, President Kennedy delivered the most distinguished speech of the time, elevating the morality of the city’s protection from communism (Kennedy 1963).
During World War I, General Mitchell demonstrated the importance of air superiority. The Battle of St. Mihiel exemplified this concept. During this battle, Allied forces massed their air power and sent waves of planes to destroy German ground power. Mitchell was attached to the assaulting force and emerged as the first American Army aviator to cross enemy lines. This status earned him the Distinguished Service Cross, the French Legion of Honor, and a promotion to Brigadier General. This promotion enabled Mitchell control over all American air combat units in France. These successes legitimized Mitchell’s world view on air superiority.
With the recent innovation of the airplane revolutionizing the battlefields of World War I, American air warriors like 1st Lieutenant Frank Luke Jr. and Captain Eddie Rickenbacker separated themselves through valiant actions that contributed significantly to the American war effort. Yet, the fearless determination to serve and the advances in tactical air warfare influenced by Lt. Luke Jr. greatly outweigh the amount of citations and medals earned by Capt. Rickenbacker setting the prescient for the massive contributions airmen could make in war.
I learned how the beginning of technological development in the aviation programs was not safe and secure, as there were many accidents during jet testing and air force trainings. I learned about the pilots who put their life in the line to serve their country, passing through a rough training in a dense physical and mental conditions; just like when Chuck Yeager was performing his duties in the most critical conditions “Even though his side was throbbing and his right arm felt practically useless, Yeager figured he could grit his teeth and get through the flight" (42). Those pilots were having an incredible determination to do what needed to be done regardless of any situation and circumstance. Even when they knew their life is in danger in every minute and second, they just followed a clear path to serve their country and focus on the programs more than anything
The Warsaw Ghetto[1] (German: Warschauer Ghetto, called by the German authorities Jüdischer Wohnbezirk in Warschau, Jewish residential district in Warsaw; Polish: getto warszawskie) was the largest of all the Jewish ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Muranów neighborhood of the Polish capital between October and November 16, 1940, part of the territory of the General Government of German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity residing in an area of 3.4 km2 (1.3 sq mi). From there, at least 254,000 Ghetto residents were sent to the Treblinka extermination camp over the course of two months in the summer of 1942.
When someone hears the words ‘Air Force’ they might think of one of the most strikingly impressive and capable military branches known today. However, most people do not know the struggle and competition to change the minds of stubborn Generals and die hard soldiers. William ‘Billy’ Mitchell was the man who first envisioned air power. He fought his whole life for an Air Force. Once he ran out of options he sacrificed his career to continue advocating for air power’s potential, Mitchell continued this effort until death. He managed to convince his superiors of his idea of aircraft right before America would have been destroyed by Germany and Japan in World War II. General William ‘Billy’ Mitchell’s leadership in advocating air power led to his legacy that lives on and is clearly seen in today’s modern United States Air Force.
“Air superiority was the pre-requisite to all winning operations, whether at sea, on land or in the air.”1 This belief was what Air Marshall Sir Arthur Tedder used as his guide during the Second World War, and when able to be fully implemented, allowed his air forces to dominate the skies. This complete air superiority would provide the Allied forces significant and decisive advantages throughout the course of the war.
How useful and reliable are these sources in explaining how people's lives were changes by evacuation during WW2?
Further fears only propagated with the events of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and due to Japan’s rapid military conquest in Asia and the Pacific suspicion rose that Imperial Japan was planning for complete domination of the West Coast. The public opinion of the Japanese would change forever; already there were rumors of espionage, but due to the Ni'ihau Incident where an Imperial Japanese pilot, Shigenori Nishikaichi crash landed in Hawaii and received help from 3 Japanese-Americans, the loyalty of the Japanese Americans were at were questioned. From here full on investigations were stemmed more likely from racial prejudice than rather any proof of actual malintent to prove the loyalty of the Japanese. For example, John L. DeWitt who concluded
The collapse of the Berlin Wall changed Western Europe as we know it today. The Iron Curtain which had split Europe had ascended and the once divided germans were reunited under one common nation. The causal factors which resulted in the fall of the Berlin Wall were internal — communism imploded upon itself—. Gorbachev attempted to reform communism through Glasnost and Perestroika, which were supposed to incorporate economic reforms and transparency, however, history illustrates that increased liberty is incompatible with communism. Dr. Schmidtke argued that structural deficiencies led along with poor economic growth which led to the collapse of communism in Europe, and consequently the collapse of the Berlin Wall. The alienation of intellectuals and the authoritative nature of communist regimes further contributed to the failure of communism in Europe. However, the collapse of the Berlin Wall would not have occurred had it not been for Gorbachev’s Glasnost, Perestroika, and the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine. Along with German official Schabowski whose actions were the catalyst for the mass exodus of persons from the GDR into West Germany. The Collapse of the Berlin Wall would not have occurred so swiftly had Gorbachev not tried to implement reforms to communism.
The Berlin Wall was a divider between East and West Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It stretched for miles upon miles. Ninety-seven miles in total, and 11.81 feet in the air. After 30 separated years, families were worried to know if there family members that were separated by the wall. Parts were taken all around the world brought by people who were at the site when it fell on November 9, 1989. This is a wall that will be remembered for hundreds of years in not only Germany, but everywhere in the world.