On this day in 1948, the United States and Allied Forces began dropping food, water and other supplies into West Berlin, where 2 million innocent men, women and children were being threatened.
In the post-WWII division of Germany, the Soviet Union had been given control of the eastern half of Berlin. Stalin tried to gain control of West Berlin as well by preventing ground traffic and sea traffic from coming into the city. The Soviets hoped to gain control of the entire city through starvation and isolation, and to force the allies to leave.
President Harry Truman reacted immediately, ordering a massive airlift operation to begin. By mid-July, some 2,500 tons of medical supplies, food and other necessities were being dropped in the city. When it ended in September 1949, the Allies had dopped more than 1.5 million tons of supplies, at a cost of over $224 million.
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