III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 634 

Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift and honoring 

the veterans of Operation Vittles. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018 

Mr. RISCH (for himself, Mrs. SHAHEEN, and Mr. JOHNSON) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift 

and honoring the veterans of Operation Vittles. 

Whereas in the spring of 1948, Berlin was isolated within the 

Soviet occupation zone, and there were only 35 days’ 

worth of food and 45 days’ worth of coal remaining for 

the city; 

Whereas military planners in the United States and the 

United Kingdom determined that— 

(1) 1,534 tons of flour, wheat, fish, milk, and other 

food items would be required daily to feed the 2,000,000 

residents of Berlin; and 

(2) 3,475 tons of coal and gasoline would be required daily to keep the city of Berlin heated and powered; 


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Whereas, on June 1, 1948, the United States Air Force created the Military Air Transport Service, the predecessor 

to the Air Mobility Command, to organize and conduct 

airlift missions; 

Whereas, on June 26, 1948, Operation Vittles began when 32 

C–47 Dakotas of the United States Air Force departed 

West Germany for Berlin hauling 80 tons of cargo; 

Whereas the first British aircraft involved in Operation 

Vittles launched on June 28, 1948; 

Whereas Major General William H. Tunner, a veteran of the 

aerial supply line over the Himalayas during World War 

II, took command of Operation Vittles on July 28, 1948; 

Whereas Major General Tunner pioneered many new and innovative tactics and procedures for the airlift, including 

creating air corridors for ingress and egress, staggering 

the altitudes at which aircraft flew, and implementing instrument flight rules that allowed aircraft to land as frequently as every 3 minutes; 

Whereas one pilot, 1st Lieutenant Gail S. Halvorsen, who became known as the ‘‘Candy Bomber’’, initiated Operation 

Little Vittles to bring hope to the children of Berlin by 

dropping handkerchief parachutes containing chocolate 

and chewing gum as a symbol of the goodwill of the 

United States; 

Whereas Operation Little Vittles ultimately dropped more 

than 3 tons of candy in more than 250,000 miniature 

parachutes; 

Whereas, on Easter Sunday, April 17, 1949, airlifters 

reached the pinnacle of Operation Vittles by delivering 

13,000 tons of cargo, including the equivalent of 600 

railroad cars full of coal, and setting the record for tonVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Sep 19, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR634.IS SR634

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nage of cargo delivered in a single day during the Berlin 

Airlift; 

Whereas 39 British airmen and 31 American airmen made 

the ultimate sacrifice during the Berlin Airlift and 8 

British aircraft and 17 American aircraft were lost; 

Whereas airlifters delivered more than 2,300,000 tons of food 

and supplies during 278,228 total flights into Berlin; 

Whereas the Soviet Union was forced to lift the blockade of 

Berlin in light of the success of the 15-month airlift operation; 

Whereas the Berlin Airlift marked the first use of airpower 

to provide hope and humanitarian assistance and to win 

a strategic victory against enemy aggression and intimidation; 

Whereas the enormous effort and cooperation of the Berlin 

Airlift helped overcome years of animosity between the 

United States and Germany and laid the foundation for 

a deep and lasting friendship between the people of the 

two countries; and 

Whereas today Germany is one of the closest and strongest 

allies of the United States in Europe, based on the close 

and vital relationship of the two countries as friends, 

trading partners, and allies sharing common values and 

institutions that promote stability in political, economic, 

and security matters: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the 70th anniversary of the Ber3 lin Airlift, the largest and longest running humani4 tarian airlift operation in history; 


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1 (2) honors the service and sacrifice of the men 

2 and women who participated in and supported the 

3 Berlin Airlift; 

4 (3) applauds the men and women of the Air 

5 Mobility Command of the United States Air Force, 

6 who, in keeping with the best traditions of the Ber7 lin Airlift, still work diligently to provide hope, save 

8 lives, and deliver freedom around the world in sup9 port of the foreign policy objectives of the United 

10 States; and 

11 (4) commends the close friendship forged be12 tween the people of the United States and Germany 

13 through the Berlin Airlift, which helps sustain the 

14 transatlantic alliance to this day. 

Æ 


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