This Day in American Military History
30 September 1949: The Berlin Airlift officially came to an end, after 15 months and more than 250,000 flights. It had begun in June 1948, when the Soviet Union blocked all ground traffic into West Berlin, which was located entirely within the Russian zone of occupation in Germany. It was a Soviet attempt to force the United States, Great Britain, and France (the other occupying powers in Germany) to accept Soviet demands concerning the postwar fate of Germany. But the United States defied the Soviets by beginning a round-the-clock aerial supply of West Berlin in Operation Vittles.
Brandus, Paul. This Day in U.S. Military History (p. 235). Bernan Press. Kindle Edition.
