U.S. Air Forces in Europe Public Affairs

BERLIN (AFNS) -- Thousands of Berliners and veterans turned out for a ceremony on the sun-drenched tarmac of Tempelhof Airport May 14, where the leaders of Germany and the United States dedicated an aircraft of today to a city saved from a Soviet blockade 50 years ago.

President Bill Clinton and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl dedicated an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III as the "Spirit of Berlin" during the first event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift. The airlift was a U.S.-led effort to supply West Berlin's 2.5 million people with food and fuel June 1948 to September 1949.

During a speech frequently interrupted by roaring cheers from the audience, the president noted how the United States and Great Britain came to the aid of defeated Germany.

"The last battlefield of World War II had become the first battlefield of the Cold War," Clinton said. "On June 24, 1948, Stalin threw down a gauntlet, refusing to allow supplies to be sent to Berlin. It was war by starvation, with more than 2 million lives hanging in the balance."

The president said airlift was the only answer, although many doubted it would work.

"The fate of free Berlin hung by a thread, the thread of air support," he said. "No one really thought it was possible to supply a city by air. A few visionaries, however, were convinced it could be done."

Clinton paid tribute to the Americans, British and Germans who died during the airlift, and to all Berlin Airlift veterans who we said showed bravery and kindness as they became "protectors instead of occupiers" in Germany.

The German chancellor thanked the veterans and noted that millions of American military personnel have served in Germany over the last 50 years. Kohl has been chancellor for 16 years and led reunification of East and West Germany in 1990.

"The Berlin population learned what it meant not to be alone in the hour of need," Kohl said. "This city owes its survival and freedom during the Cold War to the firm resolve of the United States and our other Western allies."

Clinton and Kohl reviewed a formation of U.S. airmen and listened to firsthand accounts of the airlift from retired Col. Gail Halvorsen, a Berlin Airlift pilot, and from Mercedes Wild, who was a young girl in Berlin during the operation. The two leaders also spent time with children from Berlin's John F. Kennedy School.

As Clinton and Kohl looked on, Gen. John P. Jumper, U.S. Air Forces in Europe commander, and Berlin Mayor Eberhard Diepgen, revealed "Spirit of Berlin" painted on the side of the C-17 from Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. Jumper also presented the mayor with a model of the aircraft to be displayed in Berlin's city hall.

Many veterans attended the event and were present at a wreath-laying ceremony May 12, which marked the 49th anniversary of the end of the Soviet blockade.

U.S. Air Fors have more events planned for May and June, including an open house May 27 at Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany, the launching pad for many Berlin Airlift missions. More information is available on the USAFE Berlin Airlift web site at .