Description
Documents the contributions of an unlikely band of second-string soldiers and haggard military leaders in enabling the success of the Berlin Airlift humanitarian relief operation.
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He was just an American pilot assigned to yet another thankless postwar mission, but Hal Halvorsen could not get the wretched kids of Berlin off his mind, even during his round-the-clock assignment to airlift food and supplies to their city, which had been cut off from the rest of the world by the Soviets. He got some candy, tied it to parachutes made of handkerchiefs and, strictly against orders, dropped them from his plane. Journalist Cherny draws from Halvorsen's previously unpublished letters and diaries along with recently unclassified official documents to explain the human side of the Berlin airlift, in all of its 277,000 flights. He describes its moral imperatives, its impact on America's former enemies, and the remarkable efforts of civilian administrators and military brass to feed half of one of the largest cities of the world. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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