Clay, Lucius D.
$65.00
Brief 1949 TLS right after the lifting of the Berlin Blockade, sends thanks for goodwill message (on his retirement)
Description
Autograph ID: 6009
Condition: Very good
Description: “(1897-1978) US Army officer, USMA 1919, by 1942 youngest brigadier general in the Army. Named lieutenant general April 1945, general March 1947. Deputy to General Eisenhower 1945, Deputy Military Governor of Germany 1946, commander-in-chief of US forces in Europe and Military Governor of the American Zone in Germany 1947-49. Considered the “father of the Berlin Airlift” during the Russian blockade of Berlin which lasted 324 days, June 24, 1948-May 1949. He resigned his post days after the blockade was lifted and retired. A day after the Soviets imposed the blockade, Clay gave the order for the Berlin Airlift. This was an act of defiance against Stalin and the USSR, an incredible feat of logistics (at one point cargo planes landed at Tempelhof every 4 minutes, 24 hours a day), a defining moment of the Cold War, and a demonstration of American support for the citizens of Berlin.
TLS as General, US Army (Ret.), on 10 ½ x 8 watermarked “Department of the Army/ Washington” letterhead, June 8 1949, to Mrs. Otto Madlener of Chicago, sends thanks for her letter of good will and a clipping.
Elaine Wetmore Madlener (1912-1989) Chicago socialite, philanthropist, biographer of conductor Herbert von Karajan, 1st woman secretary of The National Autograph Collector’s Society (now The Manuscript Society), authored several articles on collecting. Her husband Otto Madlener was also a prominent autograph collector.”
Type: Letter
