'The Preserver of Our Freedom'

My parents instilled in me a love of military history.

They were both children during World War II, and it left its mark on them. As a result, I grew up viewing that war and those who served in it with a reverence bordering on awe. I memorized dates: Dec. 7, 1941; June 6, 1944. I learned about great battles: the Bulge, Normandy and Iwo Jima.

But it wasn’t until I was an adult that I learned about one of the boldest and most heroic operations of that era: the Berlin Airlift. And it wasn’t until I began writing about the history of Cobb County that I recognized the man credited as the “Father of the Berlin Airlift” as one of Marietta’s favorite sons.

Born in Marietta on April 23, 1897, Lucius Dubignon Clay was the youngest son of U.S. Sen. Alexander Stephens Clay, who was himself born in Powder Springs and practiced law in Marietta. The younger Clay inherited quite a legacy, for not only was his father a senator, but his brother Eugene held the office of mayor.

Clay graduated from West Point in 1918, receiving his commission as a 2nd lieutenant. By the outset of World War II, Clay held the rank of colonel, and in 1942 he became the youngest brigadier general in the Army.  In this capacity, Clay oversaw the development of civil resources related to the war effort, particularly the planning of airfields. It was Clay’s decision to build (now ) adjacent to his home town, and it was also due largely to Clay’s position that chose Marietta as the site for building the B-29.

Although Clay did not see wartime combat, his administrative prowess and leadership caused him to stand out. By the war’s end, he had risen to the rank of full general, serving as Eisenhower’s deputy in 1945. The following year, Clay was appointed deputy governor of Germany during the allied occupation, and in 1947 he was named military governor of the U.S. Occupation Zone in Germany, a post he held until 1949.

It was while in this position that Clay confronted the challenge that would immortalize him in the minds of millions of Germans and Americans alike.

In 1948, the Allies, working to rebuild Germany’s shattered economy, introduced the Deutschmark. The Soviets, who controlled East Germany, saw this as a direct economic threat - a bid by the Capitalist West for the economic heart of the new Europe.

On June 18 of that year, the Soviet Army blockaded Berlin, cutting off all water, rail and road supplies to the city. This put Berliners in immediate peril; it was estimated at the time that Berlin had food supplies to last only 36 days and supplies of coal for only 45.

This was a belligerent move by the Soviets, bent on forcing the Allies to concede economic control of Berlin, and thus of Germany. If the Soviets chose to press their military advantage, the Allies would have been unable to resist. With the war officially at an end, the United States had greatly reduced the size of its military; combined Allied forces in Germany amounted to only about 26,000 men. The Soviet Army blockading the city numbered nearly half a million.

But Clay would not retreat. On June 13, in anticipation of the Soviet move, he had wired the following message to the White House:

“There is no practicability in maintaining our position in Berlin and it must not be evaluated on that basis. We are convinced that our remaining in Berlin is essential to our prestige in Germany and in Europe. Whether for good or bad, it has become a symbol of the American intent.”

As the clock began ticking down for Berlin, Clay found a chink in the Soviet armor. The agreement between the Soviets and the Allies allowed for a 20-mile air corridor on either side of the line. Unarmed cargo planes flying over the blockade line could not be taken as an act of aggression so long as they stayed within that corridor.

Clay approached Gen. Curtis Lemay, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, and asked “Can you haul coal?”

“General,” he replied, “we can haul anything.”

And so began the Berlin Airlift. In a joint operation, both British and American cargo planes carrying supplies of food, water, milk, coal, and gasoline flew around the clock. It was a calculated risk for the Allies. Just as the Soviets had assumed that the Allies would concede power in the face of overwhelming numbers, the Allies believed that the Soviets would not risk international condemnation (and possible war) by firing on unarmed cargo planes carrying out a humanitarian mission.

In short, Clay was calling Stalin’s bluff. Despite the difference in numbers, the Soviets had not yet successfully tested an atomic warhead, making the United States the world’s only nuclear power, and it was no secret that Stalin did not want to risk a third world war – not yet.

Day and night, at four-hour intervals, supply planes touched down at Berlin’s Templehof airfield for a total of 324 days before the Soviets finally relented.

The Soviet blockade ended on May 12, 1949. On May 19, having resigned his post, Clay received a tickertape parade upon his return to the United States. In Marietta, May 26, 1949, was celebrated as “Clay Day.”

In his retirement, Clay went on to serve several U.S. presidents, including Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy.

Clay passed away on April 16, 1978, and was buried at West Point. At his gravesite is a stone plaque, a gift from the people of Berlin, which reads "Wir danken dem Bewahrer unserer Freiheit," which in English reads:  We thank the preserver of our freedom.