Berlin Airlift Commemoration Not Without Controversy

BERLIN — A spat over the German capital's celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the lifting of the Berlin Blockade has drawn in Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany.

The Soviet blockade in 1948 and 1949, one of the first crises of the Cold War, cut off West Berlin from the rest of the country for nearly 15 months. A U.S.-led mission, known as the Berlin Airlift, flew supplies into the city to keep its residents from starving.