Whereas in the spring of 1948, Berlin was isolated within the Soviet occupation zone, and there were only 35 days' worth of food and 45 days' worth of coal remaining for the city; Whereas military planners in the United States and the United Kingdom determined that— (1) 1,534 tons of flour, wheat, fish, milk, and other food items would be required daily to feed the 2,000,000 residents of Berlin; and (2) 3,475 tons of coal and gasoline would be required daily to keep the city of Berlin heated and powered; Whereas, on June 1, 1948, the United States Air Force created the Military Air Transport Service, the predecessor to the Air Mobility Command, to organize and conduct airlift missions; Whereas, on June 26, 1948, Operation Vittles began when 32 C–47 Dakotas of the United States Air Force departed West Germany for Berlin hauling 80 tons of cargo; Whereas the first British aircraft involved in Operation Vittles launched on June 28, 1948; Whereas Major General William H. Tunner, a veteran of the aerial supply line over the Himalayas during World War II, took command of Operation Vittles on July 28, 1948; Whereas Major General Tunner pioneered many new and innovative tactics and procedures for the airlift, including creating air corridors for ingress and egress, staggering the altitudes at which aircraft flew, and implementing instrument flight rules that allowed aircraft to land as frequently as every 3 minutes; Whereas one pilot, 1st Lieutenant Gail S. Halvorsen, who became known as the Candy Bomber , initiated Operation Little Vittles to bring hope to the children of Berlin by dropping handkerchief parachutes containing chocolate and chewing gum as a symbol of the goodwill of the United States; Whereas Operation Little Vittles ultimately dropped more than 3 tons of candy in more than 250,000 miniature parachutes