The US was close to war during the Berlin airlift; Harry Truman wishes we had had a European defense organization during that time. Picture with intermittent sound. (sound only 25 seconds)
President Harry S. Truman delivered his Special Message to the Congress on the Threat to the Freedom of Europe on March 17, 1948. This excerpt contains these lines: "Since the close of hostilities, the Soviet Union and its agents have destroyed the independence and democratic character of a whole series of nations in Eastern and Central Europe. It is this ruthless course of action, and the clear design to extend it to the remaining free nations of Europe, that have brought about the critical situation in Europe today.