BERLIN — Berlin paid tribute today to veterans of the 1948-49 Berlin Airlift in which the Western allies flew vital supplies into West Berlin, a key Cold War moment that forced the Soviets to lift their blockade strangling the city.

At the recently closed Tempelhof Airport, the hub for U.S. planes, ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the blockade drew thousands of people to honor 120 American, British and French veterans of the operation.

"You laid the cornerstone for today's trans-Atlantic relationship," Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit told the veterans.

"It was a logistic, humanitarian masterpiece that is ... burned in the memory of the city," he said.

Dale Whipple, a 78-year-old veteran from Benton, Louisiana, said participating in the airlift was one of the most significant events of his life.

"When you come over here and meet the people who've benefited from our efforts, it's truly a humbling feeling, especially when we were just doing our jobs," Whipple said.

The Berlin Airlift began June 26, 1948, in an ambitious plan to feed and supply West Berlin, after the Soviets — one of the four occupying powers of a divided Berlin after World War II — blockaded the city in an attempt to squeeze the U.S., Britain and France out of the enclave within Soviet-occupied eastern Germany.

American, British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and South African pilots flew 278,000 flights to Berlin over 15 months, carrying about 2.3 million tons of food, coal, medicine and other supplies.

It is widely regarded as the first battle of the Cold War.