O.T. - story about the "Candy Bomber" (from the Berlin Airlift) :
November 18, 1998
Candy Bomber Recalls Berlin Airlift
Filed at 10:34 p.m. EST
By The Associated Press
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- The man known as the Candy Bomber and Chocolate
Pilot for his airdrops of sweets during the Berlin Airlift 50 years ago says it
gave him some of the greatest feelings he's ever known.
''My feeling was one of fulfillment, of helping a former enemy -- flying night
and day in ice and snow and fog and not expecting anything back,'' Gail
Halvorsen said.
Halvorsen, 78, of Provo, Utah, was in Dayton Wednesday to speak at the
United States Air Force Museum about his experience to help mark the
anniversary of the airlift. Halvorsen was stationed at nearby Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base in 1952 and flew B-25s.
''This is like home here,'' he said.
When Halvorsen returned to Berlin this summer to mark the anniversary of the
airlift, he was approached by a German man who said he was 10 when one of
the American chocolate bars fell from the sky at his feet.
''What it meant to me was that somebody outside of the blockade knew I was
here, knew I was in trouble,'' the man told Halvorsen. ''What it meant was
hope. It was a symbol of hope.''
After the defeat of Germany in World War II, West Berlin was divided into
American, British and French sectors.
The three allies started the airlift June 26, 1948, two days after the Soviet
Union cut off all land and water routes to West Berlin in an attempt to push
out the western forces.
The Soviets eventually gave up the blockade after nearly a year. The airlift
continued through September 1949 while ground links were inspected and
restored.
Halvorsen began flying supplies into Berlin in July 1948. After arriving one
day, he got in a jeep and took a movie camera to try to get photos of Berlin.
He stopped outside the airport at some bombed-out apartments and was
approached by 30 children aged 8 to 14.
The kids urged him to keep flying the supplies in and not to give up on them.
''They said, 'Some day we'll have enough to eat, but if we lose our freedom
we'll never get it back,''' Halvorsen recalled. ''These kids just blew my mind,
their understanding of what was important in life.''
Halvorsen said he had two sticks of gum in his pocket and gave it to the
children. He then told them to be there the next day and he would drop candy
from his plane. He said he would wiggle the wings so they would know
which plane to look for.
Without permission from his superiors, Halvorsen tied handkerchiefs to three
packages of candy and dropped them over the children.
''I can still see their faces and arms in the air waving like crazy,'' he said.
Halvorsen made secret drops two more times, each time to a bigger crowd of
children.
When his base was inundated with letters from Berlin children addressed to
Uncle Wiggly Wings or the Chocolate Pilot, Halvorsen discontinued the drops
to avoid being caught. However, he later decided to make one final drop.
When a photo of the plane with its tail number appeared in a local newspaper,
Halvorsen was found out by his superiors. But he was allowed to continue the
drops, and other pilots also joined in. About 23 tons of candy was dropped
during the airlift.
Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company |
