From Military.com/AP:
“Air Force
'Candy Bomber' Glides into Milestone Birthday”
For whatever he
accomplished during the war years, it was the years just following World War II
that changed his life forever. The devastation left behind from the war
included a split in philosophies on how Germany, and particularly Berlin and
its people, should be handled. The Soviets had set up a blockade, including
barbed wire fencing and cut off ground travel into Berlin. In response to the
blockade of land routes into West Berlin, the U.S. and its allies began a
massive airlift of food, water and medicine to the citizens of the besieged
city. The main cause of the Berlin Blockade was the Cold War, which was just
getting started, according to Halvorsen’s autobiography. In order to make sure
Berliners had food, “Operation Vittles” was organized under General William H.
Tunner, commander of the Combined Airlift Task Force. Halvorsen was reassigned
to the area to help fly missions in what is now known as the Berlin Airlift.
The Western
allies had a written agreement allowing for air travel to Tempelhof air field,
but not ground travel permission. Operation Vittles filled C-47s and C-54 cargo
planes with tons of flour, dried milk, dried eggs, dried potatoes, coal and
other rations. They came from two air bases into Tempelhof and exited one way
out. The planes, including ones flown by Halvorsen, were landing every 13
minutes to help the nearly 2 million starving Germans. That went on from July
1948 to September of 1949. “As I look back at Operation Little Vittles and the
years that have followed, there is one human characteristic above all others
that gave it birth – the silent gratitude of the children at a barbed wire
fence in Berlin, July 1948,” Halvorsen wrote in his autobiography. Halvorsen
saw 30 children holding onto the fence and watching as the planes would land,
unload and take off again. While his plane was being unloaded, Halvorsen went
over to the children and spoke to them. Many spoke some broken English. “They
did not beg for chocolate,” Halvorsen said. “Flour meant freedom. They would
not lower themselves to ask for more.” Halvorsen wanted to give them all
something but reached into his pocket and found two pieces of gum. He broke
those in half and told them to share. The pieces were broken into smaller
pieces and when there was not more the children without took the pieces of
paper wrapping up to their nose and smelled the mint flavor. “I was astounded.
I wanted to do more. That is when I promised them I would drop chocolate bars
out of my plane on little parachutes the next time I flew into Tempelhof,”
Halvorsen said. “They said they would share. The children wrote letters to
express their gratitude.” Halvorsen added, because of the gratitude of the
children the two sticks of gum became 23 tons of chocolate and other treats
from my buddies and me and others. This act of service picked up momentum. With
so many planes, the children were afraid they would miss him. So, Halvorsen
agreed to wiggle his wings so they would know it was him. It should be noted
here that Halvorsen did not have clearance to do Operation Little Vittles, but
when called to see the commanding officer, he was told that he was doing a
great deal of good and to keep doing it. Well, as Halvorsen said, from small
things comes that which is great, and chocolate and candy companies started
donating, groups back home sent handkerchiefs and string. It was now an
enterprise.
To this day,
with many of the children old themselves, Halvorsen still receives love and
affection from the German people. Halvorsen finally did go home and met up with
a sweet young woman, Alta Jolley, whom he had met at college. They were married
and in the course of time had five children and several grandchildren. In 1951
and 1952, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Aeronautical Engineering
from the University of Florida as an assignment from the Air Force Institute of
Technology. In 1958, Halvorsen was transferred to the Air Force Space Systems
Division of Air Force Systems Command in Inglewood, California. Halvorsen’s job
included research and development on various space projects. The most notable
of these was the Titan III launch vehicle program, which he helped chair. During
his career, he also worked on and developed plans for the advanced manned
reusable spacecraft, space policy and procedures, and on the Manned Orbital
Laboratory Project. After numerous assignments, he was eventually assigned to
be Deputy Chief of Staff for Research and Development at the Pentagon. By 1969,
Halvorsen was preparing to turn in his retirement papers. He received a call
asking if he had done so and questioned what the Air Force could be thinking. It
wasn’t the U. S. Air Force but the Germans that were doing much of the
thinking. They had requested that for his last stint, Halvorsen would return to
Germany. In July of 1970, Halvorsen became the new commander of Tempelhof
Airport in Berlin. “General (Joseph R.) Holzapple thought it would be a good
idea to have me return to the scene of my airlift days,” Halvorsen said. After
four years at Tempelhof, Halvorsen retired. From 1976 to 1986 he served as
assistant dean of Student Life at Brigham Young University. Following that
retirement he and his wife Alta served a one-year mission for The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to London, England. Prior to her death in
1999, the Halvorsens served another 18-month LDS mission to St. Petersburg,
Russia. After his beloved Alta died, Halvorsen was reunited with his high
school sweetheart, Lorraine Pace. They married in 2004. Over his lifetime, the
Candy Bomber has made hundreds of candy drops. First as missions similar to the
airlift in places such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Japan, Guam and Iraq. He
also has taken his “sweet” message of gratitude to many schools and events
throughout the world. As he turns 100, he shares a couple of the things he has
learned along the way.
— Children hold
the future of the entire world in their hands. Our children and everyone’s
children.
— Give service
to others if you seek genuine fulfillment. The Dead Sea is dead because it does
not give.
— If there is
conflict when you make a decision, put principle before pleasure. The Berlin
kids did. Freedom sometimes in the dim future was more important to them than
the pleasure of enough food.
On May 11-12,
2019, Berliners celebrated the 70th anniversary of the day the Soviets lifted
their blockade strangling West Berlin in the post-World War II years with a big
party at the former Tempelhof airport in the German capital. Among the invited
guests of honor: U.S. pilot Gail Halvorsen. On May 11, a baseball field at
Tempelhof airport was named after him — the “Gail S. Halvorsen Park — Home of
the Berlin Braves” in honor of his help for Berliners during the Cold War. Dressed
in a military uniform, Halvorsen told Berlin’s mayor Michael Mueller that “it’s
good to be home.”
^ I first
learned about what he did from AFN “commercials” when I was living in Germany.
It’s nice to see him celebrate his 100th Birthday. ^
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/10/18/air-force-candy-bomber-glides-milestone-birthday.html
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