We were at the Pima Air and Space Museum a few years ago and Santa and the Candy Bomber arrived at on schedule. Neighbor Roy & I were there, along with a thousand other folks, hoping to get a picture of the famous Mr. Claus swooping in on a helicopter to see who’s been naughty or nice.
He did not disappoint. Once on the ground, he got into a horse-drawn carriage and traveled the short distance to the hanger with the SR-71 Blackbird. There he held court and took requests for gifts from excited youngsters. Read More
Once the children had sat on Santa’s lap and explained in detail how good they’ve been all year, they exited stage left where they were greeted by an elderly gentleman, (The Candy Bomber) who handed them a piece of candy.
Gail Halvorsen, now 93, does his duty, just as he did in 1948 for the children of Berlin.
I wondered if any of the children had been told by their parental units who the old guy is and what he had done, not only for America, but for Germany after the war.
The time was 1948. The Cold War was ramping up and threatened to turn hot at any moment. The Soviet Union had closed all land access to the isolated Allied sectors of West Berlin in an attempt to starve the people into accepting Communist rule.
The Story of the Candy Bomber
On an impulse, a C-54 cargo pilot, Lt. Gail S. Halvorsen, shared the only two sticks of gum he had with a group of about 30 very appreciative German children. But he wanted to do more. He wanted to do something for them to give them hope at a time when they were experiencing uncertainty and deprivation.
He told them that the next day, just before he lands at the Tempelhof Airport in the American sector of Berlin, he would drop candy attached to parachutes along his flight path.
The Candy Bomber & crew attaching candy to parachutes: Berlin 1948.
Because the American planes were arriving about every three minutes, Halvorsen knew the children would not be able to distinguish his aircraft from the others. So, he promised to wiggle the wings to identify himself, which led to his nickname “Onkel Wackelflügel” (“Uncle Wiggly Wings”).
Later, other American candy bombers became known as the Rosinenbomber (Raisin Bombers). Halvorsen’s initiative drew the attention of the operation’s commanding officer, Lieutenant General William Turner, who approved of it and ordered it expanded into Operation Little Vittles.
The operation was soon noticed by the press and gained widespread attention. A wave of public support led to donations which enabled Halvorsen and his crew to drop a lot of candy. By the end of the airlift, around 25 plane crews had dropped 23 tons of chocolate, chewing gum, and other candies over various places in Berlin. Many American school children helped by attaching the candies to parachutes.
The Candy Bomber watches as sacks of candy are loaded into his transport during the Berlin Airlift.
Halvorsen’s actions as the original candy bomber had a substantial impact on the postwar perception of Americans in Germany and are still pointed to as a symbol of German-American relations. Halvorsen has appeared many times on German TV over the years, often paired with some of the children, now grown adults, who received his candy parachutes.
Lt. Gail Halvorsen is encircled by German children in West Berlin who want to meet The Candy Bomber.
In 1974 he was decorated with the “Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz” (Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany), one of Germany’s highest medals. During the opening march for the 2002 Winter Olympics, Halvorsen carried the German team’s national placard into Rice-Eccles Olympic Stadium.
You can purchase Michael Tunnel’s book, “Candy Bomber; The Story of the Berlin Airlift’s “Chocolate Pilot”, at the Museum’s Gift Shop or online:
Candy Bomber: The Story of the Berlin Airlift’s “Chocolate Pilot”
