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In 1948, Halvorsen’s bunk was a factory for miniature parachutes weighted with chocolate bars. He became known as the 'Candy Bomber,' 'Uncle Wobbly-Wings' and 'Der Schokoladen Flieger' ('Chocolate Pilot'). (U.S. Air Force photo)

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Col. Gail Halvorsen

'Candy Bomber' Fed Hopes of Berlin's Children During Airlift

By Bethanne Kelly Patrick
Military.com Columnist

Air Force Capt. Gail Halvorsen had a day off in 1948, so he took a walking tour of Berlin. Touched by a conversation with some hungry children -- who never begged him for food -- the young officer took the two sticks of gum in his pocket and tore them into bits for them to share.

Back at his base, Halvorsen cajoled his buddies into giving him all the candy, chocolate, and gum they had, and then laboriously tied each piece to a tiny handmade parachute. "I didn't want anybody to get hit in the head," he recalls. His safety concerns were valid, since Halvorsen planned to drop the tiny bundles over the beleaguered city from his C-54 transport plane.

On June 26, 1948, Soviet forces had blocked all land routes to Berlin in an attempt to force out the Western allies. Halvorsen and his fellows were part of a massive airlift of coal, food, and other essential supplies to the 2 million Berliners who were surrounded by hostile troops. Over an 11-month period, the U.S., Britain, and France brought 2.3 million tons of food and fuel into the city aboard nearly 280,00 flights that, at one point took, off at 90-second intervals.

Halvorsen expected his candy packages to be frowned upon by his superiors, but instead found them delighted at the good press and goodwill the "Candy Bomber" brought. The airlift was known as "Operation Vittles," so Halvorsen's mission became known as "Operation Little Vittles," eventually pelting the streets of Berlin with more than 20 tons of candy before the airlift ended on Sept. 30, 1949.

Today, the 77-year-old retired Col. Halvorsen remembers his C-54, the "Spirit of Freedom," with more than fondness. At the 50th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift in May 1998, he took its controls once again and dropped 10,000 tiny parachutes over the now-united city of Berlin.

"What it meant was not chocolate, but hope, which is the most important thing you can have in a crisis," said Halvorsen, who has since "bombed" Kosovo in a similar fashion. "The Berliners were the heroes -- they lived for freedom when they had no food."