Gail Halvorsen

Gail Halvorsen (born October 10, 1922 in Salt Lake City, Utah) was an American pilot of C-47s and C-54s during the Berlin airlift ("Operation Vittles") 1948–1949.

Gail "Uncle Wiggly Wings" Halvorsen connects candies to small parachutes
(Photo: US Air Force)

Soon before landing at the Tempelhof airport in the American sector of Berlin, Halvorsen would drop candies attached to parachutes to children below. This action, called Operation Little Vittles, was the source of the popular name for the pilots: the raisin bombers. Halvorsen had wanted to help raise the morale of the children during the time of uncertainty and privation.

Halvorsen says he had the idea after giving a few sticks of chewing gum to some children watching the planes from outside the Tempelhof base. Wanting to give more, he promised to drop more candy from his plane the next day. Because the planes would arrive every 90 seconds, the children naturally couldn't distinguish his from the others. However, Halvorsen promised to wiggle the wings to identify himself, which led to his nickname "Uncle Wiggly Wings".

His actions were soon noted by the press and gained widespread attention. A wave of public support led to donations which enabled Halvorsen and his crew to drop 850 pounds of candies. 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. The Confectioners Association of America donated large amounts to the effort, and American school children cooperated in attaching candies to parachutes.

The action may have had a substantial impact of the postwar perception of Americans in Germany, and it is still pointed to as a symbol of German-American relations. During the opening march for the 2002 Winter Olympics on February 8, Halvorsen carried the German team's national placard into Rice-Eccles Olympic Stadium.

In 1989, Halvorsen engaged in a reenactment of the actions in Berlin for the fortieth anniversary of the airlift. During Operation Provide Promise in Bosnia-Herzegovina, he dropped candy from a C-130. The United States military has modeled some of Halvorsen's actions in Iraq dropping toys, teddy bears, and soccer balls to Iraqi children.[1] In 2004 Halvorsen hoped to launch a similar action for the children of Iraq.

References

• The Berlin Candy Bomber. – Bountyful, UT: Horizon Publishers, 1990. – ISBN 0882903616 (3. Auflage 2002. ISBN 0-882-90616-X)
• "Candy Bomber shares sweet memories." Staff Sgt. Jennifer Redente. Capital Flight: Andrews Air Force Base, http://www.capflyer.com/issues/4_39/news/1464-1.html, Retrieved December 3, 2005.