{"id":2620,"date":"2017-11-23T06:00:24","date_gmt":"2017-11-23T11:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/?p=2620"},"modified":"2017-11-23T12:32:30","modified_gmt":"2017-11-23T17:32:30","slug":"the-berlin-airlifts-candy-bomber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/the-berlin-airlifts-candy-bomber\/","title":{"rendered":"The Berlin Airlift\u2019s \u201cCandy Bomber\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Americans gather for Thanksgiving this year I wanted to share a story of hope and consideration.\u00a0 Let me tell you about how a young American pilot, The Candy Bomber, made a big difference in hundreds of kids\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Lieutenant Gail Halvorson was a young Air Force pilot in 1948.\u00a0 The Second World War had ended and Germany was in shambles \u2013 both physically and politically.\u00a0 As the British and Americans closed in from the west and the Russians moved in from the east, Hitler\u2019s Germany found the noose tightening around their neck in 1945.<\/p>\n

When the Third Reich fell, the Americans and British assumed that Germany would move to a democratic form of government.\u00a0 Joseph Stalin had other ideas.\u00a0 He wanted a communist regime put in place.\u00a0 The end of World War II brought the beginning of the Iron Curtain.\u00a0 Joseph Stalin and the Soviets established \u201cpuppet\u201d communist regimes across Eastern Europe.\u00a0 These regimes would stay in place until Ronald Reagan and his policies brought the collapse of communism in the late 1980s.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Germany was split into two parts, West Germany (under a democracy) and East Germany (under communism).\u00a0 The capital of Berlin was like an island in East Germany.\u00a0 The city was technically in Eastern Germany, but contained four zones, American, British, French and Russian.\u00a0 In a stroke of defiance and pride, Stalin had the city blockaded, trying to force the city fully into Soviet hands.\u00a0 The US and its allies did not want to start World War III, but they also did not want Berlin to fall to the Soviets.\u00a0 For a fuller background on the crisis see:\u00a0 https:\/\/history.state.gov\/milestones\/1945-1952\/berlin-airlift<\/a><\/p>\n

Hence the Berlin Airlift was conducted between June 1948 and September 1949.\u00a0 For 15 months the Allies flew food and energy supplies into the city.\u00a0 That is where Gail Halverson enters the scene. Halverson earned his pilot wings in 1944, near the end of the war.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

By the time the Berlin Airlift occurred he was flying regularly.\u00a0 He would land his C-54 on the runway at Tempelhof in Berlin.\u00a0 He was able to get away one day for a sightseeing trip around Berlin.\u00a0 While on his excursion he met about 30 children standing outside of a fence which separated the airfield from the city.\u00a0 As he spoke with the children, his heart was touched.\u00a0 They told him that they thought the war was the worst thing that could happen. Then they saw and heard what the communists were doing to their relatives and friends in East Berlin.\u00a0 They told him that they would rather starve than fall into Communists hands.<\/p>\n

One ten year old boy told Halverson, \u201cI can live on thin rations but not without hope\u201d.<\/p>\n

Halverson relays that, \u201cThe Berlin children taught me to put principle before pleasure \u2013 to stand by what is important to you<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Halverson was touched.\u00a0 As he departed he decided to give the kids the only candy he had.\u00a0 Two sticks of gum.\u00a0 He tore them in two, resulting in four sticks.\u00a0 He figured that four kids were eat the four sticks and they did.\u00a0 But they tore the wrapper strips into smaller portions so that each child would at least get a smell of the gum.\u00a0 They had not had candy in years.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Halverson was struck.\u00a0 The children had asked about the flour being brought into the city, they never asked for candy, but were so grateful to get some.\u00a0 He told them the next day that he would drop some candy out of his airplane for them.<\/p>\n

The signal for the drop was a wiggle of the wings.\u00a0 So that the candy was not like a projectile coming out of the plane, he tied handkerchiefs to the boxes so that they would float down in small parachutes.\u00a0 The next day before the drop, he could see the children looking up with smiles on their faces.<\/p>\n

This began a movement. When other pilots and aircrews heard about Halverson, they donated their own candy.\u00a0 Others then joined in, by the end of the airlift thousands of pieces had been dropped.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

It reminded me of a story my Dad told me of poor children in South Korea in the late 1950s.\u00a0 They would stand pitifully outside his Army post in Korea.\u00a0 He had my Mom send over some chocolate to bring a smile to the children\u2019s faces.<\/p>\n

Gail Halverson became known as \u201cThe Candy Bomber\u201d and the \u201cChocolate Pilot\u201d of the Berlin Airlift.\u00a0 A young man who made a big difference in dozens of children\u2019s lives.\u00a0 Halverson said, \u201cThose two sticks of gum changed my life forever.\u00a0 I received many honors and gifts on behalf of the pilots who volunteered for the candy drops.\u00a0 However, all the gifts and other worldly things that resulted did not bring near the happiness and fulfillment that I received from serving others \u2013even serving the former enemy, the Germans, who had become friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thanks to Glenn, a Christ Follower who shared this story with me.\u00a0 It is found in a book entitled, \u201cCandy Bomber<\/em>\u201d by Michael O. Tunnell.\u00a0 Halverson has also written a book entitled, \u201cThe Berlin Candy Bomber<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Americans gather for Thanksgiving this year I wanted to share a story of hope and consideration.\u00a0 Let me tell you about how a young American pilot, The Candy Bomber, made a big difference in hundreds of kids\u2019 lives. 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