Read on Twitter
Today is the Candy Bomber’s 100th birthday! To celebrate, here’s a thread./1
In the summer of 1948, Gail Halvorsen volunteered for duty in Germany, flying food and fuel into Soviet blockaded Berlin, and taking the place of a friend who was a new father, because that’s the kind of guy he is./2
He chatted with children near Tempelhof’s runway after one flight. They didn’t ask for candy, they talked to him about the planes. Before he left he emptied his pockets of 2 sticks of Wrigley’s, which the group tore into tiny pieces allowing everyone to get a taste./3
Seeing the joy that elicited, he promised to drop candy from the sky on his next flight. Asked how they would know which plane was his, he promised to wiggle the wings and thus was born Uncle Wiggly Wings./4
Halvorsen and his crew dropped their candy rations tied to handkerchief parachutes from the aircraft’s flare chute. They did this repeatedly, in secret, until a floating candy bar supposedly knocked a reporter in the head./5
Halvorsen thought he was done for, but Gen. William Tunner LOVED the idea, endorsed and expanded the candy drops, and sent the Candy Bomber stateside on a publicity tour./6
While Americans lauded the handsome, affable pilot, German children IDOLIZED him./7
I’ve spoken to Airlift kids, and can tell you there is nothing quite like listening to their stories of the Schokoladenflieger, scanning the horizon for parachutes, the disappointment when your legs were too short, the first taste of a Hershey bar half melted by the summer sun./8
I had the privilege of meeting Halvorsen multiple times, most recently at Texas A&M in April 2019 where I snagged this pic doing his signature pose (he will correct you if you don’t extend your arm all the way out)./9
Halvorsen is the most genuine human being you will ever meet. He is a treasure. Happy 100th!/end
