The Candy Bomber

Children gathered near Tempelhof Airport in Berlin to watch the aircraft land. The C-54 piloted by Lieutenant Gail Halversen would wiggle its wings and small white parachutes carrying candy bars and chewing gum would drop from the aircraft. Halverson called his project Operation Little Vittles, and his actions earned him several nicknames: Candy Bomber, the Chocolate Flier, and Uncle Wiggly Wings. Halvorsen became symbolic of the humanitarian nature of the operation. By the airlift’s end, pilots and crews dropped a total of 23 tons of candy to the children of Berlin.