Halvorsen, who was largely reared in the northern Utah community of Garland, never fired a weapon or dropped a bomb in combat. He was a cargo pilot who became a new kind of American hero in the early days of the Cold War.
about how — using his story as an example — the students could make a difference in the lives of others.
In his autobiography, “The Berlin Candy Bomber,” Halvorsen described that first delivery the same way a bomber pilot might. He was worried the packages would overshoot the target — the children — and land on a roof or on the wrong side of the fence. Still worried what his superiors would say, Halvorsen remarked, “Wish they wouldn’t wave like that.” Then he waved back at the children through his cockpit window.
Secretaries were assigned to reply to all the mail arriving at the base for “Uncle Wackelflugel,” which is German for “Uncle Wiggly Wings.” “‘Operation Little Vittles’ have become a symbol of American generosity and goodwill,” read a Jan. 23, 1949, Salt Lake Tribune article, “and to tall, shy, personable First Lt. Gail S. Halvorsen, Rhein-Maln airlift pilot from Garland, Utah, goes all credit for the story that has warmed the hearts of two continents.”
Gail Seymour Halvorsen was born Oct. 10, 1920, in Salt Lake City. He was the second of three children to Basil and Luella Halvorsen. Basil Halvorsen worked on farms and ranches — his own and others — in Utah and Idaho, and his children worked beside him. “Too soon it was a tiny speck and then gone,” Halvorsen wrote of the biplane. “I just had to learn to fly!”
Instead, the Air Corps decided to turn him into a cargo pilot. Halvorsen spent what was left of World War II flying routes from Natal, Brazil. The Air Corps became the Air Force in 1947. According to his autobiography, the children asked Halvorsen questions like, “How many bags of flour can your airplane hold?”
“... To my own astonishment and dismay I found myself in the next moment announcing the plan for all to hear.”Halvorsen knew if he asked his superiors for permission, it would take the Air Force days or weeks to send the request up the chain of command. So he proceeded without informing them. Retired Col.
The next month, Halvorsen received a grand homecoming in Utah. Garland threw a two-day celebration. Halvorsen also reenacted the candy drop over Salt Lake City and Ogden. Gov. J. Bracken Lee picked up Halvorsen at the airport after the air drop. He was commander of Tempelhof Air Base and the Air Force’s official representative to West Germany. Adults who were children during the airlift would stop Halvorsen on the street and tell him about the joy they experienced catching a parachute fastened to a chocolate bar.