Pulaski Times

Arkansas Civil Air Patrol issued the following announcement on Feb. 17.

Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Gail Halvorsen, the Civil Air Patrol alumnus who brought candy and comfort to deprived German children as “Uncle Wiggly Wings” during the 1948-1949 Berlin Airlift, died Feb. 16 at Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, Utah, after a short illness. He was 101.

Halvorsen was also known as “the Berlin Candy Bomber” for his actions during the airlift, when he dropped candy and gum to the children below using handkerchiefs fashioned into tiny parachutes. The “Uncle Wiggly Wings” nickname stemmed from his practice of waggling his aircraft’s wings to let the children know the treats would soon arrive. More than 23 tons of candy were dropped during what became “Operation Little Vittles.”

“My experience on the airlift taught me that gratitude, hope, and service before self can bring happiness to the soul when the opposite brings despair,” Halvorsen said decades later. “Because not one of 30 children begged for chocolate, thousands of children in Berlin received over 20 tons of chocolate, gum and other goodies, delivered on the ground or dropped from C-54 Skymaster aircraft over a 14-month period.”

Original source can be found  here.

Source: Arkansas Civil Air Patrol