EXPRESSING LOVE TO CHILDREN

I have discovered
that my practice of dropping dimes, quarters n half dollars
from hot air balloons that pass above, into grass near (but not onto) children
was not entirely without precedent:
HE BEAT ME TO IT ( or a variation on a theme )






http://www.squidoo.com/gail-halvorsen
THE CANDY BOMBER
" Gail "Hal" Halvorsen At A Glance
Who was the "Candy Bomber?"
Gail Halverson was a USAAF pilot involved in the Berlin Airlift.
Gail Halverson is remembered because it was he who started the parachuting
of sweets to children in Berlin. He used handkerchiefs and small squares
of cloth to create the parachutes and he dropped the packages out of the
pilot's side-window of the C-47 aircraft that he flew.

Lt Halverson's actions caused considerable anger to the Russians
and glee for the children who were close to the air corridor from Rhine Main
AFB to Berlin's Tempelhof airport. Because of the results of this philanthropic act
his fellow pilots became involved as did the American Confectioners Association.

Who Is Gail Halvorsen
Colonel Gail Halvorsen (born October 10, 1920 in Salt Lake City, Utah)
is a former American pilot of C-47s and C-54s during the Berlin airlift
("Operation Vittles") 1948-1949.
Halvorsen is most famous for being the original Candy Bomber.

Operation Little Vittles
Shortly before landing at the Tempelhof airport in the American sector of Berlin,
Halvorsen would drop candy attached to parachutes to children below.
This action, which was dubbed Operation Little Vittles and sparked similar efforts
by other crews, was the source of the popular name for the pilots:
the candy bombers. Halvorsen had wanted to help raise the morale of the children
during the time of uncertainty and privation.

Halvorsen says he had the idea after giving a few sticks of chewing gum
to some children watching the planes from outside the Tempelhof base.
Wanting to give more, he promised to drop more candy from his plane
the next day. Because the planes would arrive every 90 seconds,
the children naturally couldn't distinguish his from the others. However,
Halvorsen promised to wiggle the wings to identify himself, which led to
his nickname "Onkel Wackelflügel" ("Uncle Wiggly Wings").

His actions were soon noticed by the press and gained widespread attention.
A wave of public support led to donations which enabled Halvorsen and
his crew to drop 850 pounds of candy. By the end of the airlift, around 25
plane crews had dropped 23 tons of chocolate, chewing gum, and other
candies over various places in Berlin. The Confectioners Association of
America donated large amounts to the effort, and American school
children cooperated in attaching the candies to parachutes.

Military Career
Halvorsen would go on to fill several domestic assignments, but would return
to Germany in the early 1970s, this time as the commander of the
Tempelhof Airbase in western Berlin. In this role Halvorsen was required
to host official parties at his house. Being a devout Mormon, Halvorsen
became famous for his non-alcoholic concoctions served at these parties.

German-American Relations
Halvorsen's actions as the original candy bomber may have had a
substantial impact on the postwar perception of Americans in Germany,
and it is still pointed to as a symbol of German-American relations.
He has appeared many times on German TV over the years, often paired
with some of the children, now grown adults, who received his candy parachutes.
In 1974 he was decorated with the "Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz"
(Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany),
one of Germany´s highest Medals. During the opening march for the
2002 Winter Olympics on February 8, Halvorsen carried the German
team's national placard into Rice-Eccles Olympic Stadium.

In 1989, Halvorsen engaged in a reenactment of the actions in Berlin for
the fortieth anniversary of the airlift. During Operation Provide Promise in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, he dropped candy from a C-130. Halvorsen also
participated in the 50th anniversary celebrations of the airlift in Berlin in 1998.
The United States military has modeled some of Halvorsen's actions in
Iraq dropping toys, teddy bears, and soccer balls to Iraqi children.
In 2004 Halvorsen hoped to launch a similar action for the children of Iraq.

Legacy
The US Air Force has helped cement Colonel Halvorsen's airlift legacy by
naming its next-generation, 25,000-pound capacity aircraft loading vehicle
in his honor. The Air Force has also named the award for outstanding
air transportation support in the logistics readiness career field the Colonel Gail Halvorsen Award. "




I will confess
that I never attached parachutes to any of the falling coins.




David