An airman whose small act of kindness became an international symbol
When the children asked how they would recognize his plane, he promised to wiggle its wings.
Gail Halvorsen was a U.S. Air Force pilot who flew transport missions in the 1948–49 Berlin Airlift, helping sustain West Berlin during the blockade. After meeting children at the Tempelhof fence, he gave them gum and began dropping candy beneath handkerchief parachutes, an initiative that grew into Operation Little Vittles and gave the airlift a human face. The voluntary gesture stood at the boundary between military regulations and Cold War propaganda, yet it mobilized Berliners and American children and strengthened the West's political appeal. He later worked in air and space development and commanded Tempelhof Airport before retiring as a colonel in 1974.
Career Timeline
- 1942Joined the U.S. Army Air Forces and trained as a pilot
- 1948–1949C-54 pilot in the Berlin Airlift; initiated Operation Little Vittles
- 1952–1957Project engineer for cargo-aircraft research and development
- 1958–1962Served in the Air Force Systems Command space systems division
- 1965–1969Worked in the Air Staff Directorate of Space and Technology on reusable spacecraft planning
- 1970–1972Commander of the 7350th Air Base Group at Tempelhof Airport, Berlin
- 1974Retired from the U.S. Air Force as a colonel