Gail S Halvorsen was a Utah native that served in the Air Force. Growing up on his family's farm he would dream of being a pilot when planes would pass overhead. He got his wish and became a pilot in the Air Force during WW2. After the war, he stayed in the Air Force and was assigned to transport food, clothing, and other necessities to people in Berlin. He encountered a group of children standing by the runway at Tempelhof airport. As they asked him questions he reached into his pocket and found two sticks of gum, which he broke into pieces and passed around the crowd. Looking at the faces of those who had been left out, he came up with an idea. Tomorrow when he flew in his load of cargo, he promised the children that he would drop small handkerchiefs filled with candy and gum on his approach. He and his fellow pilots would eventually drop 21 tons of candy over the next 2 years. After the airdrops, he worked at various bases over the years and in 1970 he was assigned to be commander of Tempelhof Airport. He spent 4 years in Berlin and he was reunited with many of the kids (now adults) he once dropped candy to, before retiring from the service in 1974. In Germany, the Gail S Halvorsen School in Berlin and the Gail S Halvorsen Elementary School at Rhein-Main Airbase in Frankfurt bear his name. Col Halvorsen certainly left his mark on this world in a good way and was 101 when he passed away. RIP Col Halvorsen.
