Book Review
Candy Bomber: The Story of the Berlin Airlift’s “Chocolate Pilot”
By Michael O. Tunnel



The book Candy Bomber: The Story of the Berlin Airlift’s “Chocolate Pilot”
is an historical book about a man named Gail Halvorson. Lt. Gail Halvorson is known by many names including Uncle Wiggly Wings and The Chocolate Pilot. After WWII, places like Berlin were destroyed and scarce of food and supplies. So, pilots like Gail flew flour, coal, and even water into Berlin. Gail wanted to sight see Berlin. But since the place is still recovering he is limited to stay in the airport. When sightseeing from the airport he meets a group of German kids who want candy. Gail grabs two sticks of gum from his pocket, splits it in half, and gives it to a German kid. The kid gives the other pieces of gum to three other kids. When the kid looks at the other kids, he rips the papers apart and gives it to the kids to smell. Halvorson is astounded by the kids and tells them he will come back more candy. The next time he was flying into the airport, he drops little parachutes to give out the candy in a safe way.

Gail was so inspired by his accomplishments that he started to drop more candy. He was asking for more donations, and getting them. His popularity caused him to get letters from his candy bomb receivers. His routine runs were getting so good that they were named “Operation Little Vittles”. Many companies gave him and his squad candies, twine, and little parachutes. For example lifesavers donated 200 boxes of candy to him. Lt. Halvorson is a very inspirational man and did more than anything to help the hungry kids of Berlin. This book made me feel inspired to make a change and help other people. If you want to learn more about history and be inspired to be a change buy or read this book.