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‘Berlin Candy Bomber’ recovers after testing positive for COVID-19

SALT LAKE CITY — The “Berlin Candy Bomber” has beaten COVID-19.

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Ret. Col. Gail Halvorsen, who tested positive for the coronavirus in December has recovered, the executive director of Gail S. Halvorsen Aviation Education Foundation confirmed Tuesday.

Jim Stewart said Halvorsen, who turned 100 on Oct. 10, experienced symptoms for 10 days beginning Dec. 11 before fully recovering from the virus on Jan. 24, KSL reported.

“I was pleasantly surprised at how well he sprung back,” Stewart told the television station.

The Utah native was a U.S. Air Force pilot who became famous for dropping hundreds of candy boxes over West Berlin during the Soviet blockade that began in June 1948, KSL reported.

During the 15-month airlift, called Operation Vittles, American and British pilots delivered more than 2 million tons of supplies to West Berlin. Halvorsen’s mission, called Operation Little Vittles, clinched an ideological battle, according to History.net.

Children in West Berlin called Halvorsen “Uncle Wiggly Wings.”

“At the end of the runway (in West Berlin), in an open space between the bombed-out buildings and barbed wire, kids were watching the airplanes coming in over the rooftops,” Halvorsen told History.net. They came right up to the barbed wire and spoke to me in English. These kids were giving me a lecture, telling me, ‘Don’t give up on us. If we lose our freedom, we’ll never get it back.’ American-style freedom was their dream. Hitler’s past and Stalin’s future was their nightmare. I just flipped. Got so interested, I forgot what time it was.

“I looked at my watch and said, ‘Holy cow, I gotta go! Goodbye. Don’t worry.” I took three steps. Then I realized -- these kids had me stopped dead in my tracks for over an hour and not one of 30 had put out their hand. They were so grateful for flour, to be free, that they wouldn’t be beggars for something extravagant. This was stronger than overt gratitude -- this was silent gratitude.”

Halvorsen returned to the fence and gave the children two sticks of gum, promising to return the next day with more candy, History.net reported.

“One asked, ‘How do we know what airplane you’re in?’” Halvorsen said. “(I told them) ‘I’ll wiggle the wings.’”

Halvorsen wrapped his chocolate candy rations and sweets given to him by his copilot and engineer and dropped them in three handkerchief parachutes, History.net reported.

During the airlift, Halvorsen dropped hundreds of boxes of candy over West Berlin.

According to the foundation, when Stewart visited Halvorsen, the centenarian was eager to return to Berlin for a visit.

“We’re grateful for the faith and prayers from everyone around us and the others who’ve been affected by this,” Stewart told KSL. “Faith and a positive attitude will get you through a lot of stuff.”

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