SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s Colonel Gail Halvorsen, who was known as the “Berlin Candy Bomber” because he dropped parachutes filled with candy for German children after World War II, died at age 101.
The Gail S. Halvorsen Aviation Education Foundation announced Halvorsen’s death, saying he died Wednesday evening at Utah Valley Hospital after a brief illness, surrounded by family, KSL-TV reported.
Halvorsen was born in Salt Lake City on Oct. 10, 1920 and joined the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, KSTU reported.
After World War II ended, the Soviet blockade of Germany cut millions of people off from food and supplies. Halvorsen was one of the pilots who was tasked with airlifting food and supplies to citizens in West Berlin, and supplemented the regular supplies with candy attached to handkerchiefs that served as parachutes, as described by the Air Mobility Command Museum. On the Gail S. Halvorsen Foundation’s website, Halvorsen described the experience: “One of my fellow Airlift pilots had bombed Berlin during the war. I asked him how he felt about flying day and night on behalf of the enemy, the very ones who did their best to kill him as he flew over Berlin in 1944. He hesitated a moment, shuffling his feet and then said, ‘It feels a lot better to feed them than it does to kill ‘em.’”
In a post on Twitter, the German Embassy honored Halvorsen with a post saying, “Thank you for your kindness, Colonel.”
Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox, tweeted: “I will miss my friend. A beautiful reminder that kindness and goodness can win, even in the most trying times.”
Halvorsen’s candy-dropping mission, dubbed “Operation Little Vittles,” ended with an estimated 23 tons of candy dropped for the children of Berlin, KTVX reported.
Halvorsen was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2014 for his work, KSTU reported.