The Sweeter Side of the Berlin Airlift Quiz

Answer: Operation Little Vittles

Brig. Gen. Joseph Smith, Commander of the Wiesbaden Military Post, dubbed the U.S. portion of the airlift Operation Vittles because "We're haulin' grub," he said. Lt. Gen. William H. Tunner, Director of Airlift Operations, followed suit when the candy drop started and named it Operation Little Vittles.

The Berlin Airlift ran from June 27, 1948 to May 12, 1949. May 12th was the day the Soviets quit the blockade. It officially ended on Sept. 30, 1949. The West Berliners called it the "Air Bridge."

Answer: Col. Gail S. "Hal" Halvorsen

Halvorsen, a First Lieutenant at the time, completed his military career as a Colonel in the USAF. He was born on a farm near Garland, Utah into a family of the Mormon faith on October 10, 1920. After Halvorsen earned his private pilot's license in 1941, he joined the Civil Air Patrol.

In the spring of 1942 he joined The U.S. Army Air Corps and was sent to train as a fighter pilot with the Royal Air Force. He was ultimately assigned as a supply transport pilot and volunteered for the Berlin Airlift duty.

He was the most recognized pilot of the operation and became known as "The Berlin Candy Bomber", "Uncle Wiggly Wings" and the "Chocolate Flier". The alternate choices were WWII flying aces.

Answer: Two sticks of Wrigley's Doublemint Gum

For the hour he spent in conversation with the children Halvorsen recalled, "not one child asked for gum or candy." These Berliners were quiet and polite. All they wanted was for the Americans to continue the airlift. "They wouldn't lower themselves to being a beggar. That just blew my mind," Halvorsen said.

The children told Halverson, "If we lose our freedom we may never get it back." "They...gave me a real appreciation for freedom," he said. Halvorsen reached into his pocket to find he only had the two sticks of gum.

The gum was then split into pieces. Some were pleased to receive just a bit of the wrapper - the sweet smell of a promise - as Halvorsen said he would return the following day to drop candy from his aircraft. "I'll wiggle my wings" to let you know I'm flying over, he explained. On each successive drop the crowds increased.

Answer: Handkerchiefs

Halvorsen not only collected candy from his fellow pilots but also put the pinch on them for handkerchiefs. The first drop was a huge success with the help of his engineer and co-pilot. On approach to Berlin, Halvorsen tipped his wings and the engineer deployed the candy bombs out the emergency flare chute. Later, when the operation was in full swing, the commanding officer at Tempelhof declared that any handkerchief that could be seen would be commandeered for Operation Little Vittles.

Answer: Uncle Wiggly Wings (Onkel Wackelflügel)

When Halvorsen initially told the children he'd "wiggle his wings" to let them know he was approaching, the moniker stuck. Mail from grateful Germans, addressed to Uncle Wiggly Wings, stacked up at his squadron. Halvorsen was eventually assigned two German secretaries to handle the weekly influx of mail. Halvorsen recalled later, "There was this one kid named Peter Zimmerman who sent me a map and asked me to make a drop at his house.

He said when I flew into Berlin and reached the River Spree, to turn, go down two railroad bridges and his was the bombed out house on the corner.

He said he'd be there everyday at 2 p.m. Well I looked for him several times, but I couldn't ever find him. Finally the kid wrote me another letter saying, 'Look, I gave you a map, you're in the Air Force and you're a pilot. How'd you guys win the war anyway?' We finally fixed up a box and had it mailed it to him."

Answer: A newspaper reporter was nearly hit on the head by a falling candy bar.

With newspaper in hand, Halvorsen's commanding officer pulled him into his office and asked what he was doing. "Flying sir," Halvorsen responded. When confronted with the article disclosing the operation and the errant candy bar, the aviator knew the jig was up.

Instead of a court martial, Gen. Tunner said, "Keep it up." Some 25 aviators in Halvorsen's squadron alone participated in these candy drops. Donations started pouring in. "Before I got donations from big candy companies, the children of America were sending me donations, and sending me money so we could go to the Base Exchange and buy the things to drop to the children of Berlin," Halvorsen remembered. One young Berliner later told Halvorsen, "It wasn't [just] chocolate.

It was hope."

Answer: Chicopee, MA

Since Operation Vittles had its stateside headquarters at Westover Air Force base in Chicopee, Massachusetts, the support group for Operation Little Vittles was established at the town's fire station. Students from 22 area schools donated one day per week to make "candychutes".

A committee was formed to enable each school's representative to report on progress. The committee began receiving donations of material for chutes and candy from major manufacturers. They reached out across the country for donations and enlisted the help of radio celebrities. Wilfred Thivierge, secretary to the mayor of Chicopee, urged all the children to participate.

The motto of the Operation is "For the children, by the children, and of the children," he said. On October 26, 1989, Ed Jasiewicz of the "Chicopee Herald" reported, "In all, approximately 18 tons (26,000 lbs.) of candy were airlifted from Chicopee to the needy children in the western sector of Berlin, Germany."

Answer: 20 to 30 tons

A general consensus lists the figure at somewhere between 23 and 30 tons - the final product of one caring man and two sticks of chewing gum. Kurt Roth, a teenager during the blockade said, "Chocolate bars coming from the sky. It all sounds rather dramatic today, but for me it was a special sign -- a sign that we Berliners had to survive."

Answer: To take command of Tempelhof Airbase

Halvorsen was a full colonel when he returned to Berlin to take command of Tempelhof Airbase. This posting enabled him to meet with many of the thankful children who had benefited from his noble gesture. Mercedes Wilde was one of the children Halvorsen met with on his return to Berlin.

She too had sent Halvorsen a letter. In 1970, Mercedes' husband, Peter, approached Halvorsen with the 20-year-old letter Halvorsen had sent in response. That meeting developed a lasting friendship and partnership program between the school where Peter taught, Gottfried Keller Gymnasium, and Provo High School in Utah. On the 50th anniversary of Operation Vittles at Tempelhof, Mercedes stood with Halvorsen and President Bill Clinton and expressed "...the honor to say thank you on behalf of the people of Berlin."

Answer: Russia

Strong in the Mormon faith, Halvorsen and his wife trained teachers and worked with youth groups in Russia. They also served as missionaries in England during the 1980s. He retired from the USAF in 1974 with more than 8,000 flight hours. Numerous books have been written about this Candy Bomber.

His list of decorations is an arm in length. From 1976 until 1986 he acted as the Assistant Dean of Student Life at Brigham Young University. He wrote the essay "Impressions of a Berlin Airlift Pilot".

It is available online. "There is a universal need for hope today every bit as much now as it was needed then." - Gail S. Halvorsen, Col USAF (Ret.), November 2007.