Letters from childrenChildren have always held a special place in Colonel Halvorsen's heart. The operation began with Halvorsen reaching out to children in need and continued to be fueled by children showing interest and love towards the Candy Bombers. Early in the Airlift, then-Lt. Gail Halvorsen met a group of hungry German children at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin and offered them two sticks of chewing gum, (which was all he had in his pocket at the time).
After seeing how much this meant to those children, Gail came up with a crazy idea: to start dropping tiny handkerchief-sized parachutes containing candy and gum out of his plane to the children of Berlin. One of the most incredible aspects of Operation Little Vittles was the incredible outpouring of a response by German children as well as countless people from around the world. The letters were both touching as well as funny, including letters with maps and instructions, such as "I'll be in the backyard every day at 2:00 PM. Drop the chocolate there" |
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One letter in particular (from Mercedes Wild) has gone down as being particularly influential. Here is the background of that letter as told by writer Star Weiss:
"One German girl who wanted more than anything to be the recipient of one of Gail’s magical parachutes was little Mercedes Simon, then seven years old. After trying unsuccessfully to catch a parachute on its way down from the sky, she finally decided to write a letter to The Chocolate Pilot and ask him to please drop candy near her home, the one with the white chickens in the yard. Instead, Gail responded to Mercedes with a personal note and a package of candy and gum mailed directly to her home. Mercedes never forgot that gesture, and says it was a turning point for her.“I decided when I received the letter from Halvorsen [that I would] stay at home and not go to my sister in Switzerland,” she says, remembering the enchantment of that moment. She felt that, “My Chocolate Uncle is flying over my house every day looking for me.”
Many years later, when Col. Gail Halvorsen returned to Berlin in 1972 as the Commander of Tempelhof Central Airport, Mercedes and her husband Peter Wild invited him to dinner, one of the many invitations Gail received from appreciative Germans who remembered his role in the Airlift. When the Colonel arrived at her home, Mercedes took out the carefully preserved and much cherished letter The Chocolate Pilot had written her in 1948. And he remembered precisely who she was.When they “touched this connection,” as Mercedes puts it, it was the start of a lifelong friendship between them and their families that has included numerous visits, family weddings, and frequent phone calls."
"One German girl who wanted more than anything to be the recipient of one of Gail’s magical parachutes was little Mercedes Simon, then seven years old. After trying unsuccessfully to catch a parachute on its way down from the sky, she finally decided to write a letter to The Chocolate Pilot and ask him to please drop candy near her home, the one with the white chickens in the yard. Instead, Gail responded to Mercedes with a personal note and a package of candy and gum mailed directly to her home. Mercedes never forgot that gesture, and says it was a turning point for her.“I decided when I received the letter from Halvorsen [that I would] stay at home and not go to my sister in Switzerland,” she says, remembering the enchantment of that moment. She felt that, “My Chocolate Uncle is flying over my house every day looking for me.”
Many years later, when Col. Gail Halvorsen returned to Berlin in 1972 as the Commander of Tempelhof Central Airport, Mercedes and her husband Peter Wild invited him to dinner, one of the many invitations Gail received from appreciative Germans who remembered his role in the Airlift. When the Colonel arrived at her home, Mercedes took out the carefully preserved and much cherished letter The Chocolate Pilot had written her in 1948. And he remembered precisely who she was.When they “touched this connection,” as Mercedes puts it, it was the start of a lifelong friendship between them and their families that has included numerous visits, family weddings, and frequent phone calls."
While impossible to share every letter sent (or even a majority of those sent), here are some of the letters as examples of what Gail Halvorsen and others received. The collection below includes letters from the original air lift, as well as letters received from children over the years.
