RE-located from LBN...'Candy Bomber' who dropped sweets during Berlin Airlift dies

[Omaha Steve]

FULL story: https://apnews.com/article/europe-utah-world-war-ii-berlin-blockades-fab750bae8de282e8ea2edce8b65b317


By COLLEEN SLEVIN and KIRSTEN GRIESHABER

DENVER (AP) — U.S. military pilot Gail S. Halvorsen — known as the “Candy Bomber” for his candy airdrops during the Berlin Airlift after World War II ended — has died at age 101.

Halvorsen died Wednesday following a brief illness in his home state of Utah, surrounded by most of his children, James Stewart, the director of the Gail S. Halvorsen Aviation Education Foundation, said Thursday.

Halvorsen was beloved and venerated in Berlin, which he last visited in 2019 when the city celebrated the 70th anniversary of the day the Soviets lifted their post-War World II blockade cutting off supplies to West Berlin with a big party at the former Tempelhof airport in the German capital.

“Halvorsen’s deeply human act has never been forgotten,” Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey said in a statement.



FILE - Gail Halvorsen, also know as the "Candy Bomber", poses for a portrait at his son's home in Midway, Utah, on Oct. 7, 2020. The man known as the "Candy Bomber" for his airdrops of sweets during the Berlin Airlift when World War II ended nearly 75 years ago has died. Gail Halvorsen was 101 when he died Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, in his home state of Utah surrounded by most of his children after a brief illness, James Stewart, the director of the Gail Halvorsen Aviation Education Foundation, said Thursday. (Isaac Hale/The Daily Herald via AP)


FULL story: https://apnews.com/article/europe-utah-world-war-ii-berlin-blockades-fab750bae8de282e8ea2edce8b65b317

[crickets]

1. Sweet man.

Lovely 2019 photo of him with children of Berlin in another linked AP article:
https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-international-news-berlin-blockades-cold-war-4f324f43a0d3456fa65c967e83d9f0d8

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. What's wrong with this being in LBN? Timed out? NT

[Omaha Steve]

3. An alert was filed, so I moved it over here to GD

[Tommymac]

4. Get Thee to the Greatest Page. This guy is a major hero and cultural icon in Germany.

Guess we can get it on the Front Page by other means.

Also crossposting from this thread

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216367217#post1

I read his story a few years ago in 'The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour'
written by Andrei Cherny
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/3231403-the-candy-bombers

A 4.5 star history IMHO. Reads like a novel.

He was a good human being. The world will miss him.

[denbot]

5. It likely gave the pilots as much joy as the kids.

[Raine]

6. R-I-P Sweet Man 🕯️nt