I remembered learning about the Berlin Airlift in history classes, but I had never heard of the Candy Bomber.  Michael O. Tunnell captures the excitement and hope created by the simple act of dropping parachutes attached to packets of candy for the children of Berlin.  Even more than that, Tunnell reveals and shares the person behind it all:  Lt. Gail Halvorsen, otherwise known as the Candy Bomber or Uncle Wiggly Wings.

Candy Bomber:  The Story of the Berlin Airlift’s “Chocoate Pilot” gives enough historical context for the Berlin Airlift to make sense, but not so much that the story bogs down.  Instead, the heart of the story is on the relationships between Lt. Halvorsen and the children of Berlin.

It all started when Lt. Halvorsen met a group of children on the other side of a barbed wire fence surrounding the airfield.  When he saw their gratitude for the two sticks of gum he gave them (they even took turns smelling the wrapper), he promised to drop a packet of candy for them when he flew over Berlin again.  They would recognize him because he would wiggle the wings of his plane.

From this simple act of generosity, an entire movement grew that soon involved more than just the Air Force.  Groups and individuals from across the United States and other countries joined together to provide candy–and hope–for the children of Berlin.

Why can’t all history be written like this?