How many humanitarian flights were made to Berlin during the Berlin Airlift?
Veterans of Historic Humanitarian Berlin Airlift Visit Stuttgart and Africa Command By Vince Crawley U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Print FILE PHOTO – U.S. Air Force 1st Lieutenant Gail S. Halvorsen’s bunk becomes a factory for miniature parachutes weighted with Lyons chocolate during the Berlin Airlift. The idea to drop candy to German children on the approach to Tempelhof Airport grew out of a chance meeting in July 1948 between Halvorsen and 30 German school children at the perimeter fence of the airport. Halvorsen wrote of his experiences in “Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot,” a book about a little girl living in Berlin during the airlift. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) STUTTGART, Germany, Jul 4, 2008 — Veteran military pilot Gail Halvorsen, famous as the “Candy Bomber” who inspired air crews to drop treats to children during the Berlin Airlift, visited Stuttgart and U.S. Africa Command headquarters July 1, 2008, while touring Germany on the 60th anniversary of the hist
