Over this past week, we have started to watch our Cold War videos. Mine was on the Berlin Airlift and it's part in the beginning of the war. In this entry, I'm specifically going to talk about the Candy Bombers and their part of the Berling Airlift. The most interesting thing (in my opinion) is that the Candy Bombers actually dropped candy along with the supplies needed during the Berlin Blockade. It started with 1st Lieutenant Gail Halvorsen who saw children outside of the airport gates watching the Airlift planes take off. He gave them two pieces of gum and told them if they didn't fight over it, then he would bring candy for the next lift, and drop it to them from the plane. True to his word, he brought bags of candy anf using a handkerchief, he parachuted it down from his plane to their waithing hands. Near the end of the Berlin Airlift, multiple pilots had joined in to this. The last Airlift had 3 tons of candy dropped into both Western and USSR Berlin. Most of these children grew up to be pilots themselves later in their lives. From this story, we can glean that one small act of kindness can start a fire of many acts, and can change/influence the lives of the people around us. My question is, why do you think that the Candy Bombers are remembered today? 1st Lieutenant Gail Halvorsen went on to win the 1948 Cheney award due to his act of kindness, and is the most recognised pilot of the Berlin Airlift. So why do you think that acts of kindness are remembered so well in history... even the smallest ones?
