OPERATION LITTLE VITTLES 

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In 1948, the Soviets attempted to drive out Western allies out of Berlin, isolating over 2.5 million Berliners. The British and Americans responded by airlifting supplies into the city-a year and a half-long mission dubbed “Operation Vittles.”

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​Col. Halvorsen was one of the first airmen called in to support Operation Vittles.

​Normally, Col. Halvorsen was in Berlin only long enough to unload and refuel, but one day he had some time to hike around the airbase. As he hiked, a group of children near the airbase’s fence caught his eye.

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“Most children would clamor around us, asking us for candy or gum,” he explained. “But these were different. These children had been through so much—their city had been practically destroyed; many of them had lost family members in the war. Yet not one asked for any gum or candy.”

Col. Halvorsen talked with them for nearly an hour then gave them what he had-two sticks of gum.

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​The next day, he parachuted candy to the children then continued to do so for weeks. This morphed into a large-scale operation dubbed "Operation Little Vittles." It is estimated that he dropped 46,000 pounds of candy with over 24,000 parachutes. 

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