{"id":2769,"date":"2026-06-24T16:09:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T16:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2769"},"modified":"2026-06-24T16:09:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T16:09:00","slug":"deseret-news-archives-americas-berlin-airlift-was-a-success-with-a-sweet-utah-twist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2769","title":{"rendered":"Deseret News archives: America\u2019s Berlin Airlift was a success, with a sweet Utah twist"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><i>Editor\u2019s note: This story was originally published on June 24, 2024.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>On June 24, 1948, Communist forces cut off all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the Western Allies to organize the Berlin Airlift. The move required a response, and the four Allied powers delivered in a big way.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2767\">Trump abruptly cancels signing of bipartisan housing bill until Sen. Lee election bill is passed<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And a sweet way.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the story:<\/p>\n<p>At the end of World War II, Germany was divided between the four Allied powers: France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union. Its capital, Berlin, suffered the same fate with the added complication that West Berlin became an enclave within the Soviet zone.<\/p>\n<p>Two years later, tensions mounted between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, primarily over the reconstruction and monetary reform of Germany. At this point, the Soviet Union began impeding communications between the Western Allies, West Germany and West Berlin.<\/p>\n<p>Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader, imposed the Berlin Blockade, which would continue until May 12, 1949.<\/p>\n<p>The Western Allies responded with a massive airlift to come to West Berlin\u2019s aid.<\/p>\n<p>Beginning June 26, two days after the blockade was announced, U.S. and British planes carried out the largest air relief operation in history, transporting some 2.3 million tons of supplies into West Berlin on more than 270,000 flights over 11 months.<\/p>\n<p>According to reports compiled through the years, the Western Allies showed that they could sustain the operation indefinitely. At the same time, the Allied counter-blockade on eastern Germany was causing severe shortages, which, Moscow feared, might lead to political upheaval. By May 1949, the blockade had been lifted.<\/p>\n<p>According to historians, the Berlin Blockade, and the Allied response in the form of the Berlin Airlift, represented the first major conflict of the Cold War.<\/p>\n<h3>A Utah tie<\/h3>\n<p>Now the sweet story of the \u201cCandy Bomber.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Col. Gail Halvorsen, a senior officer and command pilot in the U.S. Air Force, was born in Driggs, Idaho, and raised in Tremonton in Box Elder County in northern Utah.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2765\">High school boys lacrosse: Deseret News 2026 6A All-State team<\/a><\/p>\n<p>As the airlift got under way, Halvorsen felt impressed to provide supplemental drops in Berlin in the form of little parachutes with candy attached to the chutes.<\/p>\n<p>Called \u201cOperation Little Vittles,\u201d Halvorsen piloted C-47s and C-54s and dropped tons and tons of goodies to German children.<\/p>\n<p>As a note, Halvorsen didn\u2019t get permission first, but he eventually received authorization. He became known as the \u201cBerlin Candy Bomber,\u201d the \u201cChocolate Flier\u201d or \u201cUncle Wiggly Wings.\u201d It is estimated that with support from all over the nation, Halvorsen dropped over 23 tons of candy to the residents of Berlin.<\/p>\n<p>Halvorsen was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and several other military awards. Not content to stop there, he continued candy drops in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Guam, Iraq and Japan.<\/p>\n<p>Celebrated and honored in Utah through the years, and a strong advocate for the military and humanitarian causes, Halvorsen was a popular speaker at schools and patriotic gatherings through the years. He died on Feb. 16, 2022, at age 101.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some wonderful stories about the Berlin Airlift and Utah\u2019s famed Candy Bomber from the Deseret News archives:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUtah pilot honored as Berlin Airlift remembered on 70th anniversary of blockade\u2019s end\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2725\">High school boys lacrosse: Deseret News 2026 5A All-State team<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBerlin Airlift re-enacted with candy drop\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOpinion: The anomaly of NATO\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cModern-day \u2018airlift\u2019 sought\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGail S. Halvorsen, the Berlin Candy Bomber, dies at 101\u2033<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs Utah\u2019s Candy Bomber turns 100, his sweet story remains timeless\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOpinion: The \u2018candy bomber\u2019 taught America how to handle power\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2018Bomber\u2019 is about more than candy\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>Related<\/div>\n<div>We were there: See Deseret News front pages from 45 big moments in Utah, world history<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today in history: Efforts by famed \u2018Candy Bomber \u2018Lt. Col Gail Halvorsen in 1948 had positive impact: This date in history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2768,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-west"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Deseret News archives: America\u2019s Berlin Airlift was a success, with a sweet Utah twist - American Movers Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2769\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Deseret News archives: America\u2019s Berlin Airlift was a success, with a sweet Utah twist - American Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today in history: Efforts by famed \u2018Candy Bomber \u2018Lt. 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