They called him Uncle Wiggly Wings — it may sound silly but the goofy nickname of an American pilot was music to the ears of the children of West Berlin.
The now retired Colonel Gail Halvorsen managed to change the lives of over 2 million children by chance.
World War II Veterans like Halvorsen and 108-year-old Richard Overton are the people who created the foundation for the world we live in today.
During Berlin Airlift from 1948-1949, when the Soviet occupation of Germany resulted in a blockade that cut West Berlin off from its Western allies, the United States would fly food and resources to the people of West Berlin.
Pilots would drop food and supplies, eventually causing the Berlin blockade to end. It was during this time that Colonel Gail Halvorsen was one of those pilots, and during his spare time he would explore the city of Berlin.
One day he saw a group of hungry children huddled behind a fence at Tempelhof aiport. He only had a stick of gum to give them so he divided it into a few pieces; he was shocked to see that when he gave it them, the children then divided those small pieces into even smaller pieces so that each would have a bite.
It was here that Halvorsen got the idea to give these children a little bit of happiness in a bleak situation. He began airlifting candy to the kids of West Berlin.
He and his crew began Operation Little Vittles, which translates to victuals or food provisions. Halvorsen and his crew would create little parachutes for the candies.
See how one American became a hero to millions of German children below and SHARE to commemorate his act of valor!
