As World War II’s Berlin Blockade intensified 78 years ago, Utah native Gail Halvorsen was a transport pilot helping to bring supplies to a West Berlin that was cut off from receiving any by ground. While there, the Utahn realized the German children didn’t have any sweets to enjoy.
He didn’t know it at the time, but two sticks of gum in his pocket would end up changing the world. He knew it wasn’t enough, but giving two sticks of gum to the children of West Berlin inspired him to do more, he told the Deseret News’ Lee Benson.
And on Tuesday, teenagers from Germany joined with youth from the Salt Lake Valley to pay tribute to the man known as the Candy Bomber, and to advance that spirit of changing the world through kindness.
How Gail Halvorsen’s legacy lives on
According to well-documented accounts of Halvorsen’s life, the pilot began asking for the chocolate rations from his counterparts in an effort to bring some sort of joy to the children in the isolated, and hopeless, area.
The act of kindness grew as the Soviet blockade continued and Halvorsen became known as the “Candy Bomber” among German children.
Though Halvorsen died in 2022, his act of kindness still lives on and is celebrated with annual candy drops across the U.S.
On a beautiful Tuesday afternoon at West Hills Middle School in South Jordan, a group of visiting German students were gathered for an expected candy drop.
“Today is a very special day. On May 12, the people of Berlin celebrated the end of the Berlin Airlift,” German student Bayan Preis said. “It’s a day when we remember that West Berlin survived.”
While many of the planes were bringing in needed supplies, Halvorsen brought “hope and joy in a time of depression,” one of the young German students said.
Florian Dieter, a teacher at the Gail S. Halvorsen Schule in Berlin, said the Candy Bomber will always be an example to the world of what can happen when we set aside our differences and help others.
“Former enemies can grow friends together,” he said. “Despite all differences, we are all the same. There’s much more that connects us than that divide us.”
Dieter has taught math and English at the Gail S. Halvorsen School for about 10 years now. He said the times he interacted with the candy hero Halvorsen was always very kind, funny and very easygoing.
Candy competition was part of the gathering
Students at West Hills Middle School and the Berlin school both held competitions this year in which students pitched their own idea for a chocolate bar and presented it to classmates, who then voted for their favorite.
The winners from both competitions saw their chocolate ideas come to reality Tuesday morning at Taste Artisan Chocolate in Provo where they were formed and later handed out at the school assembly.
Ryan Jazayerli, the American winner, created a chocolate bar called the “Halvor-Bar” that consists of milk chocolate, caramel and honey because he “wanted the flavors to feel uplifting, the same way Halvorsen uplifted others through small acts of care.”
Jazayerli says Halvorsen’s kindness inspires him to look for more ways to perform acts of service.
They “can leave a bigger impact than I thought (they) could,” he said.
The German winner, Hana Pohl, created the “Taste Berlin” bar that consists of milk chocolate with a crisp texture added.
What Gail Halvorsen’s daughter said of her dad
Denise Williams, who is a member of the board of directors for The Candy Bomber Foundation and daughter of the late pilot, encouraged students to be a “candy bomber in your own way.”
“You don’t have to be older, you don’t have to wait till tomorrow. You can do something small today,” she said Tuesday. “My father did not plan to become the chocolate pilot. He wasn’t trying to make history; he just had a chance to do one small, kind thing.”
Williams said small acts of kindness are in front of us every single day. These can be as simple as a “thank you,” being a friend to someone who needs one or just being grateful for what you have.
“Those small choices matter more than you think, and you have so much power that you maybe do not realize,” she said.
Due to safety concerns, the “candy bombing” that takes place at many events honoring the World War II hero, was called off and chocolates were instead handed out to each student at the school.
Each chocolate was attached to a white parachute that would have floated from the sky had the reenactment taken place.
Though there was no actual “candy bomb,” a brief helicopter flyover was featured.
What else will the German students do while they are in Utah?
The four German students and the two German teachers arrived Sunday and visited the Utah Capitol on Monday. Along with the American winner, the students made two stops in Provo Tuesday morning to make their chocolates and visit the grave of Halvorsen.
Shortly after the school assembly, the students left to visit the Rio Tinto Kennecott Copper Mine. The students will also pay a visit to the red rock of Arches and Canyonlands national parks before their departure over the weekend.
