FReeper Canteen ~ The Berlin Airlift ~ Part 3: Operation Little Vittles ~ 11 December 2023

Serving the Best Troops and Veterans In The World !! | The Canteen Crew

[Kathy in Alaska]

Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!

For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.

Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!

~ Hall of Heroes ~

The Berlin Airlift
Part 3:  Operation Little Vittles
All info and photos from this website.

Link to Part 1
Link to Part 2

           

"DER SCHOKOLADEN FLIEGER"
 

OPERATION LITTLE VITTLES
 

40K JPEG	General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force is shown presenting the 1948 Cheney Award to 1st Lieutenant Gail S. Halvorsen, USAF, former Berlin Airlift pilot and originator of Operation Little Vittles while his wife, second from left, looks on.
U.S. Air Force Photograph Negative Number A-35720 AC National Air and Space Archives Videodisc Number 3B-38771

One of the most poignant stories of the Berlin Airlift was that of one 1^st Lt. Gail S. Halvorsen.  Halvorsen was somewhat of an ammeter moviemaker, and on July 17, he decided that on one of his off days, he would hitch a ride as a passenger on a C-54 and visit the City he was saving.  Once at Tempelhof, Halvorsen walked to the end of the runway to film some aircraft landings when he noticed a group of children near the fence watching the planes, too.  He went over to them.  They asked questions about the aircraft, the cargo, how fast it was going and things like that.  During this conversation he noticed that these children, unlike others he had encountered in Europe as a Ferry command Pilot during the War, did not ask him for any candy or gum, like others always had.  This struck him funny, and he knew that they were too proud to beg for such things.  Some having been born during wartime had not even heard of treats like that.  He made a fateful decision at that moment which was to become one of the symbols of the airlift.  He reached into his pocket and found that he had only two sticks of Wrigley's Doublemint Gum.  He remarked that if they did not fight over it, he would drop some candy to them if they were there the next day.  They agreed, took the sticks of gum and divided it amongst themselves, some happy to get only a piece of the wrapper.  Before he left them, a child asked him how they would know it was him flying over.  He replied, "I'll wiggle my wings." 
True to his word, the very next day, on approach to Berlin, he rocked the airplane and dropped some chocolate bars attached to a handkerchief parachute to the children waiting below.  Every day, the number of children would increase and he made several more drops.  Soon there was a stack of mail in Base Ops addressed to "Uncle Wiggly Wings', "The Chocolate Uncle" and "The Chocolate Flier". 
Halvorsen didn't tell anyone about what he was doing for fear he'd get in trouble.  Then, he was called into his commander and asked what he was doing.  He replied 'Flying, Sir."  His commander asked again, and received the same response.  He then pulled out a newspaper with a picture of Halvorsen's plane and tiny parachutes trailing behind.  Apparently, a newspaper reporter narrowly escaped being hit on the head with a chocolate bar.  His commander wasn't happy about it, but General Tunner though it was just the kind of gesture that the operation needed.  It was dubbed "Operation Little Vittles".  It continued, and many C-54 pilots participated.  Candy and parachutes were assembled and sent from Chicopee Falls, MA to assist in the gesture.  In the end, over three tons of candy was dropped over Berlin, some even in the Soviet sector.  For this simple kindhearted gesture, Halvorsen became the most recognized pilot of the Berlin Airlift. 

THE EASTER PARADE
 

By April 1949, airlift operations were going rather smoothly, and General Tunner wanted to break up the monotony.  He liked the idea of a big event that would show the capabilities of his command, as well as give everyone a big morale boost.  He wanted to set a record.  In order to do that, much planning was necessary, and it was decided that on Easter Sunday, the only cargo was to be coal.  In fact general Tunner wanted to shatter all previous tonnage records set so far.  Secretly, coal was stockpiled for the event.  Maintenance schedules were altered so that the maximum number of planes was available.  Everyone put in extra effort for this special event.  From 12:00PM April 15, to 12:00PM April 16, 1949, crews worked overtime to deliver more tonnage than had ever been delivered in a 24 hour period.  When it was over, 12,941 tons of coal had been delivered as a result of 1,383 flights without a single accident.  As a matter of fact, as a result, the daily tonnage also increased from 6,729 tons a day before the Easter Parade, to 8,893 tons per day, an unexpected benefit.  This was the straw that broke the camel's back. 

THE END OF THE BLOCKADE
 

On May 12, 1949, the Soviets capitulated.  The blockade was over.  It was decided to continue supplying Berlin by air in addition to the land routes in order to build up a sufficient supply of goods.  The Airlift officially ended on Sept. 30, 1949, fifteen months after its meager beginnings in June of '48.  In total, the US delivered 1,783,572.7 tons, while 541,936.9 tons were delivered by the British totaling 2.3 Million tons from 277, 569 total flights to Berlin.  C-47's and C-54's alone traveled over 92 million miles in order to do so.  These were astounding figures, considering that in the beginning it seemed impossible to even try.  Nevertheless, even the greatest operation is not without risk.  A total of 101 fatalities were recorded as a result of the operation, including 31 Americans, mostly due to crashes. 

The end of the blockade was unexpected; however, as bigger plans were made and bigger planes were set to replace the existing fleet of C-54's.  The USAF had already used a C-74 "Globemaster" and one Boeing YC-97A "Stratofreighter" in the airlift, testing the feasibility of heavy-lift transports and their use in a continued operation.  The Douglas C-124 "Globemaster II" was coming and the plan was to use C-97's and 124's to continue the operation without as many flights.  Fortunately, that was not necessary. 

Boeing C-97 "Stratofreighter" owned by the Foundation         Fairchild C-82 "Packet"                          Douglas C-74 "Globemaster"       

 

...continued and concluded next week....

 

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission!

[PROCON]

Hi Kathy and thanks for tonight’s Canteen and the awesome continuing saga of the Berlin Airlift!

[HartleyMBaldwin]

Halvorsen was somewhat of an ammeter moviemaker

Glad to see Col. Halvorsen's part of the Berlin Airlift story. You shouldn't trust autocorrect, though.

[Kathy in Alaska]

~ The Berlin Airlift ~ Part 3: Operation Little Vittles ~

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT

Showing support and boosting the morale of
our military and our allies' military
and the family members of the above.
Honoring those who have served before.

CLICK HERE TO FIND LATEST THREADS

CLICK FOR Current local times around the world

CLICK FOR local times in Seoul, Baghdad, Kabul,
New York, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Anchorage

To every service man or woman reading this thread.
Thank You for your service to our country.
No matter where you are stationed,
No matter what your job description
Know that we are are proud of each and everyone of you.
To our military readers, we remain steadfast
in keeping the Canteen doors open.

The FR Canteen is Free Republic's longest running daily thread
specifically designed to provide entertainment and moral support for the military.
The doors have been open since Oct 7 2001,
the day of the start of the war in Afghanistan.

We are indebted to you for your sacrifices for our Freedom.

NOTE: CANTEEN MUSIC
Posted daily and on the Music Thread
for the enjoyment of our troops and visitors.

Click here for the latest weather, wind and radar.

[Kathy in Alaska]

You can only read so many times before your eyes miss things. Going to fix that for next year.

Thanks for catching it.

[left that other site]

Hi Everybody!

(((HUGS)))

[Kathy in Alaska]

Correction made! 👍

BTW...good evening, and I hope you enjoy Part 3 of The Canteen’s annual Berlin Airlift posts.

[radu]

Greetings to all at the Canteen!

To all our military men and women, past and present,

THANK YOU
for your service!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, ML...((HUGS))...hope you are feeling better.

[radu]

Howdy, Kathy.

Were you able to get out to shovel the snow off your path today? I hope so! The radar isn’t pretty. Looks like a lotta snow is moving your way. :-(

[bigbob]

Here’s a true anecdote: This fellow was too young for WWII but due to demobilizaton, was drafted after the Berlin Airlift began as an electronics technician and sent to Germany. His commanding officer took him to a warehouse filled with crates stacked floor to ceiling containing powerful ART-13 radio transmitters. Because of jamming that disrupted communications, his job was to install them in the C-54 and other airlift planes when they were undergoing maintenance. That meant long hours with little sleep, but he felt he was doing important work to make sure the airlift had the communications necessary to be successful. After discharge he went to Collins Radio in Cedar Rapids Iowa where the transmitters were built and was immediately hired, and became the go-to expert on them over a long career.

[radu]

Howdy, PRO.

How was your weekend? Did you spend some time at Robin’s, letting the silly pups entertain you? LOL

[The Mayor]

December 11

God Is More than Enough

Bible in a Year :

• Hosea 5–8
• Revelation 2

The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed.

Ruth 4:17

Ellen was on a tight budget, so she was glad to receive a Christmas bonus. That would have been enough, but when she deposited the money, she received another surprise. The teller said that as a Christmas present the bank had deposited her January mortgage payment into her checking account. Now she and Trey could pay other bills and bless someone else with a Christmas surprise!

God has a way of blessing us beyond what we expect. Naomi was bitter and broken by the death of her husband and sons (Ruth 1:20–21). Her desperate situation was rescued by Boaz, a relative who married her daughter-in-law Ruth and provided a home for her and Naomi (4:10).

That might have been all Naomi could hope for. But then God blessed Ruth and Boaz with a son. Now Naomi had a grandson to “renew [her] life and sustain [her] in [her] old age” (v. 15). That would have been enough. As the women of Bethlehem put it, “Naomi has a son!” (v. 17). Then little Obed grew—and became “the father of Jesse, the father of David” (v. 17). Naomi’s family belonged to Israel’s royal line, the most important dynasty in history! That would have been enough. David, however, became the ancestor of . . . Jesus.

If we believe in Christ, we’re in a similar position to Naomi. We had nothing until He redeemed us. Now we’re fully accepted by our Father, who blesses us to bless others. That’s so much more than enough. .

Reflect & Pray

When has God blessed you beyond what you imagined? How has He shown you that He’s more than enough?

Jesus, You’re more than enough for me.

[PROCON]

Hi radu, just stayed home and relaxed today, didn't go anywhere. Errand time tomorrow.

How are you, did you get any of those devastating tornadoes?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Pro...a captivating story.

[MoochPooch]

Evening, Kathy! Happy #4 night of Hanukkah!

[radu]

If things are as crazy there as they are here these days, you needed to relax and rest up for the errands tomorrow. People go nuts here from Thanksgiving through New Years and it’s a real pain to do even simple errands.

Everything’s fine here. We were lucky and missed out on all the yeeha yesterday but I kept up with it all, wondering if we’d get anything. Just much-needed rain and a little lightning here. And a windy, cold day behind it all. brrrrr

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, radu...more rain? I hope so.

Look what came thru about an hour and a half ago!
The snow plow and he has Christmas lights on his plow. Too cool!

Hope you can see them, and that the picture isn't too big.

[Kathy in Alaska]

More snow? We’ve had record snow so far this year.

I’ll be going out and clear the path in a bit. I want to see how close the plow got to the end of my driveway. They’ve been about 4’ out and I hope they got closer today.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, bigbob....what a great addition to the Airlift story. That really was important work.

Thanks for sharing!