Last week, we lost an incredible hero, with the passing of Colonel Gail S. Halvorsen (Hal), known to many around the world as the Berlin Candy Bomber.
If you’ve never heard of him, this post will give you bit of insight to his life, and provide you three questions to reflect upon from his life. These three questions have provided me clarity on a primary life lesson that Colonel Halvorsen taught and lived his entire life: service before self.
First, some history on the Candy Bomber himself. After World War Two, Russia (Soviet Union) closed off Berlin to the western European nations. It left much of Berlin in a state of panic and terror. And the only option the West Berliners had was hold out for help from western Europe. France, Great Britain, and even America ended up going back a few years after fighting the Germans to help their former enemies by air-dropping incredible amounts of food and supplies. Gail Halvorsen was one of the pilots that was commissioned to go over to Europe and drop those supplies. I am only touching on small amounts of the entire story. Go to thecandybomber.org to get more in depth with the full operation.
The airdrops became Operation Vittles. The operation was incredible on any scale. 92 million miles flown during the airlift. 2,334,374 tons of food and fuel delivered to Berlin. The airlift kept the people of Berlin alive, and possibly equally important, gave them something to hope for during a very dark time. How could Hal and the other pilots bring themselves to help the very enemy that they had been fighting just a few years earlier? He actually gives us some insight to that very question in his own words. From his website he says, “One of my fellow Airlift pilots had bombed Berlin during the war. I asked him how he felt about flying day and night on behalf of the enemy, the very ones who did their best to kill him as he flew over Berlin in 1944. He hesitated a moment, shuffling his feet and then said, “It feels a lot better to feed them than it does to kill ’em.””
That thought shared with Hal gave me the first question that I have sought personal answer to, and I now share with you:
1) How do you treat those who disagree with you?
That has given me quite some pause this past week. The idea that these men could go from bombing the very people that had been trying to shoot them out of the sky, to delivering food, supplies, and hope, to help keep them alive is quite a substantial lesson for me, and one that allows me to reflect on how I’m treating others who disagree with me. I have looked at the way we are treating each other in America right now, and I have been digging deep inside myself to consider my treatment of others. Even more distasteful for me has been the realization that my initial question posed above is not even to the level that Colonel Halvorsen had asked his fellow pilot. That question would be something to the level of: How do you treat those who have been your enemies, actively seeking to take you life?
Where could we be, as a society, if we sought more regularly to feed our enemies, rather than to eliminate them from societal existence?
What if we invited them to the dinner table to hear them out, rather than shut them off, shut them down, or shut them out?
Huh…
Operation Vittles was not intended to become a candy-bombing operation. Colonel Halvorsen experienced his own answers to the question above when he reported to duty at the airfield where the operations were moving forward. Again, from his website, and in his own words he shares,
“One day in July 1948 I met 30 kids at the barbed wire fence at Tempelhof in Berlin. They were so excited. All I had was two sticks of gum. I broke them in two and passed them through the barbed wire. The result was unbelievable. Those with the gum tore off strips of the wrapper and gave them to the others. Those with the strips put them to their noses and smelled the tiny fragrance. The expression of pleasure was unmeasurable.
I was so moved by what I saw and their incredible restraint that I promised them I would drop enough gum for each of them the next day as I came over their heads to land. They would know my plane because I would wiggle the wings as I came over the airport.
When I got back to base I attached gum and even chocolate bars to three handkerchief parachutes. We wiggled the wings and delivered the goods the next day. What a jubilant celebration.”
And so began the inspired actions of the Candy Bomber. Operation Vittles became enhanced by Operation Little Vittles. It was a massive effort to provide gum and chocolates to the children who were suffering from the decision making of adults around them (more thoughts on that another day). It resulted in 46,000 pounds of candy dropped by using 250,000 tiny parachutes. Thousands of children’s lives were lifted with the dropping of a bit of candy. Let that settle in your understanding for a moment. Realize its effects. Quite literally, life-changing.
It brought me to my second question I now share with you:
2) What inspires you to do more than you currently do now?
I didn’t ask that question of myself, in any way, to disparage what my current attempts are to help those who I’m helping in my life. Rather, I wanted to use it in a way to push a new level of awareness, like Hal experienced when watching those children carefully disperse the tiny pieces of sticks of gum. Sit in that question for 15 minutes, and see what kind of candy wrappers fall into your lap. If you find yourself feeling too small to make any kind of meaningful difference in the world, hold onto one of Colonel Halvorsen’s life principles: “little things add up to big things.” I’d love to hear about what comes to your mind post-reflection.
Gail S. Halvorsen lived an incredible 101 year-old life, fulfilled by sharing his principles regularly with students and with others. His attempts to inspire others that are in times of despair, to deliver hope and happiness, are legacies that will live far beyond his lifetime.
Some of the final thoughts on his own life story are worth sharing. He says, “My experience on the Airlift taught me that gratitude, hope, and service before self can bring happiness to the soul when the opposite brings despair. Because not one of 30 children begged for chocolate, thousands of children in Berlin received over 20 tons of chocolate, gum and other goodies, delivered on the ground, or dropped from C-54 Skymaster aircraft over a 14 month period.”
Please spend some time at thecandybomber.org to truly ingest the legacy built by Colonel Gail S. Halvorsen.
His commitment to his principles of gratitude, hope, and service before self drove him to help so many others in his life. It gave me the third question that I have been reflecting on after his passing:
3) What ideals drive you to be your best self?
One of the conclusions I have made this past week of reflection is that when I am my best self, I can’t help but be of service to others. The best version of me flows directly into helping others become the best version of themselves. One of the aspects I love the most about Colonel Halvorsen is the idea mentioned above: tiny things can create big things. Two pieces of gum lifted an entire generation of children in Berlin during a very dark period of history. That’s exciting to me that’s inspiring to me.
These three questions, when pondered on and acted upon, give you an opportunity to not just reflect on the life of a true hero, but to become one yourself.
My heart goes out to the Halvorsen family for their loss. If you’re so inclined, please go to thecandybomber.org and consider a donation that will further the cause of a truly humble hero.
If you find these questions are scrambling your eggs a bit, feel free to reach out. Let’s talk for 30 minutes about how the coaching process can help you answer these life questions for you and drive you to a greater level of personal awareness and performance.
You can find my calendar here.
Always remember, One Step Up Makes All the Difference.