Retired Air Force Col. Gail Halvorsen, the “Candy Bomber” who brought joy to Berlin's children by dropping candy in tiny handkerchief parachutes from his plane when the Soviets blockaded the divided city during the Cold War, has died. He was 101.
He died Wednesday evening at Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, Utah, after a long illness, surrounded by most of his children, according to a Facebook post by his educational foundation.
Halvorsen was an Air Force pilot when Soviet boss Joseph Stalin implemented a land blockade of West Berlin in an effort to force the Americans, British and French out of the city, which was divided into occupation zones at the end of World War II.
