Gail Seymour Halvorsen is a retired senior officer and command pilot in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the "Berlin Candy Bomber" or "Uncle Wiggly Wings" and gained fame for dropping candy to German children during the Berlin Airlift from 1948 to 1949.
Halvorsen grew up in rural Utah and always had a desire to fly. He earned his private pilot's license in 1941 and then joined the Civil Air Patrol. He joined the United States Army Air Forces in 1942 and was assigned to Germany on July 10, 1948, to be a pilot for the Berlin Airlift. Halvorsen piloted C-47s and C-54s during the Berlin airlift. During that time he founded "Operation Little Vittles", an effort to raise morale in Berlin by dropping candy via miniature parachute to the city's residents. Halvorsen began "Little Vittles" with no authorization from his superiors but over the next year became a national hero with support from all over the United States. Halvorsen's operation dropped over 23 tons of candy to the residents of Berlin. He became known as the "Berlin Candy Bomber", "Uncle Wiggly Wings", and "The Chocolate Flier".