March 20, 2026 – The Berlin Candy Bomber by Gail Halvorsen (2010, 244 pages) is Halvorsen’s autobiography of his service during and after World War II. He was a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces. In 1948 after the war, he volunteered to take another pilot’s place who was being sent to Germany to fly during the Berlin airlift. The Soviet Union had blocked food and gas from reaching Berlin by roads and rails as they sought to take over all of Germany. So the United States and England decided to fly supplies to airports for direct distribution to citizens. Children would come to the fence at the airport to watch pilots take off and land. One day Gail talked with a few children at the fence and gave them two sticks of gum he had in his pocket. They asked for more. So Lt. Halvorsen made parachutes from handkerchiefs, filled them with gum and candy, and began dropping them out of his plane. His one act of kindness grew to an international effort and changed his life.