The Wings Club Foundation, Inc. and IAWA (International Aviation Women´s Association) have announced Colonel Gail Semour Halvorsen (USAF Ret.) has been recognized as the 2020 Outstanding Aviator, the companies said.
Colonel Halvorsen is known as the Berlin Candy Bomber, Uncle Wiggly Wings or the Chocolate Pilot because he dropped Hershey´s milk chocolate bars and other candy in parachutes to Germany children during the Berlin Airlift from 1948 to 1949.
The name of the campaign was Operation Little Vittles.
Halvorsen and other pilots sourced and dropped 23 tons of candy and chocolate to the children of Berlin. The Berlin Airlift, the largest humanitarian effort in Air Force history, is still remembered for relieving the plight of some 2.5 million beleaguered West Berlin residents.
The Wings Club Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Its mission is to focus on initiatives aimed at supporting scholarships for students pursuing a career in aviation or aerospace; providing programs to educate in the field of aviation and supporting charitable organizations that use aviation to help those in need.
The International Aviation Womens Association (IAWA) is a nonprofit association providing a worldwide network dedicated to promoting the advancement of women in the aviation and aerospace industries at all levels across the globe.
The Hershey Company is a snacks company with more than 80 brands around the world that drive USD 8 billion in annual revenues.
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