Candy Bomber Halvorsen's Book Arrives

U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Gail S. Halvorsen's bunk becomes a factory for miniature parachutes weighted with Lyons chocolate during the Berlin Airlift. The idea to drop candy to German children on the approach to Tempelhof Airport grew out of a chance meeting in July 1948 between Halvorsen and 30 German school children at the perimeter fence of the airport. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force.

Today I got a package from nearby Utah from Lt. Gail Halvorsen, USAF (Ret.). It contained a new copy of his book 'The Berlin Candy Bomber: The Story of Uncle Wiggly Wings and the Berlin Airlift". Needless to say I am looking forward to reading it. Lt. Halvorsen was a C-54 pilot during the Berlin Airlift, which took place sixty years ago this month. During the airlift, he began dropping candy to the children of Berlin attached to little parachutes. He became known as the Candy Bomber, Uncle Wiggly Wings, and many other fond nicknames by the children of Berlin, still recovering from the ravages of World War Two.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Berlin Airlift or in an exceptional gentleman in the true sense of the word. What's more, Lt. Halvorsen will gladly inscribe and sign it for you and throw in the postage. Most of the proceeds go to his charity, so you can feel good AND get a good read.

A very nice website about Gail Halvorsen can be found here: http://www.talkingproud.us/HistoryBerlinCandyBomber.html

Here is information on ordering this excellent, uplifting book:

The book can be obtained from Gail S. Halvorsen,19 E Southfield Road, Spanish Fork Utah 84660 ( 1 many--mid December each year) and 1525 Dove Way, Amado, AZ 85645 (mid December--30 April) , for $20.00 The first edition, published in 1990, was sold out and it was just republished in September 1997 with a new chapter of 28 pages and photos. Indicate in your reply that you are responding to this page and a donation of one dollar will be made by the author, on the sale of each book, to each of the following organizations: Berlin Airlift Veterans Association, the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation and the Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. This offer is limited to the first 1400 books.
Authors note:
The book price has changed from $14.00 to $17.00 due to the fact that the publishers cost has doubled. The original stock of books has run out so to compensate the publishing cost the price has been raised by three dollars. However, the Author ( Gail Halvorsen ) has said he will pay the stateside postage on orders.

Cambridge American Cemetery

The Wall of the Missing, Cambridge.Eugene Darter's name on the Wall of the Missing.
A lone airman stands guard at the Wall of the Missing. He is joined by a lone soldier, sailor and Coast Guardsman.

This 30.5-acre cemetery contains 3,810 headstones of American servicemen killed in the European Theater. There is also a 427-foot-long Wall of the Missing, dedicated to the memory of those whose remains were never found. There are 5,127 names on the wall. Among these is Eugene Darter, big brother of Mike Darter who went down on his first mission with the 95th Bomb Group. It's a beautiful and hallowed spot, green and well-kept. The graves here represent 42% of all those temporarily interred in England and Northern Ireland. Many of those killed in action were eventually re-buried back home in the States. These are the men who stayed behind and made England their final resting place.

Duxford Air Museum Photos

In early June Alan Johnson and I went to the huge air museum at Duxford, not far from Cambridge. It reminds me very much of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Not only does it have a great collection of aircraft, but it also has many other war exhibits relating to Great Britain. Here are some photos from that visit.The first Concorde, test model.
Concorde Interior.
Messerschmitt

Alan in front of display honoring English servicemen in the Malaya Campaign. He fought there in the early fifties.
This B-17 was used in 'The Memphis Belle' movie.
It still has one side decorated to that effect.
Lancaster--the greatest British bomber.
Mosquito--the greatest recon aircraft of the war.

Another Messerschmitt
V-1 Rocket and Launch Pad.
B-24 Liberator---Lovely plane.
Rommel's staff car.
Montgomery's mobile field office.

95th Bomb Group Navigator Ellis Scripture's Words Ring True on Independence Day

Ellis Scripture was an amazing man. Known to his friends as 'Scrip', he was one of the top navigators in the Eighth Air Force. After the war, Scrip spent a lot of time keeping the history of the 95th Bomb Group alive, and encouraging the study of history. His biggest project was to help put together the book 'Courage, Honor, Victory', with Leonard Herman and edited by Ian Hawkins. (The book is now titled 'B-17s Over Berlin').

Scrip passed away in February of 2005, shortly after I had one last conversation with him. He was in very poor health, but his strong spirit still shone through.

Today, while working on the 95th Bomb Group history, I came across something Scrip wrote many years ago in a box of materials, and it hit me in the gut. It is a writing by a man who deeply loved his country and did not like where he saw it going in the post-war years. Scrips words speak for themselves, and I leave you with them, to ponder on this Independence Day, July 4, 2008.



"Over the last half century there may have been a tendency to put emphasis on the great air battles which we witnessed and perhaps in which we participated. After all, this is what war is all about, the ultimate contest of man versus man, mind versus mind, strategy versus strategy, courage versus courage. In retrospect, we played all of the above games and perhaps proved some points temporarily—but very few people care fifty years later…

It is amazing that World War Two is not included in the history courses in most schools…The words Patriotism, Liberty, Honor and Love of Country have been relegated to yesterday’s memories, replaced unfortunately by How much? and What’s in it for me?
Apparently, survival and satisfaction exclude love, respect for others, and being a good neighbor. Those with power today are the members of a vociferous minority who have learned that the quiet majority of good guys would rather quietly close the door and stay home rather than fight the good fight in the gutters and in the political arena.

Incidentally, I have never been able to sing the National Anthem since World War Two—I choke up with too many memories of great guys—and wonder many times what a wonderful world it would be if the flower of American youth could have lived to make their constructive contribution to our society.

It was a cold day in March 1943 when the 369 flight personnel of the 95th Bomb Group left Rapid City, South Dakota, for overseas deployment; 44 of those men (11 percent of the total) completed their first tour of duty. Twelve (12) of those volunteered for further combat. Two (2) were still on active flying status from England on V-E Day.

I hope that there are those younger and stronger who can and will save this wonderful republic from itself before it is too late. Personal responsibility for our own actions and a responsibility to, and for, others. It is not a quick fix, but perhaps it could be the beginning of an eventual formula for helping the America of tomorrow.”

Scrip, we're not going to let you down.

This is the only photo of Scrip I could find on the internet. It is his squadron photo, from Rapid City, South Dakota. Scrip is top row, third from left, a tall man, just in front of the left side of the window frame. Nearly all of these men were either killed in action, wounded in action, or became POWs. To view all their names, go to http://95thbg.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=131

...Lest we forget

Happy Birthday USA

Happy Birthday, USA!!

And let us never forget the price...

John Chaffin--From Copilot to Kriegie Chef

One can see the weariness in this photo of the Broman Crew taken after a mission. John Chaffin stands at right rear. Four of the enlisted men went AWOL right before the Munster Mission, when 'Fritz Blitz' was shot down, and were court-martialed.

One of my first friends back in 1999 when I began research for my book Untold Valor was John Chaffin. Originally from Grapevine, Texas, John became a pilot in the 95th Bomb Group, and flew as co-pilot on the Eldon Broman crew for over twenty missions on 'Fritz Blitz' before being shot down on the Munster Raid, October 10, 1943. He ended up a POW (better known as Kriegies by the men themselves) at Stalag Luft III in Sagan, Germany.

Today I've been working on a chapter for the 95th BG history about POWs, and am using a privately-published book John sent me back in 2000. John had a dry sense of humor, and it comes through in his writing. He was also unfailingly honest in everything, a dedicated Christian to the end. He was a hard-working perfectionist, and his harsh critiques of some of my early writing forced me to dig deeper in my writing and never take the easy way out. But he was also an intensely warm, giving man and when he passed away seven or eight years ago, it left a void that will never be filled.

I laughed as I read his book today, as I could hear him saying the things that are now left only on paper. In his POW chapters, he talks about the importance of food in the lives of the men. There was never enough, even supplemented with Red Cross parcels, but the men came up with ingenious ways of creating tasty dishes, going to great lengths to do so. Some of the kriegies shared favorite recipes. John did, and put some in his memoirs. Here are some snippets from the late, great John Chaffin.

"The Geneva Convention defines the food that is to be supplied to Prisoners of War in terms of minimum calories per day per POW. We could probably have survived on just what the Germans gave us but we would have been very, very hungry all of the time. The rations which we got from the Germans included black bread, potatoes, kohlrabi, carrots, ersatz jam and honey, blood sausage and on rare occasions, fresh beef."

The German rations were supplemented by Red Cross Parcels. These came from various Allied nations and had foods such as powdered milk, chocolate, coffee, cigarettes, SPAM, a dry powdered milk called KLIM, and more. “The Red Cross food gives us variety, keeps us healthy, and does more to make our life bearable….Full rations are one parcel per man per week but we never had beter than one-half rations and most of the time we received only one-fourth the normal allowance.”

"Early in our kriegie life we did not do too well. Most of these guys had never learned how to cook or plan a meal. A certain number of them had seen in Boy Scout programs and learned how to cook over camp fires and a efw, like myself, had not only the benefit of scouting experience but also a mother who believed that boys as well as girls should grow up with some knowledge of cooking.” Quiet, please...chefs at work. Conditions were tough as several hundred men had to share just a few stoves.

"Flour was made by crunching up Canadian crackers. No parcels have yeast, so tooth powder, which contains baking soda, is used.

Some of John’s favorite Kriegie recipes:

Pie Crust:--- Grind crackers into a fine powder. Over about ½ bowl of the powder, pour ¼ lb. of melted butter. After mixing this well, add milk until the dough is pliable; then put it in a pan and bake until brown and fully dried out.

Chocolate Pie:-- (Serves Eight)
Ingredients: one (1) Klim can of milk (dry)
One ‘D’ Bar or ½ can of chocolate
Four tablespoons of sugar
Make pie crust. Shave ‘D’ Bar into a fine powder; mix thoroughly with milk power and sugar; then add enough water to make a thin paste. Boil mixture until it is thick; then pour into a crust and let set until cool.

John describes this recipe with his usual dry humor:

Kriegie Cake:
The Kriegie Cake is likened to a sandwich in that it is built and not made. It is not unlike a stew, since almost anything sweet in the pantry can be thrown in.
The bulk of the cake or rather the usual starting point is one bowl of bread scraps. Soak these in hot water for fifteen to thirty minutes and then pour into a dishpan. You are now ready to start.
Throw in about one Klim can of cracker crumbs; add sugar to suit taste—about ¾ lb. should be close to right. Put in ½ can of Nestles milk if you have it handy; a can of any kind of jam helps and ½ can of chocolate powder is one of the few necessary ingredients. A half can of New Zealand coffee doesn’t hurt anything, and, if you like, a box of raisins may be added. An apple pudding or Yorkshire pudding (from British parcels) will help immensely but if you are not fortunate in having one, don’t fret. When you have tired of throwing things into the pan, roll up your sleeves and work at the mess with both hands until it is well mixed. (If it is obvious that there is dirt on your hands and the weather is not too cold to run out to the latrine/washhouse you probably should wash your hands first—especially if any of the picky other Kriegies in your combine are watching.
Work the mess with both hands until it is well mixed. Pour the batch into a buttered pan and bake in the bottom of the oven until done. It should be baked slowly.
Almost any kind of icing will suffice for your cake. If you are lazy or pressed for time (rare even for a Kriegie) a little jam or honey will do. Should you feel more industrious, here are a couple of ideas for your use:
Take ¼ Klim can of milk, three spoons of sugar; mix well then add enough water to make a thick paste. Spread slowly and there you are.
To make a chocolate icing just add cocoa into the already-mentioned mixture and there you are—chocolate!
Some of John’s other recipes, meticulously saved in his POW log, include Barton’s OO—LA—LA Cookies; Blood Sausage Sandwich Spread; Delta Delight; Kriegie Style Grapenuts; and Prune Whip Pie

Tuskegee Airman Charles "A-Train" Dryden Flies Final Mission

WASHINGTON (AFRNS) -- Retired Lt. Col. Charles Dryden, 87, one of the famed "Tuskegee Airmen" who broke the military's color barrier by becoming a World War II fighter pilot, died June 24 in Atlanta.

Colonel Dryden was born Sept. 16, 1920, in New York City to Jamaican parents. He graduated from Peter Stuyvesant High School and earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Hofstra University and a master's in public law and government from Columbia University.
In August 1941, he was selected for Army Air Corps aviation cadet training, and was commissioned April 29, 1942, one of three graduates in the second all-black class to graduate from the Tuskegee Army Flying School in Alabama. He was a member of the 99th Pursuit Squadron and later the 332nd Fighter Group, which served in North Africa, Sicily and Italy.
Known as "A-Train," he remained in the military after World War II and served in additional combat during the Korean War. He retired in 1962. After his military service, Colonel Dryden traveled throughout the world to share his story with both Airmen and civilians through a variety of appearances.

In 2007, he flew with nearly 200 Aviation Career Education students from Atlanta to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Ohio to present the museum with a replica of the Congressional Gold Medal for a ceremony.

He also wrote his autobiography, "A-Train: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman," which was published in 1997 by the University of Alabama Press.

"Many of us feel we have an obligation to inform as many people as possible," said Colonel Dryden during a visit to Kadena Air Base, Japan in February. "They need to know about this very important part of American history from our own experiences."

His visits made an impression on many Airmen.

"I was so excited to see him because my grandfather was his crew chief during World War II," said Master Sgt. Jonathan Curl, 18th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Kadena AB. "It was a way to touch my grandfather again."

His message of challenge and change resonated with those in his audience.

"I believe the experiences that (he) faced during his career set the path for all who came and will come behind him," said Master Sgt. Michelle Rozier, 116th Air Control Wing protocol superintendent at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., where Colonel Dryden gave a speech. (Courtesy of Air Force Print News)

God bless you and God speed, 'A-Train'. You're an American hero.