Today was our primary program, which went well, but today for sharing time we had the privilege to listen to a member of our ward speak. He literally is a national treasure. His name is Brother Halvorsen, but he is also known as the "candy bomber". He was featured in this months Friend magazine and he came to speak to the children of our ward. It was the most spiritual lesson I've had since I've been in primary. Here is the article from the Friend:
Parachutes of Hope
By Jan Pinborough, “Parachutes of Hope,” Friend, Oct 2010, pages 28–29
When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service
of your God (Mosiah 2:17).
In 1948, the children of Berlin, Germany, knew all about bombs falling from
the sky. But miniature parachutes carrying candy bars? That was something
new. And it was all thanks to a member of the Church who wanted to send a
message of love and hope to those children.
During World War II, bombs had destroyed many homes and buildings in Berlin.
After the war, the whole city looked flattened and almost deserted. Now only
2.8 million people lived in a city where 4.6 million once lived.
But now there was another terrible enemy in Berlin—hunger! The people needed
about 5,000 tons of food a day, but the city had only about 100 tons. How
would the people keep from starving? Several countries sent cargo planes
with supplies. They brought flour, milk, dried eggs, potatoes, and other
food for people to eat and coal and gasoline to keep them warm.
One of the pilots who flew a big C-54 cargo plane was an LDS young man who
grew up on a farm in Utah. His name was Gail Halvorsen. He flew daily
missions to Berlin.
One day on his day off, Brother Halvorsen took his movie camera to the
runway where the supply planes landed every three minutes. He noticed a
group of children at the end of the runway watching the planes land. He
talked to them. They were so brave! And they were very grateful for the food
the planes brought.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his last two pieces of chewing
gum. When he gave them to the children, they broke them into tiny pieces to
share. Some only got to smell the wrappers, but none of them asked for more.
Then Brother Halvorsen had a great idea. He knew Heavenly Father loved those
children. He wanted them to know that they were important and that someone
cared about them. He wanted them to be happy and to have hope. “Watch for me
tomorrow,” he said.
“But how will we know which plane is yours?” the children wondered.
“I’ll wiggle the wings of my plane as a signal,” Brother Halvorsen promised.
That evening Brother Halvorsen bought some chocolate bars. He made
parachutes out of his handkerchiefs and attached them to the chocolate.
The next day as he neared the runway with his load of food, Brother
Halvorsen moved the wings of his plane up and down. Then he dropped his
candy parachutes to the children watching below.
Soon Brother Halvorsen received many letters addressed to Onkel Wackelflügel
(“Uncle Wiggly Wings”). Other pilots started helping too. Children and
adults back home donated handkerchiefs and candy.
In all, about 20 tons of candy floated down on little parachutes to the
children of Berlin. And each one carried an important message. Every child
is important, and each one is loved.
Brother Halvorsen is now 90 years old and has 24 grandchildren and 22
great-grandchildren. After retiring from the United States Air Force, he
served as a missionary with his wife in London, England, and St. Petersburg,
Russia. Today when he gives talks about his experience, he often meets
people who received his parachutes as children
I called my dad and told him of this wonderful experience and before I even got 2 sentences into the story my dad, the ever knowledgeable history guy (especially WWII history), immediately exclaimed "thats the candy bomber!" My dad went on to tell me how he has his book, but then said "I don't think you realize what a historical figure this guy is, because of him many other pilots started to drop candy and this changed the way the German's perceived us (Americans)."
About 6 months ago, Brad was asked to help move a family out of our ward. Only a few people showed up to help, and included was a 90 year old man. Of course he didn't do the heavy lifting, but Brad said he moved the boxes and was an extremely hard worker. While working with him he told Brad his life story, about how he stayed in the Air Force and became a high ranking officer. He was also heavily involved in the Apollo 11 moon landing. He goes around all over the world and tells his story. He told our primary that just 4 days ago he returned from Iraq and before that he took his grandson to Germany to drop candy bars from his airplane (yes he still flies) to the grandchildren that received his candy bars back in 1949. He said that while in Germany he spoke in a ward about his story and the other speaker was a girl that received his candy bars. He still gets letters from the service that he did. He has changed so many lives and
It was amazing to listen to him and I hope that I can strive to live my life the best that I can so that I may effect at least one person.
1 comment:
That is an awesome story!!!
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