City of 2 million under siege, world’s at the edge of a global war again, the only way to stop that city, those 2 million, starving is an airlift. And some tosser decides to complicate matters by chucking chocolate laden handkerchief parachutes out the ‘plane windows?
“Through the clouds came a little parachute with a fresh piece of chocolate. It was a symbol of hope that somebody out there realised you were under siege,” he told The Washington Post. “I think hope is the thing, not the candy bar. It was the hope.”
Gail Halvorsen, Candy Bomber pilot, was born on October 10, 1920. He died of respiratory failure on February 16, 2022, aged 101
And yet that’s actually the point, isn’t it? As Pandora’s story tells us, hope is the thing that makes up for all the rest.
Must admit I’d have loved the chocolate. But I was only a bit over one when it started.
These days you’d get busybodies whinging on about how bad for children’s teeth chocolate is and why couldn’t he drop something nutritious with a low GI instead.
Why does this complicate matters? Random act of kindness on approach over the city.
Also, what an astonishing operation – we’d never be able to do today. As I understand, if you buggered up your approach, you couldn’t go round. The pattern was so full that there was no slack – planes would ditch if they couldn’t make the approach first time
What do you suppose the life expectancy of any private pilot entering Ukrainian airspace today is?
I can take the despair. It’s the hope I can’t stand…
It was begging for that one.
I guess you could call him the Walmart greeter of WWII.
I recall reading an Allied administrator of a newly-liberated National Socialist death-camp who was initially angry on discovering that, of all things, a box of lipsticks had been delivered amongst desperately-needed supplies.
But then he saw the women survivors gather round it and start to come alive again as they stood in front of the mirror together, applying lipstick and joking with each other. It was transformative.
guns might be more useful!