The Candy Bomber: From the Archive

The Candy Bomber: From the Archive

Author: Evergreen Podcasts | The Honor Project May 27, 2025 Duration: 58:44
Every other week, we'll be re-releasing an episode we think deserves more attention. Today, we'll hear about The Candy Bomber. After World War Two, Germany was split up and occupied by the United States, France, Britain and the Soviet Union. In June of 1948, the U.S., France, and Britain announced they were creating a unified West German currency. Joseph Stalin opposed this unification, and cut off land routes from Berlin to West Germany.  In order to bypass the land routes, bombers transported supplies (primarily food) and delivered them to West Berlin in what was called Operation Vittles. Colonel Gail S. Halvorsen was one of several pilots recruited to fly these missions. One day, after sneaking out and flying to Berlin for some R&R, COL Halvorsen met some local children who were survivors of the war. Talking with them changed his life, and he decided he wanted to do something to help them. He returned to base, gathered as much candy and gum as he could, fashioned parachutes with handkerchiefs, and put all the goodies inside. The next day, he flew over West Berlin and dropped the parachutes full of candy out of his bomb bay.  The children were delighted. COL Halvorsen did this several more times, and gained international acclaim for his actions. To learn more about COL Halvorsen, check out his book, The Berlin Candy Bomber. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is a profound difference between reading about history and hearing it told by the person who lived it. Warriors In Their Own Words | First Person War Stories bridges that gap entirely, presenting an unbroken narrative of modern conflict through the voices of those who served. This isn't a commentary or an analysis; it's the raw, direct testimony that forms the bedrock of our understanding. The podcast draws from a remarkable archive, beginning with century-old recordings of veterans from the First World War and extending to contemporary conversations with service members from recent conflicts. Each episode is a standalone account, a deeply personal window into experiences that range from the trenches of France to the mountains of Afghanistan. You'll hear the subtle pauses, the inflections, and the emotion that text alone can never convey. Produced by Evergreen Podcasts in partnership with The Honor Project, the series is committed to preservation without polish, offering the unsanitized truth of military service. Listening feels less like studying an event and more like sitting across from someone as they share a pivotal part of their life. The cumulative effect is a powerful, human-centric tapestry of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, ensuring these essential perspectives are not lost to time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Warriors In Their Own Words | First Person War Stories
Podcast Episodes
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Col. Walker “Bud” Mahurin was an American combat fighter pilot. Flying P-47s with the 56th FG in WWII, he became an ace three times over in the skies over Europe. After the war, he remained in the US Air Force. The outbr…
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Colonel Charles Bussey courageously flew P-51 Mustangs as a fighter pilot in World War II. His training came with the famed Tuskegee Airmen, the all black Army Air Corps unit. Bussey also went on to serve as a decorated…
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During World War II, the United States Marines played a central role in the battle for the islands of the Pacific. Marine Corps veteran Bill Swanson was often in the first wave to hit the beach in many of these brutal ca…
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Duration: 58:44
This is the tale of two American pilots of World War II. One, R.T. Smith, was a fighter ace in Burma flying P-40s with the legendary Flying Tigers. He recorded 9 confirmed victories, aiding the Chinese in their conflict…
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D-Day Diary: From the Archive [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:15
1994 was the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Throughout that year, The Honor Project sat down with dozens of veterans off the Normandy Invasion to hear their stories and to put these Heroes of Our Nation On Record. O.B. Hill…
D-Day- The First Hours: From the Archive [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:28
Hours before the Allied Forces hit the beaches of Normandy, courageous British and American soldiers entered France with parachutes and gliders to secure key bridges and enemy artillery positions. Their dangerous mission…
First Helicopter Combat Rescue Mission: From the Archive [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:25
Today helicopters carry the firepower of an artillery battery and can strike deep behind every lines, flying day or night in any weather. But back in 1944 helicopters were a brand new technology. Aviation pioneer Igor Si…