Browsing the photographs stashed in neat yearly files on the S.O.A.R. webpage soarofgreenecounty.org seems like a real blast from the past these days. They’re from a time when the third week of August meant Greene County Airport would be filled with colorful planes and their pilots, filled with crowds of spectators and plenty of kids, all waiting for a piece of the living past to fly overhead then come in low to drop Hershey bars from the sky, each with its own small parachute. Then a scramble on the field to claim them, just as kids did more than 70 years ago on the Eastern side of Germany’s Berlin Wall.
The plane doing the drop is the Spirit of America, a lovingly restored C-54 cargo plane that did the heavy lifting during World War II, carrying troops and supplies to the battle front and afterwards, running missions of mercy for the millions suffering starvation in the aftermath.
Thanks to the pilots and flight loving members of S.O.A.R., visitors from miles around, especially kids, have had a chance to relive a bit of history that goes back to the years after the war, when Germany was a divided country and Great Britain and the United States were providing humanitarian aid, airlifting food to the people on the side of Berlin claimed by the Soviet Union.
One of the pilots of the Berlin Airlift was a young officer named Gail Halvorsen. One day while out taking home movies, he met about 30 hungry children on the other side of the barbed wire and gave them what he had – two sticks of Wriggly Double Mint Gum. Touched as he watched them share amongst themselves, even passing the wrappers around so all could at least have a sniff, “Hal” made a deal with them – next run he would drop more gum from his plane and would wiggle his wings to let them know. Then he went back to base and hit up his buddies for sway, mostly gum and Hershey Bars from their rations, bundled them and added parachutes to break their speed. Hal delivered the sweet stuff of childhood every week to crowds of cheering kids that grew with every drop. When called into the office by his commanding officer, it was not to court martial but to congratulate him for helping heal some of the wounds of war. Other pilots joined the candy drop, American children began sending candy and handkerchiefs for “Operation Little Vittles” and candy companies soon followed suit. By the end of the airlifts in 1949, tons of candy had been delivered and Hal became, and still is, a national hero. He celebrated his 100th birthday in Utah with his family on October 10 with what else? A chocolate cake!
This photo from the 2015 Aviation Days folder shows the first year the Spirit of Freedom made it to Greene County. It was piloted by Tim Chopp, seen on the left, standing beside fellow crewman Jason Pence. Cropp is a legend in his own right. As president of the nonprofit Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation he has been awarded and honored worldwide for his part in preserving this part of history. The Spirit of America is a flying museum that makes the rounds of airshows worldwide, keeping the story of goodwill between people who were once bitter adversaries alive.
Keep your fingers crossed. This might be the year the Spirit of America drops Hershey Bars at Airport Days again.