Candy Bomber

Last year, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert celebrated the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ with music and song at the Mormon Tabernacle choir Christmas Concert. But perhaps the most poignant moment was the story of the Candy Bomber, Col. Gail Halvorsen who was specifically recognized as one individual who was influenced by the example and goodness of the Savior.

Halvorsen became accustomed to children throughout the world begging American soldiers for candy throughout his 31 years in the Air Force. But when he was in Berlin in the late 1940s, the children did not beg. A fence divided Halvorsen and a group of German children, and though they did not ask for it, he thought about giving them the gum he had in his pocket. Because he only had two pieces left, he started to walk away. His conscience stopped him. He gave the children his two pieces of gum and watched as they shared the pieces, dividing up the wrappers into tiny bits so they could smell the peppermint flavor. Following that experience, Halvorsen's idea for candy bombs surfaced.

Western nations were dropping in food and coal, but Halvorsen decided to brighten the lives of the children as well. Flying through the Russian blockade of Berlin in his C-54 aircraft, then-Lt. Halvorsen tied together tiny candy-laden parachute bundles to drop for the city's hungry children. His kindness inspired other crews to do the same, and American schoolchildren even made their own parachutes and donated candy for the German children.

Halvorsen said his life, and thousands upon thousands of others, would be "totally" different if he hadn't stopped to give away his gum that day. "The little decisions in life are the ones

that matter," he said. "The little decisions you make put your footsteps on the path that leads to your final destination."

"His story kind of tempts everyone to be a better person," grandson Boyd Halvorsen said. "And inspires people to be more than what you think is within your grasp or within your bounds."

Read the whole article here