US Air Force,
POPE AIR FORCE BASE: Like many great events in history, it started simply — two sticks of gum given to some children who were living in a bombed and besieged city.
That act of kindness eventually led to a prominent place in the history books for retired Col. Gail S. Halvorsen, who at the time of the gift was a first lieutenant flying C-54s filled with the supplies needed to keep the blockaded city of West Berlin alive and functioning.
While hundreds of pilots and aircraft from various countries were eventually part of the Berlin Airlift, Colonel Halvorsen, who became known as the
