High upon a hill above Lake Natoma, a unique scene in Rancho Cordova recently occurred, as a large group of children simultaneously raced in the same direction with their arms outstretched, reaching toward the sky.

Moments later, candy attached to miniature parachutes fell from the sky and landed on the ground. The children smiled with gratitude, eagerly gathering up the sweet offerings.

A few minutes later, after circling the sky, the gift-dispersing plane, which had dropped the well-accepted batch of candy, returned and delivered a whole new lot of “candy parachutes.”

Although many of the children did not comprehend the magnitude of the activity that they were involved in, many of the adult onlookers observed the event with a much greater appreciation for the past.

After all, they knew that they were witnessing a very special reenactment of history.

The event marked the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, which included the historic flights of now-retired Air Force Col. Gail S. “Hal” Halvorsen, who gained worldwide fame as “The Berlin Candy Bomber.”

Considered one the greatest military and humanitarian efforts in American history, the Berlin Airlift brought joy and hope to the people of post-World War II Berlin from June 1948 through September 1949.

Although the war had ended, food and supplies destined to Berlin were cut off by Russia in June 1948.

To assist those living in Berlin, the United States joined forces with England and France in delivering 4.6 billion pounds of food and supplies to this devastated German city.

Among the items delivered to the people of Berlin were flour, potatoes, meat, milk, coal, mimeograph sheets, disassembled power plant equipment and manhole covers.

While providing service during the airlift, Halvorsen, who earned his private pilot’s license through the non-college Civilian Pilot Training Program in 1941 and joined the United States Army Air Corps a year later, became involved in a project that would gain him much international acclaim.

While serving in Berlin, Halvorsen was impressed by a group of children who stood nearby the city’s Tempelhof Central Airport watching incoming planes.

After randomly deciding to share two sticks of gum from his pocket with some of the children, Halvorsen was surprised to see the children’s extremely positive reaction to obtaining the gum.

Halvorsen said that the gum was so cherished that the children tore its wrappers into small pieces, so other children could smell the gum’s scent.

Promising to deliver candy and gum to them the following day, Halvorsen kept his word and delighted the children by flying above them and dropping bundles of sweets that were each attached to handkerchief parachutes to slow their fall.

To alert the children of the drop, Halvorsen wiggled his plane’s wings from high above their heads.

Eventually, Halvorsen, who resides in Utah during the summer and Arizona during the rest of each year, began to receive a lot of media attention and fan mail addressed to him under the name, “Uncle Wiggly Wings.” He also earned the nickname, “The Chocolate Pilot,” as well as the aforementioned nickname, “The Berlin Candy Bomber.”

Halvorsen’s fan mail was often quite similar, as it generally included requests for him to deliver candy to other parts of Berlin.

With enthusiasm for assisting future Berlin Airlift candy drops, American schoolchildren assembled thousands of candy parachutes, which were sent to Berlin and distributed.

In a similar fashion to the American schoolchildren of the late 1940s, who contributed their time to candy drop preparations, youth volunteers gathered at a church building in Fair Oaks on March 31 and assembled more than 250 candy parachutes for the recent reenactment.

Six decades after the termination of the Berlin Airlift, Halvorsen delighted attendees of the April 19 event, which was held at the former Aerojet Recreation Center/Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints grounds, with the reenactment of his famous candy drops.

Attending the gathering, which also included a speech by Halvorsen, were a pair of German immigrants, who were among the children who attended candy drops in Berlin in 1948. Prior to last week’s event, neither one of these people had met Halvorsen face to face.

Elk Grove resident Ingrid Azvedo, who was one of these two German immigrants to recently meet Halvorsen, who she calls “one of her childhood heroes,” expressed her gratitude for Halvorsen’s efforts to bring happiness and comfort to the children of Berlin at this time.

“When I saw that plane go by (near the Tegel Airport) in Berlin, even though I didn’t get any candy, I knew instantly that there was hope, that there was someone out there that cared and that some people still respected the German people (despite) the war,” Azvedo said. “That was the highlight when (Halvorsen) flew by and I looked up at that plane and I said to myself, ‘One day, I will meet you,’ and I did today.”

Azvedo, 74, added that the memories of Halvorsen’s good deeds in Berlin have stayed with her throughout her life and that it was a “bigger-than-life experience” to meet Halvorsen.

“It was a pleasure to meet Col. Halvorsen,” Azvedo said. “He reinforced in my life the values that I had taken from him to be true to your last days. After meeting him, I am honored to now call him my friend.”

Following an hour-long speech by Halvorsen later in the day, Horst Bend-zulla, the other German immigrant who was at one of Halvorsen’s 1948 candy drops, made a special presentation.

Bendzulla, 69, who caught one of the candy parachutes near the Templehof Central Airport as a 10-year-old boy in 1948, gifted an oil painting that he painted of children observing the Berlin Airlift.

“I was going to give (Halvorsen) a copy of the painting, but because he’s such a special person, I decided to present him with the actual painting,” Bendzulla said.

Bendzulla added that he has fairly detailed memories regarding the Berlin candy drop.

“I learned about the candy drop through my mother (Emma), who had heard about it through the radio or newspaper,” said Bendzulla, who attended the April 19 event with his wife Marcella. “I walked a long way by myself to get to the site of the drop. And sure enough, right on the spot, they dropped (the candy parachutes) and I was one of those lucky dudes (who caught one). It was very much the candy, but also the excitement, because we didn’t have any toys or anything like kids have today. So, for us, chasing a parachute was something very special.”

Speaking to a full capacity crowd in a chapel just west of the candy drop reenactment site, Halvorsen concluded the day’s Berlin Airlift anniversary activities with his inspirational and occasionally humorous speech.

“It’s a real pleasure to be here today, but at 87 years old, it’s a pleasure to be anywhere,” Halvorsen said as he addressed the crowd.

Halvorsen, who has five children, 24 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, emphasized that an important theme of his candy bombing missions was that one gets the greatest fulfillment out of life by serving others.

“We get back 100 fold for what we do on Earth for two sticks of gum 60 years ago,” Halvorsen said. “I got two thoroughbred horses (for free) in 1995, because of two sticks of gum in 1948. (A lady) called me up and said, I read a story about two sticks of gum in 1948, so I’ve got two stallions for you. I’ve also been offered five (all expenses paid) trips to Germany this year for two sticks of gum. So, I hope you take from this (speech) today that it is the little things you do for others that are going to change your life.”

Based on the grand reception that Halvorsen has received from people around the world for his efforts, which stemmed from those two sticks of gum, he has and continues to live a very rewarding life.

Those interested in learning more about Halvorsen can find a variety of related-information via the Internet.

Additionally, in tribute to the time he spent assisting the humanitarian efforts of the Berlin Airlift, Halvorsen, who retired from the Air Force in 1974, preserved his memories of this time in his book, “The Berlin Candy Bomber” (Horizon Publishers, ISBN: 9780882906164, 257 pp., 2002), which is available through Barnes and Noble bookstore and via the Web site www.amazon.com.

Gail Halvorsen sits with a large box of candy-totting miniature parachutes, just minutes prior to his flight over Rancho Cordova. Ten-year-old Trevor Sexton shows off the “candy parachute” he caught during the candy drop reenactment

Ten-year-old Trevor Sexton shows off the “candy parachute” he caught during the candy drop reenactment in Rancho Cordova.