Wednesday · November 11, 2026

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The candy drops go official: Tunner authorizes Operation Little Vittles

A lieutenant's unsanctioned handkerchief parachutes become Air Force policy over Berlin.

For three weeks, Lieutenant Gail Halvorsen had been breaking regulations, dropping candy on handkerchief parachutes to children waiting at the Tempelhof fence, wiggling his wings so they'd know his plane. Word reached his superiors. On September 22, 1948, Lieutenant General William H. Tunner, commander of the Berlin Airlift, authorized the drops as an official effort: Operation Little Vittles. Tunner's authorization made it an Air Force program…

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More from September 22

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Read the full September 22 edition →Everything that happened on September 22 →

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The last plane lands, and Operation Vittles is over

Fifteen months, 278,228 flights, and 2.3 million tons of coal and food later, the Berlin Airlift stands down.

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