Candy Bomber returns to the Outer Banks for annual candy drop

Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Gail S. Halvorsen, known commonly as the "Berlin Candy Bomber" stands in front of C-54 Skymaster like the one he flew during WWII at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Arizona. Halvorsen dropped candy bars attached to parachutes made from handkerchiefs to German children watching the airlift operations from outside the fence of the Tempelhof Airport in West Berlin. As word of his personal humanitarian mission spread to the United States donations of thousands of pounds of candy and hundreds of handkerchiefs and other pieces of scrap cloth reached him. By January 1949, more than 250,000 small parachutes with treats attached were dropped. For his actions Halvorsen received the 1948 Cheney Award "... for an act of valor, extreme fortitude, or self-sacrifice in a humanitarian interest." (U.S. Air Force photo/Bennie J. Davis III)

Mark your calendars now as the Candy Bomber returns to the Dare County Regional Airport in Manteo for the annual “candy drop” on Sunday, December 19!

The “Spirit of Freedom” and the 101-year-old Candy Bomber himself, Colonel Gail Halvorsen, have been dropping candy for boys and girls around the globe for over 80 years.

To kick off the weekend’s events, there will be a flyover above the Wright Brothers Memorial at 10:35 a.m. on Friday, December 17, 2021. On Saturday, December 18, 2021, the “Spirit of Freedom” will be open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Dare County Regional Airport in Manteo.

The crew will be at the Dare County Center in Manteo on Friday, December 17, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. to give a bit of history behind the “Spirit of Freedom” and their candy bombing expeditions.

Finally, the highly anticipated “candy drop” will take place on Sunday, December 19, 2021 at 1 p.m. at the Dare County Regional Airport in Manteo, after which kids will have the opportunity to meet Santa Claus at 1:30 p.m.

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