![]() From that signal the beneficiaries of his kindness came to call him "Uncle Wiggly Wings." #Hallelujah mormon tabernacle choir deseret vbook how toHe told them how to recognize his plane: He would wiggle its wings. Halvorsen and his buddies subsequently pooled their rations of gum and chocolate to support his idea of dropping candy from the air to the German children waiting below, each piece tied to a tiny parachute fashioned from a white handkerchief. Never had he seen such expressions of joy and wonder, even at Christmas." "Without a word, the four children tore the gum wrappers into strips and passed them to the others one by one," Brokaw related, "each small nose that was pressed to the paper breathing the minty smell. These he broke into four pieces and passed them through the fence. On an impulse, Halvorsen dug into his pockets and found only two sticks of chewing gum. He was touched that these children seemed unusual in that they did not beg for candy, as was typical of that time for children encountering American servicemen, but were simply grateful for what the airlift had given them. "He had been standing at the end of the Tempelhof runway taking home movies of arriving planes when he noticed about 30 children on a grassy strip just beyond a barbed-wire fence."įor nearly an hour, Halvorsen responded to the children's eager questions about the planes and the airlift. "That snowy Christmas Eve, as Hal radioed for clearance to land, his mind wandered back six months to the day that changed his life," Brokaw related. To the background music of the choir and orchestra, he told the story of Halvorsen, using his nickname Hal. Air Force pilot who became famous as the candy bomber for his benevolence during the Berlin airlift of 1948-49, was the subject of Brokaw's script. Sunday will feature the guest artists, with a mini-concert to follow for the audience seated in the Conference Center. The choir's "Music and the Spoken Word" broadcast at 9:30 a.m. A third performance will take place today at 8 p.m. Small wonder that his contribution to the event would be a dramatic reading of one of the most memorable and touching events of the war's aftermath, the saga of the American "candy bomber."īrokaw, with British operatic and Broadway tenor Alfie Boe, joined the choir and Orchestra at Temple Square on the Conference Center stage Thursday and Friday. At this hour of great sorrow, we pray the Spirit of our Father in Heaven will provide comfort and peace to all."Ī featured guest at the concert was veteran newscaster Tom Brokaw, who coined the term "the greatest generation" with his best-selling book about Americans who weathered the adversity of the Great Depression and World War II. "We grieve with all those affected by this tragedy and especially for the families of the little children. "As we gather tonight in celebration of the Christmas season, we are profoundly saddened by the heartbreaking events this morning at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.," said choir announcer Lloyd D. SALT LAKE CITY - A festive occasion began on a somber note Friday night as the audience for the annual Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert observed a moment of silence for the victims of the shootings in Connecticut earlier in the day. Through the years I’ve had many wonderful gifts, but … they pale in comparison to the fulfillment and the happiness of serving others, giving outside of oneself – Gail Halvorsen, candy bomber Two sticks of gum changed my life forever. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |