Episodes
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Every other week, we'll be re-releasing an episode we think deserves more attention. Today, we'll hear about The Candy Bomber.
After World War Two, Germany was split up and occupied by the United States, France, Britain and the Soviet Union. In June of 1948, the U.S., France, and Britain announced they were creating a unified West German currency. Joseph Stalin opposed this unification, and cut off land routes from Berlin to West Germany.
In order to bypass the land routes, bombers transported supplies (primarily food) and delivered them to West Berlin in what was called Operation Vittles. Colonel Gail S. Halvorsen was one of several pilots recruited to fly these missions.
One day, after sneaking out and flying to Berlin for some R&R, COL Halvorsen met some local children who were survivors of the war. Talking with them changed his life, and he decided he wanted to do something to help them. He returned to base, gathered as much candy and gum as he could, fashioned parachutes with handkerchiefs, and put all the goodies inside. The next day, he flew over West Berlin and dropped the parachutes full of candy out of his bomb bay.
The children were delighted. COL Halvorsen did this several more times, and gained international acclaim for his actions.
To learn more about COL Halvorsen, check out his book, The Berlin Candy Bomber.
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Colonel John Folsom served in the Marine Corps from 1980 to 2010. He was trained as a CH-46 helicopter pilot and a Forward Air Controller, but never flew combat missions. Instead he did staff work at various levels of command.
In this interview, Folsom gives an honest look into the lives of non-combat military personnel. He also talks about his work with the Dunham House, a unique assisted living facility for combat-wounded veterans.
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Missing episodes?
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Lieutenant Commander Mike Smith served in the Navy as an F/A-18 pilot. He deployed 3 times between 2002 and 2014, and was stationed in Japan, Italy, Virginia, Mississippi, Texas, and Florida.
He was also Strike/Fighter Pilot of the Year in 2009.
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Lieutenant Colonel Neal Rickner served in the US Marine Corps as an F/A-18 pilot and a Forward Air Controller. He completed three tours in Iraq between 2003 and 2007.
As a Forward Air Controller (FAC), he toured with an infantry battalion, tasked with coordinating air support based on the needs of the battalion.
After coming back from deployment, Rickner served as an instructor pilot for the F/A-18.
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Technician Fifth Grade Clement Elissondo served in World War II as a tank gunner. He deployed to France just days after the Invasion of Normandy, and survived the destruction of four of his tanks.
In this interview, Elissondo describes the difficulties of tank warfare, narrowly escaping enemy capture, and the camaraderie amongst a tank’s crew.
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Captain Sidney Salomon served in World War II as an Army Ranger. The Rangers were an elite American unit that trained and operated with the famous British Commandos. Using the element of surprise as their main weapon, the Rangers played an important role in the Invasion of Normandy, the Dieppe Raid, and many other significant campaigns.
In this interview, Salomon describes his experiences on D-Day. He took part in the amphibious landing of Omaha Beach with 2nd Ranger Battalion, C Company. C Company was depicted at the beginning of ‘Saving Private Ryan’, when Captain Miller, played by Tom Hanks, led them through the landing.
It was Salomon’s job to storm the beach, climb a cliff, take a mortar position, and then storm a fortified house that held an automatic weapon. On the beach, Salomon was hit by shrapnel from a mortar explosion, and thought he was going to die. Thankfully the injury wasn’t that serious, and a medic was able to patch him up. Solomon continued up the cliff and successfully captured the German mortar position, but his unit suffered too many casualties to move onto the fortified house. They held that position until morning. Salomon was awarded a Silver Star for his actions on D-Day.
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Jim Beaver is an actor most widely known for his role as Bobby Singer in the TV series Supernatural. Before his acting career, Beaver served in Vietnam with the Marine Corps as a radio operator.
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Mal Middlesworth served in World War II in the Marine Corps. He was 17 years old during the Attack on Pearl Harbor, serving on a Marine Detachment on the USS San Francisco.
In this interview, he describes what he saw during Pearl Harbor, the Guadalcanal Campaign, and the Battle of Peleliu.
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Charles Sternburg served in the Navy in World War II with the Black Cats. The Black Cats were a group of bombers that flew stealth missions in the Pacific, tasked often with destroying enemy submarines or flying reconnaissance. They flew seaplanes called PBY Catalinas which were nearly invisible during the night, but were incredibly vulnerable to enemy munitions.
Sternburg flew as a co-pilot and bombardier with the Black Cats.
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Lieutenant General Charles D. Luckey served in the Army as an infantry officer, special forces officer (Green Beret), and a JAG officer. He retired as the oldest Green Beret in uniform.
In this interview, Luckey tells stories from his service, and what he learned about leadership during his career.
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Samuel Fine served as a glider pilot in World War II. He trained British Glider pilots, and flew in with them during the Invasion of Sicily. Fine also flew troops into D-Day & Operation Market Garden.
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Hi, I’m Ken Harbaugh, host of Warriors In Their Own Words. In order to gear up for some exciting new episodes, we’re taking a break this week. In the meantime, I wanted to share an episode from another podcast I think you’ll enjoy. Unsolved Histories explores forgotten mysteries and other little-known stories. The episode I’m sharing with you covers missing flight 293, where 101 people disappeared with no distress call. This multi-part story they covered in season 1 was so impactful that it directly resulted in Congress passing new legislation.
Here is Flight 293 Episode One: Brothers.
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The Unsolved Histories podcast team was pleased to get a phone call letting us know a U.S. senator not only listened to Season 1 but wanted to address a problem raised by our recounting of the tragic story of Flight 293. Military men and women who go missing, but not in action, are not remembered or memorialized and the families left without the support that is given to other MIA families. If passed, the Flight 293 Remembrance Act will change that. Host Feliks Banel researched this and other accidents involving service members who seemed to be forgotten by the government they served. Here’s a clip from episode one of Unsolved Histories: What Happened to Flight 293?
For more information, including pictures and all episodes, see our website, unsolvedhistoriespod.com
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Major Robert Prince served as an Army Ranger during World War II. He fought throughout the Phillippines, and helped plan the Raid on Cabanatuan, a Japanese POW camp.
With the help of Filipino civilians, the Rangers, Alamo Scouts and guerilla forces traveled 24 miles under the cover of darkness to launch a surprise attack on the camp. They successfully defeated the Japanese and liberated over 500 prisoners of war.
Actor James Franco portrayed MAJ Prince in The Great Raid (2005), which tells the story of Cabanatuan.
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Corporal Roy Roush served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He fought in the Guadalcanal Campaign, the Battle of Tarawa, the Battle of Saipan, and the Battle of Tinian.
He later served in the Air Force as a fighter pilot during the Korean War.
In this interview, Roush describes his experiences during the Battle of Saipan & the Battle of Tinian
To learn more about Roush, check out his book, Open Fire.
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Corporal Roy Roush served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He fought in the Guadalcanal Campaign, the Battle of Tarawa, the Battle of Saipan, and the Battle of Tinian.
He later served in the Air Force as a fighter pilot during the Korean War.
In this interview, Roush describes the Battle of Tarawa.
To learn more about Roush, check out his book, Open Fire.
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Colonel Francis Gabreski served in World War II as a fighter pilot. He flew bomber escort missions with the 56th Fighter Group in the P-47 Thunderbolt, and was the top U.S. fighter ace in the European theater. He’s credited with destroying 34 ½ enemy aircraft in combat, and is one of only seven American pilots to become an ace in two wars (WWII & Korea).
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Chief Petty Officer Otto Carl Schwarz Jr. served in the Navy in World War II. He was born in the Netherlands, but moved to the US with his family during childhood. He enlisted in the US Navy in January 1941 with the permission of his parents.
Schwarz served stints on several ships before making his way to the USS Houston, a heavy cruiser, in June 1941.
During the Battle of Sunda Strait in February 1942, the Houston was sunk by enemy torpedoes and gunfire. Those who escaped the Houston came under machine gun fire from the Japanese as they floated in the water. In total, 700 men were lost.
Like most of the 368 men who survived, Schwarz was captured by the Japanese and sent to a work camp. He was transported via a “Hell ship”.
Hell ships earned their moniker from the allied prisoners of war who were unlucky enough to board one. They were requisitioned merchant ships that were extremely overcrowded with POWs. Described as “floating dungeons”, inmates had “no access to the air, space, light, bathroom facilities, and adequate food or water.” You can learn more about them here.
Schwarz was first sent to Bicycle Camp, a POW camp in modern day Indonesia. There he experienced the best treatment during his time as a prisoner, but it didn’t last long. He was transferred to Changi Prison in Singapore, and then to a prison camp in Moulmein, Burma.
There he was forced to work on the Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway. According to Britannica “More than 11 percent of civilian internees and 27 percent of Allied POWs died or were killed while in Japanese custody; by contrast, the death rate for Allied POWs in German camps was around 4 percent.” Over 60,000 allies were forced to build it, and over 10,000 died during its construction.
Conditions for these POWs were unfathomable. They were underfed and overworked, they suffered from numerous diseases and illnesses, they were given little to no medical attention, they faced harsh weather conditions, they had to deal with insect infestations, and they were often subjected to beatings by their captors.
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Captain Tom “Bear” Wilson served in Vietnam as an Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO). He sat in the back seat of aircraft, and was responsible for monitoring radar in order to warn his pilot of threats, like surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), anti-aircraft artillery, and enemy aircraft. He also protected his aircraft by jamming enemy radar.
As a Wild Weasel, it was Wilson’s job to protect friendly aircraft attacking enemy SAM sites, who have one of the most dangerous jobs in modern warfare. Wilson and his front seater drew SAMs away from bombers, and targeted the SAM sites themselves. This meant that Weasels spent sometimes more than 20 minutes over the target, as opposed to the one or two minutes bomber pilots spent.
One of our favorite interviews features another Wild Weasel and MOH recipient named Col. Leo Thorsness. Check it out here.
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Staff Sergeant Sam Hargrove served in the Air Force for 11 years, working in combat communications. During her deployment in Iraq, Hargrove survived a base bombing. The attack left her with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and PTSD, but both went untreated.
When she returned home, Hargrove self-medicated with alcohol. Trauma and anger consumed her life until a drunken outburst caused her to punch a hole in a wall in front of her godson:
“He was scared. He was standing there to the side shaking and crying.”
Hargrove contemplated suicide after that incident, but decided to get help instead. Thanks to peer support groups at the VA, and multiple programs through the Wounded Warrior Project, she was able to find the help and support she needed to get better.
Learn how the VA can help you.
Learn how the Wounded Warrior Project can help you.
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