Operation Little Vittles: The Kids Behind the Candy Drop

One of the Berlin Airlift’s most inspiring stories didn’t begin in Germany—it began in classrooms across America.

Discover how schoolchildren in Chicopee, Massachusetts, joined volunteers to handcraft thousands of tiny parachutes carrying candy to children trapped behind the Berlin Blockade. These simple acts of kindness became powerful symbols of hope during one of the Cold War’s first great humanitarian missions.

Park Ranger Susan Ashman of Springfield Armory National Historic Site shares this uplifting story of compassion, generosity, and the extraordinary impact ordinary Americans had on children half a world away.