Dean Esmay notes one of those nice symetries of history. And makes it into a trivia contest.
And I know the answer.
There was another "Wiggles," many years before, who perfomed a similarly selfless act for the children of a war-torn country. Who was he?
His name was Lt. Gail Halvorsen, a U.S. Air Force C-54 pilot during the Berlin Airlift in 1948. The Soviets had blockaded the Allied Occupation Zone of Berlin, trying to starve its people into accepting Soviet rule. The U.S. and Great Britain responded with the Berlin Airlift, AKA "Operation Vittles," a feat of aerial logistics that has never been duplicated since. Flying 24 hours a day, seven days a week, cargo planes single-handedly supplied all of West Berlin with food, coal, and other supplies... 5,500 tons per day.
Lt. Halvorsen was one of those pilots. Halvorsen could see the children of West Berlin lining up as he flew into Tempelhof airfield, eagerly awaiting their next meal. So Halvorsen took some Hershey's chocolate out of his daily meal, attached a parachute to it made out of a handkerchief, and dropped it out of his window as he landed, floating the chocolate down to the kids. Halvorsen's fellow pilots and crewmen donated chocolate, gum, and parachutes for the cause, which Halvorsen dubbed "Operation Little Vittles." He eventually developed a signal so that the kids would know it was him, and that he had chocolate: he would wiggle his wings as he came in to land. He thus became known to the Children of Berlin as "Uncle Wiggly Wings." Halvorsen's other nicknames included "Der Schokoladen Flieger" (the Chocolate Flyer), "Uncle Wackelfluger," and "The Raisin Bomber."
So many children would line up under the flight paths of the airplanes that the Air Force, fearing that someone would be hurt, eventually started dropping the chocolate parachutes over playgrouds, and even took to delivering chocolate (by ground!) to children in Berlin's hospitals.
Of course, the Soviets were less than thrilled. Not only did Lt. Halvorsen sometimes detour over Soviet-occupied East Berlin on his drops (which resulted in an official diplomatic protest,) the Soviets also claimed in their newspapers that the waiting children had damaged a cemetary.
By January 1949, over 250,000 chocolate parachutes had fallen into the waiting hands of West (and East) Berlin's children. For his actions, Lt. Gail Halvorsen was awarded the 1948 Cheney Award, established by the USAF to "recognize an act of valor, extreme fortitude or self-sacrifice in connection with an aviation event." The Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, has more information. Halvorsen also told his story as part of the CNN Documentary Cold War:
I just firmly believe that the Berliners were the heroes. They slept in bombed-out buildings, they slept without heat and with lights only for an hour or two ... not enough to eat -- but not one would complain. The Soviets offered them food rations: "Hey, we'll give you all you want. Just sign up with us." And only 4 percent of the total population of Berlin capitulated and asked for help from the Soviets. They were determined, they said, "It's freedom or else."
Halvorsen would later serve as base commander at Tempelhof, and retired as a Colonel. And he is still around, with a book about his experiences. Here's an address I found:
Gail Halvorsen
19 East Southfield Rd.
Spanish Fork, UT 84660
To Chief Wiggles, and Col. Wiggly Wings... thanks.
And don't forget "Operation Little Iraqi Freedom:"
Chief Wiggles
CPA-C2, Debriefer
APO AE 09335