After the National Confectioners’ Association became involved, the range of candy available for the drops expanded. Industry donors contributed various products, some of which were probably unfamiliar to Berlin children. The variety added an element of unpredictability to what a given drop might contain, which was itself part of the experience for the children running to pick up the parachutes.
The 23 tons figure for total Operation Little Vittles deliveries is not directly comparable to other airlift tonnage figures in a way that reflects their relative significance. Twenty-three tons of candy is a great deal of candy in terms of individual portions. It is a negligible fraction of the 2.3 million tons of food, coal, and supplies that the airlift delivered in total. The two figures measure different things, and conflating them misrepresents the relationship between the candy drops and the airlift as a whole.
## The Cheney Award and What It Said
The Cheney Award was established in 1927 in memory of First Lieutenant William Cheney, an Army Air Corps officer who died in an aircraft accident. The award recognizes acts of valor, extreme fortitude, or self-sacrifice in a humanitarian interest performed in connection with the Air Force.
Halvorsen received the award in 1949. The presentation was made by General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, then Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force. The citation for the award described Halvorsen’s candy drops as an act of humanitarian initiative that had contributed to the larger mission of the Berlin Airlift.