Pacific Stars and Stripes,
Dec. 25, 1952
COMBAT CARGO, Korea, Dec. 25-
Youngsters on a tiny island off the Korean coast, who have never seen
an American serviceman, received an airdropped Christmas present from
the United States Air Force.
"We've been collecting candy
bars for several months," said 1st Lt. Don Davis, Natchez, Miss.,
pilot of a Kyushu Gypsy (Combat Cargo)C-47 Skytrain.
"We fly a lot of missions delivering
supplies and personnel to friendly troops on islands off the Korean
coast. We always fly low over this one tiny and isolated island. We
see the kids come out and wave at us, and we rock our wings in return.
We feel now that we know them personally-and we wanted to bring Christmas
to them, even if in a small way."
SO APPROXIMATELY 100 pounds of candy bars were
dropped to them on Christmas eve in a parachute container normally
used to deliver mail.
"We circled the island twice
and attracted plenty of attention because we'd never done this before,"
said 1st Lt. Edward H. Osmon, Akron, Ohio, the co-pilot. "Then we
heaved out the parachute-borne candy containers and watched them drift
down to the waiting tots. It landed near the village, so we know they
got their Christmas presents in good shape."
On each box of candy was a brief message in Korean,
saying, "Merry Christmas from the Kyushu Gypsies."
The C-47 was on a routine supply mission, delivering
two and one-half tons of supplies to troops on another island.
PSS-239
