Today there was an assembly held at the Bear River High School in Garland Utah to celebrate Veteran’s Day. Colonel Gail Halvorsen’s story was highlighted by three of his children, Brad, Denise and Marilyn.
Bear River High School graduate Gail Halvorsen is the world-famous Berlin Candy Bomber and was remembered at today’s Veteran’s Day Assembly for his kindness to post-war Berlin during the Berlin Airlift.
Art against walls is a collaborative project between the Halvorsen Schule in Berlin and Bear River High School. Students built replicas of the walls in their respective schools and tore them down in a show of solidarity against hate, segregation, and taking away other people’s freedom.
Please see below videos of the three Halvorsen siblings speaking to the students of Bear River High School:
The program was outlined as follows in the assembly for the entire high school, grades 10-12:
1-Presentation of the colors and an introduction of the veterans present, who said their names and where they served.
2-The band played the well-known medley of the Armed Forces theme songs
3-A history teacher gave a brief introduction to the Berlin Airlift and why the Berlin Wall was built
4-An art teacher talked about the Berlin Wall art project in conjunction with the Halvorsen Schule
5-The Halvorsen siblings spoke
6-The student council dropped candy parachutes from the catwalk above the auditorium
It was a wonderful program enjoyed by all—educational, respectful, and celebratory.
Thank you, Denise for sharing this blog and the other pictures, video clips, and thank you, Rachel, for producing this blog. (BTW, absolutely loved your book about your grandfather).
Thank you for posting this great information. This whole event brought a feeling of hope to see students at Bear River High School join together with students in Berlin, Germany to create, “Art Against Walls.” Such a wonderful project and we thank the art department of Bear River High School, especially Matt Hyde for coordinating with the Halvorsen family.