In 1952, a U.S. Air Force crew flying over the Pacific Ocean spotted islanders waving from below and decided to drop supplies—a spontaneous act of kindness that unknowingly sparked a lasting tradition. Today, every December, cargo planes loaded with food, clothes, toys, and essential goods parachute down to remote islands across Micronesia and the Marshall Islands—places often unreachable by regular transport. What began as a simple gesture has become the world’s longest-running humanitarian air