CNN Moderator: Gail Halvorsen became famous during the Berlin airlift for dropping candy and sweets to the children of the besieged city using miniature parachutes. His personal mission soon brought him international fame and became part of U.S. policy, as he received thousands of pounds of candy and other donations from home.

CNN Moderator: Col. Halvorsen, in the 50 years since the airlift, what struck you as the biggest change you've seen in Berliners?

Gail Halvorsen: In the 50 years since the airlift, the biggest change I've seen in the city of Berlin is the time when the Wall came down, which was so unexpected. We'd been in Berlin, the end of September 1989, a few weeks before the Wall came down. Having flown there during the airlift in 1948-49, and then being assigned as the commanding officer to Tempelhof [air base], I saw the change from the total destruction of the earlier days to West Berlin thriving and then being surrounded by the Wall. Then seeing the Wall removed was the biggest change. For now this summer, in 1998, I was one of three pilots that flew a C-54 Berlin airlift support airplane back to Berlin and saw the tremendous reaction of the old Berliners to seeing that aircraft that gave them life during the blockade over their city 50 years later. The change this summer was to me Potsdamer Platz filled with construction cranes, cement everywhere in what was no man's land. It is the new heart of the new city of Berlin.

CNN Moderator: Can you explain for us once more how you became involved in your candy parachuting missions?

Gail Halvorsen: I got involved with children in Berlin that led to 23 tons of candy being dropped not just by myself, but by all the members of my squadron. I began the operation because the children I met in Berlin didn't beg for gum or chocolate. When I met them they said "we don't have to have enough to eat. Just give us a little." "Some day we'll have enough to eat. But if we lose our freedom, we'll never get it back." They had no gum and no candy and very thin rations, but not one of these 30 children would be a beggar for something so extravagant as chocolate or gum.

Chat Participant: Did your superiors initially praise or chide you for the candy drops?

Gail Halvorsen: When my superiors found out about what I was doing, my colonel chewed me out because I didn't have permission, and the general found out about it before the colonel, my commander. And that's bad news whether that situation is in civilian life or in the military. But the general said it was a great idea, keep doing it. That's when it really took off.

Chat Participant: Have you been able to meet any of the kids (now adults) who received your candy?

Gail Halvorsen: I met hundreds of now-grown children who caught parachutes with candy bars and gum during the airlift. Hundreds of them this summer, when we flew the old C-54 back to Berlin. One of them has worked with us to start an Airlift of Understanding -- high school students' exchange from Berlin to Utah. Since 1980, this program has been going on.

Chat Participant: Could you describe your flight experience pre-airlift?

Gail Halvorsen: My flight experience before the airlift, during the war and after the war, was in foreign transport operations with large aircraft. I got my wings with the Royal Air Force, and when I transferred back to the Army Air Corps, they put me in heavy transport operation. I trained originally to become a fighter pilot.

Chat Participant: Did people in the U.S. understand at the time of the airlift how important it was to the German people?

Gail Halvorsen: During the airlift [they] understood thoroughly how important the airlift was to the residents of West Berlin. But the support they gave the operation and the support they gave President Truman and the Army, Navy, and Air Force in giving us everything we needed for the operation was strong and made it possible for the airlift to succeed.

Chat Participant: How did Gail's flying career evolve after the war?

Gail Halvorsen: After the war, I was in South America flying into Africa, Ascension Island, and that was until 1948 and my assignment to Brookley Air Force Base in Mobile, Alabama. From there, I went to the airlift.

Chat Participant: Col. Halvorsen, did you ever seriously fear that you would be shot down while flying in the airspace of the Soviet sector? Did you ever have a moment when you said, "My God, I'm not going to get out of this alive?"

Gail Halvorsen: In the beginning, when we were first buzzed by Russian fighters, we wondered if we would be shot down, we wondered if we would be shot at by the Russian fighters that buzzed us. But they didn't shoot because President Truman took 60 B-29 bombers on the runways in England and told Stalin he would have a problem if he shot at our transport aircraft. So we voted for Truman every flight.

Chat Participant: How much money did it cost you to buy all the candy for the children in Berlin?

Gail Halvorsen: Well, we bought it ourselves. John Pickering, my co-pilot, and Sgt. Elkins pooled our money for the first four drops. I didn't keep a budget, but it was probably in the neighborhood of $10 or $12. When it got started, the American Confectioner's Association sent all we could drop through Chicopee, Massachusetts. Twenty-two schools tied on the parachutes. Children in the schools did the tying. There were over 15 tons of candy.

Chat Participant: What (at the time) did you know about the confrontations going on on the ground at the border and in Berlin?

Gail Halvorsen: The time we flew the airlift, we knew there were tensions at the borders. We didn't know of any conflict. There wasn't any shooting conflict at the borders. But we know that's where the confrontation on the ground was taking place.

Chat Participant: What would happen now if a pilot did this in a war today?

Gail Halvorsen: I've had trouble these modern days. For instance in Berlin, when we went this time, we couldn't drop from the airplane, because the lawyers were afraid somebody would get hit too hard with a candy bar, so we did it from a high crane. But last week, I dropped 530 parachutes of candy bars to school children in Amelia Earhart Elementary School. The lawyers were more reasonable there. So it may be possible today yet.

Chat Participant: Do you know of any other "candy bombers" or the like during the airlift?

Gail Halvorsen: I know of many candy bombers during the airlift after I began the operation. There were at least 25 in my squadron. Many dropped because of the volume we received from Americans.

Chat Participant: What aircraft did you fly during the airlift?

Gail Halvorsen: During the airlift, there were only two types Americans flew. One was the four-engine C-54, and that's what I flew. The twin engine C-47 was only used from June until the first of October 1948 by the Americans. The British flew C-47s, called Dakotas by the Brits, and they had many other kinds of aircraft.

Chat Participant: Did anyone ever criticize it as American "propaganda"?

Gail Halvorsen: Yes, at the time, the Soviets put on a very, very heavy campaign that this operation was sponsored by the CIA, by our government, strictly to influence the minds of the children and the adults in East Berlin and East Germany. It was a government operation, which it certainly wasn't. It was a private operation.

Chat Participant: Could you see a visible effect on morale from the candy bombing?

Gail Halvorsen: There was an extraordinary response to the candy bombing in raising morale. A little boy, who I met now as a 60-year-old man this summer in Berlin, explained it. He said he was 10 years old during the blockade, going to school. The clouds were low, and suddenly from the cloud came a parachute and landed at his feet with a fresh Hershey bar from America. He said he was so surprised. But it was not the chocolate that was important. It meant that someone outside this blockaded city knew I was there. It wasn't chocolate. It was hope. He said that applied to everyone in the city. I heard that comment from hundreds in Berlin, as they came through the old C-54 this summer. It was a major morale booster. It was a connection to the outside world. It was hope that someday things would be all right.

Chat Participant: Did you fly multiple missions per day? What was your turnaround time at Tempelhof?

Gail Halvorsen: When I first arrived in early July 1948, we didn't have enough aircraft, and I flew three round trips, Rhein-Main to Tempelhof, in a 24-hour period. This took about 17 hours. The turnaround time in Berlin was about 25 to 45 minutes for unloading and leaving again.

Chat Participant: Hi. I just came in and I watched you earlier this evening. Did you have anything like IFR (instrument flight rules) to guide you in bad weather?

Gail Halvorsen: In bad weather or good weather, either one, Gen. Tunner required that we flew under IFR flight rules. That meant that we made radar approaches in Berlin even in good weather to make us more skilled and to fly specific air speeds and altitudes and approaches. We flew in terrible weather in the wintertime, ice and snow, and it was only successful in the winter because of our skilled radar ground-control approach controllers.

Chat Participant: In your book, you describe your first trip into the city of Berlin during your off-duty hours. Was that uncommon? How frequently did other U.S. airlift pilots get to visit Berlin?

Gail Halvorsen: It was infrequent that pilots early in the airlift got to visit Berlin as I did. The reason was that if you did hitchhike to Berlin, the only time you had would be taken from your sleep time, because all we did was fly and sleep six or seven hours and do it again. I traded my sleep time because I thought the airlift would be over and I felt a strong urge to lose my sleep for a quick visit to take movies of Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, and Hitler's bunker. But to do that, you had to give up your sleep, because there was no extra time to go sightseeing.

Chat Participant: Did you have any Allied fighter escort while doing this?

Gail Halvorsen: During our runs into Berlin, I never had a fighter escort. I don't know that others did except the British. In the beginning, the British had some fighters deployed to Berlin, but they were not there long and were removed to prevent any hostile confrontation.

Chat Participant: Was there any particular type of candy the kids seemed to like best?

Gail Halvorsen: The kids in Berlin liked any kind of candy, any way it was made, whether it was chocolate or not. They were non-discriminatory about whatever it was we dropped. But chocolate was the favorite form of candy, and Hershey's gave us thousands, as did Mars, Mounds (and) Baby Ruth. All the companies that made candy sent it.

Chat Participant: Was there any ... danger from being shot at (AAA) [anti-aircraft artillery] by the Soviet forces?

Gail Halvorsen: Our air corridors to Berlin were over exercise fields where we'd see ground fire at night, but we were not shot at by triple A. They did have some ground-to-ground fire under the air corridors.

Chat Participant: How much time did it take to parachute the candy?

Gail Halvorsen: It only takes about 5 minutes to tie four strings on the corners of a large size handkerchief. Then attach to the strings to a candy bar, or several packages of gum.

Chat Participant: Was your plane armed?

Gail Halvorsen: No, our plane was never armed. We didn't even have a pistol that we carried. It was strictly unarmed.

Chat Participant: What were the minimum weather limits to land in Berlin?

Gail Halvorsen: In the beginning, our landing minimums were 400 feet at Tempelhof and 1/2-mile visibility, and that was because our approach was over bombed-out buildings on the end of the runway. After a few months, we had a new runway that was lined up with a big gap between the buildings, and with radar we could land at 250-foot ceilings and 1/2-mile visibility.

CNN Moderator: What was the most difficult airfield to land in, in Berlin, at the time of the airlift?

Gail Halvorsen: The most difficult, out of the French airfield Tegel, the British at Gatow and Tempelhof, was Tempelhof because it was in the middle of the city, with some smokestacks and buildings around the airfield.

Chat Participant: What was the accident rate during the Berlin airlift?

Gail Halvorsen: The accident rate was remarkable for the volume of traffic. We had 120 serious accidents. We had 31 American aircrews [airmen] killed, and 39 British aircrews killed. For the Americans, we flew 5 percent of the total worldwide hours flown in the Air Force. We had 2 percent of the accidents. So it was remarkable and it was because of Gen. Tanner, and the very good measures he took to control what we did with our airplanes.

Chat Participant: If a pilot crashed or bailed out into the Soviet-controlled East Germany, what was expected to happen to them?

Gail Halvorsen: Several airplanes crashed and burned in the Soviet-controlled East Germany during the airlift. In one case, a crew member did not want to be caught, and he walked out of East Germany to West Germany. The other crew member was picked up by the Soviets. His wounds were treated and he was returned to the Americans. In another aircraft, a similar thing happened. The crew members were treated in a C-54 crash and returned to the Americans.

Chat Participant: Did you ever have mechanical difficulties during a flight?

Gail Halvorsen: I had several mechanical difficulties. Sometimes we flew with what were considered minor problems but would have grounded the airplane in normal operations. Such as a generator being out, an oil leak of a certain amount, or gasoline leak of a certain amount from the wing. The biggest problem I had was an engine fire that was hard to extinguish and we landed on three engines.

Chat Participant: I find your story very inspirational. Have you written a book or autobiography about your experiences?

Gail Halvorsen: I am the source of the book. It's been in second printing, it's called "The Berlin Candy Bomber." It was up to date as of a year ago, and I can provide them to anyone who wants them for $17 and I pay the postage.

Chat Participant: How did you feel when the Wall came down?

Gail Halvorsen: When the Berlin Wall came down, it was one of the most exciting events that I've experienced since the blockade. I stayed up all night watching the event. And I described my feelings in my book.

Chat Participant: Did you fly directly missions only from the Allied sectors, or were there any other missions from a longer range?

Gail Halvorsen: The missions that supported Berlin were launched from the bases near the East German border. A few may have come from England, but that's a waste of gasoline. ... The bases supporting Berlin were near the East German border to cut down on the gasoline requirements, and the time to deliver the supplies and return for more.

Chat Participant: What was the separation between the planes; how far apart did the controllers keep you?

Gail Halvorsen: After we got long-range radar to help position the planes coming through East Germany and radar ground-controlled approach, our aircraft were about 10 minutes apart at the same altitude and they were separated by 500 feet vertically at first and later on by 1,000 feet.

Chat Participant: We have heard about the roles played by American and British pilots in the airlift. Did the French play a significant role? How about other countries (Canada, Netherlands, etc.)?

Gail Halvorsen: The British and Americans were main partners in the airlift, because French had few aircraft because of Indochina requirements. But they were instrumental in establishing the airfield in the French sector, Tegel. From the airlift, the only numbers I can find are 800 tons the French flew to Berlin in about 424 flights. The Americans and British flew in 2.3 million tons of supplies to Berlin. So you get a feel that the French weren't able to do much.

Chat Participant: Were your planes routinely overloaded?

Gail Halvorsen: The planes were not routinely overloaded. We had to load them at the maximum for structural safety of the aircraft. Otherwise, the airplane's landing gear, engines, airframe would have been destroyed or failed. So we did not purposely overload the airplanes. Some airplanes crashed because of a mistake in overloading them to the point they weren't able to clear the mountains.

Chat Participant: When the blockade was over at the time, did you think it was the starting of the end of the Cold War?

Gail Halvorsen: When the blockade was over, I thought it was the beginning of the Cold War. The airlift itself was the beginning of the Cold War. It was the first major confrontation with Stalin and his expansion toward the West. It drew the battle line. It changed postwar history. If Berlin had fallen, I firmly believe that West Germany would follow and the strong communist influence in the governments of France and Italy would have become even stronger. It marked the beginning of the idea of coalition. That was so strong in Desert Storm. The coalition at the end of the airlift, the idea spawned NATO, and NATO was the force that held the line against Soviet expansion.

Chat Participant: What were your feelings when it ended?

Gail Halvorsen: When the airlift ended, I was extremely happy. Elated that we had won without firing a shot. That we'd used food in response to the crisis, as opposed to Stalin's tactic of withholding food to gain control. It was the triumph of good over evil. And it showed the people of the world the approach of free people and the approach of the communist system of treating human beings. I would like to say one quick word about the plane we flew this summer back to Berlin. The airplane, one of the greatest experiences for me since the airlift, besides the events we've spoken of, was flying a C-54 aircraft back to Berlin this summer for 67 days in Europe. It was possible because of Tim Chopp and the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation, which he founded. He is the chief pilot and president. The old C-54 is 53 years old and flies around the United States now as a museum of the airlift. The interior describes what the Berliners did to stay free. It's a message to Americans on how important freedom is in the world today and how we should be more conscious that freedom doesn't come free. It takes sacrifice. Americans need to be reminded of that more often. Americans are becoming too accustomed to the luxuries of life. The airplane is aptly christened the Spirit of Freedom. A great credit to Tim Chopp.

Chat Participant: Where is the airplane that you flew now?

Gail Halvorsen: The airplane that I flew during airlift is probably in the junk heap in the deserts of Arizona with many others I flew. The pilots of the airlift did not fly just one aircraft. Whatever plane was loaded, we would fly it. We may have flown the same airplane maybe 10 times out of a hundred.

CNN Moderator: We want to thank everyone who took part in this chat with Col. Halvorsen and we ask the colonel if he has any closing remarks.

Gail Halvorsen: In closing, the airlift reminded me that the only way to fulfillment in life, real fulfillment, is to serve others. I was taught that as a youth in my church, and I found when I flew day and night to serve a former enemy that my feelings of fulfillment and being worthwhile were the strongest that I've felt. Greater love hath no man than this: that he lay down his life for a friend. I saw 31 of my airlift comrades lay down their lives in service of a former enemy who had become a friend. Serving others and giving of ourselves is the only way to real fulfillment. Not 2,000 square feet more than we need in the house, or an extra car that we don't need. Service, as the airlift reminded me, is what it's all about. I have that feeling when I go back to Berlin and have the people express their gratitude 50 years later for the service given them by former enemies.

CNN Moderator: Thanks again to Gail Halvorsen, the Berlin "candy bomber." Please join us next week, when we speak with CNN Hong Kong Bureau Chief Mike Chinoy, a frequent visitor to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital -- for his perspective on the situation on the Korean peninsula. That chat begins at 9:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 25. This concludes our Yahoo CNN chat. Thanks again and good night.