scenes yesterday from

arlington memorial cemetery just across the potomac river from washington dc in arlington, virginia. the name of the ceremony happens ahead of memorial day joining us to talk about how america honors its fallen heroes this morning we are joined by a retired navy captain jean moran. what is flags info folks who don't live around the area? >> it's an annual event where markers -- flags are placed on markers for those who are buried at arlington. over 200,000 memorial plots there for the entire cemetery and it's quite an impactful scene and when you see that effect. host: some 260,000 headstones. 1000 soldiers from the old guard

base there at arlington about four hours, in your career you helped facilitate burials at arlington national cemetery, what does that consist of? >> it is a complex process that requires a substantial amount aforethought. the cemetery staff are experts at this. but in my last role in the navy i ran the navy senate liaison office where many of the dignitaries would pass through as part of their coming to washington for that experience. in some cases they would need some support in facilitating family member attendance at the event. there is usually a memorial service, there is a procession down to the burial site. my experience is with section 60 , of the iraq and afghanistan war dead are buried.

it is sad to see how that site had proliferated in a relatively short amount of time. but families come to town and they are looking for someone to guide them. and there is a substantial process that helps families feel comfortable in that unusual setting. >> arlington national cemetery, america's most famous military cemetery but there's more than two dozen around the world. how many have you visited? >> i've had the good fortune to lead congressional delegations around the world to american battle monuments, terry's as you suggest. they are throughout the world. many in europe i think france has the most, over two dozen. but they are a spectacular scene to see how incredibly well manicured they are and how dignified the final resting

place is for those who lost their lives overseas. since you mentioned it i think it is worth reflecting on it this memorial day, that connection to those world war ii ceremonies that are around the world. i think as we come up on the 80th anniversary of d-day on june 6, that is for score. that's generations ago and some have lost touch with what that sacrifice was all about and what it has allowed for in terms of the way of life we've lived. >> there's plenty of ceremonies happening around the world and here in d.c.. for d-day, c-span will be covering some of the live events out in normandy that day and also here in d.c.. this also events in bedford, virginia where the national d-day memorial is.

c-span on d-day june 6 and on june 8, a full day of d-day programming. we are focusing this morning into memorial day how americans recognize and remember their military dead. we want to hear your stories as we are chatting with jean moran this morning. the ways you can call in this morning we will put the phone numbers on the screen. but we want to hear from you. what are you doing with your family, do you have a military connection in your family. go ahead and start calling in. i want to show this op-ed from usa today, the headline this memorial day we recognize a different top 1%. the 1% of americans who volunteered to serve in the armed forces. it is peter bashir opinion column who writes nearly 80% of army recruits have a relative in uniform. the solar's know the privilege

and sacrifice their part of wearing that uniform yet they write what about the 99% who do not. what would you say about those americans who do not have military member and their family or connection to the military about the importance of maybe visiting one of these cemeteries, one of these monuments and memorial this memorial day particularly. >> they are more readily accessible than people might realize. they exist regionally and there may be some in someone's hometown they just aren't familiar with. sometimes we just do not ask questions. and there are veterans all around us and if we don't get past that superficial level of conversation we may never get to understand what it was in their family legacy that might've made them want to serve.

that legacy is part of where are recruits of today come from. you mentioned 1% that serve. there are only 30% eligible to serve if you look at the statistics of physical readiness, mental acuity. and the retention challenges is quite serious. but here more specific point i think engaging in conversation could be helpful. i've recently been part of a book called the military factor. one of 50 that's highlighting the diversity of career paths and reasons that people serve and what their story of service is or was. it is an effort to try and educate those not in the military community about the value of veterans, what they learn on active duty. how disciplined and able they are to contribute to a team environment in a corporate setting. >> in my teenage years there

were people important in my life. my father served in the navy during the time of korea and i had an uncle who served in world war ii. they were all very successful in their chosen career paths after active duty. and they all attributed their success to the grounding and discipline that they gained while on active duty. i joined thinking i would do a similar thing serve four to five years and go corporate. and they stayed in for nearly 25 years. >> i served -- in the navy you serve at sea or in the sea. i was on six different ships. and you alternate sea and shore duty. my shore duties were in the washington dc environment. so over time i gained that understanding of the complexity of how the pieces fit together. at sea my ships were in service

of the landtag in the persian gulf. the adriatic sea, of the red sea. the gulf of aden. halfway around the world as we would say. >> did you ever lose at sailor under your command. >> that's a metric people don't talk about but it's always on the mind of people with command responsibility. >> how did you go from serving at sea to up here in capitol hill. >> the navy needs people that understand various parts of the process. i had served in the pentagon and the joint staff at j three. i had developed some acumen in the way the budget works. and i had an interest in how congress works and their fellowship programs that allow for sharing of people across the agency as a way to cross pollinate.

i was able to participate in one of those programs that lit a fire. i had a background in political science and was comfortable in the environment and wound up serving multiple tours representing the navy to congress. >> retired navy captain jean moran joining us throughout the end of today's program and as we enter the memorial day weekend hear the phone lines to join the conversation and we want to hear your stories. military families, 202-748-8000. active and former military, 202-748-8001. all others, 202-748-8002. we want to hear your stories this morning with jean moran. tom is in baltimore maryland up first, good morning. >> good morning sir. my families was served in the military. my family came over from germany in the 1880's. first generation uncle george served in the caloric -- calorie.

my uncle john served in the hospital and took care of the wounded. and my father served in the 1920's and the army and my late uncle uncle paul served in the army and once in germany. but he was american then. myself i served in the marine service in the 1960's the suffering services all volunteers and especially the crew of the uss scorpion. i will always remember them. thank you sir. host: thank you for the call. did you know any of the members of the uss scorpion? caller: i was on the uss cerrado. they were nuclear trained. it was a conventional submarine but it was very quiet. they give us all geneva

convention cards in case we were put up there. one of the guys made it in one of them didn't. you got to be careful what you wish for. >> thank you for the call. do you know the story of the scorpion? >> i do not specifically but i admire the courage of particularly the earliest generations of submariner's, it takes tremendous courage and skill and the submarine force has involved -- evolved into a nuclear navy. that's a highly precise lifestyle and method of service. >> we are talking about honoring the fallen. what is a burial at sea, have you ever witnessed one of those? >> i've done many and presided over many. they are quite dignified. many veterans choose to be buried at sea and the navy has a procedure for that to happen and over time the remains will come to the ship.

it could be remains but it could will be assigned to a ship who will be out at sea on a normal operation or on a training mission. >> so these could be world war ii veterans or any generation. >> absolutely and it could be someone very recent. you don't know and the ship has no say in that of course, but it's an assignment and an admission that the ships perform and there's a dignified ceremony , the charts are marked and there's a very nice package that goes to the family that shows the video and ceremony, the 21 gun salute. a chart of where that burial took place and we tried to do that in the most dignified way possible. >> why do we do 21 guns? >> this a long tradition there.

>> maybe sunday we can look up as we are chatting with steve. good morning. >> i'm not related to any -- my uncles and dad were in world war ii but in korea. i wanted to let you know that i played trumpet so i've been doing the bugles across america and i want to let people know about that where you have a lot of debt you have a bugle player, and play taps. it's pretty moving. >> how did you get involved in bugles across america steve? >> it is one of those things. there's a lot of music and things like that out there and a kind of just ran across it and i'm pretty much retired from everything so it's nice to get out. though i hate to say my suit doesn't really fit anymore. from when i used it for other

concerts. >> is the world war ii veterans were leaving us in great numbers a couple of decades ago or even a decade ago we were not able as to support all the funerals with a live bugler, sometimes a because set or compact disk or recording it's great to have volunteers who can do that in person. i've been part of ceremonies with both versions that are both quite dignified. but we need volunteers like that who will give up their time and make such a impact on the family and that final moment. >> we've been talking about arlington national cemetery. a hopeful -- as well as a primer from their website. it's a military tradition that originated in the 14th century. the 21 gun salute is the highest honor rendered, the custom sends

from naval tradition when a warship would dignify a lack of hostile intent by firing its canons out to sea until all ammunition was spent. the british navy developed the custom of a seven gun salute because naval vessels typically had seven guns because greater quantity of gun powers could be stored on dry land or wood fire three rounds for every one fired at sea hence the number 21. with the approval they increase 21 as well. between one gun salute eventually became the international standard. always helpful. line for veterans. good morning. >> good morning. i served from 1971 to 1980. and my father and all my uncles, my father was in the navy as well. and we have a tradition, we had

-- i have three great greats and one great grandfather who fought in the civil war and then a great great uncle who fought with mad anthony wayne during the revolutionary war. i want to call because we lost five guys in a training accident, a plane crash and one of those guys was a guy named chief mcdowell. he used -- i worked on the flight line and hung out, when he would finish his pre-flight he would always come over and play a game i'm sure you're familiar with. but i always remember that on this day. thank you. that's all i have. >> people your member along the way. the people you remember.

guest: over time, the boardroom and the crew of the ship they tend to blend together and i'll run across people now and have to struggle to recall which ship was that. fortunately some of the social media channels like linkedin make it easier to maintain some contact. but in every command there is -- there are a few that really distinguish themselves in highly unique ways. they rise to an occasion or they demonstrate some capability that maybe they did not know that they had. and they went on to help in a critical mission. host: you talk about a close-knit military community. if somebody again who does not have a military connection in their family has some trepidation about going to a military cemetery imposing on this tightknit community in these families that are there.

what would you say to those on the fence about that. especially on this memorial day weekend. >> if one were to visit a cemetery and come upon a family that was visiting, ask a question. they would not mind that at all. they would love to tell the story. any servicemember would love to tell their story and we'll talk at length about how things went -- how things went and what they experienced. family members would love to have that connection. i would have no hesitation to walk up to a family not in a moment of grief, but this they were walking to or from, that would be completely appropriate. >> talking about telling the story. c-span over the years has been very good about oral histories especially with veterans and there's plenty in our archives with american history tv, yesterday we did one in the

coming weeks with a 100-year-old world war ii veteran. who flew b 24's in the pacific and was talking about his experience, there's not many world war ii veterans left. the importance in your mind of that generation of veterans as we are at the point of losing that generation. >> it strikes me that we >> we are losing the connection with the war that brought about a world order that allowed for this relative peace. we have been a nation at war in the middle east, but globally, there has been relative peace until fairly recently, where we see certain levels of testing happening around the world. testing that order, exactly. i don't think it is a coincidence that there are

concerns with china and taiwan, russia, ukraine, the middle east , the timing of israel and iran and gaza. these things have linkages and they are fundamentally a challenge to a world order that has a western focus to it, that came about after world war ii. so many tens of thousands gave their all, their final measure to help ensure that. i think we have lost touch with that for a lot of good reasons. people live their lives and they don't know people who have a connection to it or they have not served themselves. it is easy to be dismissive. but i have been to over 60 countries. i know what is around the world. that is a lot of travel that many people don't have. most americans visit one country in their life. and most americans don't read a book. these are documented facts.

if we lose that connection, we lack understanding and we make decisions sometimes based on incomplete or imperfect information. >> about halfway through this segment. as we head into memorial day, how we honor the fallen in the u.s. military. we should also note our c-span programming this weekend. tomorrow on c-span, 10:00 eastern, you can watch president biden at u.s. military academy, west point speaking at the commencement. the president always shakes the hand of those graduates at west point. you can watch out here on c-span, c-span.org, and the free c-span now video app. the importance of the president always going to that graduation? >> he is the commander in chief. those are the best and brightest that our nation has to offer. they have made a commitment to service.

i think it is a minimal gesture that should always be expected. i know there is some rotational plan of which service academy the president speaks out and went, and sometimes it is the -- speaks at and when, and sometimes it is the vice president. host: the line for military families, fort worth, texas. thanks for calling. go ahead. caller: will we ever remember the soldiers from vietnam? host: will we ever remember the soldiers from vietnam? guest: i would hope so. i know the nation has had a troubled history of reckoning with how that war was conducted and how those soldiers and sailors were treated on return. i think what we saw after the gulf war, in the earlier phases

of the iraq and afghanistan wars, a conscious effort to try to get it right so we did not do that again to following generations of soldiers. i think we struggled with the iraq and afghanistan veteran recovery efforts. congress tried to make that better. host: you mean the mental scars that go with it? guest: i think we initially did a very poor job not being ready to deal with the problems that came back, both physical and beyond seen wounds. a lot of energy was put into that. we went through several administrations, several directors. congress put a lot of money on the problem to try to help it. we hear less about it now. but for those that interact with those services, it is a huge

bureaucracy. it is a challenge. host: what year did you join the navy? guest: 1980. host: what was your impression of the vietnam veteran generation in 1980? guest: i had a family member who had served in vietnam as a ranger. went on to become a doctor. served in hawaii at the military hospital out there. we lost him some number of years ago, but he was an older cousin of mine who was a very positive connection. while i didn't understand as a young child and emerging teenagers some of the ramifications of the vietnam war, i knew it through a more positive lens than many people do. host: did you understand at the time what this country was going through and how they treated that generation when they came back? guest: i would say no. the famous movie "born on the

fourth of july" was probably my generation's exposure to that. i don't mean to make short shrift of it. it was serious. my recognition of my earliest time in service was more aligned with the rise of the reagan navy. we are going to invest in a 600 ship navy, so we set out to do that. host: "born on the fourth of july" was your exposure to that part of this country's military history. i wonder about the importance of some of these big-budget hollywood movies about war and exposing america to a part of this country that is just 1% of this country. i am specifically thinking as we go into the d-day 80th anniversary to some of the d-day movies over time. guest: there is one that is even more current that is not specific to d-day that i will commend to anyone in the audience.

i am the president of the navy league in sarasota manatee county of florida. we were part of a showing of the navy blue angels movie that just released. it is on a limited release for a few days. it will move to netflix. i have no association with it. i am a ship guy. it is called "the blue angels" and it is phenomenal. i would encourage anyone to spend 90 minutes and watch that. it is all about the incredible teamwork and precision involved in working in very close formation. the blue angels are a demonstration team that. it is not combat. but there are pilots who come forward to participate in that. it is an incredible show. host: "the blue angels" 2024, prime video is where you can find that on imdb.com. we will show you that as we hear from anthony, a veteran out of arizona.

good morning. caller: good morning. i wish there was a way as we honor fallen military members, my father served out here in arizona in 1954. he was here and in korea before then, then he returned back to north carolina and they discovered he had an alcoholism problem, so they booted him out. the military veteran who served in the cold war, my battalion commander was a full blown alcoholic. as a matter of fact, he would lead our professional development. the whole battalion of officers to my we were air defenders, had to go see him in tract three,

which is the highest level where you are committed for alcoholism. as far as me wanting to honor my father, there is no way that i am able to input my name and see the treatment of all the military members who have served in my family because i am african-american and that documentation doesn't exist as far as me being able to input my name and the roots should go back if there is military service that would allow it to be populated and i could see what my brother served -- where my brother served, where my sister served. i am one of two people out of a family of eight who retired, but over 50% of my family of the

eight served, the challenges we all face. as we honor our fallen military, one of the ways i honor them is letting them see me stand as an example that the military has not broken me. it has honored me. so, i wear my uniform on memorial day, and i write a lot. i have a memorial day acknowledgment i wrote last year and i will just briefly share the first part of the stanza. "let them see you standing in acknowledgment of your service, showing tribute to those who gave all they had, all plus any reserve, the last full measure of devotion." that is how we honor our military members. we go where they are. if they are in the cemetery and

we can speak to them -- cannot speak to them, we go and stand there and say, you mattered. we are on your ground now. host: anthony, thanks for sharing that. guest: those are powerful words and so will captured. i think you highlighted a couple things. one, an individual can acknowledge memorial day in a very personal way and it does not have to be with tremendous fanfare or even a visit to a cemetery. you mentioned dealing with terrible alcoholism. i can say i came into the service on what i think was the tail end of pretty serious drug and alcohol issues that were addressed over time, first with -- not in my navy -- an effort to eradicate use of marijuana. we are talking back in the 1970's.

in the 1980's and 1990's, there was a very conscious the glamour is asian -- deglamorization of alcohol and an effort to make people more aware this is not a healthy lifestyle. obviously, it is a disease and people are exposed to it in different ways. but i thank you for so candidly addressing it. to your brother comment about the ability to trace legacies, there has been a consistent challenge in having databases communicate with one another. it was not that long ago that the pentagon database could not communicate with the veterans affairs database. much of that has been corrected, but some of these records are microfiche and paper before that, and how they are digitized has evolved over time. i wouldn't give up hope that

that record can't eventually be restored, and i would stay in contact with the veterans administration. host: i couldn't help but notice the caller's stanza from what he wrote included that phrase, "the last full measure of devotion," coming from abraham lincoln, the gettysburg address, dedicating the national soldiers cemetery, later becoming the gettysburg cemetery, to honor america's fallen. the last couple sentences, it includes that line. abraham lincoln wrote, the world will little remember what we said here, but they will never forget what they did here. it is up to the living to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. it is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead increased devotion to that cause for which

they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we highly resolve that these men shall not have died in vain, that this nation under god shall have new birth of freedom, and a government by the people, of the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. abraham lincoln, 1863. the importance of that address on memorial day. guest: as brief as that is, our attention span is five seconds. and so, we don't consume in that way anymore. we don't take the time to reflect on that sort of brilliant commentary of the day. host: rich, pennsylvania. lead for military families. caller: i am from rules will, the upper end of bucks county. my father in law was a korean

war vet with the third infantry division. my father enlisted in the navy at age 17 in 1945, and he was on the apa 44 uss fremont in the engine room crew, at age 18. they used to call it the black gang. they don't call it that anymore. but he was in that situation from 1944 to 1949. he got out in 1949 and got a job at a development center, and the captain is smiling. that was a high-tech capital of america in the 1950's. they trained all the mercury astronauts there until johnson took it all down to houston, texas. but in any event, he was called back into the navy two weeks after he married my mother in 1950, and he was sent to korea again in the black gang on the a

13 in the engine ship. it was attached to the uss valley forge. he spent two years there. he went in at age 17 and came out as a first-place petty officer at age 25. he then went back to john's will, like many of his generation. he went to night school for his bachelors degree. he was promoted at john's will and became a control director. johnsville is one of the few places split in half, civilian and military. he was control director for the whole thing. my brother works in the navy. i am emergency management and i also do rates across america, giving back around christmas

time. but like i said, the navy families in the supermarket, i see guys with the hats on, and i thank them for their service. host: thanks for sharing your families story. guest: if i could mention, you talk about your father going in at a very young age. what i always marvel at in the military across all services is everyone has a chance. everyone is given an opportunity to perform, to advance based on merit. you talk about a career of advancement to leave as first petty officer. that is several promotions, for those who don't know. it is based on how hard you work , how well you integrate into the team, and how you helped perform the mission. host: he mentioned a family member who served during the korean war, a war commonly referred to as the forgotten war. what do you think about that term today? guest: i guess i can understand

that. my father served during the time of korea, but not in the korean war. he was serving in the baby in the mediterranean. --in the -- in the navy in the mediterranean. the somewhat smaller in scale, shorter duration. the number impacted of those serving at the time, they have been somewhat smaller. but the losses are no less meaningful to those families. host: c-span covered a recent conference on the korean war at texas christian university, and we are going to air part of that conference on monday on c-span, american history tv, on the legacy of the korean war. so viewers with questions and thoughts on the korean war can watch that. khalil is in hyattsville, maryland. a veteran. good morning.

caller: good morning. i have a point to bring forth that the origins of memorial day are rooted in foundational black americans activities after being freed from slavery. there is a story where david blight asserted the holiday is rooted in a moving ceremony held by freed slaves on may 1, 1865 at a tattered remnant of the confederate camp at charleston's washington racecourse and jockey club, today known as hampton park. the ceremony is believed to have included a parade of as many as 10,000 former slaves, including 3000 black