i'm also proud to be here, to be with them. this book, it's an interesting book because national geographic has a series called remember, and the whole idea of this series is to tell stories as much as possible through eyewitness accounts and contemporary photographs. now the first two books that are wrote in the series, were called remember little big horn and remember the alamo. that how became the national geographic expert on eyewitness expert and battles were everybody died, i don't know. [laughter] >> but as the curator as the alamo said, everybody has to have a niche. i've written a lot of history. this is the first book i have ever written where lots of people were still alive. that was a wonderful, wonderful experience because i got to interview -- i got to be good friends with terrence roberts wrote the introduction to the book, and to serve as my mentor to make sure that i had it

right. and the manuscript was actually read by four others of the little rock nine. carlotta read it. ernest greene. many g-man also i interviewed her for many hours, and that was really fun. and gloria ray and i wrote e-mails back and forth to sweden and back. and she was very, very helpful with many things, including, she gave me a note that was left on her desk, it's in the book, the first time it's ever been published. remember the famous one of, one down, eight to go. this one was get gloria ray out of the way. and i had never seen that and i am honored to be the first person to be able to publish that. so being close with some of the "little rock nine" was wonderful. i also got to be close with a number of the white students, including particularly the handful of ways to do really laid their own lives on the lie

to support the "little rock nine." and i would like to honor one of them who happens to be here today. what's your name? no. [laughter] >> robin woods who is on the back cover with a wonderful quote, and she befriended terrance in math class entered her book with him and suffered a lot for it. and she and her husband have become great friends. and i have to tell you a little story. tarrance told me about robinett said you ought to interview robin. so i called robin. i said coming back out to little rock to do more research here can i would like to interview. and she said, why don't you just stay with us? and i said oh, my god. i've never met this woman. and she said, she invited me to stay in her home. she said a friend of kerry is a friend of mine. and i become very close friends with robin and harry and i'm here at the château.

this is really fun. [laughter] >> so the experience of being able to work with people who were part of the story was with a remarkable. of course i can't interview davy crockett. i can't interview citywalk. there is another side of his. i worked with some people and none of the ones i mentioned yet, they had issues with the way i use their quotes and the way i introduced their quotes. there was a moment when i thought i'm going to just keep working with dead people, because davy crockett can send me an e-mail today i'd like the way you introduceintroduce my quote. i don't like the way you used to. i tried to be as honest i could be, and it is kind of a balancing act when you're working with people who have lived it. because you have to try to get the truth, but you don't want to hurt anybody's feelings. you just have to walk a fine line. and you also have to try the best you can. it was an amazing experience, and actually having come back to

little rock and seeing how many friends i have here, i think i'm going to keep writing about live people. thank you. [applause] >> all right there well i thank you, laura, and all the staff here at little rock central high school historic site for putting this event together tonight. we've talked about this over a period of time, and just kind of wonderful that it has finally happened. you know, this story is about my high school days. and it's not about the first integration that took place in the south. it is, however, about a school

integration which found its way repeatedly in the national spotlight. it was a showdown between states rights and federal law, between the arkansas governor and president dwight d. eisenhower of the united states. between nine kids who wanted to go to school that had to be accompanied by 1200 soldiers to ask oregon inside the school. that really became the second largest headline in 1957. the first being sputnik, and then president eisenhower's biggest domestic crisis that took place during his presidency. and what i'd like to do is a little bit different. and maybe not. but i want to just read to you a

couple of pages in my book. i took something from the prologue and also to appease from classifying the group of kids that i encountered in little rock central high school once i got inside. and then finally, a few pages that will introduce the most horrific night of my life, the night my home was bombed in my senior year. and according to the local daily arkansas gazette, i was the first integrating student in the country to have her home bombed. few people my age will have more than one good friend from high school. i'm grateful to have at least eight. ernie, melba, many gene, it is but, gloria, terry, jefferson and thelma. in the public mind, we are one,

the "little rock nine." we are in essence nine distinct personalities with nine different stories. it is much a story about dedication of family, perseverance, and sacrifice as it is about the journey and the history. it is a salute to my parents, who stayed silently in the background and swallowed a great risk and suffering. they were the ones who had ingrained in me a quiet confidence that jim crow be damned. i was not a second class citizen. it was that confident that told me i deserved a quality education to the supreme court said i was due. the confidence that steadied my feet to divide the races with my mere presence at school every single day. my parents bequeathed to me the confidence of their founders, both hard-working black

entrepreneurs in control of their own economic lives. my family may have seemed unlikely candidates for involvement in a movement that would spark nationwide change, but then again, that is the point of this book. to show that determination fortitude, and the ability to move the world are not reserved for the special people. sometimes i thought about how much easier survival would have been if more people had taken a chance, a stand. as i saw it, the students at central fell into different categories. the smallest group is the easiest to identify, those students who were determined to make our lives miserable. the tormentors, a black leather boys, their female cohorts any

other cowardly student who clung to the groups in the evil efforts to push us out. they were the ones who called us derisive names, spat on us, hit, kicked, pushed and slammed into lockers and down the stairs. maybe it was their pair to help them make up the segregationist crowd that clung to their wrongheaded belief that central somehow belonged to them, and that the nine of us were the interlopers causing trouble by having the audacity to keep showing up. the second group includes those students who were clearly sympathetic. even if they did not outwardly show it or jump to our defense in times of trouble, you could tell by her kind eyes that on our worst days seem to say i'm really sorry this is happening to you. sometimes they offered a shy smile in the hallways, or in class, or slip a quiet note of support to one of us undercover. the majority of the students at central fell into the third

group. those who kept silent your they wanted all the trouble to end. they did not torment us but they didn't extend themselves to us in any way either, not even quietly. they did not want to be associated with one side or the other. they chose to remain neutral. as it remaining neutral in the face of evil were an acceptable and just choice. they turned away. they rendered us invincible. they are most likely the ones today who, when asked about the class of 1957, try to reinvent history. things that central weren't as bad as the night of us have said they recalled in the recent years. the mobs weren't as big, they say. the bad guys and gals weren't as bad. and the atmosphere wasn't as dense. but of course that is how they remember a central journey, these 50 plus years later. when i was suffering in those hallowed halls, they turned

away. they did nothing. they said nothing. they chose not to see. there was another group, a small group for sure, but in my mind the greatest of all. those teachers and students who at times were openly kind, who seem to look beyond the skin color and the nine students eager to learn, eager to be part of a great academic institution. i had it all year. and i made it to my bedroom the night every night, 1960, it was raining mud. at least that's how it appeared to me when i heard heavy wind and rain slapping against the house. i looked up at the window and saw thick droplets of rain mixed with red dirt, sliding down the window panes. it was about 9:30 p.m.

my favorite time of the night. i favored those moments of solitude just before bedtime when i got to unwind, listen to the radio and think. the house was quiet here daddy had come in yet from his nighttime job at big daddy's place. my sisters, 11 and four were a sleeper in the room a few steps up all. and mother was in her and daddy's room near the front door. i clicked on the clock review resting on the night stand. the am dial was already tuned to one of my favorite stations. w. l. a see, which broadcast nightly from nashville. it was one of a few white stations that brought the soul sounds of black rock 'n roll, rhythm and blues and jazz artist, the platters, little richard, fats domino and added james, to places they've never been before. the homes and lives of my white peers throughout the nation. it tickled me when i imagine that maybe some of my white

classmates at central were listening secretly also. [laughter] >> i particularly enjoyed a program called randy's record highlights, which aired shortly after 10:00. as i change into my pajamas, my mind felt at ease. i had made it to the home stretch of central, i thought. four weeks things have been calm, no protesters or major incidents and graduation was less than four months away. i had firmly stopped sulking after the rejection and decide on a college. my decision-making process had been quite simple. i accepted the first school that wrote to be with good news after the big letdown. and that school was michigan state. michigan state wanted me right then, and i was eager to be wanted. after such a disappointment, i have been in no mood to wait to hear from my second and third choices. by the time the acceptance letters came from brandeis and

the university of california, i had already settled on going to michigan state. i was even starting to get excited. i liked the idea of getting lost among the thousands of students on campus. i would get to come and go as i pleased, and no one would even notice. finally, i would have a normal life. dances, concerts, football games, maybe even a boyfriend that i had missed out on so much at central. i could hardly wait to end this chapter of my life and start a new. but for the moment, it was bedtime. i clicked off the light in my room, crawled into bed with my thoughts, and let at it and that serenade me to sleep. no sooner had i close my eyes it seemed than i was shaken by a thunderous boom. the house shook and i could hear glass crashing to the floor in front of the house but i sat up quickly with my hands gripping the sides of my bed. for a moment i felt frozen in place.

my eyes wide with fear darted around the pitch black room. what was that? was i dreaming? the explosion had come from the front. and then oh, my god, my little sisters. mother, i had to find them. i leapt out of bed as soon as my bare feet landed on the cold floor i took off running, through my bedroom. my first up was the bed just outside my bedroom door. it was the really dark and still. i turned toward the hole and ran up to the front of the house. i was halfway up the hall when i saw them standing in the nightgowns with mother in her bedroom door at the other end of the hall. when i reached them, mother and the girls were dazed and bewildered, but unhurt. we stood at one another too shaken to even speak. little tina's eyes moved quickly from mother to me searching our faces for clues. a haze of smoke floated through the darkness from the living room to the hallway where we stood. the smoke hurt my eyes and in an unfamiliar scent filled the air.

i smell as if something had blown up in a chemistry lab. inside, i was struggling. i felt helpless and horrified. and i needed daddy. he would tell me everything would be okay and make me feel safe. as he must've been working late. it was 11 and he hadn't yet made it home. i suddenly felt a painful sense of responsibility as though i need to step up and somehow make the situation right. but i didn't know how. i could feel real panic rising in my throat. i had the odd thought that the story of carlotta, the one who always felt that her hard work and smart would make everything okay, who had believed that anything is possible if she stood firm and stayed strong, was now at a total loss. the sound of my mother's voice quelled my panic. she was calm and restraint, but i heard the helplessness also. call your daddy, she said.

i do hope that you guys that are here today will purchase the book, be able to discuss it with others, share it, learn something from it, and thank you for being here. [applause] >> thank you very much indeed. you know this process of writing a book is all consuming. i have worked on it for many years actually. someone asked me recently why are you releasing it now, as if i had anything to do with when the publishers would accept it, when they would release it. i talked to my sister but at one point during the process, and she said this in, backoff. it's not about you setting the timetable when the book is ready. it will present itself to the public. i believe her. and just beautifully got into

the process of doing it. it was a gut wrenching process at times, as i explained to some people earlier. one of the reasons for the delay was the bumping into the emotional debris, that kind of stuff you pick up when you go through an experience like the one we had at central high school. there's a tendency to collect a lot of stuff, and you take it with you down through the years. it's necessary to whisking that stuff away. writing the book was a part of whisking it away. but now that it is in print, i can get on with life and do other things. i'm glad that we are here tonight because we have a chance to talk together about some of the questions you might have for us as writers about some of the things that you may wondered about what went on in central high school. and we could have a chance to interact. one of the things i liked about this kind of gathered is we do have a chance to relate to each other. i'm firmly convinced that the relationship is the key to resolving all of our problems. i spoke to a reporter today, and

he was asking, well, what are we going to do about the state we're in. i said we're going to have to learn to say hello to each other and mean it. you know, build a strong dyads, and from that, those dyads become the building blocks for community, for a nation, for a society, and eventually a universe if you believe in the. i dream about that at times but it's the kind of good and that is soothing and helps me sleep. i can't have that dream after i watched cnn. [laughter] >> i go to sleep right after that the dreams are a little different. i keep seeing this guy, which is faceup alabama? sessions. [laughter] >> you know how you can determine what's going on inside the school of the person just by the burbage that spills out of his or her mouth? i get that. sometimes i worry about my ability to discern that stuff because it causes me to murder his thoughts.

[laughter] >> and i'm basically a peaceful person. i don't want to or anybody. never have. the rest of that is never will but i can't say that. but in any case, i am indeed glad that we had this opportunity and i look forward to interacting with several of you as you come to have your book signed. thank you. [applause] >> okay. does anybody have questions? yes, ma'am. [inaudible] >> i'm a social worker and i see and hear the background that you do, trained as a social worker, and of course i love social work. and i think there's a reason that we come to social worker so

i would just be curious if you could say something about whether your background ledge in that direction. and then i wonder why did you even go into psychology? >> that's a good question. i think i had this notion that as a person, interested in resolving social problems i could do it best from some professional standpoint. i was disappointed with my fellow social workers, because that particular crowd, this is not to say that all social workers are like this, but they seem to be more interested in doing scientifically. and they want to go out and earn great sums of money. that was not my goal. but i figured this psychotherapy stuff looks interesting. why don't i check it out. that's how i got to psychology. i thought about going to do psychotherapy i might as well understand it, you know, from that point. but then i discovered that psychologists are indeed crazy

people. [laughter] >> i mean, it was overwhelming. fortunately i had a social work background so i survived. [laughter] >> thank you. >> anyone else? >> it doesn't work. >> i'm a student at central now, and i'm in a class where we have been talking about, well, pretty much the everyday stories that we hear all the time there and we were sitting in class, and it's not that we were thought we were getting tired of it, it was like we want to know more. and my question was, even though all this stuff is going on, did you still feel like a regular student who had all this homework to do and were worried if you're going to pass the test that you had to take or anything? >> oh, yes. but we never worried about that

stuff. i think. is that too, carlota? you didn't worry about taking a test that you are a smart kid. [laughter] >> i don't know about that. but as far as being tested, i was tested so much pride to going to central, so testing was just a part of all of it. but we didn't have a normal high school year, or years. >> no, it was a very abnormal, absolutely. thank you. >> any other questions? >> last night when i heard -- last night when i heard doctor roberts is the guy asked a question, when the nine of you and this evening i'm asking you the question, after you graduate and start to go out into life and have a normal life, was that ever a time when, not to eat you wish you were not one of the

night, but it's almost like a shot, or always being one of the night, as you go out and date or have children, you just want to have a normal life, was it ever a time where it fell like a heavy burden to bear being one of the nine even though it was historical? >> no. that's what i'm saying. i didn't have a normal high school life. and i picked the college for the wrong reasons. and that was just to get lost. and that was that way for me for almost 30 years. i did not discuss this at all. it was not until we came back from the 30th anniversary that i was somewhat forced to start talking about it. and that's pretty much how the whole thing got started. so no, i didn't die but i never introduced myself as one of the "little rock nine." that was never -- in fact, after the 30th anniversary, i will

never forget a friend of mine coming up to me upset that, you know, we have been friends for 20 some odd years and just never knew that part of my life. and cnn had documented the 30th anniversary. [laughter] >> i would like to thank you that i am honored and privileged that you did tell your story. i mean, it is just remarkable to all of us sitting here this evening, and i thank you for finding courage to be able to write a book that you did. so i thank you. [applause] >> my family and i, this is my daughter here, moved to arkansas and 1958. pretty much the eye of this crisis. and i was politicized by the city, and educated by the great

editor of the old arkansas gazette. but my question is, i think we whites are much more sensitive now than we were 50 years ago. and assuming that's right, maybe it's not but maybe it's right. if it is right, what has come to iceboat a certain extent of the laws of the country, i don't think churches have helped much, but maybe they have. would you all have -- it depends upon which the extent that we extent that it goes too far on your personal i got it would apply. but to the extent it does, i think what made it happened was your own personal choice and conviction to step beyond the ordinary. not to follow the crowd, not to get into the peer pressure to be just like those folks that we

all look at, think where did they come from. yeah. so very good. >> i would like to turn that around to you. you moved here in 1968. your daughter couldn't even go to school. so i mean, why would you do that? i mean, were you in elementary -- high school? >> i moved to fayetteville and i was darting junior high school right in the spirit you moved, okay. >> no, we were not living here. but i understood that a lot of people i know. >> anybody would have moved here, i have to question that. so that was the only reason i brought that up in i didn't know

you moved to fayetteville because of his. >> we have a question in the back. >> as we have noted today, that you guys were not the first to integrate a school district, but the mere presence of president national focus on you held capitalize on the movement. now as we forward 50 years later, what are some other populations that are going through this today and struggles, and do you think that we have to have a national presence or spotlight on a few to move those populations forward to? >> i don't think so, necessarily. i think what we need is a recognition that we do not have a society that is equal, that there is no such thing as a level playing field, that we are indeed not colorblind as what we should not be. why would you voluntarily disable yourself in the first

place. and miss out on the riches of who we are, that sort of thing. so want to come to that understanding, we can look around and see what problems need be resolved. and if in fact we want to resolve those problems we will. we don't have to have a group spotlighted. and use that as a catalyst or actions. if that makes sense. >> i guess a more specific question or follow, whether it is gay, lesbian people, whether it is muslims being oppressed, informally over and very institutionally. >> the question is that who is being oppressed, but some people are being oppressed but why is there oh pression. i've resist the notion of singling out groups just for that reason. and people running around with banners putting us as opposed to them perhaps. i don't know. but i think it is about understanding that in a just society, nobody is for any

reason, if that makes sense. >> can i comment on that just briefly? as you know, terry, i live in san diego county, it and it is the first stop for illegal immigrants. they come up there, and i'm just stunned by the things that my neighbor say and think about that. and they just don't understand. i'm fortunate that i speak spanish, and i talked to the more. i find that these people, they come from doctors and. and what they're really about are people looking for opportunity, as we all do. i don't really have the answer to your question but i would say that's one of the repressed minority. there is a legal issue i understand that. but it is sad, and lack of

communication. >> we had another question in the back. >> in the aftermath of the past 50 years, what is your personal level of well being about the crisis of 1957? >> my personal level of well being? >> a sanity check. [laughter] >> i was insane then. no, i was saying then and i think i am saying now. you know, a lot of people, a number of questions i will get when i speak to colleges about, you know, when it's over with they say you know, you don't seem like you are angry or hateful or all of that sort of stuff. you know, but i was not taught that at home.

i was not taught hate at home. so i had to look at these people were just rude people there and that's where i was. where i was coming from. so i think i was saying then, even at 14, because i knew i had the right to be there. and i kept my sanity the best way i have been able to come and that's really by staying above it all. now you know, that might not work for the other eight, but it worked for me. and that's the way i dealt with it. >> doctor robert, you are a psychologist. are you saying? [laughter] >> i truly doubt it. >> would you know?

>> good evening. my name is acknowledged. i am a teacher at central high school and i must hand and say thank you to mrs. lanier for coming to mike lasso and accepting the invitation my students said. a wonderful intimate conversation with her and just a classroom of students and it was a beautiful, awesome moment. my question is, with students from all areas of the spectrum falling through the cracks, without having the obstacles that you had in 1957, what are your thoughts and what are some things that you can share that we as a community can reach out to those students, or say to them today, you know, the obstacles that you are facing right now, you can't compare

them to what will you went through a chu persevered and you pushed through. i think because of your background, because of what you've gone through, you have some awesome things that you can share. share, with us as teachers and also with student and i think that would make a difference. >> well, you know, as i talked to your class, i gave a background of myself and that's what i tried to do with this book. i do feel that, you know, history will continue to repeat itself if we don't, you know, break the chain of some of the things that have gone on. and one thing i think that the nine of us had is, it might be missing a lot of -- a lot of

kids today is that family unit. and we all had a strong family unit. and is not to say that we all had a two parent family. i hate hearing this excuse of why people can't do certain things here kiddo, i came from a single parent household. well, that had nothing -- to me that has nothing to do. it's what you want to make of yourself in life, and that one person in that extended family that you have, whether it is the neighborhood or the true community or what have you. you gain a lot of direction from those people. we don't put education as high enough on the to do list in my mind. and that is what we -- you know,

that was just part of the breakfast every morning. you know, to be prepared, to do well in school. as i said before, my father -- i remember getting up when i was three and four years of age, and pulling out this little wagon of abc blocks, and before he would go to work i had to go through all of that. and his statement to me was that he was to put a roof over my head and put food on the table, and my job, was to go to school and do well and bring a's and b's home. and you know, you just said, with any c's, d's or f's. in the neighborhood was supported that. and my teachers at stephens elementary school supported that. my teachers at dunbar junior high school supported that. so i think that we just need to get back to the basics.

>> i echo that. i certainly ago all the carlotta said. education is not seen as a high priority. and that is a problem, because if you have parents who really want to push their kids to an excellence in education, and yet we have a society that games are the things to be much more important, i.e., the acquisition of large sums of money or flashy accoutrements, stuff that reflects sunlight for whatever reason. [laughter] >> that is a problem. >> i had a question that someone follows up on that, i'm from brandeis university. and i studied education. i also recently spoke to ted scott, and i know you have met

with many students. and as you have been meeting with students today, and as you've been talking about your book in meeting with students today, what kind of response have you received? can you recall any kind of specific responses students, things they have said to you today about this experience that you have had? >> one thing that stuck, that is very clear to me from some white students, and not all, but some white students is some anger. they have aimed to because they didn't learn about this. i did not know about this. why am i just now getting this in high school or college? i had a lot of college students step up. and i mean, just pure anger. one young man said that there was no way he could have

participated in the manner, in other words, not retaliated. and i said see, you have that white privilege to do that. [laughter] >> we didn't. you know, so -- but that has stood out in my mind more than anything else. and it actually makes me feel good to recognize what they had been taught, you know, i thought i was getting the best education possible. that's what they were thinking when they really found out that they missed out on a lot. and they have missed out on a lot. so that's just one of the first things that comes to my mind. >> and it makes sense that that would have been. another thing i have seen is this continuum of students from all ages. at one end, you have students who virtually have zero interest in learning anything. and then you have at the other

end, fortunately, those who want everything they can learn out and everything else in between. so what i try to do is encourage everybody to lean in that direction, learn everything that is possible. the message i give to teachers, because they are involved in the process, is at first we have to get rid of this label, teacher, because it implies that something is known. [laughter] >> so i think that teachers have to be learners. they have to model learning. they have to master the process of learning in the presence of the students so the student can actually see learning as it takes place. then they are highly motivated. they are not motivated on someone who pretends to know stuff. that doesn't work. >> i would like to add a thought to what carlotta was talking about which is when my editor at national geographic asked me to write his book, the number one thing she said is that kids today will be unfathomable, unfathomable?

that you had to go to classes protected by the 101st airborne. it would be beyond their comprehension, and that's why we wrote this book, because we wanted to tell the story for kids today. and you are right. >> now i did point out that that was a white student. and now to balance this, i need to also say that i am displeased really that african-american students do not know their history, as kerry and i and the other seven learned when we were coming along. and you know, nowadays yes, we do have black history month, but we had black history every day. in a sense. we had some very good teachers who were very creative. because that was the reason we

went to central. we didn't have those things over in dunbar that was there at central. we had access to learning materials that i have always championed those black teachers at dunbar, because they had to go out of their way to teach us. okay here they could not take a class of kids from dunbar and go to the public library and learn the system. they had to do the thing right there at dunbar. and even though my aunt was a librarian there, she did all she could, but i do know that when you compare what dunbar had and what central had, hey, it is a no-brainer. you go get what everybody else had. >> we have time for one more question. i think in the back over here.

>> it's been 50 years since it was initially integrated, it is still segregated and a sense, socially. blocks xavier, white said here, not that there's anything written down that they had to sit there, but blacks is friends with blacks and whites is friends with white. not to say they never mix but it seems it's still a bit segregated, and that's disheartening completely, but i was just wondering on where we go now? >> maybe disheartening but it is real that it reflects the larger society. most of us live what i call mono racial, mono culture lives. we do not have a cadre of friends from many, many

different areas of different cultures and so forth. that's the american way. today. doesn't have to be. now interestingly enough, in the mix of that i don't subscribe to that way of learning. you choose how you are going to live. how you're going to navigate this terrain. most people don't think about that. basically see what's going on and reflect that as in responding to peer pressure or some other mythological construct like that. is important for us as individuals to know, we do not have to be bound by custom or the way things are usually done. we can do it differently. the students at central avenue side they want to do it differently, they will. they probably won't, but they could. >> tomorrow and friday we will be commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the desegregation

of central high school. we commemorate the september 25 the day and night are escorted into the school for the first school day by u.s. army troops and where commemorate it with a symposium, all the sessions will be held at the college. is called speaking the truth on social issues and politics in the 21st century. we are bringing in keynote speakers and experts from around the country, and also from the local area, to talk about issues facing our nation today in education, politics, and a number of other factors. carlotta walls lanier will be joining us. doctor roberts and several others. and our guests are rolling in tonight as we speak it with a couple of them here with us tonight who drove in. we have jane clingman who drove in from cincinnati, ohio, today. he is author of the book called black in nymex. and would also have has anybody heard of homer in the plessy the ferguson case we have his great,

great -- how many greats? >> three grandsons. >> great-nephew. great, great nephew. mr. keith plessy is whether city will be joining us. so they will talk on friday evening. so it's going to be an exciting couple of days and we are so glad you all could kick it off for us tonight. there will be signing copies for a few more minutes and i'm sure they would be happy to answer other questions for a few more minutes. thank you so much for joining us. [applause]

>> i say that to young people better every once in a while fox will send speak to a college campus somewhere. i would rather go to kandahar quite frankly. and i will say to young people i keep coming with heroes, and i know i have conjured up in the mind of a young person the image of somebody wearing a spandex suit and a cape. but that's not the definition of a hero. the definition of a hero is a person who has put himself at risk for the benefit of others. that's basically all i do. i know that some of my colleagues at fox news.com and the rest of the so-called mainstream media don't get that. i tell them every once in a

while that the military and the media have a lot in common. they both take casualties. they do. and the military we all know what that is. to me is when they fall off their iqs. [laughter] >> both the military and the media rely on feedback. in the military, the feedback is the enemy advancing or is he in the wire? or have they retreated. that's the back. the effectiveness of what you do. the effectiveness of what we do in and broadcasting in the media more broadly, is measured by whether people buy your books or people watch your shows, or whether they listen to you on the radio. it's all called ratings. we also get our feedback now, most of the time, on literally by e-mail. we actually look at this tough as it comes in. i brought with me one of the e-mails i receive while i was

covering troops overseas. i was on a rooftop in iraq. i was on tv at four in morning after. i'm standing next to one of those who again in a gunfight, and i have said on the air ground combat is the worst expect a human being can have. and alan combe actually debated as though he knew something about it. and aftermath of this, there i'm standing like right next to one of these hardcharging americans who had been in a gunfight. and right afterwards we go cold on the show but we keep the satellite of. and i start seeing e-mails that are coming in from people who are watching that segment. this is an actual, honest feedback in immediate. colonel north on tonight's homes, you said ground, is the worst expect a human can have. this is not true. the worst expect any human could have a spending time with my

mother-in-law. [laughter] >> my best friend -- that's real. my best friend spent two years in iraq and a tour of duty in afghanistan but he lost his right hand in falluja. he met my mother-in-law. i just called and. he agrees with me. it is not in a close call. gym and sanyo. that is feedback in immediate. there is a picture for you. if i may relate what i do to where i'm going tomorrow. i am going tomorrow to go to afghanistan. i will be out there embed with u.s. forces on the ground, and in some cases collocated with afghan national army and afghan national police. i want to give you, i want you to understand my perspective. i have a son in the greatest generation. tom brokaw's office was right next to mine. up on a tour of the same building we are in today.

tom brokaw had just written that book the greatest generation. my mom and dad were part -- in fact, the cover of that book could have easily been my mom and dad. there's a soldier starters and a beautiful woman's legs. that was my mom. and i have looked back carefully, not only what was in this book but in a generation. as it influenced as a young person growing up, that's the message i have for you. that is the message of this great firearms museum. the message is that the legacy that has been left for the next generation. that's why this museum is such an important part of who we are as a people in america. and that's why that legacy was handed off to my brothers and me, influenced all of us, everyone of us served in the military. not because we're more patriotic than the next-door neighbor, but it was part of who we are. it was part of who my parents were. every one of my uncles served in world war ii. the media today is full of

stories about how desperate the situation is in afghanistan. i had brought with me for a five different newspapers, all of which have a story here on page one or about how bad things are in afghanistan. you can take the word afghanistan out of the article and two years ago the word would have been iraq. well, guess what? they won the war in iraq. soldiers, sailors, airmen, guardsmen and marine in the united states of america won that war. and yet you would not know that from the media, because as soon as the war turned around they stopped covering it. and today all the bad news is coming out of afghanistan. i would like to remind young people who didn't have that blessing that i did growing up with. in the greatest generation, that in world war ii, and i went back and check because i knew i was going to be here tonight. i went back and checked on this day and 1942, the operation, the

first american offensive both world war ii, remember, pearl harbor had been bombed seven months before. america lost every single battle it was in, up until june, the battle of midway. every single battle was a disaster. by june when the new way is one at a naval air power, by june, tens of thousands of americans were dead, not just in pearl harbor but all across the pacific ocean. they were americans died on the beaches of tea at who landed with the kennedys and the breads into the famous raid. you had a disaster going on north africa. it was a total reversal of everything everyone thought would happen. it was terrible news. the battle for guadalcanal was 20 days old today in 1942.

20 days long. when they landed at guadalcanal they expected it to be at max a 30 day battle. it was still going on six months later. there was absolutely no one who forecast that america could be put in that kind of a situation, yet at the end of the day, the nation's mobilizes and we win the war. and make no doubt about it, it would not have happened had the united states not gotten into the war. europe would've been ruled by hitler and his talent and japan would have run asia. now, when you look at the way the news is being covered today, and the disparaging things that are being said routinely by my colleague in the mainstream media about those who serve in our armed forces, or those who support our armed forces, and i have met several other contractors to today, that's the new dirty word in america,

contractor. the media has to get out to the american people are going to do to these soldiers, sailors, sailors, guardsmen and marines in my generation came back from vietnam. the american people are not going to stand for. and in large part that's because the extraordinary experience of these young americans. that hasn't stopped politicians from denigrating them. we all know of certain politicians in washington. i'm trying not to be partisan here. mr. president. i don't want to be partisan, but we know a certain illinois senator whose nickname is a dick. [laughter] >> excusing. i am just quoting him. and the like and those two serving in our armed forces. and was a medially jumped on in some of these town halls to look like picnics. he stop doing it. the new york crimes and the

washington compost -- [laughter] -- described, this again, this is how they started out. nothing but poor kids from mississippi, texas and alabama. god knows why they picked those three states. couldn't get a decent job aren't health care joined the military because that's all that we offered them. i am not bragging or complaining. this is my 16th trip to cover this war. i spent a month in the field with these youngsters. that's not the description of the youngsters somehow magically these misfits don't show up in the units that i cover. i've only covered 45 units in this war. that book out there, not one of those photographs is staged. that one of those images of hundreds of miles of footage that i have shot were sent out. it's all the real thing. >> this was a portion of a booktv program. you can view the entire program, and many other booktv programs, online. go to booktv.org.

type the name of the author or book into the search area in the upper left hand area of the page. select the watch link. now you can view the entire program. you might also explore the recently on booktv box, or the featured video box to find reason and featured programs. >> and now from the young america's foundation conservative student conference, a panel on what to read in college. files are regular executive editor and conservative book club editor elizabeth kantor. lee edwards of the heritage foundation is the moderator of this discussion. is just over an hour.

>> good morning. welcome to the 31st annual national conservative student comment here at george washington university and hosted by young america's foundation. my name is patrick and i make interns don't have the foundation. young america's foundation is a premier organization to educate students on the principles of limited government, individual liberty, a strong national defense and traditional value. a also host a campus lecture series through which you can have such speakers as newt gingrich, walter williams and anne coulter for more

information i urge all to go to www.y. ef.org or call us at 800 u.s.a. 1776. and now for these moderator. doctor lee edwards is a distinguished cell and conservative thought of the heritage foundation, an adjunct professor at the catholic university of america and chairman of the victims of memorial foundation dedicated to the victims of comment is a memorial in 2007. he is the author of 20 books including biographies of ronald reagan, barry goldwater, edward nease, histories of the american conservative movement and the heritage foundation. his works have been translated into chinese, japanese, swedish and french. he was a founding director at georgetown university and a fellow at the institute of politics at the john f. kennedy school of government at harvard. he is a past president of the philadelphia society and an