have in terms of obviously our own morning for our friend but then also trying to support his family and help his community a fellow is really and palestinian peace builder struggle to understand what happened in the struggle to respond to that we became very close to the family, and i became very, very close, many of us did to his older sister who was also his best friend. and at the end of the long story where the government had a commission of inquiry and which they found that the force had been used but rather than holding anyone responsible, they called for the police to do an internal investigation, and as many police forces do when they do internal investigations all for the world, the police determined that they had done nothing wrong. and the twists and turns potentially the attorney general in 2008 closed the case. there would be no prosecution.

case was closed. not this just this case but all of the citizens of israel. well, there was a demonstration that happened the next day after the decision was announced and was in front of the office of the israeli attorney general and the demonstration was led an organized and participated in by a group of the jewish and israeli friends, so it had been prevented seeds of peace demonstrating against the attorney general's decision, and they wrote a very strong words to the attorney general and got many people to sign it and martine, the sister wrote an e-mail to this group of the jewish is really friends and in that letter she said you have no idea how much strength it gives me to see demonstrating for asile and justice. i'm not goods with words i will just say i'm proud of you, and proud to be your friend and on this side of the struggle.

nardine's words tuesday with an's jewish friends have always stated in my head because i think she chose the birds intentionally. she said i'm proud to be on your side in the struggle. this was a palestinian woman writing to a group of jewish is really young men and women and she was saying we are on the same side because i think nardine was saying, and i deeply believe and i know that sammy believes the five are not as we have been taught to believe israelis versus palestinians. the sides are those that benefit different ways from occupied and that includes the israelis and palestinians and jews and christians and muslims. the other side are those that are standing up and fighting non-violently and insisting for peace that is predicated on the true equal become a true

dignity, equal rights where everyone's needs and fears and rights are given equal consideration. and that side includes palestinians and israelis and jews and christians and muslims. we need that side to be bigger and growth that site as large as we can but i think the first step of that is in some ways refraining how we see the conflict. sammy said to me one time, and i believe it is in the introduction of the book he said you know, it's better for your children of my children's rights and needs are guaranteed and it's better for my children of your children's rights and needs are guaranteed. and then he contradicted himself right after he said that because the next thing he said as well, actually there is no such thing as your children and my children because they are all our children. thank you very much for being here. [applause]

>> is there and nonfiction author or bouck you would like to see feature on booktv? send an e-mail at booktv@c-span.org or tauter at utter.com/book tv. >> book tv attended a book colonel to become party for colonel p.o.w. that said over five years in prison in hanoi and camps and other cities. the party attendees include senator john mccain and orson swindle, former commissioner of the federal trade commission. this is about 45 minutes. >> hello admiral, good to see you. thank you for coming hello, donna. i don't think we have met before. >> [inaudible] >> that's right. that's right you're looking great. >> i was of all concerned last night and this morning. i didn't sleep well last night.

[inaudible conversations >> are you moving around the land? >> i am. i am covering the land. indianapolis tomorrow. >> [inaudible conversations start to write for themselves. >> i have my managing director for am i publishing company that's done a great job. >> great to see you, tom. >> wonderful, wonderful. >> i remember this one. >> this would have been yesterday. >> okay. tell her she is in our prayers.

[inaudible conversations >> thank you for coming out. good to see you all. >> when we got the last message [inaudible] >> you were supposed to. door address is on the mailing list. probably send it to the wrong place. >> so glad that you are here. >> let me grab another. i didn't know what it was going to be like. >> [inaudible conversations i don't get excited a very easily but i'm kind of excited about this. it's kind of like, you know, you just keep plugging away in a dream they have a really good team that's working.

>> [inaudible conversations [inaudible conversations

[inaudible conversations >> thank you so much. thank you. >> right after became. i have a script written out trying to get out of my head i not. i have to read. >> we have a congressman brown here tonight good to see you.

and it's good to see you. >> it's good to see you. thanks for coming. [inaudible conversations

thanks for coming >> the leadership we had was incredible. there's not many situations you have guys that get the best leaders everyday. and they stay true to the court. everything got burned when they stood up and they were very clear so that made a great impression. and then having the leadershipñ in the air force i was of a leader i learned a lot they would say why don't you write a book? we don't need another biography and then i realized something unique contribute the situation

to the story and make it something that could really make a difference. >> what was the most significant quality -- >> the first is you have to be authentic. you've got to walk the talk, you've got to be volatile and sometimes you are wrong and sometimes you make a mistake. that is what great leaders do. but you have to -- when it comes time to doing the tough hard things that our honorable you have to clear and have the courage to be able to do. and, you know, i have to coach myself sometimes. i have the courage to do what i also do. >> [inaudible] >> first looking at what i know the standard is of what a good

leadership is and what integrity character is and if i'm doing that, then they are probably going to respect me now they can do their job better than me but i'm going to freeze them to go to be great leaders somewhere either in my place or somewhere. >> how has this helped you -- >> i had been gone for five and a half years and i had been in combat it never been in operational units in combat and then i took three months off and i got promoted because of my p.o.w. what i had done in the camps and all eight years behind, it was that stuff i learned about leadership that enabled me to compete and stay

up with my peers. so, that experience gave me the understanding about what leadership was about and i was able to do the technical stuff. >> how did you get into the p.o.w. -- >> eight and a half years. >> i had a good friend do you know him at all [inaudible] >> i know dave baker. >> he died a couple years ago. and he was an amazing guy. >> thank you so much for coming.

i'm going to circulate and i will speak shortly. sorry i keep running off. >> how are you, good to see you? >> congratulations.ñ÷ >> good to see you again. >> i keep telling judy to read that. i signed a book. i shouldn't have done this but last month -- hauer are you doing? >> nice to see you. >> i was signing books and he said selling this book to carroll, read the damn book. he said she has stacks of books. i said i can't do that. does she have a great sense of humor? yeah. but i said i shouldn't have done that. >> we were together on the cruise at the reunion here. i remember. he was on my right and you were

on my left. there was a great event. >> many years ago. >> i'm amazed that you've made that. >> i made it for more than four. spinnaker that always entertaining to the estimate always entertaining, yes. >> you dominated my book a little too much. have you seen your story? i got the story about barney. when you first moved into the hall with us you started telling us movies and you told them so

accurately we said that he would work in a movie theater growing up and you had seen these movies over and over many times working in the movie theater and you told the story and the part about jack lemmon finding of the liquor and rolling around and getting drunk and you told it so accurately when i saw the movie it blew me away. you did a fabulous job. >> i went and found it because i wanted to see yet. >> i don't know if you ever heard the story. did you ever hear that? >> yes. >> i wish that i had the poem. that's what i wish i had. but you know, every day

[inaudible] >> you gave me permission mary made in calligraphy. i want to be able to put it on my web site. >> [inaudible conversations [inaudible conversations] >> how are you? he was with us for five years to come and new jersey and he always told us about this

comfortable, 64, yellow and haleh convertible. i'm driving on interstate 45 and atlanta and i see this older i italian looking couple driving a yellow and paula, 64 comfortable i pull over to interstate 45 and fly them over to pull over to the side of the road and they did. they got out and said are you from new jersey and they said yes. i said i lived in hanoi. >> but it wasn't jerry? >> it was his parents. they were going to montgomery to see you at montgomery. >> they had told that story for years to respect the spend and the remainder of the career in the air force. some are you living in new jersey now? >> we are right on the street here.

>> i live in northern virginia. >> do you live with him? >> i have to circulate. >> you know about the story right? >> yes, i do. >> there he is right now. where is your blight? >> she couldn't be here. >> i'm sorry. >> she looks forward to meeting you. she is still at work. >> understand. >> she had an emergency and she feels bad. >> we will get together for dinner some time. >> you are very special to her. >> thank you for inviting me. >> thank you for coming. >> i have got six pages of notes

>> i look forward to. >> thank you. it's exciting and we have so many friends here, high school classmate. >> one of your sunday school students from georgia i think he was a sunday school -- >> yes, he was in my class. he loves the book and he's been promoting mittal for the country. he said i'm going to be there. >> karen senator re. she feels like she knows you even though she's never met you, so at some point when you come up here, please, let me know. >> that's the guy that made me look good. [laughter] and there is -- have you met my

wife? welcome here she is. >> we flew together went through survival school together at the air force base in california, went to vietnam. he made it back, i got shot down. i have a couple favorite memories though. i know he remembers this. he was a medal of honor winner and we were good friends. the next thing i remember is after we split up when we had the first -- we had a big party.

>> that's another story but the association flew north of the red river. the team walking down the door in the command post. and said -- >> they remember me quite well. it was exciting to be there. >> we really appreciate you all being here tonight. he would have been here if he hadn't gone to kansas. >> one of our peers this general richard myers who was the chairman of the joint chiefs regretted that he couldn't come to be if he had to go back to

kansas but he flew into the same time you get invited and he flew a little higher than we did. >> it depends on the point of view. >> he's a wonderful man. coincidently, one of his many jobs he's the chairman of the board which coincidentally whose office is in my building up on the 12th floor much loftier than mine and he stopped by the other day. i think he's on the fourth floor >> tell them we thought about him and appreciate his service he did there for a long time. >> we flew together again. i went back -- he might not

remember this. i went back in 1972 and he was flying the squadron so we didn't fly closely together at that point in time. we had been there several times over the years and he lives right down the street from us and we see them on occasion and we had a good deal going for a while. he's chosen because of medical reasons not mental reasons to not stress so there was a new year's eve party we went to every year and i said i will go down if you will drive back. >> no, you drove last year, so it's not bad, the chairman of the joint pete kortright chief of staff. >> the one thing we did is we

>> it's good to see you again. >> i wanted to say hello. it's my pleasure. >> he said he knew you. he thought highly of you as a matter of fact. >> he's a great man. >> he said you were. >> everybody gets a copy signed by myself and it's kind of a commemorative book and then you can go to barnes and noble. >> what are you doing, speaking a lot? >> doing some leadership consulting and speaking business. >> getting through to people? >> i am, i think so. we don't change we are all hard

headed but i figure if we can just get one thing, each person can get one thing out of a book or speech it will make a difference then it's worth it. thank you for coming. it's my pleasure. thank you. >> would you like something to drink? >> [inaudible conversations] before you go too far do you remember jerry? >> this is his wife. i will let you do the rest.

>> army helicopter pilots. his book was better than mine was. [laughter] >> how are you? it's nice to see you. >> would you mind joining us? >> thank you. >> thank you. >> very nice to meet you.

>> is that right? >> it is a different conference now. >> that's exciting. >> [inaudible conversations] they get into the little bit, don't they? >> you get the full experience. [inaudible conversations] [applause] >> ignore the man that just walked in.

i'm going to make this quick i went to georgia tech and leila's went to georgia and we haven't beaten the university of georgia but one time in the last ten years, so i just want to make this remark and he is a fine guy. he's rather uneducated because of where we went to school but on the other hand i am very educated and very quickly a long time ago in a place far, far away, a group of americans, many of your contemporaries but much of you are much under had the pleasure of going to graduate school in a terrible place. it took over six years on average to get out of there. a lot of it had to do with academic problems which held us back, but most of all we were in a laboratory and a literally was in a laboratory of incredibly unique i don't think the business school could quite compare with what we encountered. we learned of leadership, we possessed it to a certain extent

and we had agreed leaders some of them will be introduced to ensure shortly both senior and junior but nobody quite captured that experience in the light of what it was. leadership principles are universal. they apply to every situation i've ever been in command the book you are going to receive today and hear from lee "leading with honor" took the experiences we all shared on a very difficult circumstance and a blend them into the lessons of leadership from hanoi. it's just incredible. john mccain and leave each other early on never having been shot down just a few days apart. it's always an honor to introduce someone who needs no introduction and if i stayed in a wonder he would be throwing something at me. >> my dear friend the honorable john mccain. [applause]

>> thank you all for being here very much. i guess when it was kissinger i said once a man that needs no introduction and kissinger says yes but i always enjoy it. thank you all for being here. it's nice to see old friends and it's always a bit nostalgic for me to be with my old friends and compatriots and asset we went through very difficult time together but we also went three times that forged the bonds of friendship and honor and dignity that i don't think that you could replicate in any other way, so while we stood back on our experiences as a great honor to have the great privilege of serving in the company if he rose, and i got one of them that just introduced me, the funny thing about marines, they are

not for a smart, but they can be pretty stubborn and the vietnamese found that out. by the way, i have a phrase i use i said when i graduated from the naval academy i tried to get in the marine corps but my parents were married that used to go over for a long time and then i wonder of one wonders my son jimmy joins the marine corps at age 18 and served a year in iraq as a lance corporal he's now at texas a&m. the marines are part of the navy department, he said. it's the men's department. [laughter]

i don't tell the joke around him anymore but i used to. he has written a remarkable book, and it is about leadership and the world continues to cry out for american leadership as we watch thousands of people being slaughtered in syria today in the absence of american leadership is conspicuous by its absence. as the people in the middle east and the taliban and al qaeda believe that the united it states is withdrawing it cries out for leadership, and one of the famous stories that may be anecdotal taliban prisoner is being interrogated by an american officer and he says you've got the watches, we've got time, very interesting

commentary upon the lack of american leadership. i think that lee articulates in his book the exceed those of heroism, leadership, a man like jim stockdale and bill lawrence and raviv, and the names that so many of us remember who inspired us and inspired us to the degree that we were able to do things that we otherwise would not have been able to with their inspirational leadership. that's what lee is all about. that's what his life has been about and that is what this book is all about to be the americans always need heroes and we have so many now as a result of the iraq and afghanistan war but we also have a special generation of leaders as a result of the vietnam war. it took the american people a long time to recover from that and those of us that came back

to search salles ase change military than the one that we had been in and late 1960's, and so i unhappy that today we have the finest men and women who are serving in the military today than i have ever seen. it's a successful all volunteer force and it's produced leaders like general david petraeus and others of his quality car ray odierno, so many that are really outstanding leaders, and most of them got their beginning in trial by fire guess where, in vietnam. so i know that there are many of my old friends here today, tonight and there are many that have served their country with honor and distinction. i'm always honored to be in the company of those of you that have come in and it inspires me to try to do the right thing and stand up for the men and women that are serving. and i will recommend my book, this book to my colleagues in

the senate because all of us can never learn enough about leadership. congratulations. thank you all for being here. god bless. [applause] >> i have six pages of notes, which i'm not going to use. >> good evening everyone. thank you for coming. as i look around the room, i see people from my high school class to the united states senate and everything in between that have crossed my path over the years and have inspired me and encouraged me along the way. so i think you for being here and i hope to have the opportunity to speak with each one of you while you are here tonight. we are submitting the launch of the book "leading with honor" leadership lessons from hanoi.

for 39 years ago, senator mccain and myself and others came home from that war. it was a long time ago, but the lessons that we learned articles relevant today as they were in the p.o.w. camps. what makes them special i think is the fact that they were tried and tested under the most difficult circumstances. we had some remarkable leaders. senator mccain mentioned some earlier, and they were. and when all the way down. the example set the pace for me, a junior officer in the camp, and that meant so much. i was there for five years, four months and two weeks. it sounds like a long time. he was here a little bit ago but his son is in the hospital and was the longest held a p.o.w. in the henley group. eight years, six months and he

returned with honor and he has had such a remarkable experience in the years since. i wished he were here. i would love to have him stand up and let us honor him. there are others with us tonight, several but i haven't seen in a while. one by one to mention especially because he arrived in hanoi the same day i did and that was right over there on the keen. we rode the truck. [applause] we rode the truck into hanoi together bouncing along and we thought we might be given to the slaughterhouse. we didn't know but we ended up in the help him in a cell that was six and a half feet by 7 feet. that's about the size of a small bathroom. well it was our bathroom. we had a bucket but it wasn't just jim and me and it wasn't just three of us, it was for us

in this room and six and a half by 7-foot cell was our bathroom, our living room, or bedroom and our dining room for the next nine months. that is generally the way that our life was. in the winter it was cold, very cold and never enough to keep our bodies warm the first winter. the summer was so hot we have heat rash and sometimes we didn't get to to get out and get cleaned up and it was not exactly fun. many of the guys had a terrible injuries from there he ejections like senator mccain. he was the seriously injured all of us. and he came home with honor. the story of the opportunities he had to come home early are in the book and their courage he showed by staying and coming home in order to shoot down and capture with the rest of us.

it was a long time, along period some of those that didn't get the medical help the food wasn't a great cover the first four years of the situation there was always torture going on in some camps and most all the camps at any one time. we didn't write home for several years. i'm telling you this note because we want pity because that's the last thing p.o.w. wants. i'm telling you this because i want you to consider the leadership in a situation like that that that is an example where the leaders have to go under the gun every day. but you can look at and really i think some great lessons about leadership. we were able to endure because we had a great resources and a heritage of freedom. we had great leadership that had

been well trained and we were well trained. we had team work and commitment to each other. there's no better example of commitment to each other and teamwork than that of john reynolds and bald, the air force captain scott fighter pilots. john had been tortured, had actually been on water. he wouldn't give them the statement a wanted. he was tortured. he finally gave them something that was nothing but they put him back in the cell with no food because they wanted to break him a little more. pursy found out about it. he was three doors down. he sent the message by tapping on the wall with the tax code down to john reynolds and said tell john to be looking for bedrock today. well, john didn't know what to expect. but during siesta that day, that's when all the guards, not all the cards but all of the

cooks and the turnkey's take a nap or acs the they really took a siesta. john heard something rattling around in his ceiling and all of a sudden, his light bulb hanging down on the ceiling dropped down and there was a crowning a percy who'd gone through the ceiling in his room through the barbed wire in the attic and was of john and he dropped some bread. he had kind of taking the bread that we had to eat and he dropped it down for john to eat. that's the kind of support and teamwork we had in the p.o.w. situation. there was powerful. the lessons we brought home from us, the legacy that we took of military leadership and military honor, that lesson is important today for all leadership and never more so i believe them for our country today.

we need a revival of that kind of leadership with honor, and we can have it. but there are a couple things it takes. it takes character and in the book chapter to i share a story of someone who didn't. and it takes courage because to do the right thing and to do the honorable thing is not easy. it's very difficult. it's painful. you have to lean into the pain of your own if your. i've been a leadership coaching consultant for 15 years. i know that everyone has doubts and fears and that is what snags' them into their leadership faults and problems and challenges. it to leave with honor, and you have to see what's going on to know what's right and sometimes you have to back up and get council. senator mccain remembers how we have some tough arguments and

discussions about things like should we go on hunger strike and should we have a riding moratorium? we have to have discussions about that and then the decision was made and we followed that decision and supported it. but it takes a lot of courage to make those kinds of tough decisions. that's what we need today. from the pta to the high school from the shop steward to the ceo come from the city councilmen to this big building over here to the white house, we need leaders who will leave with honor by having the courage to do what they know is right whether it hurts or not. [applause] ..