eastern, from barksdale air force base, a look at the base's role on 9/11. plus a history of the b-52 bomber. also, visit the founding fathers autograph collection at the louisiana state exhibit museum. and from the pioneer heritage center, medical treatments and medicine during the civil war. shreveport, louisiana. next weekend on c-span2 and 3. the entire globe, even as it trembles in passion with the birth of new nations and shrinks in the hand of a dispassionate science, is today the site of a momentous conflict. as each side attempts to prove to the world the superiority of its position, the conflict is fought with the words of diplomats, with gestures of friendship and help to uncommitted countries, even with cultural demonstrations, it is fought indeed on every level of

man's experience for the stakes are high. as one of the adversaries in the conflict, we see a challenge as great as any in our historic past, a challenge do not we hope to be met and joined in battle, but to be faced in the hearts and hopes of men. it is the challenge of ideas. ♪ >> i'm edward r. murrow. for a little while, i would like to review with you the great conflict of our times. one which demands and must get the attention and the involvement of each one of us. this conflict is the reason why most of you are in uniform. and some of you will be going overseas. service men. families of service men. and civilians working for the department of defense. because of this conflict, many of you are already abroad.

more than 1 million americans in 91 foreign countries. first and foremost, of course, americans are overseas to help preserve the peace, by maintaining an alert readiness to meet the threat of aggression. america's armed forces in concert with those of its allies are serving as a deterrent to war. some of you may wonder how directly involved in the contest you are or will be. perhaps your active duty is behind you or soon will be. and with it, you may believe your involvement in the contest ends. but the truth is that involvement in this condition flikt is far ranging indeed. it touches not only members of the armed forces and their families but everyone who supports the mission of the armed forces. every defense worker, every t taxpayer who foots the bill. who, in fact, is not involved? and the conflict itself. how can it be defined?

well, let's look at it this way. the communist bloc would like to see the entire world under communist domination. over the years, as the strength and determination of the free world has gradually convinced communist leaders that aggressive war would be a reckless and costly gamble, they have begun to talk more and more about their ability to win from us in the arena of ideas. this, of course, is fine with us. for we are people with a traditionally great faith in our ideas. the ideas that have moved mountains and created wealth and shaped us as free men. and we are confident that history can do no other than award us the victory and any contest in which ideas are the weapons. >> i would like to say this. confidence by itself without effort does not win contests. victory in this conflict depends on much, much more than confidence. it is a contest unlike any we have ever faced in our history as a nation.

it is total competition with an antagonist who is putting into it everything within his capability. it is not a conflict between peoples. but between basic values and systems of government. between the principles of life each believes in. and we talk of these conflicting values, we are obliged to speak of that special quality which we call, for want of a better phrase, individual liberty. and when we talk of this liberty in america, we talk with many voices, for we are a diverse nation. and there are perhaps as many concepts of what america is as there are people among us. but although we look at america through different eyes, there are many insights into the essence of our moving and growing nation that we share. >> i'm john wayne.

is there any better or equal hope in the world, lincoln asked, than the ultimate justice of the people? we americans believe there is not. the stonework of our national life is made of this belief. we believe in many things, but this belief that man is a responsible being bears out our own unique stamp as a nation. as a people, we are active and often noisy. we are industrious. oftentimes to the bafflement of ourselves and our friends. we relax as hard as we work. we are proud. we are sentimental. beauty is of national concern to us.

for some of us, it's pursued as a deadly serious pastime. the rest of us simply enjoy the results. some of our national spirit shows up in the monuments we erect, the large ones. and the small ones. and rings through the music which animates us. ♪ ♪ ♪ should have killed him because he's so darn mean ♪ ♪ we're going to rock around the

clock tonight ♪ ♪ rock rock rock till broad daylight ♪ ♪ we're going to rock around the clock tonight ♪ ♪ the glor ly of the coming of e lord ♪ ♪ ♪ his truth is marching on >> we have, on occasion, some difference of feelings. at other times we are united. we are all these things and many more. but above everything else, we are free. believe in the ultimate justice

which we as free men can create. our heritage of freedom is our most priceless possession. and we have died to keep it alive. men in our times have done the same. but all while men have died to preserve it, we may die again. the glory of this heritage is the vision of life that it has given us. a life of dignity and nobility of spirit such as men have never before been enriched by in the long march through the history they have recorded. there is a phrase which recurs in our national documents. the literature of our story as a people which points to the source of our belief in individual freedom. and defines perhaps better than ever the nub of the conflict between the opposing systems of values which sweep the world today. that phrase is, "this nation,

under god." that phrase and others like it set the standard of our concept of man. and a creature under god is the ability to determine right and the obligation to act on that right. from that belief in man as a responsible being flow the beliefs in his other call qualifications which we accept without bothering to think about them. the vague conviction which we call the american way. his ability, indeed his right to explore the truth in all things. his ability to govern himself. and his ability to hand his own economic problems. [ auctioneer calling ] >> the opposing point of view in this conflict rests on a fundamentally different vision of man.

as a creature, not of god, but of the state. in this system, the value of individual man diminishes sharply. and the state is all-important. the state will run his life for him. his political life. his business life. his social life. what we oppose fundamentally is the aggressive nature of the communist state. its unceasing effort to expand wherever it can, to grow bigger, to take over, to supplant. this deadly impulse toward aggression we oppose as a continual threat to peace. these are the contrasting points of view between the major antagonist in the conflict which has become known over the last decade as the cold war. for an appraisal of this continuing and protracted conflict, we can go to a reporter who has watched the growing conflict with the perception of a trained military

observer. >> i am hanson baldwin. i have here the policy statements of each of our services on the contest we're engaged in with the communists. what they boil down to is this. it is a contest for the minds and hearts of people around the world, all people. the areas in white on this map represent the part of the world composed of ourselves and those who share our beliefs. the communists seek constantly to win an advantage in the minds of the people here and to separate us. the black portion of the map is the communist-dominated part of the world controlled by the soviet union and the chinese communist regime. and of tremendous importance is that part of the world which is attached to neither camp, the uncommitted nations of the world

represented in gray on the map. for the most part, these nations are absorbed with their own problems. either they are newly independent after years of domination by a foreign power, or they are still seeking independence. a strong tide of nationalism sweeps over this part of the world, and with it, a mistrust of anything they feel is associated with the old ways of colonialism. they are not committed to either side in the conflict. our own policy toward them has been one strictly of watchful, nonintrusive friendship, giving help when help is asked for, but otherwise keeping hands off their internal affairs. the communists have been more direct. their local party members have not hesitated to exploit to their own advantage the passions that smolder in these new states. and to identify themselves in the minds of the people there

whenever possible with anti-colonialism and us with its option. it is part of their worldwide technique. how do our military services adapt themselves to this conflict in which perhaps no gun may be fired? by recognizing that the activities and performances of all their members in every foreign country in which they're stationed will either add to or detract from the good will our nation needs in this contest for the respect of the peoples of the world. the president of the united states has called developers of good relationships between united states citizens abroad and members of their host countries basic to the full attainment of our foreign policy objectives. and the services have responded by promoting such good relationships as part of their overall policy. the communists initiated the

cold war for the same reason they would have started a hot war, had that been feasible. or would now, should they ever decide that the free world was weak enough for them to risk it. whatever the degree of tension they create, it is a substitute for hot war, another means of achieving their end, and their end, of course, is world conquest, short of war, if possible. >> world conquest, by actions short of war. actions that are political, economic, and ideological. how do the communists apply these three methods? first, we will consider the political method and the techniques the communists use when they attempt to acquire their objectives in this way. we would do well to consider the success the communists have had by using a political method alone. as you'll see from the black area on this map, they have expanded between 1940 and 1954,

took over 15 countries totalling 714 million people. since 1954, there have been major internal disruptions in nine additional countries outside the iron curtain. now, how do they go about applying this political method? the communist coup in czechoslovakia in 1948 provides us with a blueprint of the ideal formula for political conquest. which includes taking over a country without outside intervention. destruction of its parliamentary form of government. murder of its democratic leaders, when necessary. rigged elections, with only the communist candidates on the ballot. once the penetration is complete, all this is backed by the naked force of military occupation, by such devices, the soviet union turned its neighboring states into

satellites, political and economic puppets. in china, political action was crueller but no less effective. here it was political action by conflict. and so overwhelming as this political conquest bends, that the communists have been able to propel red china into a position of major influence in the eastern world. the political force method includes the suppression of freedom in a country already under communist control without outside interference. inside the iron curtain, they're a revolution without help from the outside. in east germany in 1953, poland in 1956, hungary in the same year, and tibet in 1959. all of them brutally suppressed. and finally, there is the

international communist party, dedicated to the subversion and overthrow of any still-free government. for the political method may not prevail, there is always the economic method. >> i'm frank mcgee. let's consider for a moment this matter of the communist use of economic methods to achieve conquest and how it's done. the present masters of the soviet union have said to us, peaceful co-existence until we bury you. they propose to officiate that our internment by catching up with us industrially and then surpassing us. they're working hard at it. today the 200 million inhas been

tan tants state bend their backs and their talents to the will and sputnik and its successors have proved the uss proficiency in the area of technical ability. throughout the vast stretches of this empire, you find new industrial cities, plants, assembly lines, the most modern equipment. soviet products of every description awaiting delivery and reaching industrially backward areas of the noncommunist world. teams of russian technicians are available to operate this regime. this is economic penetration, paving the way for political takeover. the end of soviet friendship which usually precedes an attempt at economic penetration has been reaching into every part of the road which shows the slightest to receive it. recently we've seen it extend into our own hemisphere into turbulent cuba where it was

embraced as a triumph of soviet policy. a few statistics will demonstrate how serious this threat is becoming to the free world. of the entire annual soviet economic capability, their gross national product, 70% or it may run as high as 80% is devoted to the area of heavy industry. the u.s. and free world share of gross national product devoted to the same area is certainly not much more than 20%. in terms of volume applied to this area of gross national product, the soviet union is beginning to surge ahead. >> finally, the communist attempt ideological penetration. perhaps their strongest efforts go into this kind of penetration into the free world. before we talk about ideological penetration itself, let's take a look at the reasons why this form of penetration is so important to the communists. for one thing, communist

aggression has alarmed many free nations and produced their united will to resist. these resist. these nations have implemented their will to resist all other forms of soviet penetration through a number of trade agreements. the united states and other industrially strong nations of the free world are actively promoting better living conditions all over the world. this has the effect of not only helping these countries improuf their industrial and economic positions but also of providing a defense against communist entry which flourishes is depressed economic areas. the military potential of the free world has been revived as pacts like the north atlantic treaty, the southeast treaty organization to counteraggression in this part of the world. the anzus treaty and rio treaty

to provide military defense. all over the world, our allies are setting up their own defense bases with the technical know-how to operate them. this kind of military is not a one-sided operation. the nations involved contribute as heavily as they can. no less valuable are the moral and friendly relations being generated between service men of all participating countries, in joint training, they cross the language barrier to comradeship. this banding together by nations with a common purpose has produced strength not only in military and economic field but in the moral, spiritual values as well. a meeting of nato atlantic conference, a statement was adopted which called attention to the moral unity binding member nation. this document recognizes respect for human dill dignity as basis

for civil vags. respect for the sanctity of human life. the right to freedom of speech, of conscience and religion. of opinion and belief. the right of every man to work and to receive his just reward. the right of the family to stability. and the right of parents over their children and their education. in all these ways, economically, militarily, morally, the world outside the communist orbit slowly draws itself together. the practical communist praise this consolidation of free world defenses. it confronts them with serious deter rents to world ambition. hence, they must destroy allied

unity or at least weaken it. how? well, here we return to the subject of ideological penetration. if all other forms of penetration don't work, if the united strength of the noncommunist world makes political penetration unfeasible and economic penetration unsuccessful, if cultural penetration does not do the job, the communist can alleges hope to succeed by resorting to ideological warfare against their strongest opponent, meaning us. americans, go home. wall street warmongers. down with american imperialism. peace. yes, peace. their propaganda. on communist terms, naturally. inside the free world, communist and sympathizers seek to fullment suspicion and motive, even to attempt our allies to

penetrate our overseas bases protecting them as well as us. through mediums of mass communication, tireless and vilifying us as a nation and as individuals. such as depicting you as a bruit and a ravager. is there a chance that the communist will succeed? is there a possibility that our allies will accept this malicious perversion of us and everything we stand for? in large part, that is going to depend on how thoroughly we understand this conflict and how dedicated we are to victory. >> understanding is a continuing process. and it embraces many different aspects of our day-to-day living. it is at root a function which es the flow of information. >> i am lowell thomas. we live amid the greatest abundance of information people has ever had. but survey after survey reveals an astonishingly low

informational level among us. to be sure, the right to remain uninformed is one of the privileges of a democracy, but in a contest such as the one we are engaged in, it is one of the surest ways of losing our freedom. being informed does not mean only keeping up to date on current events, important though that is. it also means being aware of developments within our own nation and the forces that move through it. its weaknesses as well as its strengths. we all too often dishonor our freedom and demean it. but that's not the full story. if it were, our system would have collapsed long before this. the full story is in the progress we consistently make through law. and through education. the way free men must. the communists would like to you have as well as people in every country in the world believe otherwise. and once they have succeeded in letting the idea take root that

our deficiencies are our chief characteristi characteristics, once they have managed to erode our faith in ourselves at least a little, that much of the battle is lost. >> a snake of a whisper is abroad that americans have lost touch with their past. is it true? it can't be. if we are to survive and win. do we understand the conflict, then we understand the need to keep america strong and our greatest challenge by keeping alive the standards and the traditions which have been our glory. what are the bull marks of our past upon which our society has been built? there are many. we have discussed some of them. our spiritual heritage, belief in individual liberty but yet another as important as any of these. >> i am helen hayes. many of us who are living now will never see the end of the conflict which dominates our

lives. leaders change and leadership passes from one generation to the next. but for generations, certainly for many years, the challenge which confronts us will continue. so it becomes not just a hope but an urgent condition for a peaceful future that those who are catapulted into the problems of maturity with every passing year will understand the challenge and devote theirselves to it even as you and i must. interests cannot lag. efforts cannot cease. bread as it were into the american character. the training grounds in which will discipline will be planted and perfected are the institutions which have shaped our oat. particularly the home, which has always been in our culture the

nuk louse of society itself. the home is the wealth spring of qualities of citizenship and it must remain so if we are to preserve the toughness of moral fiber, which is our strongest heritage. >> a toughness of moral fiber. a belief in the right as good gives us to see the right as lincoln put it in words carved into on you national soul. these are the threads of our past. keeping america strong, this is our challenge. keeping the vision of liberty bright. keeping the threats of our past. the strands of moral toughness with which our history is bound. moral toughness, the quality which made men work instead of weep on the hostile shores of new england. which bled mortally yet never died on fields stretching out from valley forge.

which moved strong men west, bringing with them first only their pride, then their railroads. which built cities and governments. ♪ across the sea ♪ >> and created wealth. made freedom the birthright of every man. that quality must still live within us or without it we are surely lost. and faith in our past. this is the challenge. as compelling as severe, as crucial as americans in any age have ever faced. ♪ glory glory hallelujah