interviewed in the middle of a and with it you may believe your involvement in theontest ends. battle? but the truth is, involvement in or a lull? this conflict is far-ranging, indeed. it touches not only members of the armed forces and their >> if it's an honest to god families, but everyone who supports the mission of the armed forces. lull, and i don't have any -- i every defense worker. every taxpayer who foots the bill. didn't have any immediate who, in fact, is not involved? pressing situations to consider, and the conflict itself, how can i would grant a brief interview. it be defined? well, let's look at it this way. when i became a brigade the communist block would like to see the entire world under commander, we went out on communist domination. operations, i told the division over the years, as the strength and determination of the free public affairs officer to notify world has gradually convinced the news media in saigon. communist leaders that aggressive war would be a reckless and costly gamble, they so every night, like when i was had begun to talk more and more about their ability to win from in operation white wing on the us in the arena of ideas. plains in january-march of '66, this, of course, is fine with us. >> we're a people with a traditionally great faith in our every night around 5:00, i would ideas. the ideas that have moved

mountains and created wealth and brief the press. shaped us as free men. and i had maybe ten or 15 and we're confident that history can do no other than a war does journalists in the press tent. to victory and any contest in and i'd brief the press on what which ideas are the weapon. went on that day. >> i'd like to say this. and the results. confidence by itself, without and then i told them of my plans effort, does not win contests. for the next day. victory in this conflict depends on much, much more than so that they could determine if confidence. it is a contest unlike any we they wanted to go to this unit have ever faced in our history or that unit and then i cautioned them, don't put out as a nation. it is total competition, with n information that would help the enemy. >> right. >> and they were like, no problem. and i said, you can fly in our antagonist that puts in helicopter anywhere you want. everything. but don't interfere with -- if it is not a conflict between peoples, but between basic there's no room on the bird, values and systems of don't push a soldier off. government. >> right. between the principals of life each believes in. >> don't crowd somebody. when we talk of these conflicting values, we're if you want to get into the middle of a fight that's your obliged to speak of that special quality which we call for want call. but don't interfere with of a better phrase "individual operations. which meant, also, do not go up liberty." and when we talk of this liberty

to a company commander during a in america, we talk with many firefight and ask for an voices. for we are a diverse nation and interview. i never had that happen. there are, perhaps, as many concepts of what america is as i'm a -- i think freedom of the there are people among us. but although we look at america press is one of the great through different eyes, there freedoms of a democracy. are many insights into the essence of our moving and growing nation that we share. absolute great freedom. along with freedom of speech. >> 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 stone work of a lesson of i'm delighted that the pentagon life is made of this belief. we believe in many things but this belief that man is a responsible being, bears out our embedded journalist in the iraq own unique stamp as a nation. war that's been going on for the as a people, we are active and last couple of years. i don't know if you know this or often, noisy.

not, bubba the pentagon, before we are inindustrious and the iraq war started off, they oftentimes, to the bafflement of ourselves and our friends. we relax as hard as we work. offered american journalists the opportunity to go to fort weng we are proud. and i believe, fort sill, ft. we are sentimental. knox, and other military bases. air, brown, marine, to be beauty is of national concern to us. briefed on e -- air, ground, for some of us, its pursuit is a marine, to be briefed on deadly serious pastime. battlefield maneuver activities the rest of us simply enjoy the results. and battlefield activities. when i was in fort benning making a talk before the iraq war popped off, jumped off, they some of our national spirit shows up in the monuments we erect. the large ones. and the small ones. were having one of those gatherings where the journalists for a week, were at fort it rings through the music which benning. they learned ant infantry tactics. they learned about fire maneuver animates us.

♪ and fire support. and they were much more qualified to report to the american people what they were seeing in iraq. >> i remember seeing and reading about that. >> yeah. whereas in vietnam, as i understand it, joe six-pack off the streets of chicago, could show up in saigon and get a ♪ press card. and he would know the difference between a squad and a battalion. or an m-16 rifle and a mortar. if i were asked today to cover a rugby football match in redskins stadium i wouldn't know what the held i was looking at. that was the same as a lot of the journalists in vietnam. ♪ village where the grapes of they didn't know what they were wrath are stored ♪ looking at. so consequently they took ♪ he handles -- his truth is pictures of dead soldiers and

they reported graphic stuff which they never should have reported. some of which helped the enemy. marching on ♪ >> join us next weekend for more >> we have, on occasion, some oral histories from the vietnam difference of feelings. at other times, we're united. archive airing saturday at 8:00 a.m., sunday at 3:00 p.m. and we are all these things and many monday at 4:00 a.m. eastern. more, but above everything else, for more information and to watch past oral histories, visit we're free. believe in the ultimate justice which we, as free men can our website cspan.org/history. create. our heritage of freedom is our most priceless possession. all weekend long, american history tv is in shreveport, and before us, to keep it alive. louisiana, next we visit the men in our times have done the louisiana state exhibit museum same. but all our men have died to which opened in 1939. and was one of the most preserve it, they may die again. expensive construction projects managed by the public works the glory of this heritage is the vision of life that it has administration during the great depression. the museum is currently given us. a life of dignity and nobility displaying a collection of original signed documents from is good. such as men have never been some of america's earliest before enriched by in the long political figures. march through the history they

have recorded. there is a phrase which recurs the state museum has on in our national documents. the literature of our story as a loan, a collection from ms. gloria meyer, her husband people which points to the source of our belief in acquired the collection during his lifetime and when he passed individual freedom. and defines, perhaps, better away she wanted to be able to than any other, the nub of the share this collection with the conflict between the opposing public. systems of values, which wreak it is 54 autographs that are the world today. original, that center around the that phrase is -- this nation founding fathers of the united states. so there are 18th and 19th under god. that phrase, and others like it, set the standard of our concept century autographs that have of man. as a creature of god, man is a being with dignity and accompanying images that go along with them and two of them are from the 20th century that conscience, with the ability to are like the beginning and end. determine right from wrong. and the obligation to act on the very first one we have was that right. the impetus for the collection. from this belief, in man as a and this is a letter sent to mr. responsible being, flow the henry rab in san antonio, texas, beliefs in his other qualifications which we accept. in february of 1919. usually, even without bothering to think about them. and it's a "thank you" letter as parts of that vague condition and signed by the assistant which we call "the american secretary of the navy, franklin way."

roosevelt. along with this letter was a his ability and, indeed, his check that says it's for right to explore that truth in all things. binoculars and it's a check for his ability to govern himself. $1. one point zero zero. and his ability to handle his he was the grandfather of a own economic problems. collector of these artifacts. and he gave it to his grandson when he was 13 years old. and he said, don't ever cash [ auction yooer calling ] this check and don't ever lose this because it's going to be >> the opposing point of view more valuable than the dollar. rests on a fundamentally so he kept it from the time he different vision of man. as a creature, not a god, but of was 13 and it stimulated an the state. and in this system, the value of interest in wanting to collect individual man diminished sharply and the state is autographs of major american all-important. the state will run his life for patriots. the other 20th century autograph him. his political life. his business life. is one that has a picture. his social life. the autograph is on the picture and it's john f. kennedy and his what we oppose fundamentally is wife, jacquelyn. the aggressive nation of the and it's inscribed to this as probably around 1960. communist state. its uncreasing effort to expand and it's inscribed to someone whatever it can, to grow bigger

named brenda crane. i did some research and and take over. this deadly impulse toward discovered there was a physician aggression we oppose as a named dr. paul crane, who was an continual threat to peace. interpreter and worked for president kennedy as well as these are the contrasting points president johnson, doing some of view between the major interpretation that he was able antagonist in the conflict which to get this autograph from the has become known over the last kennedys. this is also fairly rare. decade as "the cold war." it's not a great photo. you can see it's been folded. for an appraisal of this but it's a wonderful picture. continued and protracted another one that's very conflict, we can go to a reporter who has watched the interesting that was growing conflict with the particularly of interest to the perception of a trained military collector is this one on robert observer. >> hi, i'm hanson baldwin. i have here the policy morris. robert morse is not a very statements of each of our well-known american figure services on the contest we're because he wasn't a military engaged in with the communists. hero was he was a signer of the what they boil down to is this. a contest for the minds and declaration of independence and hearts of people around the he was a finannancier and that' world. all people. the areas in white on this map why this was of particular represent the part of the world interest because he was a composed of ourselves and those financier himself.

that share our beliefs. a very valuable piece is this the communists seek constantly one signed by to win an advantage in the minds of the people here and to separate us. the black portion of the a lot of these have to do with the revolution battles or the signers of the declaration of independence. whether not his goal was to attain all of -- not having the opportunity to talk to him i'm

not exactly sure his goals were but we're very fortunate to be able to share in the collection as he has it. my favorite, one of my favorites is this one that's signed by john hancock. and it's as the governor, a state paper, essentially, a proclamation that he made. and -- for raising the regimen, i believe. yes. and everybody knows john hancock, thanks to the insurance company, because they did so many commercials on him. when i went to the national archives to see the declaration of independence where, of course, he signed quite large, and his reason for signing in such a large hand was so that there would be no doubt as to whose signature it was. you have to think that for the declaration of independence, if you signed your name there, you were essentially signing your

death warrant because if the americans didn't win and the british did win, that would be the first group that the british would have gone after, were the signers of the declaration of independence. so one of the national archives is faded and rather difficult to see. whereas this one is a nice, bright signature and easily recognizable as john hancock. there were men who participated in the american revolution who signed the declaration of independence. they were very daring men. they had no money. they had to finance a war on their own signatures, essentially. and i think he was interested in the mechanics and the administrative details of how that was accomplished, most people, i think, when they read about the american revolution and the battles, they get involved in the military strategy and there's quite a lot of that. i mean, he does have quite a lot of information having to do with the war. but, also, the letters have to

do, for instance, washington's letter has to do with administrative details on his farm later in life. and i think he was trying to show that the american founding fathers were actually people who lived and died just like anyone else did. on the far left, we have a piece that is signed by benjamin franklin. and benjamin franklin, among his many occupations, diplomat and inventor, he was also a printer. this document is a receipt for printing that is signed by benjamin franklin and it's a little bit later than revolutionary. it's 1787. but the print -- the receipt is from a man named john dounn lap. when it was issued on the 4th of

july in 1776, they sent the approved dela krags to john doeslop and he printed 200 broad size which at about that time was the size of about a regular newspaper sheet. there were only 25 copies of the real declaration still in existence. another couple of autographs that are interesting is alexander hamilton and aaron burr. they fought a famous duel so the collector put both of those together and in the middle of it is a picture of the two of them fighting the duel. the one from aaron burr is a letter of routine legal matters from december of 1800. and the one from alexander hamilton is also a legal paper from 1795. this autograph, by john quincy adams, where he signed as the secretary of state and it's

routine, departmental business from january 16th of 1818. john quincy adams, who's one of america ew's great secretaries of state, arranging with england for the joint occupation of the oregon territory and obtaining from spain, the cessation of the floridas which included eastern louisiana. he also formulated the doctrine with president monroe on the monroe doctrine. and he was sixth president of the united states in 1825. the oldest document we have in the collection is this full letter that was written by vol vol tair. he was a french philosopher and flown as "the father of ten lightenment." this letter was written in 1732 and the letter is thanking the author for his criticism or review of his book of history. the history of charles xii.

as father of enlightenment, this is the basis of the american revolution. and i think that's probably why the collector included these documents as well as this book as sort of the basis for his collection. and also, in the french connection, we have a letter from the marquis delafayette, who was an earlier supporter of the american revolution. he was a french marquis and he raised money for the american cause and you can see this is a very fine steel point engraving of monsoir lafayette. as the collector would accumulate autographs, he would look for pictures or images of the person whose autograph he was collecting and in some

cases, he could only find regular print media and not, necessarily, good portraits. but as he would come across better portraits, then he would replace the ones that he had initially with better portraits. so he was constantly upgrading the collection. this document is a military appointment of samuel a. russell to second lieutenant dated august 6th, 1861. this is signed by the president, abraham lincoln. and initially, lincoln would sign his documents with his full name, the wahis e is. but hi presidency required more andore gatohorten hiigna