eastern on cspan3. you can also watch online at cspan.org and on the free cspan radio app. in the week ahead on capitol hill, work on the tax reform bill and funding the federal government past friday. the house returns today for legislative business. tomorrow they're expected to debate and vote on the tax reform bill. later this week they'll work on a short term ekxtension of government funning. live coverage of the house on cspan and the senate on cspan2. tonight on the communicators, brian fung of the "washington post" and margaret harding mcgil talk about the fcc's vote overturning net neutrality. >> the question here is whether or not the rules put in place

are really appropriate for this new kind of era and in some ways by rolling them back whether we are actually going to see the -- or whether or not the new rules we'll be living under are actually appropriate for the moment that we're living in. >> tech companies are concerned about having to pay to reach consumers. that's a pretty big fear, especially not so much the bigger guys who have the money and could pay, but some of the smaller websites. etsy, reddit. they've been very active in this space because they said if we have to pay a toll to reach consumers, it's going to hurt us. we can't afford to do that. >> watch the communicators tonight at 8:00 eastern on cspan2. >> during world war ii the united states military was racially segregated. up next on american history tv we hear from a member of the tuskegee airmen, the first unit

of african-american fighter pilots. also from a veteran who served with the combat team comprised of japanese american soldiers. the american veteran center hosted this 35 minute panel discussion. i'm glad to be here this morning. i'm also a graduate of the virginia military institute. okay. as i have in the past, i am honored to be here this morning to moderate the panel about the greate greatest generation. like many of you, i enjoy hearing stories about world war ii. as paul just mentioned, for the last 15 or 16 or 17 years i've been involved with projects that centered around world war ii. i was with the national world war ii memorial and at the library of congress collecting stories from world war ii veterans. i have heard hundreds if not thousands of stories from world war ii veterans. but my ears always perk up when i hear a story about tuskegee airmen and the 442 combat team

f. you don't know what either one of those are, i think most of you do, you're about to hear about it this morning. the than patriots, the american patriots who served in those units bring a different perspective to service to country and bravery under fire. it is a very special morning that we have two members, one of each have served in one of those units. chief master sergeant robert zume is a veteran of world war ii who joined the 442nd regiment combat team and also subsequently the 101st airborne division. we'll find out what that's about. it's kind of unusual to have a japanese american with the 101st airborne division in world war ii. we also have on hand lieutenant colonel alexander hamilton who flew 19 missions over italy and france except for the last

mission in which he crashed and was cap purred tured by the ger. i'd like to start, gentlemen, can you hear me okay? let's start with mr. alexander. can you give us your background, where you grew up, where you came from and why you joined the cuss key g -- tuskegee airmen. >> i'm a college graduate and you had to be a college graduate to be into the army air corp in 1941. remember the japanese bombed pearl harbor in december. i graduated six months later from college. the draft board was after me trying to bite me to send me to the army. if the draft board caught me, i would be a book private making

$21 a month. but i stayed. i allowed -- joined the army air corp and as a cadet learning how to fly with the excitement. we made $75 a month. after nine months you became a secretary lieutenant with a little gold bar on your shoulder and a set of wings and you made $150 a month. plus $75 for flying pay. which would you take? why i became a tus ca gee airmen. it was part of my life. >> can you give us background and why it was formed. >> segregation. before june of 41 a black man could not train with a white man and join the army air corp.

they came in and built an entire air field to train blacks to fly. to train. and it took an act of congress. segregation, separate but so-called equal. and the tus kegee airmen started -- by the way, president roosevelt, there's this thing called cpt, civilian pilot training. roosevelt started civilian pilot training because he felt there was a war coming on. germany and eng glaland were fighting and the united states did not have an air force. he knew that we needed pilots. he couldn't say okay, open up the flying field and train pilots because congress and the american public would have

raised all kinds of hell. so sneakingly he started the civilian pilot training which means in each college there were training young people to the aviation. one of the schools was tuskegee institute. but the damn programs were prompted and supported by civilian organizations. and the civilian pilot training unit at tuskegee was supported by the -- oh, hell, money and a fund. she was on the board of the fund and she was there at tuskegee to learn how the money was being spent. she saw the men flying. subsequently she took a ride with chief anderson in a piper

cub. and it was advertised that the blacks were starting to fly tuskegee. i came along about halfway through the program. and i talk about there i was and got shot down and all that kind of stuff. >> we'll get to that. >> bob, could you talk a little bit about where you grew up and how you got into the united states army. >> well, i was born in 1924 in coyote path. i don't know if anybody here is from california. you know where coyote path is? >> way back in the boone docks. >> it's that freeway going over where the saw blades were. anyway, my mom and dad had a farm there. i was born in los angeles or

coyote path. and i went to school with marilyn monroe. she was very homely. [ laughter ] >> she never graduated high school. she divorced her husband which was a highway patrolman and then she blossomed out in the tenth grade. pearl harbor came along and i was interned in camp. i didn't mind being in a camp. and see a water cooler machine gun follow me down. i found out where the water cooler machine gun was when i got in the service. . but in the camp i didn't mind it. like i said, i didn't mind it at all. but three of us, we took the spotlights and we dug under the

barb wire fence and went up the river and we made a little place where we could jump in during the summertime. in the camp, we had been lining up to take a shower. the women had to go one place. we would have to wait until the women finish. then we'd go in. it was odd. eating the same way. you had to wait until -- 1643 was mybarracks number. i'll never forget that. you go block by block. if you get sick, you just better look out because there weren't that many doctors there. anyway, in school i had a doctor from usc who was blind and he could hear the sniff of each of

the boys and girls walking in there. i told the class i was an old guy anyway. i said watch this. i took off my shoes. halfway down he said okay, bob, where you going? he did that, so help me god. then helen was from cedar rapids iowa. she asked me if i wanted to get out of camp and finish school in des moines iowa, drake university. i said sure. so i went back and finished school. june, '44, i joined the service. i joined with the full 42nd. went to camp landing florida. from there i went overseas with them. >> could you talk a little bit about the 442nd. it had a similar reason for being set up. >> it's the most decorated regiment in the united states army. not one of us came out without a

purple heart. not one of us. my best buddy got 18 shots in his leg all the way up to his chest. but he's alive. he lived through it. we got together. it was like brothers and sisters. we were really close. you folks there, if you know somebody next year or left fighting, you better know what he or she does. it's very bad because in vietnam i had a buddy, he's still alive, but his radio man -- well, anyway, his radio man got shot and died in his arms and all he got was a purple heart. what good is a purple heart to a man when he's not a mother and father? what good is a purple heart? i'm asking you now. what good is a purple heart with

the folks? anyway, the gentleman that was hit. they took him to wisconsin. they -- i told the sergeant at that time, i said take my bronze star and put it on the grave. and he did that. and the mother and father of the son spoke to me and said thank you very much. it meant something to me, but by golly, you guys, when you're fighting, you know each other. be together. know what he or she's going to do. if you don't do that, you sure won't survive. >> bob, 442nd was also a segregated unit as well, right? >> yes. just like the tuskegee airmen. >> can you talk a little bit about you and your fellow soldiers in the 442nd felt about joining the army and serving

their country. >> they had to join the army because we had to join to show the u.s. government that i was loyal. i think the rest of the japanese americans did the same thing. i don't know for sure. but it's a rough war regardless if you're not navy and marines. but i'll tell you, you guys in the navy, thank you very much. because if you have a challenge coin, challenge coin, you get in the army, navy, and air force. i have a challenge coin and it says thank you for the avenue, army and air force. we don't do that. i thank you guys in the navy and marines. i was in the marines for 30 years and i learned what the marines are. different from the air force and the army. >> thank you, bob. >> alex, you want to talk a little bit about what i just

mentioned, about why the tuskegee airmen joined and their feeling. >> number one, this is my country god damn it. best country in the world. i've got news for you. why -- where are you going to go? if you don't like the country, leave. i'm serious. everybody wants to raise all kinds of hell. no. as a black man, i know segregation went on for 350 years. this country got free labor. think about it. what slavery means. where you work a guy from morning to night. free labor. if this country had not had

slavery, you would have never had the civil war. you would never have jefferson, hamilton, washington raise all kinds of hell fighting among themselves to make sure you have this country. if you did not have slavery, you would not have the civil war. you would have never had martin luther king and all the rest that made this country so great. it ain't perfect. we've still got a hel ofl of a of crazy kooks in this country. think about it. the main thing is that you are

here learning the basics. we depend on young people to come in and take a part. vote. become part of this country. help to make this country better. i ain't leaving. i can't drive my dcadillac through the jungle. think about it. battalions a italians are not going back to italy. germans are not going back to germany. think about it. they're getting ready to deport some young people who were born as children here and didn't go through the -- that's all part of it. why we join the army air corp and the army, prevented from fighting, segregation, evilness.

the best part of my life. >> talk a little bit about flying. have you felony before you joined tuskegee airmen? >> no. >> tell me about your first solo fight. >> i ground. that's where you go up under site. our training was exactly the same as white training. nine months. you go through primary with a steerman, basic and advanced. three months on each phase. and it was exciting. you learn how to fly. learn how to ground. fly underneath the ambassador bridge in detroit. oh god. but in combat i flew long range escort missions where you in the

squ squadrons, we had four, we accompanies the b-17s, the b-24s from italy to germany, italy to austria. we flew top cover above the bombers. and as colonel davis often said, dammit, stay near the bombers. don't go off chasing germans and trying to get some victories. every american bomber that you protect, you protect ten lives. every b-17 had four officers, a pilot, co-pilot, navigator, bombbad bombbadeer and six enlisted men.

every time you save and protect the bomber you save ten lives. this was our mission. to protect the bombers going from italy to germany. on the last mission we had to straighten radar stations on the coast of southern france before the invasion of southern france in august of 1944. >> hold that thought because i want to pick you up from that point in a minute. bob, you went to 442nd to italy first. is that correct? >> from there i went to france. >> talk about going with the 101st and how that happened. >> i was an anti-aircraft spotter and i volunteered for the 101st airborne which was in france at that time. and they approved it and i was the only japanese american going

into the airborne. >> the only one. >> the only one. >> how were you received by the 101st as being the only one? >> don't get mad now. none of the caucasians said hey, there comes a jap or something. oh slant eyed slope. that's a slimy name. it was nothing like that. my mentor was peewee martin. i don't know if any of you heard of peewee martin. well, he's 95 and he still jumps out of airplanes. he became my mentor. if it wasn't for that gentleman, i wouldn't be living here today. he showed me how to survive in the cold with 4 feet of snow. survive there. >> you were with "g" company, 506? >> yes, sir.

>> also had "e" company. don't know too much about "g" company. >> no. in the movie "band of brothers", don't believe half of what you see on there. >> just like tus -- tuskegee airmen. we'll talk about that later. >> if you go to boston, all the memoirs are all "e" company, captain winters and his company. don't tell about general patton's outfit. don't tell about the 555. you know what the 555? >> triple nickle. >> do you know the triple nickle? >> yeah. >> who are they? [ laughter ] >> the only triple nickle i know is the black parachute unit. >> 555 was the transportation

and they were all black. they took us into bastion and the jury mans attacked right along with us. but we don't say nothing about the 555. it was odd. through history you can see that. anyway, from, from bastion i went into the last concentration camp. people say there was no such thing as haginaw or concentration camps. >> i saw dakow. we'll talk about that later. >> anyway, we liberated haginaw. i'll tell you a little story before you ask me another question. then we'll stop. captain ken was to my right. i was in the middle.

ed salinski was on my right. there was a dead jewish gentleman there with his mouth open. and i told ed, go get something to cover it. another gentleman came out out of the camp, opened his mouth, took out his teeth and put it in his mouth and walked away, so help me god. it's in the book called "no victory". >> i'm going to ask him the next question. how about that? >> okay. >> so there you were flying over france. shooting at radar detachments. what happened next? >> well, we came in at 15,000 feet, all four of us. clear, beautiful day. peeled off.

dropped tanks. i reached up and hit the damn switch and the damn tanks didn't come off. the other three guys last me quite naturally because they picked up speed. they were doing about 250, 300. i'm back there shaking the stick trying to get these damn tanks. by the way, 110 gallon tanks underneath each wing. finally got them off. they were approximately 200 or 300 pete in frofeet in front of. ramped everything to the wall, pushed it through to have water injection to pick up speed. i know i'm going to catch hell when i got back because the crew chief has to put in new valves because i had water injection in the engine. that's another story. i caught up with them, all four of us going in at about 400

miles an hour firing at these damn radar stations. i saw danny, he's number four, off to my right. i saw him saw him get hit befort to the stations, and black smoke coming out of him. i saw him out of the corner of my eye. i got him in my target. we shot up the buildings, the radar, i go right across the target, at about tree top tight. no more than 200 feet. boom, god damned thing came up through the floor, out through the top of the canopy. we were wearing heavy gloves, we're on oxygen, quite naturally, for emissions. so i had to get out. we were doing about 400 miles an

hour, approxima380, all i know g was red lined, oil pressure, water, so forth. and i got to get out. the fire come from the under side of the floor, so we pulled back on the stick and i think i went up -- i got up about 800 feet, i don't know, maybe 1,000, as we were going up, he reached for the red lever, and pull the red lever and the canopy goes off. i'm up here, and meanwhile as you go up, in your left hand, you're racking four tabs, which makes your wings go down. right here, turn the stick loose and quite naturally, the forward trim check, the nose drops abruptly, and when the nose dropped abruptly, bang, i hit the bar, you had straps here,

straps here with a big buckle. and you hit the buckle and they come loose and your safety comes -- and i go out. as i go out, i see the tail go by, and then there's a fire go by, and normally, if you bail out, you count one, two, three, then you pull the damned d-ring. i'm sorry, the parachute came out, i'm sitting on the parachute. it was behind me. and i pulled on the d-ring. and then there goes my parachute. and i was thinking, god damn it,

too low, and thor parachute popped and then you swing, i hit the trees, that's how close. i'm trying to get loose. and all of a sudden i hear this voice, yeah. i said, oh, hell, you got me, the damned german had a head about that big around. that was the beginning of my nine months as a p.o.w. the german soldier saw the little gold bar. by the way -way, i knew he was excited, looking at this brown skin, and i'm excited because he -- i don't know whether he was going to shoot or not, but

after i got on the ground, he saw my gold bar and he saluted. all t all i could do is return the salute. that was my introduction to my nine months as a p.o.w. in germany. >> where were you at the end of the war? >> up in hitler's hangout. we went down to oodendorf. >> and you stayed in germany for a while after the war? >> i helped them with the --

>> let's talk about that. you were a p.o.w. for nine months, and where were you at the end of the war? >> at the end of the war, the camp i was at was pushed near muni munich. we were liberated by general patton's third army. i saw patton riding on a damned tank as he came through and knocked down the barbed-wire and we were liberated by him. we were there sitting for a day and somebody said, hey, jeff, there's a place down the road with a lot of dead people. what in the hell you talking about? he says, they got dead people down the road. so we hooked a jeep, liberated a jeep. that's a little connotation, you could smell the place a mile

before you got it to. now everyone who's sitting here, you have been to a saturday morning barbecue and the odor of barbecue permeates your neighborhood. well, this odor is something like that, but i'll never forget it. the ovens were still warm when we passed, where they were burning bodies. there were piles and piles of dead bodies. we went into a room and there was a table as long as this table. and it was covered with hair. they gassed the people and then cut off the hair and then used

the hair for seat cushions. somebody was there with a pair of pliers, pulling out the am amalgum and the gold, a table covered with dentures. and somebody today, when i tell this horrible thing, he said, oh, jeff, things like that don't happen. oh, damn it, it irks is hell out of me that they don't believe i sauce wh saw what i saw. i hate it. enter >> we could go on because both of these gentlemen had careers after world war ii. >> i taught snotty nosed little brats. i was a teacher. >> i served in korea and vietnam. but that is a story for another

day. we have got about three minutes left, four minutes left. i told them and i told you that perhaps we would have time for a couple of questions, does anyone have a question they would like to ask? >> you both were both liberated from some sort of concentration camp. did you have any kind of knowledge that the genocide because going on before you went into germany? and if not, what was that experience like for your companies or what was that experience like for you, realizing that kind of thing was going on? >> it was -- first of all, rumor now. the united states at that time did not advertise. no "life" magazine. you got telephones today, your transportation and your knowledge was on hold. nobody knew about it in the united states.

i don't know why the press was that way. and it was disgusting to me. overbearing. >> well, i don't know about him, but what i don't understand , i why he did take his vehicle to go to that. i know what a dead body smells like, he didn't know what it smells like until he got in there. but by golly, i know what it smells like and vietnam was the same way and korea was the same way, and i don't want to ever see it again. >> any other questions? wait for the microphone please.

>> alex barker from virginia tech, my question is for the colonel, when you were in your p.o.w. camp, what did you do to keep yourself going and keep your bodies going and make sure you guys survived? >> the camp it -- let me open this up. this is my book. we were treated as officers, but we didn't have enough food.

which starved. i went from 119 pounds down to 106 pounds, i was a skinny brat. we had time to draw pictures. i've got a book here. and i brought these home and reproduced them. we had classes in history, glasses in literature, and life was normal. >> let's give a round of apla z applause for these two heroes of world car 2. today the house rules committee meets on the agenda the tax reform bill and changes to the dodd-frank wall street reform and consumer protection

act, live coverage begins at 5:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 3. and you can watch online and live on the c-span radio app. in the week ahead, work on the tax reform bill passed on friday. the house returns today for legislative business, tomorrow they're expected to debate and vote on the tax reform bill. the senate is also in today, they could vote on the tax reform bill as early as tuesday, and also have to take up the government funding measure. live coverage of the house on c-span and the senate on c-span 2. >> next holocaust survivor describes his experience after -- he and his family were

transported to the concentration camp in northern germany, the same camp where diaryist anne frank died. this is about 40 minutes. >> our moderator for this segment is senator barry steelman, he was a graduator the american academy, around 1970, '80, around there. he served two tours off the shores of vietnam from 1971 to 1973, as both a communications officer and as combat intelligence officer. he then served two years in the mountain at norad in colorado. after leaving the navy in 1975, barry attended law school and had a career for 30 years in the law