whether 70 or 700 years hence, will gather at places like this to honor them and to say that these were generations of men and women who proved once again that the united states of america is and will remain the greatest force for freedom the world has ever known. [applause] pres. obama: may god bless our veterans and all who served with them, including those who rest here in eternal peace. and may god bless all who serve today for the peace and security of the world. may god bless the people of france. and may god bless our united states of america. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] productsan history tv are now available at the new feast than online store.

to see-span store.org what is new for american history tv and check out all c-span products. this year marks the 75th anniversary of d-day, the allied invasion of not the occupied normandy, france on june 6, 1944. rick atkinson discusses d-day's legacy. he is the author of the war in 1944, 1945, the final book in his world war ii trilogy. tim grey of the world war ii foundation will interview rick and we will have a question answer. after what looks to be an lighting discussion. we are honored to have you here tonight sharing your insights with us.

hopefully this is a good night for you. rick is a pulitzer prize-winning author for history and journalism. books,he author of seven including narrative books of five different american wars. all of these are known for their extensive research and histories and include the liberation trilogy. the first volume of this trilogy won the pulitzer prize in 2003 for history. all three copies are available for sale in the back. he will also be signing copies later tonight of his latest book, the british are coming, the war for america. multiple copies are available in the back. rick and tim, we are privileged to have you here tonight and we are looking forward to a wonderful evening. [applause]

when i walk into a room like this i always spot the first couple of world war ii veterans and we have these guys in the front row here and i am always drawn to them and want to know what their story was, where they were, but theater they served in an their own personal stories. they are so humble they do not want to get into it to d. i think we owe them a round of applause before we get going. [applause] >> both these guys served in europe and one just said to the other, that is for us. here we are.

this is an incredible crowd and we are in an incredible place, the history center. i am with the greatest authors, one of the guys dimension in the same breath as cornelius ryan and the other famous authors who have written about american history, rick atkinson is one of my favorite authors. d-day is right around the corner and that is why we are here tonight. on june 4, d-day was supposed to be june 5, but because of the weather it was postponed. there were men all over england in these encampments and they could not go anywhere. they could not talk to anybody. what is going through their mind as they think d-day will be the next day and what you think their anxiety level is at that point? mr. atkinson: thank you for having me here, it is good to be in atlanta and thank you, i am

grateful for the conversation. i think the anxiety level is about is high as a could possibly be. put yourself in their shoes, they don't know where they are going, they just referred to the destination as the far shore because they know they are probably going across the english channel somewhere but they are not sure where. they trained a lot but in some cases, the only recently arrived in england. they are pouring into britain by the tens of thousands every week in the spring of 1944. on theg 15,000 at a time two queens, the queen mary and the queen elizabeth, ocean liners that could carry an entire division and outrun german submarines to make the crossing from new york to britain in five days. as we get into june, they know something is happening.

ships have been loaded since early may because there is a lot to get on those ships. you need 7000 combat necessities from bazooka rockets to turn a kits on the beaches in the first few hours. all of those things have been loading into 22 different british ports. the individual soldiers continue their training, they continue to prepare for an amphibious landing of some sort or an airport assault, if they are in the airborne units. they don't know when d-day will be. it is a moving target because of the weather. write,ters that they just in case letters and some cases, are very poignant. they are poetic in some instances. all of this is a great churn of emotion. some of them had been in combat before, the first infantry division has been in north

africa and sicily. these are combat veterans and they will land on omaha beach -- they do not know it yet, but that is where they are going. others are very quite green, others have never heard a shot fired in anger. you have a mixture of leaders at all levels, lieutenants leading platoons all the way up to eisenhower. they all have emotions going through them. it does not take much imagination to recognize this is thosent that is one of hinges of history. they know that. they know this is a big deal. even if you are a 19-year-old private who has never seen anything other than your hometown until you get to england, you know you are part of something grand and important and critical. i think this is all happening as we get closer and closer toward

h hour. when you look at the chief meteorologist on eisenhower staff, we like to yell at our local meteorologist when our daughter's softball game gets canceled, the weight of this entire invasion hinges on him getting this forecast right, that there is going to be a break. on june 5, it is raining and windy, the shutters at the house where eisenhower is a rattling, and you have this meteorologist who has to give eisenhower the word. can you imagine the pressure hanging over him, to be able to look in eisenhower's eyes and say i can guarantee you 48 hours or this invasion will have to be called off for a month. what kind of pressure was the

under? mr. atkinson: i think you described it pretty well. the weather is just about as bad as it gets in the english channel and the early summer. it was an unusual storm that was blowing through. they are watching barometric pressure. they have a sophisticated weather system that has been set up and they are tracking fronts coming across the north atlantic and they know what the weather is like south of greenland and there are planes out doing the kind of weather testing that is required of the time. still, it is a fairly primitive art in 1944. you don't have satellites that we have today, and they still miss things today. the decision has been made correctly that the conditions are just too harsh for the invasion to go forward on june 5. there are certain parameters that are required. the wind can't be too high for

the paratroopers, otherwise it could be catastrophic for men jumping out of airplanes with parachutes on. the waves have to be below a certain level, the seas have to be calm enough for the landing craft to go in. there are a lot of moving pieces to try to understand what the weather conditions are and how conducive they are to launching a very complex invasion. right, the weather window is quite narrow, the moon has to be at a certain position. you have to have enough light to do this but not enough light to be revealed. that narrows the window. and as to eisenhower senior staff that is there on the south coast of england and says, i think we have a slot. i think the weather will break

enough to allow you to do it. it is marginal and it will still be coast and say i think we have got a slot. i think the weather will break enough to allow to do it. it is a marginal. it will still be nasty of the english channel. you will have a lot of seasick soldiers. it will be tough on the airborne guys and pilots because they are probably going to be insubstantial cloud cover. i think we can do it. and it went to eisenhower's shoulders. and the pressure, he is accustomed at this point to ordering young men to their deaths, to the extent you can ever get accustomed to that. not everybody in the world is built to do that kind of. got this incredibly difficult decision to make about

whether or not to gamble, to roll the dice. and makes the go."ion and says, "let's that's the right decision. there triton that napoleon appreciated most and his generals was look. [laughter] it is never to be underestimated and life or in war. eisenhower is lucky. patton who had a complex relationship with him claimed his initials stood for divine destiny. we see eisenhower's look holding. he makes a hard decision. it is the right decision as it turns out and a lucky decision. that is what you want in your commander-in-chief. you want and guide that has luck

on his side and the fortitude to make that kind of hard decision, but also prophetess on his side. george washington would call the providence. he has got providence. tim: and he spoke a lot of -- he smoked a lot of cigarettes. four packs. he was a nervous guide. he had the weight of the world on his soldier and he wrote a note if in the invasion failed, he took responsibility personally that his call to make. rick: he is smoking four packs of camel and his blood pressure 100, stage two hypertension. course, he feels constrained not to show it. you do not want your subordinates to know you are a bundle of nerves. it makes everybody a bundle of nerves. he does a good job of concealing

get and allowing his emotions -- it and allow his emotions to be bottled up. he is 54 years old at the time. he is rocketing. he goes through lieutenant colonel told five-star general. it is a six month period before promotion and it is unheard of in american military history. anti-you have to -- here is -- and you have to say, here is a guy when he first took over the theater command in the mediterranean, he never heard a shot fired in anger and late 1942. he missed world war i. he was not deployed overseas. --has certain traits intent characteristics. he doesn't see the battlefield spatially and temporally like

napoleon does. that is not his job. his primary job is to make decisions and to hold together this rambunctious coalition. and he is brilliant at that. franklin roosevelt says he has made him the commander-in-chief of the european expeditionary force because he is the best politician among the generals. eisenhower does not think it is a slur. he knows it is important. he likes the british on like nlike almost -- u every other general and the american army. he has an affection for them. he began use words like "petrol." it drives george patton and same. he as an extraordinary study and andership and capability

personal growth. you see great responsibility and largest him. that is something we want in our rges him.it enla we are fortunate he is in there. tim: he is holding together the coalition of attitudes. he has patton to deal with. it is almost like being the manager of the yankees where you have $220 million payroll of egos and your goal is to manage the little world series which was d-day. i found that incredible he was able to deal with these. we ran into susan eisenhower and i said, your grandfather really had some pride in montgomery. she said they were great friends after the war. they really respected each other. after world war ii was over, and backat you said about

tubing fund of the english, he was fond of montgomery. rick: not during the war. montgomery was a difficult subordinates. it was fraught relationship. bygones be got by guns after the war. the relationship got more and more intense. montgomery is more more insubordinate as we get into that last 11 month period of the war. if eisenhower had had any hair left, he would have torn it out. tim: montgomery was important for the planning of d-day. someid we need to do things. from a strategy standpoint, he was not going to -- he thought he was going to. looking at the strategy, he had a big impact. rick: he did. combat leader.t somebody who has the respect of not only the british army but

the entire british nation and that is very important for morale reasons. he sees in eisenhower, despite their frictions, he talks about how eisenhower has a quality that is like a magnet attracting filings of metal can attract the admiration of men the way a magnet attracts metal. he is perceptive in that respect. tim: you mentioned the first divisionee -- infantry and they had seen action in africa and other places and italy, sicily. there was an attempt on d-day to give the first infantry division that section of omaha beach because the other section went to the 29th infantry who were the national guard and they were untested in battle. the first infantry what was going to happen within reason whereas the 29th when they

haved, they really didn't a field for combat. how important it is it for young soldiers, teenagers to be thrown into war who feel invincible? it is a complex question. you wanted them to have some sense of what it is they are getting themselves into so they are not shocked. i do not care how much combat you have seen, you land on omaha beach, that first 22 minutes gave you intensity of the combat. you want them to have some sense of what they are getting into. you do not want them to be paralyzed with anxiety. you know, some part of every 19-year-old believes he is immortal. i think that is a useful trait. in a9th division had been and virginia and district of columbia.

they are relatively greenlee unit. a side-by-side shoulder with first infantry division. thathave some challenges the first division does not have in terms of veterans and drinks. my feeling -- and ranks. placing them of where they were in retrospect was good. casualties were great and the 29th division. believe in you can retrospect that having them as at the high level of all-around -- of morale that had been deficient had it was one of the keys to success on june 6. tim: when you look at the land andand when they the kernels are getting killed in the lieutenants are getting

killed, it is up to the 17-year-olds and 18-year-olds to say my commander is dead, what do i do now? i found it is fascinating that man and the the corporals and privates who took the initiative on that day. what does it say about american soldiers and even the allied soldiers, the younger soldiers who saw everything going wrong but was able to rally and move inland? the: it speaks to importance of training. these guys have spent a lot of time in various training regiments. officers, the middle level officers have been working with the ranks for quite some time now. in the first division, they have been together since 1942 to the

extent it is cohead safe. -- cohesive. they have lost man in africa and sicily. there is considerable stability. part of training, it is true make, it is to be able to -- necessary adjustments junior leaders to take the initiative when senior leaders are killed or disabled. it is for those who do not necessarily have a formal leadership position to find the leadership in themselves when the moment arrives when it is required. i think you see that and there's a terrible sense of shock as you are seeing the man on your left with a bullet through his forehead and the man on your right terribly wounded and trying to overcome that to get off the beach and move forward

to do what you needed to do. beached to get off the and be able to figure out how to do it to lead other men to do that. it is something. not every soldier is made it to lead other men and the night or relatively early in the morning. it is situations like omaha beach where you find me in horror able to lead. you find me and who are able to leave. menim: -- where you find who are able to lead. we celebrate the 75th anniversary and the last time they will be able to go back for a major anniversary where most of them are in their anniversary, 80th they probably will not make it back. they will be there.

they will ride their bikes. when you look at them and know there were 16.1 million americans who served and the war and there are 445,000 left, what is the legacy when you look at these guys? what have they left us? rick: they are passing at about a rate of 350 a day. you guys are fine. father, world war ii veteran, career army officer died at 94 in october. we think about the individual legacy. i think about what my father left for me and my family. collectively, the legacy it is incalculable. so stupendous, it is difficult to get your arms around her. one of the things -- around it.

-- one of the things they leave us is the sense no matter how difficult to -- how difficult our difficulties seem, we have faced worse and we have had the gumption and the wherewithal and the cleverness to overcome it. and i think that is really important. that is one the reasons we shouldn't know our own history. it can be inspiration. -- that is one the reasons we should know our own history. the legacy in some cases are very obvious. you want to make sure every 14-year-old. knows what these guys did. it is important for those who are longer in the two than 14 years old to ensure they understand our national history. world war ii, first and foremost, but all of it. the good and the bad, it is important. it is who we are and where we

came from. for these guys, their generation had to ponder the most difficult question that any people can ask themselves, what are you willing to die for? that is a tough question. that is a question everybody should be prepared to ask and answer. what are you willing to die for? we know what they were willing to die for. we know what they died for. 291,000 killed in action, that doesn't begin to talk about 11,000 left blind and all the rest. that is part of the legacy that should outlive them forever. it is important to us. ahead -- absolutely. [applause]

i think you get a sense of that when you travel to europe and do see 12-year-old and 13-year-old boys and girls come up to these men when they are visiting the cemetery and they say "thank you" and they know about patent and eisenhower and montgomery. their countries were liberated by these men. are liberating people they do not know, countries they have never been to as teenagers. that is a pretty magnificent thing when you think about it. and the other part of it is people say they were fighting for america, fighting for the flag. were they fighting for their fellow soldier more? rick: yes. of course, the big picture and so forth. homer,since the days of why do they risk their lives?

why do they sometimes give their lives? so they are not less then the man on the left or the right or the woman on the left and the man on the right. you do not go to war without the women today. intensearaderie, that sense of brotherhood that is forged in combat and under the greatest stress that is imaginable and the human condition, that is really at the heart of what they are doing. you go toth you, when normandie from one of these anniversaries and you see the french. we ridiculed the french in this country and it is unfair. they have very long memories. onre remember what happened june 6, 1944. as a nation and individually, they are grateful. they come up and kids are born at 50 years after d-day, and

they know the history. they know the sacrifice. they know the relationship between america and france in that case. other western european countries. i lived in berlin for years. really,hat the germans despite the fact that we destroyed their country with our allies, they recognize we liberated them. we liberated them from a fascist regime they had empowered and taking control over their country and they permitted it to happen. we allowed the germans, really, i think to turn to the germany that is so admirable today. this is an important ongoing relationship. 75 years ago, it is important that 75 years from now and 75 years after that, we know about this important relationship we

6, 1944.rting on june tim: was d-day when you look at the defining moments in history and we will talk a lot about that. where do you rank d-day in terms of the world changing in the course of one 24 hour period and where it it ranks? sheer drama, it is tough to top. probably one. let us not forget most of the bleeding and dying happening is the bleeding and dying is being done by the russians. 26 million dead. most of the killing of germans is done by the russians. that russianed troops, red army troops, killed nine germans for everyone british and american soldier killed together.

19 44, get to june 6, the handwriting is on the wall. warhe invasion fails, the is not going to and in 1945. it is going to drag on. it means that many more deaths of civilians and allies. it is awful. let us remember in april 1945, the last full month of the war in europe, 11,000 american soldiers were killed in germany. it was awful virtually to the last gunshot. the longer the war goes on whether because there are mistakes made in prosecuting the campaigns or the invasion has failed and you have to mount another, the more awful it is going to be. it is a singular date. probably not a defining date in the sense of this is the day that the war was one. the history of the war is more

complicated than that. be, it is a date that should seared in everybody's memory forever. at thee you look planning that went into d-day and the maps and every hedgerow was marked out and every stream and railroad and everything was prepared for a successful invasion. that all goes out the window the moment these guys start to land in everything goes wrong. to win a d-daye when you look at so many things that went broke? no plan survives contact with the enemy. there is no difference in this plan. wrong and itngs go works to your advantage. paratrooper divisions

scattered across the peninsula and they are scattered across half acre and nobody knows where division is for a couple of days. those are two very confused decisions. the german defenders are even more confused because every time they turn around, there seems to be paratroopers. you cannot say this was better than the plan that had come together as it was drawn up. brute force is an important factor in combat. theret to omaha beach and are more defenders than you expect. the defenses are tougher than you anticipated and casualties are high. again, here is something that goes wrong and turns out to go

right. ms. calculated where the division is good -- ms. culatedted -- miscal where the division was going to land. that turns out to be good because the german defenses are softer than they would have been where they intended to land. you mentioned that casualties were less than expected, much less than omaha beach. sometimes confusion can work to your advantage. doesn't, you will rely on the kind of courage we talked about in the overwhelming force you have brought to bear. that's a lot that goes wrong. the softening of of the airstrikes. they do not hit where they are supposed to hit. there are no craters on the beaches for men to take shelter. slaughterhousee

of dairy cows from the -- inland from those bombs. the naval bomb is fierce but does not necessarily penetrate the thick into defenses. necessity is the mother of invention and necessity requires them to find their way forward which they did. tim: when you talk to these guys and they open up to you rather than opening up to their own families and a lot of times when we do an interview, a son or daughter. was on the way out and said we had not -- on the way out and said we had no idea he did this or he did that. why didn't these guys share these stories with our family? to protect their family? why were they more likely to share it with a perfect stranger? rick: it's important to

romanticize. some of them have never shut up after 1945. let us not pretend that were suffering and silence for all these years. [laughter] tim: these guys are laughing. i hear you. rick: it's important for them to have talked about it. it is one of the ways they help to work through the trauma of it. what ptsd is. it was not well documented in the 1940's. those who talk, good on them. others didn't. my father never talked about vietnam. we can never get a syllable after -- out of him. he talked about world war ii. for some reason, he would not talk about it. that is just the way some soldiers are. strangers like you and me. i have to admit, i do not rely

on 70 year old memories. no offense, guys. i believe that the contemporaneous record, the diaries, the letters, the official records, it is so profoundly enormous and rich. the u.s.lars calculate records alone weigh 17,000 tons. all the stuff, all the papers that military bureaucracies can create. along with a fabulous record that soldiers, individual soldiers, have left behind. the poetry of their letters of these unlettered soldiers. in some cases, i know have found this. by, they worked through it somehow. there want to be remembered and to have somebody record what

their experiences were. that is important. it can be extraordinarily powerful. you can get those little brushstrokes that you got a no other way than by hearing the oral history, the story of somebody who was there. tim: we are here because atlanta and georgia have such a rich evenry in world war ii and everything else. and one of the reasons also is ofause the managing editor the atlanta journal-constitution at the time took a leave of absence from the paper and became a stronger from -- for nbc. and filed the first radio report on d-day. he scooped the world. he was an incredible individual and very well known in the community. you: i would like to tell

and little bit about him. bryant was the editor from the atlanta journal. he was credited with being the first news man to report on the d-day invasion on june 6. he beat more than 600 reporters on the one of the biggest stories of the century. there -- as an old newspaperman myself, i can only imagine the pain of the 600. tim: a couple of choice words. he received the presidential medal of freedom, the highest civilian award from the dwight d. eisenhower for services as a war correspondent. we're fortunate to have his daughter here with us tonight. thank you for joining us. where are you? [applause] there she is. thank you.

towne bank the bravery of bengal correspondent at that -- tim: the bravery of bengal correspondent at that time and you are watching the faces of paratroopers who are petrified and you have to give their report. the moment to sum up and he did that so well. we have used his radio broadcast in a couple of our films. thes so dramatic and so in field. not one of those today where it is digitized and they would be able to eliminate all the noise going around. it is a rough broadcast but a rough time. we have an opportunity to listen to that broadcast right now. let us cue that up and listen to that. speaking from london, and the first hour of the day, a little more than an hour before d-day

began, forces for the liberation of europe landed by parachute and france. sea 27,hted desk of the i wrote across the english channel without first troop of c-27, i rode across the english channel with a first troop of planes. jumped with their arms intermittent onto german occupied france. our group and to the head of the leaving wink from the carrier command was met with small arms fire from the fields which was dark and quiet as we entered into enemy territory. as we headed to the english coast, we saw prisoners behind us and a steady parade of life planes moving over the course we

had navigated. below us, we couldn't see out a few shifts and could not be certain whether they were carrying the last soldiers for attacks that were following the first landings of airborne troops. you can hear it in his voice. he was such a professional and that his voice is steady and his describing what he sees. that is a mark of any good a journalist wherever they are in the world. you spent a lot of time at "the post" and you do that now. he is able to stay so calm and a crazy situation. that's extraordinary dispatch that he asked. he has successors that are reporting today, not quite as dramatic, risking their lives and in some cases, giving their lives. they are not enemies of the people.

please remember that. [applause] tim: the staff at the time listening to their boss give this broadcast and they were going crazy saying that his boss delivering the first broadcast of d-day. such an incredible thing. we are under to have the current ajc.or of agc -- stand.if you could kevin is over there. froms tradition lives on edward r. murrow to walter cope -- walter cronkite. journalists report what they see. and what did they find out and being a former journalist myself, i have always been one of those people who believe you

are held to that standard and no matter what you do, you stick to that standard. we had questions from the audience that they wrote out that they would like to ask you. card number credit and expiration date? [laughter] just kidding. hero coda is considered a of d-day. on monument was once proposed, what's his leadership considered less than that of teddy roosevelt? worthy of aership medal of honor consideration? part.start with the first why did it teddy roosevelt, wallace's leadership -- why was his leadership over dutch'? rick: they landed on the wrong

beach. roosevelt who was with them is a combatthe tooth for leader and he has been in north africa and sicily in quite a lot of combat he. he takes command on the same. he improvises. he rallies at the men and says we may be in the wrong place but we are going this way. him andmance by famously is walking around. he has a lamp and he has his cane. it is extraordinary. about a heart attack month later and dies in normandy, tragically. he is awarded the medal of honor in part for his collective service to the country.

coda is one of the interesting other general officers in the war. on omaha beach, you talked about how junior officers and ngos helped to rally to get them off. coda is waving his 45 and has a sungard clamp between his teeth -- and has a sungard clamp between -- cigar clamp between his teeth. act of combatry leadership when coda is on the bluffs. bradley is so anxious that things are going so badly he has thought about pulling the troops which will be hard and redirecting them and it is that dire. isn he gets word that cota on the beach and he knows things will be ok. he leads in bacone commander of

the 28th infantry division as part of a reward for his actions on june 6. 28th infantry had been the pennsylvania national guard. they are given the honor of leaving the parade, the victory paraded through paris when paris was liberated in late august of 1944. they were on the postage stamp, the ranks of men. he gets into the hurt and forest,once -- hurkin one of them most ill-conceived battles of world war ii. cota's division is chewed to pieces. he is with in a whisker of being relieved the reason they don't is because replacements have been wounded or killed. shows the fickleness of how life turns on a dime.

's case that, but in cota he goes from being a hero to a zero. as a famous picture of eisenhower confronting cota, a very skeptical face, expression on eisenhower's face. cota trying to explain this calamity that is unfolding. and -- asomplex people go. tim: and people like george taylor on omaha beach. , onlys a trivia question one world war veteran at american cemetery in normandy and a lot of people do not know what is and it is teddy roosevelt junior's brother. rick: his brother's grave was moved. tim: the second question is we know about his involvement of

animals, particularly horses and mules, in italy. were there any animals involved in d-day? i have to tell you a quick story about a paratrooper who landed and had a conversation with a cow. came up to meow and said "what are you doing in my field?" i thought he probably hit his head. involvede any animals in d-day? rick: the question is whether french.was speaking my animal history is not too deep. was there wast pigeons. hundreds of carrier pigeons of loading of the ships in the days

leading up to the expedition across the english channel. carrier pigeons were important. it was a recognition that radios were going to be balky. and strengthening the wire was difficult because wire was often cut by shell fire. there were a fair number of pigeons that went into the beaches. some of them did good service. others, particularly on the british beaches, writing this critical message with classified information and banding it as a role the patient in the air and he heads to the german lines. "damnhe famous line traitor." we have time for one more question. how much do you believe operation fortitude and the

first u.s. army played a role in helping the allies successfully take the beaches of normandy? that is a great question. storyit is a wonderful , thencredibly ingenious effort was persuaded the german defenders who knew that something was coming but did not know where or when to persuade them that invasion was coming somewhere other than normandy. particularly to reinforce the presumption that coming further probableld be the landing area. this very elaborate process was sent out in which you were trying to persuade german intelligence that the beaches were in fact not where the beaches were going to be. up theuded rolling german intelligence network.

they flipped all of them. suggested,uestion is dummy armies created so that german reconnaissance plans would see these inflated tanks thinking they were real armies? createds an army group out of whole cloth with patent n as the- patto commander. i do not think it mattered at all. it was the thing they had to do. german intelligence was usually so poor, there were no reconnaissance planes and they cannot penetrate the defenses that were very robust. the germans did not know about these inflated tanks. they did not have to make a decision, they never saw them. storyk it is a terrific and it is an important part of

the greater saga. i think in terms of confusing the germans, they had confused themselves sufficiently that i don't think that the disinformation that was put out under fortitude necessarily had a particularly critical role to play in that. tim: it'd didn't tie the german 15th army. it was -- it did tie up the german 15th army. it goes back to the german's intelligence. nymex early that people were walking around with dummy tanks -- not necessarily that people walk around with dummy tanks. rick: there was a more robust force to come across the channel. they kept their defenses well into the summer to the great advantage of those who landed at enough toit is hard

fight it through the hedgerows. the germans had made calculations that were simply wrong. they do not have the strategic and operational intelligence to tell them this is the main landing. this not a subsequent big relenting coming behind. it.anding, and behind it worked out quite well for the allies. tim: german intelligence turned out to be an oxymoron. it is a privilege to speak to you. i have been a fan for many years. just telling the story of world war ii and the individual soldiers, there is nobody better. you are my cornelius ryan. i appreciate everything you do. [applause] and your new book is fabulous and all the reviews have been incredible and you will be

signing that. thank you for joining us, it is a pleasure. i would like introduce the ceo of the world war ii foundation, major general drew davis. drew? drew: thanks for that extensive introduction. i appreciate that. tim: and also a great die. drew: good evening. it is a pleasure to be here in atlanta with all of you celebrating this remarkable 75th anniversary. in the last hour, i have learned a lot and appreciate what you in rick and lightened us all the last hour of discussion. what tim did not mention is i am actually a retired marine.

[laughter] how many marines in the audience? it is with some regret i have to inform all of you, there were no marines in normandy on d-day. tim: goodbye, everybody. thanks for coming. drew: another quick plug for which i have started. tim asked a good question about seminole 24 the periodsseminal 24 hour in our history? i read in the first chapter, the battle of lexington and concord in the revolution, which opened up the opening shots of our revolutionary war. right? >> correct. drew: the world war ii

foundation is grateful to be here and to honor all of the soldiers, sailors, coast guardsmen and our allies who landed in normandy almost 75 years ago. hinted is that you stop to think about this, in the entire scope of human history, june 6, 1944 was the largest, most complex human endeavor ever. -- i think not hyperbole. would you agree with that? >> yes. only a moment in our

history but human history. i am here to tell you a little bit more about some of your fellow georgians who landed on normandy in that today. before doing so, i would like to take a moment and ask all of you in the audience who have worn the cloth of military service in the united states to stand, please. all veterans, please stand. [applause] drew: i think the percentage of the audience that stood is also the mark of the commitment of the atlanta area to service to this nation. we are eternally grateful to you and your families for the courage, sacrifice and bravery you displayed. that both rickgs

and tim are very, very talented in doing, we were chatting regret that i did not major in history in college. history, the joy of history was driven out of my education and probably many of you in this room in high school when it all became of dates and .reaties and kings of england when really what the power of history is his personal stories. that is what tim and risks are so skilled at doing. telling the personal stories. -- that is what tim and rick are so skilled at doing. i will tell five stories about five georgians who landed in normandy on d-day. wooers --is jim

wooters. jim was a columbus, georgia native. essilor whole surge on the uss arkansas along with 1200 other sailors. served on the uss arkansas along with 1200 other sailors. and we willeorge delong.n his james mark he grew up in gainesville, georgia and attended the university of georgia. he started flying at the young age of 15 and entered the air force in 1942. he piloted on martin b 26 bomber

flying 73 bombing commissions including d-day over normandy. out, the weather was not good. in aarkable photograph world war ii magazine that shows what the rudimentary radar image that to these pilots would have seen as that they are trying to line up their targets and it was not good. jim was awarded the distinguished flying cross, air metal, purple heart and a european african middle east .ampaign ribbon

next is private edward e jackson. he grew up in columbus, georgia and listed in the army while studying at emory university. he served as as sherman tank driver for the 70th tank battalion. its motto was strike swiftly. jackson landed with his tank crew on utah beach on june 6. the tank was his -- the tank was hit -- let me back up. the tanks were not built to make amphibious landings. they were retrofitted with a pretty extensive system of systems,on and exhaust breathing systems and waterproofing. not many of those tanks made it across the beaches to land. jackson's tank was hit. private jackson was wounded and taken as a prisoner of war. he managed to escape and was recaptured after three days and spent the rest of the war as a pow. jackson has three sons. of home are with us.

our board member glenn and clay jackson. -- two of whom are with us. [applause] drew: next is willie collins. living in the deep south, he was subject to jim crow laws as an african-american citizen. when he enlisted, he was placed in the transportation corps which was part of the 228th port company. was killed on d-day while unloading cargo onto utah beach. the only reported casualty on d-day from data units. he received his purple heart posthumously recognizing his sacrifice and giving the

ultimate sacrifice. next, john e buck a griffin junior. untilved from 1943 november 1940 five. he was a member of the 225 u.s. rangers who attacked the north shore of france and scaled the cliffs. 22nd toe subject of our film, most recent film which is narrated by david mccallum home and if you may remember from escape."e "the great he is also a veteran of the british army and a loyal citizen of the united states. he does a beautiful job of narrating this film, which will be on the pbs stations. tim: now. a really powerful

film. asked to givewas a very memorable commemorative commemorated4 that the courage and sacrifice of this suicide mission of these rangers. he called at the most difficult and daring of the invasion. booke under to have 2 of 's daughters with us. [applause] drew: these are five georgians who made history. as we pointed out, the passage

of years has taken them from us. i would like to take a moment of silence for these five individuals and all of the other veterans that have served our country on d-day and gave that ultimate sacrifice. a moment of silence, please. drew: thank you very much. sheffield. out,e shell filled closes let us give all of these georgians who we mentioned, all of you veterans in this room and all of you who saw fit to give up a moment of your lives in this evening to come and share this moment of history. thank you very much. [applause]

thank you for your hospitality. >> i appreciate it. what a powerful night we have had. i would like to say thank you to our sponsors and the world war ii foundation and tim and rick for an incredible evening and i will never forget it. i want to thank all of you for attending. rick will be available to sign books to your left down the hall right after this evening. tonight, it truly set the tone for the upcoming 75th

anniversary. we look forward to honoring the anniversary by sharing the history and relevancy of this day. follow us on social medium where we will share interviews with world war ii veterans and our blog post providing more about d-day. veteran history is very important to us. we have been collecting oral history since 1995 and our founding partner of the library of congress which began in 2005. veterans from conflicts and world war ii to the present. 500 interviews, 350 are world war ii oriented are available on our website today. era haveterans of any been inspired to tell the story, we encourage you not to wait 75 years and to inquire about our project. we will believe you. honor all veterans share your stories. thank you again and good night. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

announcer: you are watching american history tv, 48 hours of programming every weekend on c-span3. forow us on twitter information on our schedule and keep up with the latest history news. darylight, blues musician davis talks about his book working details befriending complex clan members -- ku klux klan members. he was wearing military camouflage fatigues with the blood drop emblem right here. on hist initials kkk chest and all his beret where nights of the ku klux klan. on his hip, he had a semiautomatic gun in his holster. he was followed right behind him by mr. kelly, the grand dragon

in a dark blue suit and tie. when he entered the room and turned the corner and saw me, he froze. mr. kelly bumped into his back because the guys stopped short. they stumbled and looked all around the room. i knew what they were thinking. they were thinking that they were given the wrong room number or this is a set up or ambush. i went like this to display my hands. productsan history tv are now available at the new c-span online store. org.o c-span store. check out all of the c-span products. the 1944 documentary "d-day to germany," was shot and edited by jack lieb, a news of the day correspondent who was covering the invasion of france. he shot this for himself while also working for the hearst corporation newsreel.

after the war, mr. lieb created a traveling program and lecture program. he restored it with 1966 narration, the final lecture a gave before he passed away. >> the one place that intrigued me was my first trip to london and the health of parliament and big ben. now these pictures, you must remember, are more than a quarter of a century old. the thing that entertained our boys stationed in england was westminster abbey. quite a few americans stationed there came to see westminster abbey. these are the photographs i took on a sunday afternoon. another thing that intrigued me