the vietnam memorial which i think a lot of you have been to there's one name on there named john "bean" chinaee. you can ask me who is that? .in an operation that was very vicious, we finally overcame the enemy, so to speak. we were moving to a moot -- a new position and john was my point man. meaning he was guy out front. and suddenly, there was an explosion. i saw john drop and i ran over

and a good portion of his skull had been loan off. he was still alive bleeding profusely. a corpsman came with me and shook his head and john knew he was dying and he said to me, please be careful. the hill is mined. his last words were please be careful, colonel. there are times we go to the world war ii memorial and i will find john's name and it will put

my hand on it and talk to john. he was so brave and uncaring for himself in caring for me. i wore his blood in my utility uniform for three days until i got -- that is how i got to know john. the other one story which i will always remember, when i was stationed in georgia, columbus and georgia was a segregated city. no blacks need apply. colin powell could not get into some of the restaurants to mysteriously. there were students going through the command course and i took all the casualty calls so one day i got a casualty: i noticed the address and a new where was, it was in the poorest

of the poor black sections. the day was getting late and it was not a place that a white boy wanted to go. and so i waited until the next morning and i went over and i searched and i could not find the mother. i finally found the house and i wrapped in the door of the outdoor privy basic nothing, i knocked on the door and this tall stately black lady came to the door. but inside is a watched she told me to sit and i sat down on a brass bed and she on a little couch and in a corner was a man rocking back and forth

obviously with some sort of dementia. so when i told her that her son had been killed she took my lily white hand in this powerful black hand in she said, don't you fret, colonel kelly. when the good lord made me my robert, he made me no promises on how long i was going to get to keep him, and i know he is up there now with his lord looking down and saying, do not worry, mom, i am ok. and i followed her through for several weeks with the funeral and then i went on an impulse one day, the house was gone demolished, she was gone, and you wondered what is fair in this country sometimes, what is fair. that woman made an indelible

mark on me but that is -- i remind people that when you read all about these deaths that you see that so-and-so died in afghanistan, so-and-so died here or died there find large, that is a family. that is a family that will never see that person again. when i was battle monuments chairman i visited cemeteries quite often overseas and i would just want to walk alone and i would month -- walk among the stars of david in the crosses and as strangers it may be, i would talk to them and say who are you? where did you come from? did you have any brothers, did you have any sisters?

just to from my point of view to communicate and to show them if they are at a place called heaven that they now there are people who care. having that cap was one of the greatest thrills from a height -- of my life. i love -- i have one more, i want to get serious with you. a lot coming want to go? if you want to go, go. you one thing, let me for my as a sharp after i retired, george

herbert walker bush asked me if i would lead a team to go to the soviet union to talk about the strategic defense initiative. those were times when some of you young people would not remember that we are talking about the glasnost and perestroika, all the kinds of things we would make sure we cool off the temperatures that were running high and serious but we had put together a meeting with the retired hierarchy of the soviet union and the re-height retired hierarchy of the u.s. it started off by being in moscow, at a fancy hotel, but when we arrived, they said the

hotel was full and we are taking out that -- taking you out to where we have rest and relaxation in the countryside and they took us to a beautiful place in the desk -- in the countryside. they had some of the most evil woman you have seen in your life. the first thing i did was to look for the cameras. there were none that i found. a very important field marshal kept ducking me. it was all on sdi. i would sit down for breakfast

and milstein was, i have -- we have to talk sdi. i would sit down and he was there. when we left, if i could read this, when we left, i was asked by the team to put together the final remarks that we made. i have never shared these with many people but let me see them i can put it together and stumble through it and share it with you. these are the remarks that i made. let me see if i can get through. these are remarks. i would like to respond to

general milstein's concern yesterday that i provided little, if any rationale to support my statement that sdi was a stabilizing factor, not a destabilizing factor as suggested by -- as was suggested. general milstein was corrected asking for such rationale and i would be remiss if i did not provide it. it is a well-known misconception that marines are shy and retiring. i hope to correct this misconception today. i said, from inception, our president who is also by our constitution our commander-in-chief, has correctly felt that any sovereign nation has the right and responsibility to protect

its people from the start from all threats to their survival. while the u.s. and the soviet union have indeed in military allies against a common emanate -- enemy during world war ii they have not been allies in their political and economic policies for the last 72 years. in fact, by words and deeds, the soviet union has threatened peace and stability in the world forever seven decades. i remind you i am talking to the hierarchy of the soviet military. it is my strong view that president reagan has mentally sincere in his desire to rid the

world of nuclear weapons. in fact, mock -- far more sincere than any other chief of state since the first atomic bomb was detonated in 1945. one of the greatest concerns was that the arms race is rapidly getting out of control. you are building bigger and more accurate and offensive weapons at the same time attempting to reduce the effectiveness of hours by hardening your silos and putting your command control facilities underground. where we would have a problem with president reagan's view

that by technology we could render to the level of strategic weapons, we could demonstrate a folly with which we could eventually destroy mankind. whether or not you agree, i sincerely hope that you would give the subject serious consideration. i believe that sdi has played to -- played a major role in bringing the talks to where we are today. unless i am totally in error our perception of sdi is a destabilizing force -- shared by

general secretary gorbachev. i hope that is not the case. be that as it may the nature and the subject is of interest to -- important and will not be decided at this table. it has become a part of strategic posture personally. i am convinced to the contrary sometime in the future we will do everything in our to remain so but never use it as a negotiating chip. in closing my words let me say with strong emotion that i will repeat my comments to all levels of government and i hope you would do the same. signed px kelley. you got the gist of what i said i hope. that was one thing because sdi

was -- we had a huge threat in nuclear weapons to this country. nuclear weapons that could destroy humanity as we know it. young people today do not understand. we have all these standoffs when we thought that the russians were moving nuclear weapons to cuba. one of the funny side bars that is i was involved in the intelligence and for those who might remember we were going to put together an invasion for cuba. i was looking at the weapon system and i look at something called the frog missile.

and i was the one who discovered that the frog missile, had we gone ahead, would have been disaster because it had a nuclear warhead. which nobody had known certainly in our city. those things are very trying. let me get back to where i started. any questions? >> i do have a question regarding the monuments. the korean monument is absolutely breathtaking and a lot of photographers have taken pictures of our monuments, the world war ii memorial and korean memorial and they are found in

-- only to find out that they can, they are in violation if they actually try to sell a graph -- sell a photograph of an american monument. can you explain exactly what is going on with that as to wipe people who would photograph american monuments be told that they cannot sell that photograph or do anything with that photograph? >> you have me cold. i have never heard that and i have never seen that. that somebody stopped you from taking a photo? >> i can give you more information about that as to what took place. >> there are an awful lot of cameras out there taking photos. i am shocked. i can tell you one side of funny

story how many statues are there in the korean war veterans memorial? nine? and you know why it's one has a different weapon system or a different face? because of all the entries that he, we wanted to capture that. the original design was a bas-relief. i happen to be involved in this whole issue. we developed the statues. we had a contentious meeting. and i had a speaker who was not very polite with some of the

people in the commission's i took the microphone away from him and i said to the most cantankerous person, i said if you do not like that, what do you like and he says i do not like any. i said,, i am trying to negotiate here. what you want? i said it will take off three right now. he said ok. the day is getting late, we will approve it. so sick statues were approved. the next morning i called the chairman of the national capital planning commission who happened to be from here. would you be pissed off if you found nine statues? he said of course not. i tell you that there are three

statues that were never approved by anybody. but that is what you do. you push the system as far as you can go. a lot of that was the same. one of the things and maybe i am stepping on toes on this one. when the hot weather started in the young kids from the families who were visiting started to put their feet in the water, i got all suits of crap. i said that belongs to the people of america. and if they get some thrill out of it, let them go. they can put their feet in. anyhow.

>> think you. -- thank you. thank you for a terrific capstone speech. general kelly is one of those individuals around washington they call legendary. he is a living legend. he has had more experiences enough experiences to put into 10 different lives. we can bring him back every day for a week and he would have different material to tell you without repeating what he said the previous day. i hope you young future leaders got something out of this, i know i did. thank you, general, for being with us and we will set up for our final panelist on the coast guard. let's have a final round of applause for general px kelley. [applause] >> more now from this conference and some more stories from the

aerators who conducted the raid on japan in spring of 1942. >> thank you. we want you to think of some questions, there is not so much me asking the questions but we want you to ask the questions of these legends of world war ii. just a quick introduction. on my left, the highest decorated officer in the history of the 82nd are born he spotted anzio and did the river crossing and font in the battle of the

bolts were he should have won the medal of honor but due to an army snafu in the paperwork which never happens, he did not win the medal of honor. he is one of the great platoon leaders of world war ii and a guy i am incredibly happy to call a friend. the gentleman sitting to his left is lieutenant colonel richard cole. play number one of the doolittle one -- raid. jimmy doolittle's co-pirate and the pride of dayton, ohio. when you talk about moments in history and having a front row seat moments in history, that is a friend proceed to one of the most amazing moments in history. to his left, the pride of montana. and play number 15, and amazing

man and an engineer. >> i am navy. >> i said engineer. >> no offense. you were an engineer. before we begin the program i wanted to have the honor of opening remarks by the ambassador of the taipei economic and cultural representative of their office. the republic of china suffered greatly at the hands of the japanese but pot with great valor. the chinese risked their lives to help the doolittle raiders and i am sure many of you know that story, helping many of those guys and airmen to safety. as a result of the sacrifice of

the chinese and in retaliation for helping the americans gain their freedom, after the raid, 250,000 were killed for -- in retaliation for what happened. there remains a bond between the raiders, america, and the republic of china. that remains strong and we are have -- happy to have the ambassador with us to say a few words before today's panel begins. ambassador? [applause] >> this morning i am speaking to you in my dual capacity first is ambassador official names to the republic of china. i am qualified to be a spokesman

for the world war ii china. keep in mind that was shank i shut who issued the order -- you are supposed to land. you were offering the best protection, the best help to american flyers. thank you. even though shank i schick has passed away for 40 years, his political party is still the ruling party of the country. we know the doolittle mission is a big success. it is probably the most daring

the most stimulating, the most heroic in the early part of full bore two and also it can be considered as a retaliation against the japanese surprise attack at pearl harbor. also this is the first time the homeland was attacked in now they failed their own security. when president roosevelt was told about this great news he called a press conference and as you know in the conference when he was asked where did these bombers take off and he said from a secret base in shangri-la. well now -- we know this is not

the case. it is very difficult for a b 25 to take off from an aircraft carrier. it is not long enough. because the aircraft carrier has to stay away from the japanese homeland, from being detected, it is almost 700 miles in between. it is too far. even though the b 25 can fly to japan, it does not have enough fuel to fly back. they all took off as planned. the penetrated into japanese airspace. they bombed the japanese cities. not heavy bombing but symbolic bombing. they bombed tokyo, nagoya, yokohama. is the miracle, they managed to

get out almost unharmed. where would they go to land? the original plan was to have a chinese airport. they fly across the east china sea to a chinese city. the chinese government built an airport for them to land at. but just a few hours before the mission started, colonel, you remember well, the fleet was spotted by japanese ships. they moved out earlier. , two hours. the message did not get to the chinese authorities. the ward time commitment -- the wartime communication was not so good. they reached the airspace, the airport, during the night. it was in a blackout. they had no place to land.

15 of the 16, except for one which went to the soviet union the others had to crash land or bailout. out of 75 crew members, 65 -- almost 90%, thankfully because of chang kai-shek's order. that was a dangerous province. they were rescued by the chinese guerrilla soldiers. chinese people rescued the american flyers. they offered them the best protection, sanctuary. they assembled them and sent them to the airport the next province. from there, a c-47 pick them up and took them to chongqing, the wartime capital.

they were warmly received by generalissimo changi scheck. -- chiang kai-shek. right in chongqing, colonel doolittle got the order to have him promoted directly to general. it is a beautiful story, but the story did not end. you can imagine how angry the japanese were. they mobilized and nine divisions and started what they called a punitive campaign against the chinese. more cities were taken. more villages were burned down. tens of thousands of civilians soldiers, women and children were massacred.

at that time, the japanese used chemical weapons. the chinese suffered a lot because of the american mission. but these selfless chinese feel only regret that that night, they did not receive general too little his flyers well -- doolittle and his flyers well. because there are 10 crewmen who did not make it, some of them were captured by the japanese and executed. some died in japanese persons. only four survived until the end of the war. the chinese people always feel a little sorry, a little regret. let me tell you a story. general doolittle, in may of 1976, he visited taiwan. he was no longer a general on active duty. he was a business executive representing mutual of omaha.

he went to taiwan for an international insurance conference. of course, it became big news of his arrival. a chinese gentleman in taipei wrote him a letter. he was the provincial commissioner for the civil defense during the war of the province that the general and crew were supposed to land in. he had retired. all those years, he felt regret, sorry for not receiving the general and his flyers. he wrote the general a letter to the hotel where the general was staying. the general was so graces. he expressed his regret, asking why, general, you did not land in our airport as scheduled.

the general wrote back. i have the letter. i found it in the gentleman's memoirs. it is in chinese but i translated it. now allow me to read this letter from general doolittle. it says, i was delighted to receive your letter of may 18. we are grateful that our chinese friends built in airport for us and helped our crew members. unfortunately, the aircraft that carried the navigation apartment crashed. therefore, there was no beacon to guide us. we did not provide you with enough information. however, we were successful in creating an astonishing result. signed, jimmy doolittle.

1976. my dear friends, this is why i will say that the doolittle mission and the chinese cooperation would be the most heroic, touching the most moving episode of the u.s. china wartime cooperation when china was in the leadership of the general. this deserves our heartfelt remembrance generation after generation. it is why i was surprised that last month i went to a special exhibition cosponsored by the research institution and the think tank here and i was surprised that out of 150 of 200 photos those not even one about general doolittle and his missions. in fact, to my surprise, maybe

there is one hiding somewhere that i did not find. but to say the least he was outnumbered tremendously by the picture of american army colonel. and he was the chief of u.s. military liaison during the wartime. so the colonel had lot of pictures so they showed those pictures instead. this is why today i appreciate this opportunity offered by the center even more because i can get this chance to tell you the true story, the true t spirit, the true legacy. and this today is honored, it's well preserved and inhittered by the people of taiwan. our sincere, most profound salute to the general and those chinese people who sacrificed or even died for the success of the american mission.

thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you interior. -- ambassador. thank you very much. very nice. our first question is for colonel cole. the impact of the raid of 1942 was felt by the entire nation. it was a huge morale builder for a country that had only known defeat up until that point. 72 years later plus now, it doesn't seem to have lost any of its importance. how come the raid on april 18 of 1942 has not lost its impact and importance on america? >> well the raid on japan was very important to president

roosevelt. after pearl harbor, he continued to badger the chief of the army air corpse and he continued to battle the navy chief of operation. not many people that i have contacted realize that the idea of the raid came from a navy captain who was a submariner who happened to be flying over norfolk naval air station one day and the runways at norfolk are marked off and i don't know the distances but they are

carrier markings. looking down he saw an army bomber take off from the runway. and he got the idea and he passed it on to his support and it ended up on roosevelt's desk and he said do it. >> he did say do it. no question and he chose the right man to lead the mission. >> on t.n.t. plane number 15rks you had a problem with the plane getting off of hornet and something you had to fix. you guys on plane number 15 almost didn't make it off, correct. could you tell the crowd a little bit about that?

>> well, the right engine on my airplane developed a problem which meant it couldn't fly anymore. i had to remove the engine and repair it on the deck of the carrier. general doolittle asked me if i could fix it and i said probably. i didn't say it very loud. \[laughter] i was about to get in over my head. i knew i would have to take the engine off the airplane, take it half apart, put it back together and hope i done it right. this was a job we did not do at that level. it all worked out. the navy helped me get the engine off the airplane. this is a 2,000 pound engine swinging around on the end of a

chain hoist on the flight deck of the carrier. the navy helped a lot with tall ropes. they kept it from getting out of control. took the engine down below and took ate part and put it back together. the tricky part was taking the engine off the airline on the flight deck of a carrier and the carrier refused to hold still. you couldn't lay anything on the deck of the carrier, not a nut bolt, tool, anything would go right overboard. the suggestion was made by some friends i ought to toss something overboard and be done with it. i didn't. that complicated the job. everything had to go up inside the airplane. i had 100 items up in there. i didn't know what they all were or where they went.

got the job done. had no parts left over. at that point i felt pretty good about it. \[laughter] and every bolt and nut is somewhere on that airplane. hopefully they are in the right holes but we'll see. the engine ran fine. we flew about 12 hours or something around that. everything went fine. so i was kind of given credit for us having the full 16 airplanes. could have well been 15. i got away with it. it worked out. \[applause] >> plane number 15's -- >> it's still in the bottom of the ocean but a different ocean. >> that's not your fault though. >> plane number 15's target was co-ban japan.

you did an incredible job. >> maggie, you've talked about fighting in the mountains of italy and fighting the germans and you always said that you learned a lot from watching the germans and how they fought and you applied that to yourself as a soldier. could you talk to the crowd a little bit about what you learned from watching the germans? you're not only in charge of watching the germans, but you are in charge of shooting a few as well. but you had a deep respect for their soldiers. >> i'd be delighted to talk about that. i'd like to interject one thought here if i may about our presence here. the three of us, and i am pleased to be with my colleagues and with ed who i appreciate and have known for a long time.

and when i have the say i want to put in some historical chronology our presence of veterans of the great war they call it of world war ii. and i remember going through the grade schools and i remember on november 11, we all stood up and we faced east and all the whistles and horns sounded church bells sounded and we were celebrating world war i had just ended. i want to you know that i was born 52 years after the end of the civil war. and we're talking here about world war ii that ended almost 70 years ago. i also remember the parades we had downtown in wisconsin. civil war veterans were riding in cars because they weren't capable of marching.

there were few that followed along and also the world war i veterans, that was their time when i was in grade school. and also spanish american war veterans. i stood out there and watched the veterans go by in great amazement. i was like what a great thing this is and what a wonderful thing it would be if i had something from one of these veterans from the civil war, what it would mean to me. now here we are from world war ii and we're talking about that. and i always say that because i remember at the way the country had responded in world war i how we were united and how we fought together. when we honored veterans people stood up when a flag came by and saluted it and honored it somewhat different than the way we honor it now.

so we stood up on november 11 which is coming soon, now known as veterans day. but in regards to your question about what i learned in combat or what i learned as an officer in the war. i had graduated from rotc and had a commission when i went in the service and i was a second lieutenant and i had gone to summer camps and done other things. and we were learning about war from the manuals from world war i and how we moved in large forces and jumped out of trenches and charged into enemy fire and the like. and that was pretty much my

training. in parachute school we learned other things. new thoughts about jumping behind enemy lines and securing lines of communication and to aid the troops that would be making landings wherever it was we were jumping. and so that's the way that was my training. so when i got to africa and went to airborne training center and after that into the mountains of italy and everything, i really had not had any training that was appropriate for what we were about to nays italy. but the germans did. and let me say this: i highly respected the german soldiers as an enemy. they were good. they had taken over everything. they had military down to a science. and what i watched them do in the mountains of italy whenever they went in to attack, they prepared their target.

they came in with bombers or artillery to soften up the target for their infantry that would follow. we didn't do that. i wasn't taught that at all in my training. we didn't do that. but the germans did. and when they charged out of their position, they didn't come in mass but they came in units. if it was a rifle company, there would be three squads and they'd approach from another angle. and what they did that from behind them machine guns would fire overhead. here these guys come charging at you and machine guns firing overhead. if things got bad you could look for the lift would haver. they brought all of their went tons bear on the target in a way i had not been taught. i said -- i was wounded twice. and eventually evacuated and

went to england before i jumped in holland. i learned more from the germans fighting against them in italy than i had learned in all the training i had before that. i don't knock the military training now. i think it's adequate for our purposes. but in world war ii, i want you to know that when we -- when the war clouds were brewing over the pacific and over the atlantic, we had a military force in 1940 of 140,000 people, 140,000. but in short order, after the draft was instituted and the japanese bombed pearl harbor we went to 16 million people, 16 million people that had to be trained, that had to have officers and leaders and all of that.

and the question that i was asked, i write about that because i was sincere in what i had to say they learned an awful lot from the germans. not only did i learn a lot from them, but it was obvious they were an enemy and their purpose in being here was to kill us. it was either we killed them or they killed us. i would like to tell a story that kind of sticks in my crawl when this story comes up. after i got back to wisconsin sometime after the war, i was invited to a grade school to tell what it was like to jump out of an airplane, what it meant and all of that. and so i did. and in talking about it, i said when i jumped in holland, i carried with me a thompson submachine gun strung over one shoulder and m-1 rifle over the other, a pistol and hand grenades all over and i was loaded down with am in addition

and guns. -- ammunition and guns. i said why do you think i jumped with all those guns. they all had something to say but one boy got up and this is what he said. the side that kills the other side's soldiers wins. i thought this guy is smarter than all the historians writing about world war ii who would have us believe it was won elsewhere. he said the side that kills the other side's soldiers wins. i learned that in germany and they were out the kill us. it was a matter of them or us. and i can tell you that while i'm on this subject and i've got the floor, i may not get back here again. they may not invite me. all of us, when we went in service, we knew we were in a cause greater than ourselves.

we knew that. what we were fighting for is those values we hold dear in this country and we fight for. and that's what has made this country great that. every generation has come forward when the occasion demanded young men and women responded to the challenge to protect those values. but it was not until the latter part of the war when we liberated a concentration camp and we came in one gate and the ss troop out the other and we saw it as it existed on an everyday basis. what i saw then shocked me. and it pointed out man's capacity for inhumanity to man. i saw it right there. and i said then and i've written and said since i then fully realized what the cause that we

were fighting for that was greater than ourselves and that was to destroy the monstrosity the nazis created or it would engulf freedom loving people everywhere. that was the cause greater than ourselves. [applause] so i not only learned from the germans, but also in the terms they would kill me or i would kill them. but i had to adopt some of their tactics which i thought were more effective than ours and that enabled me to be a leader. i want to say one other thing since i represent the infantry. that what i learned was and what i tell soldiers today and elsewhere where i speak is you lead from the front but you

command from the rear. you lead from the -- rear. you lead from the front. and whether a battle is won or lost depends on the outcome of the battle. let's say that the germans that captured and russia surrendered we'd be living in a different world. those battles weren't fought in the capitol cities. they were fought by young men and women. young men who believed in a cause greater than ourselves. i like to point those things out to put in perspective anything i might say. this is a chronology, a historical chronology, born right after the civil war and i recall all of that.

>> that concentration camp informs germany and i've been there and a smaller concentration camp, not that size, but still there are remnants there as well. when you go back to europe with this guy, it's like going back with jay-z or drake or one of those guys. he's a rock star over there. give applause for the hair. [applause] >> we'd like to take some questions now if any of you would like to ask some questions. >> i was going to ask it's such an honor to have you guys here

and be in your presence and take advice from you. you are known as the greatest generation of america, you are known as the ones who built what the country is now. what i want to ask if you could pass down one form of advice to us, how can we better serve our people whenever we become commissioned officers? >> he wants to borrow $100. >> he wants to know how the younger generation when they become commissioned officers how can they best serve this country like your generation served our country? >> i don't know exactly how to answer that because the training that you young people are having and have had doesn't come anywhere near to the lack of

training that we had when we were young. i enlisted before the japanese attack and i did that because uncle sam had paid for my flying to get a private's license and have a basis for going on to flying at kelly air force base. the other thing was that as a young person, i had been interested in aviation, mainly because i was exposed to a lot of army air corp flying.

i was born and raised in ohio and i had an opportunity to observe what the army air corp was doing at a base that no longer exist. it was the first test base that the army air corp had. >> thank you colonel. >> i'd like to make one comment in regard to the point. there are a lot of cliches that come out of a war and one of them is they refer to us as the greatest generation. i disavow that and i put that in a book i wrote. what i do say is this. every time those values that we hold dear as a nation were threatened, young men and women came forward and responded.

and they may not have been the greatest generation but they were best of the generation. and i say this with great conviction because of the way we treated our vietnam veterans when they came back home. we looked down on them. but they were the best of their generation. i spent two years in vietnam with them. and they were every bit as good as we were. and for me then to indicate that you guys are good but i was from a greater generation, i think would be demeaning to other soldiers. so i don't use that. maybe tom brokaw sells books but i don't buy it because every generation has brought forward great men and women. young men and women to serving today. they are the best of the generation. we have to understand that. >> we have a question.

my question is for any one of you, was there any time you were scared and felt like you wanted to give up on your mission? >> there was an opportunity many times for the doolittle raiders who were on the raid to back out of the raid. you were asked many many times maybe i'll give this unto ed. you were asked many times whether you wanted to not be on the raid and to a man every man said as many times as you were asked i want to go. was there a point is the question where you were scared and what point was that? was there a point when you were scared, and what point was that? >> i probably was scared. it didn't bother me much. i did what had to be done. everybody was doing the same thing in those days.

we had a war on our hands and we had to get on with it. we did what we were trained to do and a bunch of kids won the war. scared? i suppose i probably was a little scared many times particularly when i was covered up by a bomb in england. but -- i think i am drifting away from the question a little bit. i just did what had to be done. there was not a whole lot of philosophy involved, certainly to my knowledge. serious bunch of young men and we just done what had to be done. and it worked out. \[applause] >> it's not a comment for a

veteran to say i served and then i went back to high school. when you think about that, i was still sucking my thumb. these guys fought a world war and went back and finished high school and went on to college which is incredible the maturity of that generation. we have a few minutes left. >> you said you understood immediately when you saw the nazi atrocities what your mission was all about. looking at the atrocities today being committed in the middle east by is sill -- isil, how do you reflect than? do you see any comparisons?

>> i didn't hear it all. >> looking back on liberating a concentration camp and a holocaust. history tends to repeat itself. what is going on today with the murder and genocide across the world. what are your thoughts about that? maybe the world hasn't learned? >> i do address that subject. it's a good question. i do address that subject and i write it in my book and that is that we cannot be indifferent when these things are happening around the world, not happening to us. but we can't be indifferent when inhumanity is being expressed and these things are going on. we can't say that doesn't affect us. it does. maybe it doesn't affect us directly but it affects us as people and what we believe in and what we stand for and what we fought for and what we were willing to die for.

and when we see that, i say we cannot be indifferent to what is happening to other people around the world. we tend to dismiss it here. but we can't. and i think if the holocaust taught us anything it is we cannot be indifferent to these things because that's not the kind of people we are as americans. [applause] >> we wish we had the opportunity to talk to a confederate or union soldier or world war i veteran about their experiences but they are all gone. there are still world war ii veterans left, about 1.1 million. about 700 die every day.

if you get the opportunity, go talk to one. it could be any veteran from anywhere. it could be these gentlemen, a grandfather or grandmother. just do it. just talk to them. and let them tell you what it was like. but it's such an honor to have you here and thank you for your participation today and good luck to all of you. [applause] >> q&a as 10 years old. to mark a decade of compelling conversations, we are featuring interviews from each year. today, rory kennedy on the last days in vietnam. she chronicles personnel from south vietnam in 1975. q&a at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span.

tonight at 8:00 conversations from the 2014 washington ideas for him. the event brings together entrepreneurs, authors innovators, and others for latest look at trends, culture technology, and business. our guest talks about trying to hide his russian heritage upon arriving in america in 19 80 and then later taking pride in his status. >> when i came to america, it was 1980 and being a roadshow in -- being a russian was the worst thing you could be. there were all the movies, read on read turbo, red hamster. anything red you could be was bad. i went to hebrew school for eight years of punishment.

there i had to pretend i was a german. 10 years later i showed up at oberlin college, a small marxist college in ohio. being an immigrant was the coolest thing you could imagine. nobody wanted to be the heterosexual white male. so i got his russian as could be. i was eating borscht in the cafeteria, doing the whole cause i thing. i tried to annex another college. it was really productive. >> that is part of the washington ideas forum airing tonight at 8:00 p.m.. also, an effort to bring prosthetics technology to war-torn sudan. >> the 114th congress gavels in

this tuesday at noon. watch live coverage of the house on c-span and the senate live on c-span two, and track the gop led congress. have your say as events unfold on the c-span networks, c-span radio, and c-span.org. new congress, best access, on c-span. >> could you pass the immigration naturalization test? that is what we want to know this morning. if you call in and want to talk about immigration, one of the issues that the congress and president will be working on, you have to take a quiz first. you have to answer a question from the naturalization test. the numbers are up on the screen. the numbers are up. this is from the u. s. citizenship and immigration services.

the civics test is an oral test. the officer will ask applicant up to 10 of the 100 civics questions. we're going to ask everybody to call in this morning to take a naturalization question. see if you get the answer, then we will let you make your comment. we will begin with common on the democrat line. the question you have to answer __ what is the supreme law of the land? caller: that is an interesting question. wow. host: you're trying too hard. what do you think it is?

what is the supreme law of the united states? caller: the law for all citizens to have their laws be __ host: let's show you the answer. the constitution. what iis your comment about immigration? caller: i was calling to say that i watch it program periodically. i wanted to say that immigration such a hot topic. as americans, we should consider that they want __ immigrants want to bring good

to their lives. america is the greatest place on the face of the earth. i'm from the ivory coast originally. i can tell you, you do not have some of the stuff that you have here there __ the possibilities, you can work, you can do anything. if you really want to make it in america, it is the best place. host: how long can we been in the country? caller: almost 30 years. host: what is the process, use citizen? caller: yes, i am. it was __ it was not complicated. i went through all the normal procedures. i was in michigan. once everything was done, i

came to washington, i naturalized in michigan. i left the u. s., went to ivory coast, then i came back. host: thanks for calling in. we just learned from the naturalization test, that the constitution is the supreme law of the land. what does the constitution do? keith from college station, texas, that is your question. caller: the constitution forms the three branches of government __ the congress, the executive, and the supreme court. host: that is one of the right answers. you can see there. keith, what you want to say about immigration? caller: i think we need to pass an immigration law. i think we need to pass all

that. we need a stronger border, security. we need to find a solution for those who have been here for a long enough time that warns of prices for citizenship. we need to expand the number of immigrants that we allowed in for citizenship. we probably need a couple different tiers __ those who are migrant workers, or just need a legal way to work your, and go back __ and other category, technicians, and such. i think you need to do it all, and do it this year. host: thank you very much.

the next call is from growing in florida. from the immigration test __ what is an amendment? caller: and amendment is a change to a decision that was already created. host: according to the test __ iit is a change or in addition to the constitution, you nailed it. caller: on the test __ what is the percentage that you need to pass or fail? if you fail, what do you do? do you go to the back of the line? on the question of labor, as it

relates to immigration __ this country has always been so extorted when it comes to the question of undocumented or illegal aliens, whatever you want to call them, coming to the country and to make better their lives. florida, for example, most of the southern states have a right to work. my father was a victim of this political scheme. we see a lot of undocumented workers. speaking of infrastructure too __ my father was a highway worker. they were in a union. of course, it was done away with. today, we have illegal aliens doing the work.

all of that money is sent out of the country. if we could come up with a system where the money and bonds were going through a pension, to recycle the money, do it in a way that everyone benefits, that would be a better system than hiring cheap labor. one other thing __ to correct the situation, the only thing we have to do is put those people in jail who hire these people, and police them. people forget about that when they put up a fence, and spent all that money. host: that is roy from florida. this is jimmy from south carolina. jimmy, your question __ what do we call the first 10 amendments

to the constitution? caller: the bill of rights. host: that is correct. your question. caller: well, my primary concern about immigration is that we are not checking people coming in. it is so easy for terrorist and criminal elements to come in. that is really what we need to work on as far as immigration. host: thank you. debbie in albuquerque. what is one right or freedom from the first amendment? caller: freedom of speech. host: there you go. those are the first amendment freedoms. what is your comment about immigration?

caller: i do not have a question. i was surprised that one of the questions you asked. the constitution enforces commerce __ if you really take a look, it is more powerful for businesses. they do not want the amendment added. i was surprised that it talks about our rights. that's all i have to say. host: that was the second question on the quiz __ what does the constitution do. we are taking the street from the u. s. citizenship and immigration services website. next call __ steven __ steve in

a new york. you get a tough one. how many amendments does the constitution have? caller: the last one would be about the pay raise. are we up to 29? host: very close. 27. you were a lot closer than we got. caller: i'm calling because i am an esl teacher __ all my students are immigrants. i have quite a few immigrants that are border children, they came across the border this past year. these children are very demonized. most of them refugees.

an example, one of 11_year_old girl __ she would see people come in and put guns to her grandma's head and asked for money. people call her at terrorist. this is an 11_year_old girl. her parents thought it was safer for her to cross the desert, rather than stay in the town where she was. these kids will probably get to stay here because of the terrible violence in the country. host: that was steve. up next is mac in ohio. what are two rights in the declaration of independence? caller: right to liberty and

freedom. host: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. go ahead and make your comment. caller: my comment is that the constitution was founded on compromise. i think immigration __ you need to find compromise on this controversy. there are many examples of copyrights in the constitution. i think the congressional leadership think about that. host: what you see as a middle ground? or compromise? caller: some degree of amnesty. tighten down the borders. begin from there. host: what dpo you do?

caller: i'm a teacher. host: have you ever given your kids this test? caller: i have. they feel like they do not need to take the test, they think it is for the immigrants. i come back and say we enjoy the privileges of citizenship, we should at least know what immigrants have to know in this country. that is my approach. host: do you have any immigrant children in your classroom? caller: a few. host: thank you. linda is up next. linda, you get to related questions. how many u. s. senators are there? how long is the senate term? caller: 100, six years. i have a question for you.

who were the three smartest man in the constitution who did not sign, why did they not sign? host: that is so wrong of you. why don't you tell us. we do not like answering questions. caller: they did not sign because the bill of rights was not attached. they were the dissenters. they did not sign because the bill of rights was not attach the constitution. now you learned something today. on immigration __ i think we're doing a good thing here starting in connecticut. we are allowing immigrants __ i refuse to call them aliens __ to have a drivers license. this drivers license allows them to drive in connecticut.

they have no federal rights attached to this. i think this is the way we will have to address immigration with the people who are already here, that meet certain standards, lake placid drivers test. i also think we have built in enforcement with our employers __ contributing tto pensions, please contribute to social security. if we could eliminate employers to employing them. they do not ever collect social security benefits if they are not here legally, but they do pay them. the problem is, we do not enforce our own laws as employers. i agree with what we're doing here, i think it is a solution that state should look at. it is a big piece __ they are

ensured driving. maybe all 50 states should look up at. host: matthew in santa monica, california. you get a double question as well. how may people in the house of representatives are voting members? how longer_term does each member of congress have? caller: 500 or more than 500. the terms are __ four years? host: 435 members, and two_year terms. caller: well, i screwed up on both of those. i still want to make a relevant

comment to something that earlier caller spoke of. the constitution is a pretty good comment, but there were a lot of problems at the time. we would not have a bill of rights had it not been for two men __ george mason and patrick henry. you know, even after they got the bill of rights through __ patrick henry went back to virginia and basically told virginia that everything the revolution fought for has been damaged by the conclusion of the constitution. of course, patrick henry was famous for his "give me liberty or give me death" speech. we arty have the albany plan for union __ a lot of people felt that the american revolution was a failure

because a lot of things were excluded by the constitution in favor of those who were in power. of course, here we are in the 21st century, and america is run by multinational corporations, bankers, and secret societies. the same problem is even worse today. thank you. host: this morning, in the last 20 minutes of the "washington journal," we are taking the naturalization test. you have to answer questions get on the __ aa question to get on the air this morning. we're talking about immigration, if you want to make a comment, you have to answer that question first. joyce in west virginia.

name your u. s. representative. caller: my u. s. representative. for the next couple of days it is shelling capito. host: who is replacing her? do you know? caller: i do. i can't think. host: alex mooney? caller: yeah. you know, i am unhappy about it all. you know what happened in west virginia. host: yes, ma'am.

didn't your whole congressional delegation go republican? caller: yes. all we have left is __ to be truthful, he is so close to republican. host: what is your comment about immigration? caller: about 15 to 20 years ago when i was leaving in d.c. and managing apartments, someone i knew he was from brazil, he took the test. he ttold me, joyce, you do not know how hard this is. he read me all the questions. i remember the first one was

named the 13 colonies, which i did. you know, that was the one that took a little bit of time. i got them all. they were really not that hard __ i was a history major in school. after that __ they are a little hard, i guess it could be. my representative __ host: you got it right. she is the representative for the next couple days. joyce, do you think american kid should take this quiz? caller: can i ask you one question.

i have called and asked about this __ one of my favorite people on c_span was rob pearson. host: he is still here. he is on assignment desk at c_span. caller: he does is it on the air anymore. host: i'm sure he is listening, if not, i will make sure that he knows that joyce says hi. all right, nathaniel. nathaniel, here is your question. why do some states have more representatives than other states? nathaniel, we will never know his answer. let's try charles.

charles, why do some states have more representatives than other states? caller: representatives are allocated based on population. that's why california has more than wyoming. host: very good. what is your comment about immigration? caller: as far as immigration, i've been through it twice. my first wife was chinese. my second wife is russian. i coach them both so they could pass the exam. i am proud to say, both were able to become citizens. i would like to say, my wife went from a red to a red, white, and blue. that speech that patrick henry gave __ that is an iconic speech in american political history. many people do not know the first thing that he said.

he said, "can everyone here be all right?" host: what do you do? caller: i am a telecommunications specialist, i worked for the military. host: do you think that american kid should take this exam? caller: yes, very much so. it covers a very wide range of subjects that both nativeborn and form board should have a thorough understanding of the federal government process. host: but start to betty in louisiana. if both the president and vp can no longer serve, who becomes presidents?

caller: i think it is the speaker of the house. host: you got it right. caller: it has been a long time __ i wanted to mention the fact that i get upset when people are always saying "undocumented." it's sort of negates that some people have come, and if not done at the legal way. i think most people are not against immigrants. they are against people coming in you legally. host: c think the term illegal __ so you think the term illegal should be used? caller: that is the point. if you go into a home, in your trespassing, that is a legal. if someone does something like

that __ i think it should be called what it is. that's not to say that these people do not contribute, or that perhaps they do not deserve to be considered as citizens later on. but, i really get upset __ they try to rename and reterm everything. i hope people will use words in their original context and meaning. host: that was betty. up next from maryland. you get a double question. how the justices are on the supreme court? who is the chief justice right now? caller: there are nine justices. the chief justice is __

host: the chief justice is john roberts. go ahead and make your comment. caller: my comment is __ one congressman once said, you do not have the right to choose the country where you are born, but you have the right to choose a country that you love. we are here because we love this country. the word illegal alien __ we all came here as immigrants. some people say we came here before us. for people to use words to

describe these people as illegal __ host: where did you come from originally? caller: sierra leone. how long have you been here? caller: 12 years. host: party __ have you taken this test? caller: yes, i passed him i first tried. host: moving on to pat. who is the governor of your state now? what is the capital of the state? caller: bentley, and montgomery.

i have two comments. about u. s. citizens taking this test, i do not think you should be issued a cell phone number without taking this test. all kids want a cell phone, they should know what country they are in, and how it works. secondly, in terms of the immigration issue __ there is a belief that you cannot remove all the illegals from this country. i disagree. we should attempt to remove every one of them who have come in either legally. thank you. host: up next is another person from alabama.

this is will. it was part of alabama are you from? caller: just below decatur. host: here is your question. there are four amendments to the constitution about who can vote. describe one of them. i will tell you __ do not try too hard. we had a little bit of trouble ourselves when we are playing this morning. it is not as hard as it seems. one more time __ therefore limits to the constitution about who can vote, describe one. caller: one was to give women the vote. host: you got it. here are the four __ citizens

18 and older can vote, any citizen can vote, and a male citizen of any race can vote __ those were amendments to the constitution. go ahead and make a comment about immigration. caller: it is a complicated thing. some of the ideas i hear people talking about makes me think that they do not have a conscience. you hear people saying, close the border. it takes money to close the border. republicans will not spend the money. but yeah, they are the biggest complainers. i would like to see some of these people walk up to the children, and say, we will kick you out of here. i cannot imagine that happening. there should be more people,

possibly on your show, that would educate us about things that are going on. these people __ we have a lot worse problems than immigration. i think we should work on a lot of problems. thank you. host: of next from la, bj. what are two rights that everyone living in the united states have? caller: two rights? host: two rights of everyone living in the united states. caller: any two? freedom of religion and the right to bear arms. host then you got __ yyou that

two of them. what is your comment on immigration? caller: i have an issue __ as many people have had __ people forget the fact that this country is made of immigrants. if you're not so fortunate to have native in front of your name, as a native american, we are all immigrants. what frustrates me is the fact that __ we, as a country, have not upheld our treaties to the native americans. there's still suing the government for land that they were promised.

as americans __ as we call ourselves __ we took this country by force. for people to denigrate others who come here in search of better life, it is frustrating. our ancestors did the same thing. we cannot all the people who come here wanting a better life. we have to be conscious and compassionate. host: what you do in la? caller: i am a student. host: what you study? caller: information technologies. host: where you study? caller: santa monica. host: wire you up so early watching c_span? caller: i watch c_span every morning.

i am actually in texas. host: so you are currently in texas. caller: yes. i get up every morning to watch c_span. host: you sound like you weren't necessarily from la. next up, donna. caller: good morning. host: from the naturalization quiz __ wwhat are two ways that citizens can produce meat in the democracy? caller: vote. pay taxes. host: that sounded good to me. it is not listed here. the answers given by the

naturalization test __ vote, join a party, join a civic group, give your opinion on an issue, publicly support an issue, run for office, right to a newspaper. every day here at c_span, we are fulfilling one of those ways that americans can participate. why don't you publicly support an issue for us. caller: can you repeat that? host: i was getting. go ahead and talk about immigration. caller: i've heard a lot of callers talk about the idea of immigration __ i think immigration is good for our country. that is how our country was founded, yes.

but, there is a difference between legal immigration and illegal immigration. i agree with the woman who called up and said, let's call this what it is. if someone breaks into your home, or robs a bank, it is illegal. people come here from another country through illegal ways, crossing borders, and do not become an american citizen, they are breaking all of our laws. they do collect social services. i do not believe that someone wouldn't know that they collect __ welfare, food stamps, housing assistance. they are not contributing with any of these deductions taken out of their pay because they are being paid under the table. all they are doing is taking.

they are not contributing. there are only contributing labor, not to our financial health. this is one of the problems. if employees were fine, or if they follow the law, they would hire anybody at a livable wage. what happens is __ i hear people say, well, people who come here will work for cheaper wages, and do jobs that americans will not do. but __ they are hiring people to work at substandard levels of pay. if employees would hire people at a livable wage, everybody __

the economy would start to come back. host: we will have to leave it there. happy new year to everybody who called in this morning. thank you for participating in the quiz. here it is, if you're interested in seeing it for yourself __ u. s. citizenship and immigration services is the sponsor of it. it is 100 civics >> the washington post reports that the obama administration has posted new sanctions against north korea after determining that they were behind the attack on sony entertainment. the targets include the country's main intelligence agency, believed to have orchestrated cyber operations,

as well as agencies responsible for weapons deals and research and development. the newly sanctioned officials include those operating out of zambia, iran, syria and china. >> the one hundred 14th congress gavels in this tuesday at noon eastern. watch live coverage of the house on c-span, the senate on c-span two, and track the gop led congress and have your say as events unfold on c-span networks, c-span radio and c-span online. >> up next, conversations with astronauts and private citizens who have flown into space. we begin with walter cunningham, the lunar module pilot on apollo in 1978. he talked about the space race with the russians and the future of nasa at a conversation at the

explorers club in new york city in october. >> thank you, well, and thank you guys for coming out so early. we have a big program today, and we are very honored to have with us -- well, to start, and i think this is great chronologically, apollo seven astronaut walt cunningham. they had the terrible fire on apollo one. these guys had to go up and make it happen and they did. thank you. we have had many legends on, but this is one of the greatest. let's hear it for walt cunningham.

[applause] that's a pretty good welcome. i keep hearing that i am going to call him glenn cunningham, the old nfl quarterback. evidently, 13 and 14 had a lot to do with your career and life. talk about it. >> actually, like a lot of people, you learn things later that you did not know when it was critical but about 10 years ago, i got an e-mail from a friend of mine, paul haney, who was the head of public affairs when nasa selected me back in 1963. how many here were alive? a few of you. anyhow after i was selected, before i reported, i met paul

haney. he was the only person i knew associated with nasa. after i left nasa, i wrote a book called the all-american boys. a number of people here have that book. paul was a friend of mine, and i gave paul a copy of the book. about 10 years ago before paul died, i got an e-mail from paul that said one sentence about something. it said oh, i read the book it's really good. i sent an e-mail back that said paul i gave you that book in 1977. are you just reading it? he said well, i went through the index and checked what you said about me and then put it aside. >> typical. >> he had one more sentence. he said you know you are number 14, don't you?

>> and you are like, what does that mean? >> we were the third group of astronauts. they had seven, they had nine, they had 14. i am one of the only ones from the group who knew where i stood on the selection process. i got on the phone and called and said here is the story. he told me october 14, 1960 three they were announcing us at a press conference, and a week before that slaton, who was in charge of the astronauts, had arranged a meeting, and paul haney was going to be there. well, paul was on the phone when they started this meeting. so he did not get there when they started it. when he finally got off the

call, this is the story he's telling me, he went down and when in and they had just finished giving him a brief background of all the people selected. the head of engineering was the guy who designed the spacecraft. he was the best technical guy they had. and paul raised his hand and said you can't do that. and deeks said why? he said that's 13. >> meaning they chose 13 astronauts. >> i could not believe he was superstitious about 13. and deke says, i want this guy. so if i have to take another one. i am the only one to this day that knows he was number 14.

>> had that not happened, who knows? >> had that not happened, i would not be here today. >> fate is the hunter. >> yes. good book. let's go back to something serious. apollo 1, the fire. where were you? that is just like the challenger for us. >> challenger is probably much more memorable. challenger and columbia. both terrible disasters. but back in that timeframe -- and that was in 1967 -- in 1966, don eisley and i were assigned to the crew of what would be apollo 2. and we were living with contractors. i spent 270 days out there. there were some things wrong

that had to be fixed. so many engineering things. not to mention the operational challenges. try to get changes in for operational uses that they did not want to put in because of one thing. it was not the cost. it was the schedule. kennedy had said, i want a man on the moon this decade. 10 years, you try to do something today in 10 years. but to get there, they wanted to keep moving along. so they started making improvements. when they made a block 2 spacecraft, they canceled the second block 1 spacecraft. that was the one we were on. we became backup crew for about three months on apollo 1. that number got changed. >> more fate.

>> that is exactly right. we were getting ready for liftoff. it was scheduled in february of 1967. we knew there were things wrong with the spacecraft. i can just tell you that our guys, i guess you can call it an ego that they had today. but we were all fighter pilots for a dozen years. most of them test pilots. we had confidence in ourselves. that we needed to find a way to handle that. we knew that the spacecraft was not great. but we were going to fly it anyway. the afternoon of apollo 1 fire we had done that same test the night before, but it was plugs-in so the hatch was open using external power.

we were all going to fly back together in a p38 back to houston. late afternoon, about 5:30 wally and don and i said we are going to go home. so we left. they had been in the spacecraft all day long. when we landed at ellington air force base, the head of our flight operations walked out to meet us. we knew something was wrong. the fire had happened while we were in the air and heading back. so it was really a hell of a deal on it. nothing they could do. the whole crew was dead in about 19 seconds. i worked on the fire investigation for a while. about three weeks later, deke took us aside and said we're going to be on the first crew. but they renumbered it, and we ended up being apollo 7.

it was the first manned flight. >> you guys are steely and never have any emotion. >> mostly. >> but emotionally, how did it hit you, when you heard that? did you expect something crazy running the programs so quickly? how did it hit you? >> we were shocked it had happened. it was the first time that any astronaut had been killed in a spacecraft. what people do not realize is what was going on back in those days. our group of 14, in about three years, i think we lost four of them. airplane accidents. we lost roger chaffee. so we kind of understood that. and i do not recall anybody being terribly discouraged by the fire.

we really wanted to get the first flight. we were very pleased. and wally was already kind of looking forward to leaving nasa eventually. so his attitude kind of changed on that. he started getting more serious on-the-job. i just felt very fortunate. i do not remember ever really being frightened about flying. you fly airplanes and people get killed all the time. people that got killed all the time and rightly or wrongly, you find some reason to blame the pilot. then it wouldn't have happened to you. >> talk about fear. how you handled it. or do you have any? >> now i think