the c-span3's american history tv, we look back 100 years to american major engagement to world war i, and to do that this morning, we're the author of the book we're talking about today " thunder in flames." what was happening in the 13 months between the battles we are talking about today? >> we were not prepared to enter this war. we did not have real industrial infrastructure. our army was very strong -- small. it was dispersed over the world so it took time to bring together the first regular army, the first, second, and third divisions, and fourth division as well and is sending them overseas, training them, getting

them equipment. most of the equipment they used beyond their rivals were french design, french manufacturers, and some british designs as well. shipping them was an issue. getting them over the sierra through ship, and try to teach them something about how war had changed. differenti was a very kind of war. the united states have ♪ -- the united states had not bought anything like this before. the first army divisions entered autumn of 1917. there were a number of raids that the germans conducted against the americans. we had really been on the defensive during that.

-- during that period. now, we enter onto the offense of. >> by may 1918, how many americans are in france? >> about six divisions that had landed in france. i don't have the number off of the top of my head, but it is approaching 400 to 500,000. >> described the average american soldier in that group, where did he come from? >> he had a mixture of regular army marines, national guard, and draftees. many of them are heavily immigrant. america had become an immigrant society. you see many of these follows are not natural american citizens. they are sometimes second-generation immigrants. roughly in the early to mid 20's, very naive often, oddly enough, and they are

enthusiastic into entering into combat. very confident about what they can do. african-american soldiers were segregated into different divisions in the 92nd and 93rd. most of these divisions, you are looking at all-white divisions. john: how was the american soldier viewed by the french and british allies and by the germans on the other side of the line? edward: the french were skeptical. they weren't sure we were going to be able to do what we said we could do, even when the marines and army arrived, french commanders are making snippy remarks. you really think you are going to be able to do this? the british as well are slightly skeptical. they are happy to have the manpower in the front, and now, the germans take a wait and see approach. what they think is the americans will try to win what they call " newspaper successes," for publicity purposes. the germans want to embarrass our troops for the same reason. john: in may of 1918, what did

we say we were going to do, our mission in northeastern france? edward: our first, second, and third divisions, were rushed to the front at the end of may because the germans had launched an offensive. had broken through the french lines. there was a sense of panic in emergency. we wanted to get to the front as quick as possible to stop and hold the germans. americanal commanding forces and french commanders are saying, we need to stop the germans and then we need to launch at least a couple successful offenses. to show that we have the hitting power and began to push them back. john: who was john purging? a longtimewas serving american officer. he was a man who lived by willpower. he was under a lot of pressure at this time. his whole family had been killed

in a fire just before the war warn, before we entered the in 1915. except for his son. he is a very rigid, iron willed individual. build atermined to fully american army under american command. to show we have the ability to do this. so that we can acquire a seat at the peace table. john: a fully american army under american command. were there people who wanted to take command of the american army? edward: yes there were. the french had this idea called thatamation and that means they would fight under their command and put american soldiers in their uniforms. we weren't going to accept that but we had a compromise. wilson had to send divisions as well as brigades and companies to the front underserved -- to

the front to serve under french religious command. they are still -- french or british command. theirre still serving in own uniforms, but they were under french and british command. french -- pardon me, the germans had begun a number of offenses in march and april where the allies thought they had their backs to the wall but there was a chance the germans would split the part french and british armies, draw them to the coast. by the end of may, german offenses are starting to slow down. there is no german drive on paris at this point. the germans are simply trying to create conditions where they can launch a more effective offenses later. it is at a tipping point. i would not say the germans are winning, but the allies have not yet reached the point where they can contemplate an overall strategy to defeat germany. john: we are talking to edward

lengel the author of "thunder in flames." we are talking for the rest of our program today until 10:00 on c-span and c-span3 about the first american engagement of world war i, the first major engagement. this is 100 years ago this month. if you want to join the on yourtion, it is screen. there is a special line for active duty and veterans, --bers of the veterans members of the military. take us through the first major engagement where american troops were committed in may of 1918.

edward: the first major engagement, and the first significant american battle in europe ever was 100 years ago today at the battle of cantini. they launched an assault with french support to attack this german held village. they are very successful today in capturing that village. after they catch of the village, the germans launched a counterattack from number of different directions and yearly -- nearly break the first divisions lines. red holds on. in one sector, the second and third division troops are being rushed to the front along the river where they judge the point of this german offensive is pushing in the direction of paris. the third division is the first actually to enter combat around the little town right on the marne river. the troops fighting the germans and is stopping them are from senegal in africa.

they beat back the germans at the chateau, but american machine gunners enter into combat and support the senegalese and slow down the german offensive. john: i want to focus on the chateau for a moment. on a hill overlooking the city is a lincoln memorial sized monument to the americans who fought in the region. c-span visited that monument and talked with historians about the monument and the american experience. here is what he had to say. >> directly behind me is the monument. we are on top of hill 204. 204 means the the hill was 204 meters high. the significant of the monument is to honor the american troops who fought in the sector. there was significant engagement in between the rivers. from the end of may through the

middle of july of 1918. on the opposite side from the monument are two women holding hands in honor of their sons, brothers, uncles and fathers who risked their lives in the area during the war. john: edward lengel, we have focused on cantini and the chateau. the fighting that took place at you are talking about, most people probably think of trench warfare from the think of world war i.

was that have any in these spots? edward: not at all. when anyone talks about americans going over the top in the first world war, they are certainly wrong because americans did not fight for the most part from trenches, from entrenchments. they were on the move. they were fighting a war of movement either in rushing to the defense of a certain point quickly, or they were on the attack. hill 204, a beautiful monument. it's a very interesting story of the battle that took place during belleau wood. for the most part the americans , are fighting in the open, which was pershing's idea. we should move back into the open, into the war movement. john: into the open. good americans have the earliest tanks? edward: we had some french tanks designed and built in france. they entered into combat under american command under george s. patton's command. at this point, the tanks on the battlefield are french tanks. john: what went right for

americans in the first major engagements that they were involved in and what went wrong? edward: what is astonishing to me was quality of the troops. whether they were marines were soldiers, they were very aggressive. they were very determined. they fought very hard. whether offense of or defense it arid the germans thought the americans should just give up. they put us in difficult situations. we did not give up. even draftees fought tooth and nail. what did not go well was the tactics were very primitive. we had not learned as much as we thought we had. our assault tactics, we would attack in dense waves as the marines did on june 6 and take terrible casualties. john: we will talk about one of the situations in particular coming up in this hour. today we are focusing on the 100th anniversary of the first

major american engagements of world war i, taking place this month in 1918. taking your calls as well. eastern and central time zones, (202) 748-8000. the mountain or pacific time zones (202) 748-8001. , a special line for active duty and veterans, (202) 748-8002. we want to hear your questions and comments as we talk about world war i with edward lengel, the author of "thunder and flames." bernie is up first from howard beach, new york. bernie, good morning you are on , with edward lengel. caller: good morning. lengel, i'm hoping you can help me with two questions. one is did the french and the germans who were always planning for war for a very long time, did they ever talk or sit down and discuss and see if they could resolve their problems?

the other question is, the zimmerman letter was sent to mexico. the question i have is, why did the german think the united states would come into the war given all the slaughter that have already occurred? thank you very much. edward: to answer your first question, there was a sense of inevitability in europe that there was going to be a major war, leading right up to 1914. the french and the germans did talk to each other. there was some crises before 1914 there were diffused, but they all assumed it was going to happen. in terms of the zimmerman telegram, the germans certainly hoped the united states would not enter into the war, but there was a sense the americans were already pro-allied for the

most part. the americans were already providing a lot of financial aid to the british and french. the germans felt like the americans were belligerents at all but fact. they assumed it would take us a long time to get ready. they were willing to take the gamble to resume unrestricted submarine warfare, to start sinking our ships, and to send the zimmerman telegram. there was a sense they thought the americans would enter into the war, but if they do, it will take so long to get to the front that we will be able to win before they get there. john: on twitter on the american history tv page, and ongoing poll that will close at the end of the program today on this issue of america getting involved in world war i. was the u.s. involvement necessary? some 17,000, 18,000 votes at this point.

65% saying yes, it was necessary in world war i. 35% saying no. join the conversation or give us a call on our various phone lines. eastern and central time zones, mountain and pacific time zones, and one line for active duty veterans. on the last line, bob is waiting in greenville. bob, go ahead. caller: i was wondering how reluctant president woodrow wilson was to enter the war. edward: woodrow wilson is so interesting in this way. remember, he was born before the civil war in virginia, in stanton, virginia. there was a wonderful quote i can't think of it off the top of my head, but he says i saw that -- what the civil war did to the south and the shenandoah valley. if i supported a declaration of war, i'm not the one who has to go off and fight. woodrow wilson had only

daughters so he did not even have to think about sending his sons to fight. he felt so heavily this personal burden, a moral burden because he was such a moralistic individual. if there is a declaration of war, he felt personally responsible. he felt after the germans --umed submarine warfare unrestricted submarine warfare he had no choice. , particularly after the zimmerman telegram. maryland, good morning. you are on with edward lengel. caller: how are you this morning? i will try to make this quick. blackjack pershing lead the fourth army in 1980. -- 1918. he made it clear black soldiers were inferior to whites. the french ignored his statement. these black soldiers from harlem were called the harlem hellfighters. may 4, henry johnson, the first

hero of world war i and his comrade were surrounded by germans. they were spotted by snipers and then they were charged by over 20 germans trying to cross the line. henry johnson, by himself, wounded up to 20 germans and killed four. it took until 2005 for president obama to award him the medal of honor. chuck schumer pressed many in the administration to get him more for his efforts. he died penniless. he ended up getting all kinds of movies and never the house, sergeant york. i hope your book covers henry johnson. thank you. edward: racism was a major problem in the united states in world war i. i have studied military history throughout the period of the united states.

i have never seen a period where racism was more profound. african-american soldiers were treated terribly in the united states armed forces in 1917 and 1918. there were two african-american divisions. the one of which you speak, and .enry johnson, the 93rd division was moved to french command because pershing did not want it. the french treated these troops as what they were, has good -- good troops, effective troops. they fought bravely, with great honor. the french used them in places like the champagne region. they fought very well. there was another african-american division that was kept under american division with all white officers. that division did not do so well because it was so poorly commanded. the troops wanted to fight but they were not well commanded. they had some bad episodes and a

number of american officers said, look, you see with the 92nd division did? this is proof blacks can't fight, which was an absolute lie. but the experience of , african-americans in world war i is so important and only recently that the bravery of these men and the honor with which they served has been acknowledged. may: i want to come back to 1918 and june 1918. we mentioned the battle of belleau wood. above the cemetery on that site today is part of belleau wood. a pan took a two or of -- tour of that battlefield in surrounding memorial on a strip to france last year. >> we are standing right in the heart of belleau wood, street and after the battle which ended on june 26, 1918.

the battle itself is 918. -- 1 in 1955, they dedicated this monument. it's the archetype of a marine. the is looking tough with his shirt off. there were two regiments of marines that fought in this area, the fifth and six marines. they were part of the second u.s. division, and army division during that period. they lost almost 10,000 wounded and killed. about 1800 of those marines were killed. , take usard lengel through how the battle of belleau wood unfolded in its significance. guest: the second division, when

army brigade, wondering brigade is moved up to the marne river at the beginning of june of 1918. it is committed by an army general, omar bundy. even the marine brigade is committed by army general, james harvard. the french commander in the region, as well as pershing and others say as soon as the second division gets here we need to throw it into the attack against this place called belleau wood. there is one important thing to note. the german offensive was already slowing down. the germans were not driving to capture paris. they had slowed down. this was an opportunity for the americans to show what they could do. 18, the marines are again with army support is thrown into belleau wood.

it is a disaster in many ways because harvard neglected to use tactics available. he just threw the marines into the woods without adequate preparation. they took terrible casualties on the first day. that one day, the bloodiest day in marine corps history up until that time and would remain the bloodiest day right up to the tarawa of terrible -- in world war ii. they kept attacking and fighting, with support from the army. but the germans were well dug in, interlocking fields of fire. it was very difficult terrain. it became a slugging match perfectly. it's of the whole month of june. it just lasted week after week after week. there are incredible stories during that time in that battle in june when the marines broke through the particular --

through the main german line. army troops are put into belleau wood. the seventh regiment from the third division was put into belleau wood in june, and the army brigade supporting it. it just lasted on and on. it remains one of the most brutal battles in the history of our country. host: one of the chapters in your book about belleau wood is "gas and exhaustion." can you talk about the use of poison gas on the battlefield? guest: proportionately american suffered more casualties from gas than any other country. a lot of it has to do with lack of preparation and understanding what poison gas can do. the germans attacked a number of times in the spring, but belleau wood the germans would pull back their troops and simply saturate the woods with mustard gas, which is just the nightmares concoction. it can burn you all over, get into your lungs, burn your skin.

the was "inhabitable. -- on inhabitable. -- unave a little. habitable. it was physically exhausted. host: what is the weather like in northeast france? guest: ironically it is hard to tell much of the time because they are deep in these woods and the gas and smoke is permeating everything. it was reasonably decent weather. at times it was pouring down rain, which is good if you're facing gas attacks. but it's a fairly mild, peaceful period in terms of the weather. host: about 30 minutes left in this discussion with edward lengel.

we are talking about the first american major engagements of world war i. hour washington journalis -- on this hour of washington journal, a special-interest mon -- a special line this morning for active duty veterans, (202) 748-8002. for eastern and central time zones, and on the pacific time zone set special lines. ken, good morning. caller: how are you all? i was looking at the previous program where they were discussing the american monuments to world war i. they were all dedicated in the 1920's and 1930's. i was wondering if the nazis made any attempts to destroy these monuments host: guest: that's an excellent question. most of the money was the germans left in world war ii as they were. there were a couple of exceptions.

there was a monument to the first americans killed in action at a different sector of the front that the germans blew up because in the inscription on the monument it made some reference to german imperialism, or the evil of the german cause and world war i. the germans were not going to stand for that. there was another monument placed to african american troops sometime after the war. the germans blew that up as well. for the most part, if they were showed whatts that wassaw on hill 204, there no political statement in the germans left alone. int: steve and virginia? -- virginia? caller: i wonder if you could talk about a particular monument presented to general pershing

after world war i and the unveiling of the monument and the controversy as a result of the unveiling. hopefully you'll know what i'm talking about but i can send you more if you need some background. guest: please tell me more. i'm not quite sure which one you are referring to. understandingmy that there was a victim to do about the unveiling of the monument of a fighting soldier. when they unveiled the monument, general pershing's dismay and monument of was a the fighting ring -- marine from world war i. he was not a happy camper. guest: i remember what you're talking about health. pershing's attitude towards the marines was a little bit ambivalent. during belleau wood can immediately after belleau wood,

pershing was certainly supportive of giving credit to the marines, but he was sensitive to the fact there were a number of people in the army hierarchy who were angry and felt the marine for getting too much attention, too much credit. at the unveiling of this monument and a marine appearing in the monument, i don't think pershing was angry so much. i think it was more a matter it was politically awkward. about the armyd being mad at him frankly. managing careful about the relations between the marines and the army, which frankly were not very good during this war. host: the headline from the long island herald about a monument that will a welder one centennial designation, the doughboy monument in lynbrook. where did that turn come from for world war i troops? guest: no one is really sure where it comes from.

it may even date from the civil war. there are people who point out the dough boys love doughnuts. if you look at pictures of salvation army girls handing out doughnuts to the american troops and world war i, they ate thousands of them. i think the most reasonable story i've heard is it dates from the period of the mexican expedition in 1960. pershing -- 1916. pershing was leading troops looking for parts of the year. all this white dust rode up from the ground and the houses. give me to look like they were made out of dough. host: george in houston? caller: good morning. i watched the military channel.

tv, they televised it. how is it possible for them to film it? if i'm in the war, i want have a camera in my hand. i will have a gun. how is it possible for them and orld war i that cameraman, whoever was filming events to survive that war? guns and bombs and everything dropping. guest: that's a really good question. there were american war correspondents serving at the front. there was a fellow named floyd gibbons from the chicago tribune who was alongside the marines and was severely wounded at belleau wood. in terms of cameraman, they were

not actually usually allowed at the front during filming -- during the actual course of battles. they were not particularly allowed the film attacks. some of the film's supposedly of attacks are actually fake. they are staged. corpss. army signal photographers and cameramen were right behind the front. in some cases they would film troops just as they were leaving the battlefront. when the lost battalion came out of the muse argonne, there was a camera crew right outside the argonne forest filming them as they walked out, filming several medal of honor recipients, but not in combat for the most part. host: after this program on c-span3, we will show a silent from from france -- film france recorded in 1918. world war i scholars will be talking over the film in

explaining the action you are seeing on the screen. for those of you on c-span3's american history tv, that happens at 10:00 this morning. until then we're talking with edward lengel about the 100th anniversary of the first major american engagements of world war i. ray in south carolina, you were up next. caller: yes, i appreciate your program this morning. i appreciate your work. guest: thank you. caller: i grew up hearing stories from my great-grandfather about serving in the cavalry in world war i. you if the ask stories he told me were true. that theyold saddle rode horses on, and they would and behind the french tanks support the infantry.

i wanted to hear your comments on that. guest: there was certainly cavalry right behind the front and in the vicinity of the firing lines. there were no actual american cavalry attacks for a very good reason. they would not have succeeded. the french and british synopses calorie and attacks after 1914. they were held as a potential reserve in case there was a breakthrough, that cavalry could exploit any breakthroughs in the enemy lines. there were cases where u.s. force soldiers did -- horse soldiers came under fire in a support role. not in any major battles but it's possible the stories he it sounds like they could be true of being under fire. host: mike in tampa, florida, a veteran. caller: good morning. served in the

british army in the first world war. hamish langdon. he was awarded the kings corporal designation for bravery in combat. that is just an aside to mention him. if you could please give us a rundown as to the casualty count in each of these countries during the first world war. german, french, british and so on. thank you. guest: speaking broadly -- i can't remember exactly. host: i have the figures for you. germany, about 2.1 million world war i military deaths. those numbers on military deaths in world war i. germany losing 2.1 million

soldiers, military deaths. 885,000 military deaths. united states, 117,000. guest: the united kingdom figure would include both british and dominion troops, including australia, new zealand and the rest. keep that in mind. american battle deaths in the 50,000, on the realm of but keep this in mind. a lot of people will say we were only involved in the war very late. we did not fight very much more very hard. if you look at the period of the muse argonne in 1918, in three weeks about 26,000 young american soldiers and marines were killed. in three weeks. keith that in mind to proportion

to our other wars. that's about half the total killed in korea. half the total killed in vietnam. the time we were at the front we were involved in very heavy fighting from spring to the fall of 1918. host: some more numbers to throw at you. 4.7 million american soldiers served in world war i. about 117,000 deaths. 53,000 battle deaths. deaths classified as other deaths. explained the other deaths could be. guest: from disease. they would have been from different forms of sickness, accidents, things like that that happened in the course of any military operation. those things were always going on behind the lines. here is something important to keep in mind, and those in the

audience that ancestors in the war will understand what i'm saying. gas casualties, poison gas casualties were vastly underreported. men tens of thousands of gone with a cover just a whiff of poison gas that would damage their lawns. they would call for a while and sale not report this. it is not going to be that bad. i want to stand in front. they did not reported and then they go home and they find their lawns are very -- lungs are very badly damaged. you find them dying sometimes 5, 10, 20 years after the war. nobody has taken a tally of that, but i would say the american casualties from world war i are somewhat higher than that. possibly by the realm of 30,000 to 50,000 higher if you count the underreported gas casualties. host: chico, california. good morning. caller: after my grandfather's

two sons enlisted, one of the army and one in the navy at the age of 46 he decided he was going to enlist. he did, but even though he was too old they made him a mess sergeant. all the fellow soldiers would call him dad because he was so much older than them. a poetryw, he wrote reminiscencesad's and ruminations." it was stories about his experiences in world war i and at a younger age. i i think a lot of the -- i think a lot of the soldiers died from the flu also, isn't that true? guest: yes, that is true.

especially towards the summer and fall of 1918 from the influenza epidemic, which of the germans very hard incidentally. what you have got in that book of poems is a treasure. the american literature of this war was actually very important. there are some wonderful american memoirs, wonderful poetry. many american soldiers also kept diaries at the front. it was illegal but they kept them anyway and they would write down records of their experience. anyone who has any of these diaries or letters, i strongly encourage you to take very good care of them. way too many are being lost. host: we show the viewer's the pictures of the american cemeteries in france. some 40% of those americans who died overseas in world war i state in france. 60% brought home for burial. have you ever been to one of the

cemeteries? guest: yes. a lot of people don't know the largest american military cemetery in europe is not at omaha beach, but a place called roman, a world war i cemetery for troops killed enemies are argonne.n the the muse there are americans of all different acronyms and denominations -- backgrounds and the nominations. -- de nominations. by my experience, and it's been a few years, the people who lay flowers of these graves, the one to pay tribute these grants are french, british, belgium, germany. you almost never see americans at the cemetery, the biggest in europe. except for military groups to

come from germany or other military bases. america's just don't go there. to me that is a shame. it really needs to be something that if you go to france, you should go to the battlefields. host: one c-span visited france last year we chatted with the superintendent of the american cemetery and talked about americans visiting the cemeteries and the idea of goldstar pilgrimages. [video] >> the u.s. government gave the a choiceof the fallen to bring remains home. for those who chose not to bring them home and give them overseas, they were provided the choice to come over in the early 1930's to visit their headstones. they did some shopping and other things that were non-war related. that was over four different

summers from 1930 to 1933. i don't know alternately how ,693 came to this site but 6 women came on that trip. men were not eligible. they often call it the gold star mother pilgrimages because it was often mothers. these are desegregated, integrated sites. there are black soldiers buried next to white soldiers, next officers, all states. ofre were gold star groups african-american women. they were still segregated during the pilgrimage is as well -- pilgrimages as well. they were still providing the ability to come over, but they were still segregated at that point. host: edward lengel?

guest: this is a place for pershing deserves a lot of credit. andnsisted blacks and jews other denominations not be separatedn or ethnic groups not separated. he wanted them all mixed together. blacks and white, jews, christians, muslims, nonbelievers to the next without distinction in the cemeteries -- to be mixed without distinction. it is such a moving experience. it is such a beautiful place to go, any of these cemeteries. host: 10 minutes left with edward lengel. taking your calls as we focus on the first major american engagements of world war i. mclean, virginia? theer: i need to know if

sikhs -- when india was brought into the war. who brought them? is there a cemetery in roman, france, or some other place? is there a list of the soldiers who died in that war? guest: there were troops on the indian subcontinent who fought in world war i. they thought largely under british commands. they fought in the middle east but also many of them fought in france. i have to be honest, i'm not ieksrely sure whether s fought on the western front. they were very important in world war ii. whether the british used them in world war i, i don't know, that they would not be buried at roman. they would be memorialized in other ways on british fronts such as the somme. host: those numbers on military

deaths in world war i. germany losing 2.1 million soldiers, military deaths. russia, 1.8 million. france, 1.4 million. austria-hungry, 1.1 million. the british empire with several hundred thousand deaths. 885,000. deaths the united states with 117,000 military deaths. dave in florida, a veteran. , what percentage of all the casualties is given for injuries or deaths related to disease, the hygiene? there wasn't any. the battlefields were mud and

trenches. the last they took my spanish flu thunder. -- lady took my spanish flu thunder. the appalling conditions the troops fought under withn no medical, i think that accounted for quite a few of the total deaths. would you comment on that please? guest: i will point out first of all the army medical services and the navy as well did a wonderful job in caring for the american troops in this war. i don't want to disparage them. the technology that was available and the resources available simply were not there. they did not know how to handle influenza. they did not have had a handle psychological combat stress, or what they called shellshocked. that was another area where casualties could be considered much higher than what is

actually reported. fortunately for the americans, they did not have to fight for month after month, year after year in the trenches like the french and british and german's s did. you don't see nearly as much trench foot or other trans-related diseases. most americans are catching things that went through camp. in terms of the percentage, i can't recall off the top of my head. we had the relative figures given a little earlier. they were not as great as they could have been. you see that for the germans, french and british the overall proportion of casualties from disease are much higher than they are for the americans. host: was the biggest killer artillery? was it bullet wounds? guest: the myth is that it was machine guns, but it is actually artillery by far that causes the

greatest number of casualties. host: what about the comparison to tanks and planes as a percentage? guest: very small. useds were ysed largely -- largely for observation and spotting for artillery. as the americans attacked in the muse argonne, the germans are good at this. they were buzzing over the battlefield and spotting for their own artillery which is extremely accurate. tanks are used in a number of engagements, largely in the fall. not having any profound effect in terms of the course of the battle, but certainly as a learning process. here is a technology we might be able to use effectively in the future, for there was no strategic bombing or major tank battles under american command during the war. host: kathleen from florida, good morning. caller: my father served in

world war i. i am the youngest of his children. he was 17 years old. he had run away from home. one of the things he said as they were ill-prepared. when they were preparing in texas, they had to use broomsticks because they did not have enough guns. he was wounded. he was embedded with the french and received a battlefield promotion. he was supposed to go to west point. they found out healing with the fifth rights of the sentence of the french military academy and he received his commission, and then went on to serve. there is his oral history of world war i at northeastern university. they came out to our house for almost a whole year interviewing him before he died. guest: thank you. there are a couple of things. using broomsticks or wooden rifles is absolutely true. americans often had these replacements for actual rifles,

machine guns, dummy cardboard tanks simply because they do not have them. the second part of your father fighting a different command, that is something maybe not as well known by many americans. we talked about hill 204. we saw the monument next to belleau wood. theas a u.s. army regiment, 30th regiment from the third division that followed the french embedded with the french while the marines were attacking belleau wood. these army and french troops captured hill 204 right next door working together. it's a very important part of the world war i story. host: william, a veteran in albany, georgia. caller: during the battle of belleau wood with all the heavy casualties occurred, what was the great registration process? how do they get killed soldiers off the field? tost: it was very difficult

evacuate casualties from belleau wood. the marines are fighting there over the first two to three weeks. marines, like army, they don't want to leave their debt behind. when you are in the woods filled with smoke and poison gas and the attack is going back and forth, many troops were simply left in the woods and remained there for two to three weeks until the end of june when the woods were captured. then troops, largely african-americans were brought in to try to find these dead marines and soldiers to identify them and bury them in temporary battlefield grades which -- graves which remained through 1920 when they were disinterred and moved to more permanent cemeteries. host: george in middletown, new

york, a veteran. amler: hi and george -- i george and i'm a korean war veteran. i served as a combat military picture photographer. i have two questions. two comments. woodrow wilson, a pacifist. harry truman, a veteran of world war i in artillery, which was the main killer. iw it affected the world war -- the french were there and the allies were working. in korea, you had years to work up to president truman. he had to do this in weeks. we suffered terribly in the first couple of months until we landed at inchon. i was interested in your comment about combat photography. so many of them were staged. when i was there we were just taking hill after hill.

recouping argument is a terrible retreat. it was very terrible. we lost a lot -- i lost a couple of conrad's there -- comrads there. guest: there is one heart-wrenching story i would like to share that is probably representative. the lost battalion fought in the fall. they were surrounded and attacked by the germans on all sides. two medal of honor recipients were heroes of this battle. they were filmed as they came out of the forest by the army signal corps, but there is a sense that was not enough. they were pressured in 1919 to go back to the battlefield where they had fought and lost so many of their friends to film a silent movie, complete with romance scenes and other silliness about this battle that could be broadcast for americans

back in the united states. imagine if you're a veteran being told to go back to the scene were you thought and act out what happened. it was an incredibly traumatic experience for so many of them. motion picture technology had just come out. to give this to the american people was so strong at the time. host: something you cover in your upcoming book? guest: i focus in that book on mcmurtry and alvin york. and damon runyon, the great journalist to write about them. host: so much scholarship in world war ii. why did you study world war i? --st: it's a very personalw it is a very personal war, and intimate war. so many have the person it's about slaughter and death. there are many men who died

there, but if you look at the experiences of the individuals, the soldiers, marines, black and white as well as women and others who participated, to get some understanding of what it means to face the unexplainable, the unprecedented, and how do you get through host: >> c-span's washington journal, live every day with policy issues that impact you. up, campaign manager for senator bernie sanders, 2016 presidential campaign. sses his new book, "how bernie won." be sure to watch washington journal live at 7:00 eastern tuesday morning. join the discussion. ♪

on tuesday, live the korean economic institute looks at u.s. military forces in south korea and what role they play as north and south koreans work on a deal. talkeather wilson will about the importance of u.s. military alliances. dc, a from washington discussion about politics, race, and civil discourse. and on c-span2, a group of former national security council members discuss the trump administration's counterterrorism strategy, hosted by new america at 12:15 eastern. next, a conversation with amazon ceo jeff base us. he talks about the company's founding and its future. this is a forum hosted by the george w. bush presidential center in dallas. it is just under an hour.

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] >> jeff, welcome to dallas. i am excited for you to see a city that really want to hear, right guys -- that really wants you here, right eye? i have left -- right guys? i have left 30 seconds in case there is a real estate deal. jeff: it is nice to be here. host: i want to thank our sponsors, highland capital management. we are here with smu, our great partner heard we are sponsored by howard capital. this has been a great couple of days with bono, priscilla chan, ben bernanke, hank paulson, condoleezza rice, presidan