>> this concludes the french-u.s. commemorative ceremony. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] coverage of the 75th anniversary of d-day continues this morning on the "washington journal," showing live pictures from the national world war ii memorial on the national mall in washington, d.c. we hope you will join us by sharing your thoughts and perhaps your memories of june 6, 1944 and the place it holds in history. if you are in the eastern or central time zones, it is

202-748-8000. if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones, it is 202-748-8001. a special line this morning for world war ii veterans and their families. 202-748-8002. we want to hear your thoughts on what the washington post called in their front-page headline the day that make today possible. the headline noting d-day's 75th anniversary draws leaders in helicopters and vets in wheelchairs. french president emmanuel macron and donald trump spoke at the normandy-american cemetery in france and addressed along with those gathered, 160 world war ii veterans. president trump saying to the men behind him, to the men who sit behind me and the boys who rest in the fields before me, your example will never, never grow old. the usa today noting president trump's address marks one of the

last times in american president will speak to a group of d-day veterans on the beaches of normandy. an 18-year-old serving on d-day would be 93 this year. the department of veterans affairs estimates just under 500,000 u.s. world war ii veterans were still living as of late last year. here is part of what president trump had to say. [video clip] will tell behind me you that they are just the lucky ones. as one of them recently put it, all the heroes are buried here. we know what these men did. we knew how brave they were. freedome here and saved and then they went home and showed us all what freedom is all about.

daughtersan sons and who saw us to victory were no peace.traordinary in they built families, they built industries, they built a national culture that inspired the entire world in the decades that followed. america defeated communism, secured civil rights, revolutionized science, launched a man to the moon, and then kept on pushing to new frontiers and today, america is stronger than ever before. host: that was president trump within the past hour at the normandy american cemetery in france speaking at that ceremony that just ended.

we will show you more from president trump on the washington journal. until 9:00 a.m. eastern, getting your thoughts, your memories 1944.s of d-day, june 6, there is a live shot of the national world war ii memorial in washington, d.c.. for those in the eastern or central time zones, 202-748-8000 . in the mountain or pacific time zones, 202-748-8001. and a special line for those world war ii veterans and their families, 202-748-8002. we will start with susan calling in from prescott, arizona, a world war ii relative. good morning. caller: good morning. what a beautiful ceremony you all had on this morning and i want to share with you, i had an uncle, i never got to know him, but he was a medic in the 329th infantry regiment. he died at the battle of saint

lo. my sister is a great historian with our family history. she said it was one of the bloodiest battles, kind of the central point of that part of france today. all roads lead to saint lo, apparently it i want to say a shout out to all veterans and their families because this is where -- was such a critical part of our history and i am so proud to have had a relative able to contribute to this incredible feat. host: thanks for the call. saint lo part of the normandy peninsula. some numbers from the d-day invasion and the months afterward, allied troops that landed, 156,000. 73,000 of them american troops. landing craft. 11,500 planes.

the allied casualties included 10,000 of those killed, wounded, and missing. 4000 died on d-day. for the entire normandy campaign from june through august, the casualty list included 425,000 allied and german troops. getting your thoughts on that place on that time in its -- and its place in history. gary in sterling, virginia. caller: thank you. i would like to pay homage to mr. wolf, my seventh grade history teacher who landed at 3 by 7:30,:00 a.m. and everyone in his squad was gone. by 11:30 when he got to the top and looked around, saw nothing but green grass and nobody was shooting at him, was the happiest moment in his life and he turned from whence he had come and the first thing he came to himself, the canadian

soldiers were some of the bravest. he said that because they ran decoy for him because he would grenade pin on the hand and put a toothpick in it. hold a spoon and put it in a lacrosse basket and throw grenades. he had commendations for knocking out 4 of them. he said he got 6, but nobody is around to verify the first2. company, only him and one other man survived. the four things he used to tell never, ever upset the balance of power. your enemy's enemy is your friend and do not get involved in a civil war and nobody wins in a trade war. thank you very much for letting me share -- that was the school

i went to. host: when did mr. wolf die? caller: i am not sure because this was down in panama. would you like to hear the name of the school i went to? host: sure. -- departmentrbon of panama canal -- that was the name of the school. behind4 women teachers enemy lines alter the war. i was going up the stairwell and i heard these teachers talking about eating meat and it turned out they were talking about eating mice and rats. as i got to the top, this one teacher said to the other three, you all were a bunch of lowlifes. i thought that was terrible. they were just trying to survive

and she said i would only go down to cats. that was ms. ruiz. host: thank you for telling us about your teachers at that school. carolyn in new jersey. caller: good morning, sir. i am saying this because of my dad. i am tearing up. he was one of the mps that win in on d-day plus three -- went in on d-day plus three in omaha. he said it was something you could not imagine. when he went to see the movie saving private ryan, it was nothing compared to what he saw. he was in one of the smaller concentration camps. he said the stench was horrible. it is hard to believe, he told me. he has been dead for 20 years

and i still remember everything he said. i am sorry, i am tearing up, actually. host: what was his name? caller: his name was chester. he was an mp. he was 21 years old when he went in. onoogled it and they said google the last of the mps .assed away in 2012 i googled where he trained. he went out in a special boot camp they trained the mps. i am very proud of him. very, very proud. host: thanks for telling us about chester. bonnie is next. another world war ii relative. caller: my husband was one of the first sailors at omaha beach . he said it was awful. he come back and he was what

they call shellshocked. now they call it ptsd. around.ly come every once in a while, he would get that far away look in his iss and he would say it awful. people, wake up. we have got people here that want to go and take over this country. we cannot let them. thank you. host: speaking of omaha beach, this is the front page of the new york times showing the scene yesterday in portsmouth, england, at the event commemorating the 75th anniversary of d-day. the picture in the background of that behind the veterans on stage, that is the famous jaws of death picture taken from omaha beach. here is the full picture in black-and-white of the scene.

on june 6, 19 44, omaha beach. jim, north hollywood, california, is next. good morning. caller: good morning. a story aboutll the ship the president mentioned when he told the story of the two brothers before they descended into the landing craft. the interesting thing about that then left andhip went around to the pacific and was involved in the okinawa landing where a, kazi took out of the bridge -- kamikaze took out a bridge and commanders and some enlisted men and struggled to get into the bay for help. then it went to korea during the

korean war. it made the first landing and in 1968, it was decommissioned. the history that ship had and he said that. i knew the ship had been in normandy because you read the history of the ship. to tell a story related to it really touched me. host: thanks for telling us about it this morning. taking your calls until 9:00 eastern on the 75th anniversary of d-day. in the eastern or central time zones, 202-748-8000. in the mountain or pacific time zones, 202-748-8001. that special line open this morning for world war ii veterans and their families, 202-748-8002. as you continue to call in, we want to play a reading of general dwight eisenhower's

message to allied forces as they prepared to assault the normandy beaches on d-day. [video clip] and airers, sailors, men of the allied expeditionary force, you are about to embark on the great crusade toward which we have striven these many months. the eyes of the world are upon you. the hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. in company with our brave allies and druthers and arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the german war machine, the elimination of nazi tyranny over the people of europe. your task will not be an easy one. your enemy is well-trained, well-equipped, and battle hardened. you will fight savagely. this is the year 1944, much has happened since the nazi try am triumphs of1940 --

1940, 1941. our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war and placed at our disposal, great reserves of trained fighting men. the tide has turned, the freemen of the world are marching together to victory. i have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. we will accept nothing less than full victory. good luck and let us all beseech the blessing of almighty god upon this great and noble undertaking. 75 years later, there is the live pictures this morning from the national world war ii memorial in washington, d.c. on the national mall just down from

the united states capital and here are some front-page newspapers, american newspapers remembering the day. -- remembering d-day. remembering those who fought for us on d-day. the front page of the wall street journal showing some of those still living veterans including in the bottom right picture, tom rice, 97 years old, served in the 101st airborne division as a paratrooper and took place in a tandem parachute jump. this week marking the 75th anniversary of d-day and one more from the front page of the washington times calling it a mighty endeavor. world leaders honor veterans. the pictures showing veterans gathered in southern england yesterday for those ceremonies that took place. cindy is next, watertown, new york. good morning. caller: hi, good morning.

host: go ahead, cindy. caller: i was just watching the ceremony this morning and i feel like that was just a beautiful, picturesque moment that we were able to see and i think the vets that served and sacrificed in that area, the ocean was calm, the skies were blue. i am praying that they received a peaceful blessing from that horrific event they must have shared. i cannot even imagine what the young men and young women have put themselves through for our sacrifice, for america's freedom. i am hoping and praying this thursday -- this stirs a renewed pride in america and we take back what men and women sacrificed for us on that day. host: what did you think about what president trump and french

president emmanuel macron said this morning? caller: i think what they shared with us was bits of history that we need to bring back to the forefront of what we are teaching, what we are learning, especially our young sons and daughters. military has kind of taken on a different role. i am a veteran myself, i was honored to serve a short time in the military and i would not trade that for anything. i feel like we need to replace some values back into serving for our country. this is not men and women who did not choose to go to college. make america great again, let's

get over the petty stuff and honor these men and women who have done this for us. host: that is cindy from new york. president trump finished this morning at 9:00. here is his tweet from this morning showing a picture of the state back -- his seat near the front row. appeared at that ceremony this morning. that view from lee's eldon, congressman from new york. from florida on the line for world war ii relatives. go ahead. caller: good morning. i am very impressed by all that has gone on before it and i had an uncle that died last year at

the age of 103 and he was in another battle, the battle, the battle of the bulge, but these people were first with normandy, i know. all of them contributed to the success for freeing the world. your showimpressed by today and i agree with the caller before me. i think all the young people should be aware of this and i don't know that they are taught this in the schools. thank you very much for doing this for us. host: what was your uncle's name? caller: my uncle is robert mcginnis and he wanted to live 123e 126, but he made it to . everybody wants to take after uncle robert. i wish he could have seen your program today. he never spoke of the war in the early years when he came back. i think it was so horrible, no one ever talked about it. in his later years, he did open

up and would tell us things. i appreciate this show. host: do you know what it was that got him to open up? was it just time? did and hehink time realized the importance of everything they all did and how it should be shared with everyone. everyone should know about it, it should not be anything that is hidden, they should be talking about it and learning from it so that we don't have to have another war. host: thanks for the call this morning. jim is next, monterey, california. good morning. caller: yes. i wanted to pay tribute to my fink.ather, louis robin although he was drafted as a experiencese he had working for the railroad while he was a student at the bible

institute of los angeles, he signal corps and ended up being the telegraphers between general bradley and eisenhower and he was the very -- one of the very first people in on d-day. away 25 yearsssed ago at the age of 77. today, i want to pay tribute to did in helping general eisenhower and general bradley to help us win world war ii. host: what did he think of these ceremonies that take place on june 6 each year and the

commemorations over the years during his lifetime? .aller: very proud and i am very proud. i am very proud of our current president trump for what he said this morning. host: that is jim in california. jim's father would have been alive to see and hear the d-day speech by president ronald reagan in 1984, the speech known for him talking about the boys of point du haq. here is president reagan from june 6, 1980 -- 1984. [video clip] pointstand on a windswept on the northern end of france. the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon. at dawn on the morning of the

sixth of june, 1944, 225 rangers jumped off the british land in craft and ran to the bottom of these cliffs. their mission was one of the most difficult and daring, took climb these cliffs and take out the enemy guns. the allies had been told some of the mightiest of the guns were here and they would be trained on the beaches to stop the allied advance. the rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers shooting down at them with machine guns and throwing grenades and the american rangers began to climb. they shot rope ladders over the face of the cliffs and began to pull themselves up. when one ranger fell, another would take his place. when one rope was cut, the ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. by one, the rangers pulled themselves over the top and in seizing the firm land at the top of the cliffs, they

began to seize back the continent of europe. 225 came here. after two days of fighting, only 90 could still bear arms. behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the range of daggers thrust into the top of these cliffs and before me are the men who put them there. hese are the boys of point du haq. these are the men who took the cliffs. these are the champions who helped free a continent. these are the heroes who helped end a war. host: michael ruane in the piece today in the washington post on offers a1984 speech little more information about the scene. sitting before reagan were 62 of those boys, now middle-aged men.

they were boys no more and on that stormy morning, they were more a group of rugged cantors then youth -- characters then youth. paul in fort lauderdale, florida, good morning. good morning. i am an air force brat. i grew up with a military father . my father landed in france on d-day plus eight. he was part of the material command who made sure all the trucks and artillery shells and all that stuff got ashore and they were able to carry on the battle. say thatust like to generation of americans was, in fact, the greatest generation. i have always admired the culture of that generation. it is uniform.

i have often thought about what really made that generation different. to me, it comes down to a couple of things. these people are people who never met a stranger. they always related to their fellow american and -- in a very friendly and good way. for them, honesty was not a law, an obligation and anything beyond that was unthinkable. from that, i think you can get an idea of the difference in the andure of that generation what we have today and let me just say also, if anybody ever told me that i measured up to 50% of someone in that generation, it would be the greatest complement anyone has ever given me and i have often wondered if i really did measure

up in any way whatsoever. now let me just say another thing, too. look at the difference between what i just said and what is going on in our society today. and our political system is a disgrace to that generation. themeanness, the lying, strategic lying that is going on is a disgrace. the press knows how they can bring this country together and they won't. politicians know how they can bring this country together, but they won't. their egos and their desire for power is overshadowing what these people fought and died for and we need to call the press and the

politicians to account. they are a disgrace. host: that is paul in florida. sally is next, jacksonville, florida. one of those world war ii relatives. good morning. caller: yes, hello. first, i wanted to thank you for playing that speech by president reagan and this morning's speech by president was absolutely beautiful. it was outstanding. i wanted to recognize my father, wayne edwards, who was in the infantry in world war ii. mostught at one of the significant battles of world war -- thehe remark enbridge bridge in germany and earned a purple heart and many other metals which my brother, scott, has in north carolina.

scott was in the coast guard and i wanted to give them both recognition. host: thanks for the call. you mentioned presidential speeches you have enjoyed watching all of our coverage of president's headed to normandy for speeches available at our website at c-span.org. if you wanted to watch the reagan speech in its entirety, you can do so, just search reagan in the search bar. here is another one of those presidential speeches from one of the ceremonies from the 50th anniversary of d-day. president clinton speaking at that event. [video clip] >> below us are the beaches where corporal elliott's battalion and so many other americans landed. part of the biggest gamble of .he war, the greatest crusade yes, the longest day. during those first hours on

bloody omaha, nothing seemed to go right. landing kraftwerk ripped part -- landing craft were ripped apart. enemy fire raked the invaders as they stepped into chest high ast thend waded p floating bodies of their comrades. it seemed the invasion might fail. his followers had bet on it. they were sure the allied soldiers were soft, weakened by liberty and leisure, by the mingling of races and religion. they were sure there totality and use had more discipline and -- totalitarian youth had more discipline and zeal. by one, the soldiers got up.

they inched forward and, together, in groups of threes and fives and tens, the sons of democracy improvised and mounted their own attacks. at that exact moment on these beaches, the forces of freedom turned the tide of the 20th century. these soldiers knew staying put meant certain death. they were also driven by the voice of free will and responsibility, nurtured in sunday schools and town halls and sandlot ballgames. the voice that told them to stand up and move forward saying "you can do it. and if you don't, no one else will." as captain joe dawson led his company up this bluff and others followed his lead, they secured a foothold for freedom. today, many of them are here

among us although they may walk with a little less spring in their step and their ranks are growing thinner. when theyer forget were young, these men save the world. clinton saying their ranks are growing thinner. today there were just over 160 world war ii veterans on hand for that ceremony at the normandy american cemetery to listen to president trump's address. president macron's address as well. that ended just about 45 minutes ago and we are taking your phone calls, getting your thoughts on this june 6, 75th anniversary of d-day. william in florida, good morning. caller: my dad was in the navy in world war ii. it is just like the one lady said, never said anything about

butntil later in his life, -- he and myhen mom got a divorce when i was like 12 years old. about 20 years later, i met him again and he got sick and went to daytimes hospital here in st. petersburg. up and just walked out of the place. he was about a mile and a half to being home and he was in a parking lot at a store and he just fell down and he was bleeding from his mouth and stuff and a police officer had come up and seen him in the parking lot and put his coat warm.im to keep him my dad was dying at that time stuff.had tb and

he was there and the lady from bay times come in there and talk to him and tried to get him to come back to the hospital and he did not want to go and i told her, he does not want to go, he does not have to. wanted aied, my mom flag from him. they told me we don't have any record he was here. they said if you can prove he can sende military, we a flag or something or other. for i said, he was homeless years and any paperwork he had was gone. host: when he would talk about it, when he would talk about his world war ii service in his

later years, what would he talk about? were there just a couple stories he would tell? would he give his thoughts on then compared to today? caller: he was on the island with the japanese and stuff and theould talk about flamethrower and how the skin on the japanese would just melt off of them. he was pretty messed up. back then they did not know ptsd, that kind of stuff. it was a horror story, just terrible. anyway, that is about all i have got to say about it. host: thank you for the call from florida. at 9:00 this morning, we will be talking about veteran care, the v.a. mission act goes into effect today. it was signed into law by the president a year ago today and some of the key provisions take

place today to change certain aspects of veterans care. adrian be joined by atizado to talk about what that means for veterans care today. illinois,n lebanon, good morning. caller: good morning. good morning and thank you for taking my call. i would like to share my story of a cousin of mine that was a b-17 pilot and flew over germany. his story is he was piloting a bombing run over germany and the aircraft took fire and four of andcrew members were killed when the plane went down, my cousin, bernard holland cap went down with the plane. were taken prisoner and he is currently buried in an american cemetery in belgium.

i have taken a passionate interest in world war ii. i have been over there to see his gravesite as well as normandy and many of the world war ii historical museum sent sites. i wanted to share his story because i think it is very special to display bravery he took. i speculate he did not know if all of his men got out of the plane. he took the fall and went down with the plane. host: can you talk about that experience of walking through those american cemeteries over there? the normandy-american cemetery the place where that ceremony took place. , they aree normandy all beautiful as well as our american arlington and i live near st. louis, in normandy,

of theve huge maps various campaigns of flights and as well as historical maps. -- it does cemetery not have as many, but they all have sort of a chapel or memorial to all the men and the one in luxenberg where general patton is buried is much smaller. there are memorials to the notrals or purple heart -- purple heart, but the special generals like in normandy, teddy roosevelt's son is buried there. they are all very special and what is really inspiring and wonderful about the cemeteries is if you have a veteran or a fallen you want to know information about, the managers of those cemeteries can go through huge volume books to

tell you the stories you want to know about. they are all beautifully done and certainly well maintained and very, very inspiring. host: jim is next in new york, good morning. caller: good morning. questions. is it true that general d-dayower just prior to composed two letters to the president of the united states, franklin roosevelt, one to congratulate him on the success , another to take if everything fell into control of hitler and company? is, is second question

it possible that a widow of any of the fallen who are now buried and any -- in any of the american cemeteries upon learning of where her husband asked permission of the department of war, the department of the army, department of the navy, and the or whoeverof france even the government of belgium, for instance, for permission to be lane with her husband? host: i don't know the answer on the burial rules of your second question, but on the first question, this, i believe is the letter you are referring to. business insider with their piece on eisenhower's in case of

failure letter. they provide a transcription of that letter so you do not have to read his handwriting. here is what the letter says, our landings have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and i have withdrawn the troops. my decision to attack at this time and place was best upon the information available. the troops, the air, and the navy did -- if any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone and that is the letter he had signed in july of that year -- i am sorry, early june before the landings. robert in syracuse, new york, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. inne 58 years old, was born 1960 and i have been and socials my favorite class. fatherwant to say, my

served in world war ii. he was on the escort destroyer johnson and he entered at 17 years old. thes able to do a few of reunions and one of them was in upstate new york and it was remarkable. stepfather, we just laid him a rest yesterday and he was world war ii as well, on the second day of the invasion. he was a mechanic. many of the stories he would tell me about different things like the second day they realized a lot of the trucks were hitting the water

installing the engines and they had to quit -- and stalling out the engines and they had to quickly come up with a solution. another thing. we just laid our stepfather to rest yesterday and we had a military salute and the va was able to come out and play taps. away ironic -- he passed may 22 down in florida. there, i i was down was really impressed that i met the son of admiral halsey in florida and i was able to convince him to come and meet my stepfather and he came to the house and showed pictures of his father and what was impressive -- if i may, as

an american, can i say, i am really depressed with what is going on. i see now that the bully of the world is under this communist socialist party. i do business, i have been to europe. i see what is happening in countries like italy and albania and the russian bloc. thatps me apart to see this man in the white house now doesn't have anything to say negatively and here he is standing today, marking an incredible 75th anniversary of allied nations, many nations who came together to fight the bullies. it rips me apart to see that. i don't understand why we have such a big divide. he can understand why

say the things he can about our institutions, john mccain. yet on another day, he can take all the glory, all this glory he can suck in and use to his political advantage. host: did you listen to his speech this morning? caller: i did not. i did not hear it. met would not have changed person who has been fortunate enough to be in our united states democracy and the executive chief and the things we are seeing him do and it really hurts. , myather and stepfather father passed away in 2011, my stepfather passed away a few weeks ago. neither one of them were supporters of donald trump or would have been. i know my father would not have

been. if you are innocent and you have nothing to hide and you can stand with the red white and blue, you open up to being investigated. you open up to prove that you are a true american. this is what saddens me and i think it saddens a lot of people. my generation that came up through the 60's and 70's. everything we see -- i never served my country and i regret that. i regret not going into serve the military after high school. friends and we would hear from different people that would come back and i asked them how they liked it. i thought i would wait. i was working construction so i was able to make some great income. i think we should bring back automatic service. even if it is just for six months. gangse how many of these

and how many of these younger people that get sucked in to violence that affect our society. our children. host: we've got your point. we appreciate the phone call. you mentioned president trump. here is more from the president from about an hour and a half ago, speaking at the normandy cemetery in normandy, france. [video clip] trump: this beach, code-named omaha was defended by the nazis with monstrous firepower, thousands and thousands of mines and spikes driven into the sand. it was here that tens of thousands of americans came. the gis who boarded the landing craft that morning knew that they carried on their shoulders

not just the pack of a soldier, but the fate of the world. taylor, whose 16th infantry regiment would join in the first wave, was asked what would happen if the germans stopped right then and there, cold on the beach, just stop them. what would happen? , whygreat american replied the 18th infantry is coming in right behind us. the 26th infantry will come on too. then there is the second infantry division already afloat and the ninth division and the second armored and the third armored and all the rest. maybe the 16th won't make it, but someone will. in taelor's men

16th regiment was army medic ray lambert. ray was only 23 but he had already earned three purple hearts and two silver stars fighting in north africa and sicily where he and his brother bill, no longer with us, served side-by-side. morning hours, the two brothers stood together on -- beforef the uss boarding two separate higgins landing craft. if i don't make it, bill said, please take care of my family. ray asked his brother to do the same. ray's landingon craft, only ray and six others

made it to the beach. only a few of them left. the came to the sector right here below us -- they came to the sector right here below us. easy read it was called. againn back in the water and again. he dragged out one man after another. he was shot through the arm. his leg was ripped open by shrapnel. his back was broken. he nearly drowned. he had been on the beach for hours, bleeding and saving lives when he finally lost consciousness. cotoke up the next day on a beside another badly wounded soldier. he looked over and saw his brother bill. they made it.

they made it. old, ray is here with us today, with his fourth purple heart and his third silverstar from omaha. you.ree world salutes [applause]

thank you ray. host: president trump earlier today at the normandy american ceremony in normandy, france. he spoke for just under 30 minutes. his remarksded in by french president emmanuel macron. there were world war ii veterans on hand for that event. we are getting your thoughts in this first segment of the ,ashington journal until 9:00

on the 75th anniversary of d-day. we will revisit this in the last half-hour of our program. you can keep calling in on the phone lines. for those in the eastern and central united states, (202)-748-8000. in the mountain or pacific region, (202)-748-8001. that special line for world war ii veterans and their families, (202)-748-8002. from thea live picture national world war ii memorial on the national mall in washington, d.c. just down from the units its capital and passed the washington monument. andvisitors are there flowers are already being laid. john is in chicago. good morning. dad was on the people jima and i was in vietnam. my older brothers were in the service also. there were is -- there is an early adage.

for those who fight for it, freedom has a meaning that the protected will never know. if you look in the veteran's eyes, you will see that feeling come from their souls. adage to, i said that you and you asked me if that made me more patriotic. becauseght me off guard i am a veteran and the insinuation was that in fact that made me stand taller than other americans. you know what? eyesin those veterans' today and i am telling you, today, i do feel taller than any other american that did not serve. if you asked the veterans out there, if they are truthful, they might say that too. i don't mean any disrespect by that.

that question did catch me off guard. let me repeat that adage. for those who fight for it, freedom has a meaning that the protected will never know. when you show those pictures of those veterans or any veteran standing out there in the crowd, look in their eyes and notice that their chest is puffed out just a little bit farther than the nonveterans standing next to them. god bless you today, god bless me today, god bless everybody on earth today because celebrating 75 years of what those guys went through, everybody should be standing up at attention while this film is being shown. you have a happy day. host: shelley is next from pittsburgh, pennsylvania as we show you the map of the allied

landings on normandy beach on june 6. you can see the british sectors at sword and gold, canadian sectors at juneau and the american sectors at utah and omaha. the american cemetery just above omaha beach. go ahead. caller: good morning. i am calling to recognize and acknowledge my father. on, my-day was going father was languishing in a japanese prisoner of war camp. he was a member of the 194th tank battalion. he was stationed in the philippines prior to pearl harbor. he survived a death march and , eventuallyps going to japan and working in a coal mine. he was liberated and came back.

he went back to work in a steel mill. he married my mother. brotherly, my mother's was also a prisoner of war. he was stationed in corregidor. awarded a star, a p.o.w. medal. he had ptsd before it was known. his experiences affected him for the remainder of his life both physically and emotionally. he was so proud of what he did. my father was unique because a lot of these pows that came back did not talk about this but my father did. i could understand -- i cannot hell that hethe was put through and how he was treated. umbrage -- it

upsets me with -- when donald trump kind of belittled john mccain as a prisoner of war. what would he think of my father and the rest of the men who survived that horrible experience for over three and a half years and what they went through? dysentery, malaria. there were times when this ptsd would come out and it affected him in his older age but he was so proud of what he did. every memorial day up in pennsylvania, they had the memorial day parade. my father was always the guest of honor. he was proud to march and where his middle -- and wear his med al. he established a skill in the prisoner of war camp. he carved pipes and would sell

and to his fellow prisoners make little cigarette holders and give them to the japanese guards so they would leave him alone or give him a little extra food. he came back and made these beautiful pipes. i can't even describe them. my dad was great. he is my american hero. i want to salute all the veterans from world war ii, certainly the greatest generation. host: thank you for telling us about your dad. john in hawaii. good morning. caller: hello and thank you for taking my call. was a journalism major in in mye and my first day journalism one class, my professor went around the room and asked us to introduce irselves and it got to me and said i was a vietnam veteran and i served in the navy and i was in vietnam for nine months.

there was a lot of snickering and comments made at the time. i felt kind of bad about that. after class my professor came up . he told me a story. he was a navy ensign. he was in command of a higgins boat on omaha beach. in,old me he got his boat he got his crew in. he got the men in safely and got out and survived battle. he also went in with supplies and he went back and picked up wounded. i appreciate his service and all ,he men that served in that war including my father who was in the eighth air force. he was over there in august after the d-day landings.

he flew 44 combat missions. he and his crew were shot down backin belgium but made it to american lines, got out safe and they were back in comment -- combat a couple days later. those guys did not know how to quit. just like our guys in vietnam and every other american war, our guys don't quit. thank you very much. host: thank you john out in hawaii. we mention several members of congress traveling to the normandy american cemetery where they are on hand for the ceremonies this morning. members of congress also tweeting about the anniversary of d-day. here one of those tweets from a republican from wisconsin, showing the cover of stars & stripes -- stars and stripes. that cover featuring the liberation that had taken place a few days earlier.

while it was a significant victory, as the troops of captured and access capital, it would be overshadowed by the major events that took place on june 6. am costa also tweeting picture of himself heading to the beaches of normandy to mark the anniversary. a democrat from california saying i am honored to be part of a delegation of bipartisan lawmakers taking part in the ceremonies there with veterans and their families. a republican senator from indiana saying we remember their heroism today. the intense determination of the brave men who stormed the beaches. piecenie pyle's about the beaches of mormon -- of normandy.

pulitzer prize-winning world war ii reporter. this is part of his dispatch from after the battle of d-day. submerged tanks and overturned boats and trucks and shell shattered jeeps and sad little personal belongings were strewn all over the sand. that plus the bodies of soldiers covered in blankets, the toes of their shoes sticking up any line as though on drill. the other bodies uncollected, sprawling grotesquely in the sand or half hidden in the high grass. that plus an intense grim determination of work weary men to get this key attic beach organized and get the vital supplies and reinforcements moving rapidly over it from stacked up ships standing in droves out at sea. now that it is over, it is a pure miracle that we even took the beach at all. for some of our units it was easy but in this special sector the odds of making it was

like my whipping joe lewis down to a pulp. and be forever humbly grateful to those both dead and alive who did it for you. john is in florida on the line for world war ii relatives. (202)-748-8001 good morning -- caller: good morning and thank you for having me. calling about a gentleman from my hometown, 20 miles north of manhattan. we grew up and he ran the recreation department. was in the landing in d-day, the initial wave. hisever talked about it but face and his whole body was filled with trap no. the one thing he told me as i

got older that he never would forget was that as he was in the landing craft before they landed, he looked up to the sky and he could not see the sky, they were so many planes in the air. that always had a lasting impression on me, even when i joined the marines and went to vietnam. that always had an impact on me. imagine you could not see the sky, there were that many planes. he was wounded and his nickname was toodie and this is in honor of him and all my family and friends and parents who served in world war ii and all wars. host: did you get a chance to watch the ceremony at the american syrup -- american cemetery? caller: i did. thank you for everything because some of the live footage of d-day really has an impact. host: i wonder what you thought

of the sky this morning. the blue sky and the white clouds. caller: i had chills thinking of toodie as he told that story. the skies were beautiful. it was such a pleasant day. that was the opposite of what went on 75 years ago. so peaceful, which is nice but the weather was unbelievable. it was a beautiful sky. i thought the ceremonies went off beautifully. everybody seemed to be united in a common purpose. countrylike to have our united more than it is now in a common purpose. , you could not see the sky. host: thank you for the call.

there is the sky from over omaha beach. jeff is in indiana. good morning. calling to salute the greatest generation. in particular, my father. he served as a technical sergeant in a mechanized unit. the 787 tank battalion. they went through the normandy attacks andhe main my father talked repeatedly about what the beaches look like with those who were dead as well and the movement of trucks and vehicles and the

stacks and stacks of gasoline and food and ammunition and medical supplies. they had to take all of that with them, get it on shore and then catch it up to the troops and keep them supplied in every fashion throughout the war. detached, andddly so they wandered through the war. and onee distinguished of the first mechanized units to cross the rivers into germany. yearser in his later talked about some of the stories. bayonet andman german handgun that he dug out of a fireplace at a farmhouse that was apparently used by german officers as a headquarters. bothd a variety of stories

from before and during the d-day time and then all the way to the conclusion of the war. he did not start telling us those stories until my brother entered the military. then he was willing to share those particular stories. my brother was a career officer with the army. group is theole greatest generation and the program this morning with the president and the united states and france was truly moving and it was great to see those men that are still alive and the sheer courage that they , particularly in battle.

about howent spoke they came home and continued their lives and lived their lives in the same fashion as when they went off to war. and a great part of american history. host: coming up on 8:30 on the east coast. taking your phone calls on the 75th anniversary of d-day. we will do this for the next half-hour and revisit the topic .gain the last caller talking about tributes happening on the floor of the house of representatives and the floor of the senate as members of congress have talked various veterans in their districts that they have met. here is one of those tributes from a congressman from california. he was on the house floor on wednesday. [video clip] >> i rise to recognize the 75th

anniversary of the allied invasion of normandy, known as operation overlord. to begint sacrificed the liberation from nazi germany. over 4400 allied soldiers crossing this channel gave many of their lives storming the beaches codenamed omaha, utah, gold, juno and sword. the impact that this had on our communities back home was great. take for example the bedford boys from a talk -- from a small town in virginia. , boardedew up together landing craft that day and embarked towards france. 19 of them did not make it back. this small southern town is an example of the sacrifices made by many small towns and families across this country. during that effort that day and during that war.

they did it to protect our freedom and those of our allies. to defeat the grip of national socialist german regime. we will always be grateful for those that gave that they, for those that survived and those that did not come back. that is why it is important to mark this day d-day, june 6. host: the congressman talking about the bedford boys as part of his address on the house floor. here is a piece in today's washington times talking about bedford, virginia where the national d-day memorial stands down in southwest virginia. the town only had about 4000 people at the time of d-day. among thees were steepest proportionately of any community in america. a plot of land next to bedford was marked as the site of the national d-day memorial.

the bedford boys, the last surviving bedford boy died in 2009. you can see the graphic showing the size of the national d-day memorial. bedford, virginia and the memorial where the side of our broadcast back on memorial day this year to talk about d-day in the 75th anniversary. we were joined on that program by author alex kershaw from the national d-day memorial. if you want to go back and watch that program and hear more of the stories we have been reporting, you can go to our website. book, the author of the the bedford boys and his newest book, the first wave is out and talks about the first americans and british and canadians who landed on the d-day beaches. alex kershaw is going to be the mc of the program taking place

today at the national world war ii memorial on the national mall. that program gets underway when this program ends at 10:00. as we have been showing you live shots from the national world war ii memorial, you can see some of the set up there, preparing for that event. chairs have been set up for that event. others from several including friends of the national world war ii memorial chairman, the superintendent of the national mall and memorial park's and others. that takes place at 10:00 eastern this morning. back to your phone calls. barbara is in miami, florida. good morning. (202)-748-8001 good morning -- caller: good morning. i am calling about my father who served for four years in the pacific. he was a staff sergeant of planning -- staff sergeant, planning bombing missions for b-52s.

my dad never spoke about the war. my mother said that when he were marriedy shortly before he was shipped overseas and she says he was a changed person. as an aside, she did stuff domestically, working in a rehab center and as a cryptographer. after she passed away, i found his helmet and dogtags in the attic. i wish he had spoken more about it, that our children would have heard more about it. the only thing he ever said about his time overseas is since he had been in the pacific for four years that he would never eat pineapple again. i was very proud of the ceremonious morning, proud to be an american and proud my father served. host: thank you for the call. lisa in alexandria, virginia. was in theuncle

eighth air force and was a gunner on the buffalo gal. they were shot down over germany about two weeks before d-day. in what was known as the worst pow camp that the nazis had for one year. i could not help but think today, watching that beautiful ceremony, that if it had not been for those old men sitting there today and the ones buried next to them on hollowed ground -- hallett -- hollowed ground, that my uncle may have never terriblerated from his ordeal. men did a lot but even a

year later, the consequences of what they did for us and all the other service members that were in pow camps was being felt. about 500,000 world war ii veterans were still alive as of 2018. that number is even less today. about 160 of them were there for the ceremony that took place. barack obama spoke at the world -- d-daymorial ceremony in normandy, france five years ago. here are some of his remarks. [video clip] obama: here we do not just commemorate victory, as proud of that victory as we are. we don't just honor sacrifice, as grateful as the world is.

remember why america and our allies gave so much, for the survival of liberty at this moment of maximum peril. we come to tell the story of the men and women who did it so that it remains seared in the memory of a future world. story for the old soldiers who pulled themselves a little straighter today and salute brothers who never made it home. we tell the story for the daughter who clutches a faded photo of her father, forever young. to the child he runs his fingers over colorful ribbons he knows signifies something of great consequence even if he does not yet fully understand why. we tell the story to bear what witness we can to what happened

when the boys from america reached omaha beach. daybreak, blood soaked the water. bombs broke the sky. paratroopers were dropped in the wrong landing sites. thousands of rounds made into flesh and sand. entire companies of men felt in minutes. -- fell in minutes. hell's beach had earned its name. by 8:30 a.m., general bradley expected our troops to be a mile inland. six hours after landing, he said -- he wrote we only held 10 yards of each. in this age of instant commentary, the invasion would have been swiftly declared a debacle as it was by one officer.

to judgment would not have taken into account the men.ge of free success may not come with rushing speed, president roosevelt said that night, but we shall return again and again. paratroopers fought through the countryside to find one another. rangers pulled themselves over those cliffs to silence nazi guns. tooke west, the americans utah beach with relative ease. to the east, the british tore through the coast, fueled by the fury of five years of bombs over london with solemn vows to fight beaches.he whose shores had not been touched drove far into france. here in omaha, troops finally

made it to the seawall and use it as shelter. the general barked if you are rangers, lead the way. day,e end of that longest this beach had been fought, lost, re-fought and won. host: that was president barack obama five years ago at the 70th anniversary of d-day. on this morning, the 75th in a verse three. we are hearing your thoughts, stories and phone calls. carol is waiting in virginia. caller: i just wanted to pay tribute to my father who at 94 hopefullylive and will celebrate his birthday on june 10 and we will have him for a couple more. he was attached to the fifth .ngineer special brigade

similar to thery police battalions but they were assigned to the army. mechanized units and soldiers. he was in the third wave on the , the first infantry. went out and helped people out of the water.

assignment was to go in. the 348th engineer combat battalion. i went back with him in 94, 96. he would not talk about what he did. he received a shrapnel wound but it was a very minor wound. he never put in for a purple heart. host: he said his birthday is june 10? someone june 10, 1944 he would have been turning about 20 years old? you about junel 10 1944? guest: he was career military -- caller: he was career military.

earlier thatd in east coast military brats. we were supposed to go back in 64. he wanted to go for the 20th anniversary but it rained cats and dogs for weeks so we turned around and went back to germany where he was stationed. in 94, i went with him when he turned 70. like clouds -- crowds and to be around a lot of people. we were there after the celebrations. i asked him, what were you thinking at the time and he said and i was just hoping to be 20. now we are hoping he will see

95. host: we hope you will wish him a happy birthday from us next monday. caller: one last thing i want to mention because a lot of people don't realize this. a lot of the troops were given sleeping tablets on the way over. they were told they were seasick pills to keep them from getting sick. he said he took those and he said he slept most of the way over until they had to wake him up. when they went in, it was about 11:00. i thank you very much. host: richard in tennessee, good morning. caller: good morning. . would like to pay tribute most of the men in my community served. whether they were in the pacific war in europe.

i would like to pay tribute to sergeant robert emerson lane from scott county in southwest virginia. he was a radio operator on one of the -- he was in the air force and he was a radio man on a troop carrier that dropped paratroopers on d-day. i knew him all my life. i never knew this about him. as he was dying and we were taking turns sitting with him, his wife had alzheimer's and could not care for him. he opened up some. mostly the thing i remember most about that because he did not like to talk about combat but he talked about how the scared look es and young soldiers' fac that they did their duty but he saw how scared and he said he was scared to death. about camp life

and turned down the opportunity to be an officer to stay with his unit. a highly intelligent man, one of the finest i have ever known. europe,went across different bases, resupplying the troops and he talked about interactions with the french and the countryside and sometimes andering for eggs and wine turningt was -- people a blind eye because they knew what was going on. he did not keep a lot of commendations and things. after his death, i found when we were going through, getting ready for the state sale, i found a box that contained currency they gave them in case they were shot down from various

countries. a few clippings, i did not know he received several bronze stars. like most of the veterans i knew from that area, very quiet about his service. this as he was dying. when we were sitting and talking, he talked about some of the racism he saw and it athered him a lot, towards friend of his from texas who was jewish. also he saw a black man in was made to get up and give his seat up or go to the back or even get off the bus, i don't recall. he said he saw it at the time and thought what in the world are we fighting for? i think that speaks to his character.

host: thank you for the call. the story in the washington times, the black troops role on d-day was the headline of the story. roughly 2000 black troops were to -- were believed to have hit the shores of d-day. unit that day,t the 325th barrage balloon battalion whose job it was to set up those explosive rig balloons to deter german airplanes. you mentioned the french perspective from d-day. i did want to note that back on memorial day, as part of our coverage of the 75th anniversary of d-day, we interviewed mary louise roberts about her book, d-day through franchise -- through french eyes. the interactions, the casualties of the people of normandy who were looking out at the invasion that came in to liberate them.

it is available on our website, c-span.org. longmeadow, massachusetts -- laura is next from east longmeadow, massachusetts. want to thank you for your show. i will not reiterate what people have said about their dad serving over there. my dad was in the european theater tank division. he never talked about it either. back then, they just wouldn't do it. comments and all the callers, that will teach our youth coming through and hopefully keep it alive of what we have today and who we need to be thankful for. one thing i did find when i was packing up, when my dip -- when my mom passed away was a picture of my dad in his dress army

greens, somewhere in england after all the bombing and holding a youngsters hand, taking them to safety with the other soldiers behind him. all i remember, he said one day you will understand why we did this. and ihow is phenomenal wish i had taped it. i am a retired teacher. i would love to bring this back into our school system. you: to his comment that will one day understand it, when was that day for you? caller: back in the 60's, we always had dinner around the ,able and then different shows combat and the different shows we would watch. don'tld always ask why you see that or talk about that and he had taken out his fatigues or the union suit they used to clean the tanks.

i found that and posted it in the archives for washington. -- he would not talk about it. around and he said one day you will understand. you never do any always question but we were brought up, it was old school. when you got the look, you knew when to keep quiet and stop asking questions. lot of the depression but alcoholism and stuff like that, they held everything in. justster-in-law, we were talking about this over memorial day. i don't member exactly where overseas but he was in the same thing, they just waddled it all up. host: this is kathleen in

florida, good morning. caller: good morning. i want to pay tribute to not only the men but the women. my mother was a riveter for the airplanes -- was -- my father was in the army air corps at the time. i want to thank the people who were supporting them in our own country. thank you. host: anthony is next in staten island. caller: i am calling to honor my father and his two brothers. my father stayed all the way to the occupation of japan. but he went towa a couple other places. also for my own cult victor, who uncle victor,r my father's- and to my

twin brother who was a medic in the pacific theater. my cousin is in pittsburgh and also served in the army. i believe they were in germany. the thing i would like to bring up mostly is today, the lessons that we have to learn from world war ii are not being taught in our schools. our children don't know what happened because they are not being told. they are not being taught this stuff and it should be brought out. the sacrifice made by that generation for us today. we should all be on our knees praying and thanking them for what they have done for us. host: that is anthony in new york. we are showing you live pictures from the national world war ii memorial on the national mall in washington, d.c.. ceremonies expected to begin at 10:00. we will be showing you them here on c-span. you can see some of those who have gathered.

the world war ii memorial, one of the locations that often draws members of the honor flight network, the nonprofit organization that brings veterans to washington, d.c. to see monuments like the national world war ii memorial. it was dedicated in 2004. natalie is next in florida. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. to wish all the veterans, living and dead, a salute from a heartfelt window. of -- who served d-day in utah beach. i want to salute them, that survived and those that didn't. however, i also want to say that we want to mention the service of the puerto ricans who served

in all the wars for america. we are americans all and we thank america and the world for these opportunities. host: did he ever talk about utah beach? caller: yes. from 1944 toutah 1945. host: what did he say about d-day? caller: terrible. he was one of those that spoke very little about the instances. one of the instances he told me, going over on the beach. fair and one of his friends serving with him was black, latino and they were going down the gangplank, they were being signaled left or right. he was sent left and his friend

was sent right. he said to them, to the mp, i want to go with my friend and they said no. you go with the whites and he will go with the blacks. even at that moment, we had unnecessary segregation. i just want to mention that. america has come a long way and we struggle forward every day. host: more of the scenes from the national world war ii memorial. veterans being applauded, gathered at the memorial as they have been showing up for that event, scheduled to start at 10:00 this morning. marianne is next from new york. caller: yes, thank you. my father served with the 72nd airborne troop carrier. ac 47.the crew chief of specialist.peller

him andling to honor all of these individuals. since the experience there, he he was pretty upbeat. he kept the really bad stuff to himself. when he got back from the war, he was able to follow up on employment with the new york city fire department. he went straight from the battles he saw in europe including the battle of the bulge to fighting fires. we miss him terribly. that the veterans are being honored and we have to keep honoring all the first responders and soldiers of this country. that is my message that i wanted

to get across. keep watching. great programs. that is all i wanted to say. next, new york. caller: good morning. i just wanted to pay tribute to my cousin, who fought in world war ii and he was missing in action. i was four years old when my aunt came to our house crying saying that her son was missing. i never found out what happened to him but as an adult i began to wonder where was he and what happened. upriend of mine looked ancestry.com and found out that he served at the battle of the amongand died on a farm four other soldiers. the american at

cemetery. in 2015, my sister and i went there to find his grave and the caretaker was kind enough to find it for us and he said there was nothing in his folder, so i was happy to have pictures of him to place in the folder. i just want to say that my great nephew in arizona just joined the army yesterday and i think he is proud to be serving their. -- serving there. i want to say thank you to all of our vets. you havederful that this program for them. thank you very much. host: michael in florida, good morning. sayer: i just wanted to that my father, frederick, 18 years old, red diamond division,

went into france at that time, 44. he did not talk a lot about it. his three other brothers were in guadalcanal, wounded by the same japanese shell. my dad who was several years younger, 18, went in and 44. bulge.tle of the man took twoer german soldiers prisoner. they had gone into a barn. they had stolen eggs from the barn of a frenchwoman. they were cooking them up in the kitchen, the french home and my father and the other man took them prisoner. that is a true story. one other story my dad told me. he did not talk a lot about it. division, fifth

infantry, they went forward with a tank, a number of his associates. a number of his associates were killed. my father was walking behind farther back. machine gun just wiped out almost half of his group that were together that day. as a child i8, and said, father did you -- and as a boy i asked him this. did you kill german soldiers? my father said i do not know, but i shot at them. that is pretty sad. waras not one to brag about , like i went in there ended this and that. he was more subdued. you had to pull stuff out of him to get information. he is in arlington cemetery, as is his brother who stayed in from guadalcanal who became a colonel. host: do you know what section?

caller: i know exactly where. my father is in the columbarium, but his brother, when i visited arlington, john kennedy, robert kennedy, another high-ranking officer, and peter burns. aberdeen is the cutting edge of military hardware, top-secret state -- type stuff. these men whowith were service-connected, wounded men in battle and stuff. it has affected my life and my view. i have always wondered if i was able to step up to the plate and be like them. but i do it? could i go into guadalcanal, could i go into normandy, omaha, or d-day? i do not know. it is a different time now, that

is all i can say. it is a very different time. i stand with them. i stand with the veterans, i have to because i grew up with them. like that movie, "the best years of our lives," that would be the best way to capture how they were like. the readjustment to civilian life was a challenge after going through that. most definitely. host: thank you. michael, our last caller in this segment. but, plenty more to come. we will revisit this topic of the 75th anniversary of d-day in our final half-hour of the program. if you did not get in in these our -- in this hour, join us for the discussion. we hope you stick around for our discussion next. a year ago today president trump signed the v.a. mission act into law, and today marks a key day for the implementation. we will be joined by adrian

atizado to talk about the implementation of the v.a. mission act. stick around, we will be back. >> sunday on "american history continue our3, we coverage of the 75th anniversary of d-day. at 1:00 p.m. eastern, listen to past american presidents who traveled to normandy's beaches to honor the fallen starting with jimmy carter, followed by ronald reagan, bill clinton, george w. bush, and barack obama. and then, at 4:00 p.m. eastern america," the film "

d-day to germany." >> we felt we could use it. we found that this was pretty badly destroyed by the germans themselves. they destroyed the docks, which we thought we could use, and it took them almost two months before we could bring a ship in. 6:30, world war ii jet -- veteran john talks about how his company was diverted, and the constant artillery fire and the cries of the wounded. >> most of it was medic, and a few of it was momma and that type of thing. the cries of the wounded and the dying were sort of haunting, but they were drowned out by the rifle and machine gun fire coming in from our right. >> at 8:00 p.m., president trump and the first lady join emmanuel macron for the d-day 75th anniversary ceremony at normandy

american cemetery. watch sunday starting at 1:00 p.m. on american history tv on c-span3. journal"ngton continues. host: a year ago today the v.a. mission act was signed into law and marked -- and today marks a key deadline for implementation. we are talking to the deputy national director at disabled american veterans. explains what -- explain what happens today if a veteran goes to seek medical care. what is different? guest: thank you for having me here. i appreciate spending time with c-span, especially in regards to the d-day anniversary. happy 40th by the way. it was a big piece of legislation that the president signed over a year ago. what it does is it expands how the v.a. buys care in the community. it has been told that it has

been doing this for a long time. we are just asking for it to be done better. this law is supposed to do that. v.a. when a veteran goes to a -- when a veteran goes to a v.a. know -- for care -- you you had a color before where before who caller talked about knowing a lot of veterans. ,hen they go into v.a. sometimes it takes them a time to get a nap appointment, they need to be seen sooner. should beission act doing is allowing the veteran to be seen in the community with the doctor that is closer to them instead of having to drive down to a facility or wait for such a long time. host: this puts specific standards on wait times and distance, and drive times to allow that access. explain what those standards are. hast: as i mentioned, v.a.

been buying care for some time. there was an access crisis that exploded in 2014. in which people found that veterans were waiting a little bit too long. some people believe that a lot of veterans were not getting care in time and some people may have died because of that. congress passed the veterans' choice program which allows any veteran 30 days -- waiting 30 days or longer or has to drive 40 miles or more to a facility to be seen in the community. that is the old standard that will be going away. sixnew standard is about eligibility criteria. one, if the veteran needs a service and that facility that is closest to them does not have that service, then they should be eligible to go into the community. two, if the veteran resides in a state or u.s. territory without

is alaska, that hawaii, new hampshire, and that includes the territories like samoa, guam and things like that, the third eligibility criteria really deals with a 40 mile criteria. this is a holdover, a grandfather. statens who reside in such as south and north dakota, wyoming, and montana. they were eligible in the choice program, they would still be eligible for care in the community because of that. the other veterans who were eligible but do not live in those states, they are only grandfathered for two years. the standards that you had mentioned, the 20 days for primary care and mental health care and for noninstitutional care, or 28 days for specialty care, if the veteran receives the rate -- that wait time, they

can go into the community. the other criteria for driving is not miles, under the missing -- the mission act it is a 30 minute drive time of propriety -- primary care and 60 minutes for specialty care. there are smaller provisions that allow the program to be more flexible to the veteran. host: it is our topic in our segment. the special so not -- phone lines. veteran, 202-748-8000. all others can call in at 202-748-8001. we want to hear your thoughts, and stories as we talk about the implementation of this new law. secretary wasa. on our newsmakers program, and he talked about whether or not the v.a. is ready for this new law. here is what he said. [video clip] on june 6 to be ready. i have said that we will treat

it as another day. ism confident that our team ready across the country. i have been in 32 states in the last eight months asking those questions. i am confident. there will be a few hiccups, but there always is in an organization that has 370,000 employees. [end video clip] host: do you think the v.a. is ready? guest: we think that they will be, or are. this is not too much of a change in what they do on a day-to-day basis. our concern remains with how the v.a. has traditionally been able to implement new programs. this is a huge program. we are talking and eligibility population that grows from 8% to 40% out of 9 million veterans. that is quite a bit more veterans who would be eligible for this program. as the secretary

said, that the frontline clinicians, and workers who will be meeting veterans and charged with executing on this law, we are hopeful that they are in fact prepared. we know that they are committed and compassionate employees and that they will do their best. it takes training, education, and very good tools for them to do this smoothly and seamlessly. host: and it takes money. that has been one of your concerns that there is not enough money. part of isad a coalition of veteran service organizations. we make up the independent budget. every year we have a proposal that we sent to congress telling them what we believe the v.a. needs for the upcoming fiscal that the ensuring veterans get the benefits and services that they have earned.

for the mission act, we believe that the v.a. should be getting at least $8 billion more than they requested. as has been told, we are not really sure what the cost of this program is going to be in reality. this is a very different program than what the v.a. has been doing before. it is open to much more veterans than previously. we are concerned that if the v.a. does not have the funds it will need, we will have veterans waiting longer than they should be. host: disabled american veterans can be found at dav.org. we will let you chat with a few callers. larry is out -- up on the line for veterans out of alabama. caller: good morning to you. john, i would like to ask you a question, why hasn't the v.a. secretary showed up on washington journal? i noticed he is on news weekend

a lot, but why not have him? the secretary of the v.a. has showed up on "washington journal." host: we would be glad to have him. newsmakers"he " program on sunday. two questions from two reporters who specialize in military affairs topics, and you can find that on our website at c-span.org. caller: they have not taking questions from the veterans. also, i would like to comment the dav. i would like veterans to know that if you are homeless or something like that, try and get to someone who can get to the organization, because if you do not have the organization behind you, it is like you are a dog. the dav, i would like to thank

you all. also susan swan, when she was there. the dav will go all the way to the board of veteran appeals to the court of veteran appeals, to the supreme court. i would like to thank you all. host: thanks for the call. we might want to explain who dav is. guest: i swear i did not pay the gentleman to make the call. charterednprofit veteran service organization. we were chartered in 1936. today we run the most extensive service program, which is what the gentleman spoke about. we have 200 60 professionally trained nationals service sponsors across the state. they are adjunct with another 4000 chapter service officers. survivor,ran, or spouse, or dependent, who needs help, adding v.a. bed -- v.a.

benefits, they can contact the a sister. 877 half -- -426-2838. we will direct you to the person that you need to speak to within the organization, and if i may, one last thing. the other thing you may have we have a transportation program. we transport veterans to and from their houses to ava medical center to get their appointment. problemsveterans have transporting themselves if they have so many conditions that they cannot drive themselves, or are so frail and elderly. we give them a ride. all of this is at no cost. when you need a ride from dav, we do not charge anything. we just ask that you call us. host: james is a veteran in

washington, d.c.. good morning. combat veteran, 1966 through 1967, and one of the volunteers to vietnam from europe. the question i have is what is in that latest bill for the waiting 2, 4, 10, 7, 18 years for appeals at the veterans appeals board. and what is secretary wilkins doing about this issue. you guys are wonderful. do you know the bill he is talking about? guest: i think there was a law that was passed called the modernization act, and it cuts down on the length of the appeal.

first of all i want to thank him for his service and for calling in. what the appeals modernization act is try to address that problem where appeals keep going on and for years and decades. what the appeals monitor eyes asian -- modernization act did to havellow veterans their appeals addressed in a more timely manner. the first thing i would say is that if you are not being represented by an organization, please get a hold of one of them, please call the dav or any other service organization that has a professionally trained officer because they will help you go through these other lanes that can cut down your appeal to have a decision from about 120 days is what is -- what it can come down to. make sure you contact a service organization. host: can you explain who the bluewater vietnam veterans are and what happened for them?

guest: the bluewater navy do veterans are those navy veterans who served during the vietnam ships just off the shores of vietnam. as you know, and as many of your listeners now, agent orange was sprayed all over vietnam to help in war effort. was thatem with that it had long-term physical and health consequences to a lot of veterans. that thehappened is v.a. misinterpreted the law that was passed in 1991, and cut out bluewater navy veterans, and these were veterans who served very close to shore and so they were also exposed, which were why they were made part of the law. why the -- when the v.a. misinterpreted that, they were challenges and they lost in court. there was a chance for them to appeal.

it would be the department of justice appealing to the supreme court. a recent filing with a lady of -- with a later case, it was indicated that they would not be seeking -- or in other words they would not appeal it. at least for bluewater navy veterans we are looking for a couple of things. we want the v.a. to continue working to promulgate rules to ensure that they are now case has because the been dispensed with. we are also still fighting for bluewater navy veterans in congress. patch's -- past the house and it remains for the senate to pass it in their chamber and send it off to the president for a signature. that is where it is at now. host: gary, a veteran. good morning. caller: i have a couple part question. re-brief me on the 30 minute away from the d -- the v.a. thing?

just explain that briefly. guest: that is a great question. the 30 minute drive time is a standard for eligibility for veterans to be seen in the community, and that care be paid for by the v.a.. in other words if a veteran makes an appointment at a v.a. facility, but the facility is 30 minutes further than their residence, and that veteran should be offered the option to get care in a community provider within an integrated health care network. as i mentioned before, the mission act as a postal -- is supposed to allow the v.a. to buy care community -- in the community a little bit smarter. veteran meets that threshold, say it takes me 30 minutes to drive to the nearest v.a. medical center and that drive time is over 30 minutes, they should be offering me a choice to be seen in the community provider that has been

vetted and signed up to provide care to the v.a.. host: did you have a follow-up? caller: real quick, is it only for primary care, or for dental? guest: i believe if you are eligible for v.a. health care and dental care, which is a very distinct eligibility criteria, unfortunately, not all veterans are eligible for dental care. you first have to find out if you are eligible for dental care. i believe that may fall under specialty care which means it would be a 60 minute drive time. host: that was gary in north carolina. you talk about buying care, and what are the concerns that come up with the mission act from some organizations and groups is -- it may move towards privatization. guest: we are always concerned

when the v.a., which has been this promise to take care of our nation's veterans, especially when they serve in combat and get hurt, we want to make sure our organization that this health care system remains in place for veterans today and those yet to come. when any cash every dollar that is spent and getting shifting does shifted out of the system into the community that it erodes the foundation of the health care system. one thing i want to mention is that the mission act is more than just buying care in the community. -- of the provisions is allows the v.a. to pay for veterans receiving urgent care in the community. leave it or not, veterans did not have access to urgent care.

most viewers who have employer insurance can go to the er. another thing that the mission act does is expand a wonderful program, and probably the united states, the caregiver support program. back in 2010, congress passed a law that allowed the v.a. to help and assist family caregivers of severely injured veterans, that program was only made available to post 9/11 veterans, those that served after september 11. the mission act expanded that program to all generations of veterans, but in a phased-in manner. it is critical, and now that we are talking about anniversary of d-day, this will help not only world war ii veterans, but vietnam veterans who are aging and/or so severely disabled that they need their family members, usually their spouse, alter, or

friend to help them be active in their community. was supposed to expand over a few years. the problem we have come across, and there was just a hearing about it. the problem was that the i.t. software needed to expand the program has been delayed. the law says that the v.a. should report back to congress by october of this year, 2019, to begin expansion. in a hearing we were told that that is not going to be the case and we are not sure that they will expand the program. you mentioned that one of our concerns as the i.t. system that the v.a. will required to act, and the mission that remains a concern. the v.a. does not have a good track record in deploying supportive i.t. solutions to their frontline clinicians or

administrative staff. it is these people who see veterans face-to-face, and if they do not have the tools to do this, guess who suffers? not the bureaucrats, we are talking about veterans and their communities and in front of these clinicians across the country, and that is what we are worried about. host: five or 10 minutes left with adrian atizado. taking your phone calls. the veterans line is 202-748-8000. joe is on that line from texas. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing? host: doing well. is and i haveblem asked my doctor at the clinic. a couple of times for my cataracts v.a. sent me to an outside doctor.

i asked the doctor about this new program and she told me that nobody wants to do it and there is not enough money. my v.a. dr. told me and said i do -- and i said i do not have a car, and i just get assisted care. the v.a..les from i asked her about the program and said who can help me out? they said nobody can help a veteran out. i do not understand it. if i want to get into this haveam they should somebody in place at the va hospital so i can call my doctor up to be able to discuss this program with him to see if he would be interested in doing it. what i am understanding is that the government does not want to pay these doctors. guest: that is a great question. thank you for your service. i mentioned earlier that the program that currently exists did have a lot of problems.

it had something problems including one of which that providers were not being paid in time. ,t is hard to run a business especially in health care, when the payment is low and you add to that that the payment is slow. it is not a good way to anticipate -- incentivize providers to work with you. and so, this is one of the issues that we had asked congress to address in the mission act, and they did so. i would urge this veteran as well as any other veteran who has a provider in the private providerr, a non-v.a. and urge them to contact the third-party administrators of this new veteran community care program. administer a current as well as up to him public is the -- optum public. i would ask that they call their doctors and have them contact the local v.a. facility.

v.a. isll you that the working hard to make sure that their community partners, and they will have to be partners in this if this is going to be done smoothly for the benefits of our nation's veterans. the pain providers -- pay providers timely and the right amount is one of the key components. we are very hopeful that will be the case. host: clark county, nevada. good morning. caller: good morning. sir, the problem here in las vegas, the big v.a. hospital. my dad is a vietnam veteran. he is half paralyzed and legally blind. he get his notice that says he is to appear at the clinic listed as b-13. he goes to this monstrous hospital. no one knows where it is located.

they run him from one end to the other, upstairs and downstairs. no one can find the place. after 45 minutes he gives up, he leaves. then he gets in trouble for not appearing for the appointment, but he cannot appear if people cannot find the location of the place he is supposed to be at. what can you folks do to get the v.a. system correct so that patients can actually have accents to care. you cannot have access of nobody can find you are supposed to be. host: first of all-- guest: first of all i want to apologize to you and your dad. that should never have happened to you and especially to him. when the v.a. asked him to come and be seen in to be able to find the clinic he is supposed to be seen at, it is unfortunate that these things happen. athink part of the problem is little bit of customer service and the infrastructure or

signage. theseunately, a lot of campuses are rather large because they serve a number of veterans who tend to be older and sicker, and they provide good care. it is not very good unfortunately for a veteran not to be able to find the clinic that they are at. the entrance to the facility had people, which a lot of v.a. facilities do, to help navigate veterans to the hospital. this is a program that started not too long ago. i am wondering this -- why this did not occur at your facility. i will certainly bring this up as i go about with my business with the v.a. in dallas. host: nevada. guest: las vegas nevada. right. host: one or two more phone calls. a veteran.ngton, good morning. caller: i have been in the

system since 1984 after completing 30 years of active service in 1982. andent two years in country another three on deployments everywhere. i cannot get service. i had to move from a major city to a rural location because of financial and other problems. i am two hours and 22 minutes from the hospital that used to serve me in seattle. clinic9 minutes from the in vancouver, washington. centraliaew clinic in , which is only about a 25 are sodrive, but they overloaded they cannot take me in. if i change and start getting clinic, i will have to system to another system and it is a two hour 22 minute

drive, they have no capacity. here the rub. they have no list of civilian providers that a veteran -- that is approved to have a veteran go to anywhere near my community. and there are many care patients out there. it is all taken out. the hospital is a rural hospital. it is not a very good hospital. and, i am sitting out here, 85 years of age. i could've gotten out of going to vietnam because i was starting to have high blood pressure. i begged to not have to stay back. there was a guy over there that had been in country extended for an additional eight months and had four children back home and he had already had two people drop that could not go in there

and relieve him. host: thank you for sharing your story. i want to give adrian a chance to respond. guest: i want to point this out to you and your viewers. in the u.s., the health care system has a misalignment. the health care system in the u.s. whether it is v.a. and the private sector are not aligned where the patient's tend to be or where the people tend to be. because of market forecasts -- focuses -- they tend to be in more urban areas. the situation that he is and is unfortunately not uncommon. this is the way the health care system is in the united states of america. it is not a good enough reason as to why it is the way it is. , butnk it should change that is beyond our control at this point. i do want to make sure that he understands, if he does have a provider, any veteran has a provider in their community and

they want them to join this new mission act and community care program, they can have them do so and set a contract up with these third party administrators and set them up as a partner to this new program that is rolling out today. one last thing, i want to make sure that veterans across this country understand that there is a difference between a care that the veteran receives in a v.a. facility and care that they receive in the community. the v.a. health care system makes a specialty out of treating veterans. that is what they do and live by. he or she, no matter what they come across during their military service be taking care of very well. our concern is that men and women who serve and go in the community for care may not be getting the same quality of care. one of the comments that we made in rolling out this program is that a lot of v.a. providers do

not know how to treat veterans with post dramatic stress disorder or military sexual trauma, or agent orange, or turn them to the event of -- veterans benefits and ministration to get additional benefits that the v.a. can lead nations -- clinicians now. we are concerned that this transactional kind of relationship may reduce the quality of care that veterans receive. there is more to be said about this as it rolls out, and we will be watching closely for our members and all veterans who come to the v.a. for health care. host: we will have you on down the road to talk about it. dav.org, adrian atizado is the deputy national legislative director and we thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: and on -- and until our , the 75thds anniversary of d-day continues. we hope you join us by sharing

your memories of june 6, 1944. phone lines for those in the eastern and central united states, mountain and pacific and a special line for veterans and families. can start calling him now as we show you more from president trump's address earlier today at normandy american cemetery. 160ormandy france before world war ii veterans. the warriors spot a sinister enemy who spoke of a thousand year empire. in defeating that people, they left a legacy that will last not only for 1000 years, but for all time. of as long as the soul knows duty and honor, for as long as freedom keeps its hold on the human heart. to the men who sit behind me, and the boys who rest in the field before me.

everexample will never grow old. [applause] your legend will never die your spirit, brave, unyielding, and true will never die. spilled, thet they tears that they shed, the lives that they gave, the sacrifice that they made did not just win a battle. it did not just win a war. those who fought here won a future for a nation, they won the survival of our civilization. love,howed us the way to

chairs, and defend our way of life for many centuries to come. as we stand together upon pledge thatearth we our nations will forever be wrong and united. together.rever be ,ur people will forever be bold our hearts will forever be loyal , and our children and their children will forever and always be free. may god bless our great veterans. may god bless our allies. may god bless the heroes of d-day. america.less

[end video clip] host: that what -- host: that was president trump earlier today. getting your calls last 20 minutes, the memories and thoughts of this anniversary. betty from pennsylvania on that line we have open for world war ii relatives, those who might have served and family members. go ahead. of fivei am a sister brothers who fought in world war ii. three were in the european theater, one was a minor for the government in a silver -- miner in the silver mines. one mother was 17, and as soon you had -- as soon as he was 18 they took him and he was sent home. the three brothers who fought in germany, one had two purple hearts, one was in the medics, and a third was an engineer.

they needed engineers in the pacific so they took him over to the pacific. homeothers, when they were they never discussed their experiences. i think they were frightened to death about that war. no one knows what they went through. we did have a wonderful experience with the first two that went in. my brother in the medics picked up the brother that was wounded, they picked up his dog tags, and he was trying to find out where he was, but no one would tell him where he was, for security reasons. r&r in france, and my brother was in a bar, and he was drinking a beer and he had his beer sitting on the bar, and the guy next to him knocked him over and he was getting ready to punch him and here it was my other brother in the service, the one that had lost his dogtrot -- dogtags.

host: was that the best here that he never drank -- beer he never drink? caller: i have a beautiful picture of them together, and they look like they had celebrated because they had not seen each other since they were inducted in the service. the first brother that went in, december 7 was in the european theater, that was when they had a bombing in the pacific, they started in. and the european theater -- conducting into the european theater. we never saw him and never knew where he was. he would write home and his letters looked like lace doilies , they were cut for security reasons. they could not talk about things that they were doing, so everything was cut up. we were so happy when it was over. they never spoke about it. they would sit at the dinner

table and you can see that things bothered them, but they would never discuss their experiences with the family. if they did it when they were alone we did not know. i was very young when my third brother was inducted. i was sitting at my desk and i started to bawl and the teacher said what is the problem? i said my brother left for the service this morning. she took me outside and she hugged me and said i know what you are going through. but i do not think anybody knows what the families went through. and then i had another brother, my sixth brother was in the korean conflict, so we were a family of soldiers. host: i appreciate you sharing your story this morning. we have phone lines open for those in the eastern or central time zones, 202-748-8000. those in the mountain and pacific, 202-748-8001. that special line for world war

ii veterans and their families, 202-748-8002. rachel is on that world war ii relatives line from maine. go ahead. caller: hello. listening to betty i am reminded when my mother received a letter from my brother who is in the navy. 17, and they had to sign for him to be able to go in. he was in the navy and was on a destroyer at the invasion of iwo jima and okinawa. we would go long periods without hearing from him. whenever my mother would receive a letter, she would receive it and cry. i also want to tell you that i had two other -- older brother in-laws, one in the battle of the bulge and another one who had little twin girls who was drafted in late 44 -- 45

probably. he was in the liberation of the concentration camps, some of them. he never really talked much about it, just to say that it was horrific. the youngestather, brother from canada, he enlisted at 18, and was killed at normandy. he is buried there in the canadian section. yes, i was young. i am 86 years old, but i remember vividly december 7. we had just gotten a little radio that my dad had put up on the shelf. i am from a family of 12 kids, so we could not touch that radio. my brother could barely understand any english at all, he had immigrated here after being married for two years to

work in the mills. he would listen to president andevelt's radio speeches asks so my older siblings to translate. he said he never wanted to miss any of this radio talk. so yes, so many memories. it was beautiful this morning. i was up at 5:30 and i was lucky macronto catch president and our president's speech. thank you for broadcasting that in showing it. it was beautiful. host: thank you for watching. it is also available on our website if you missed any part of it. you talked about your relatives and the liberation of the concentration camps. we have been looking for tweets this morning. here is one of those that we found. the is the founder of

candles of holocaust museum. d-day, 75 "happy years ago today i was in auschwitz. thanks to the allied forces we were liberated in the end of january 1945. wow. thet: we found this from " chicago daily tribune", the headline talking about the invalid -- the invasion and the allies. and as an hour -- and eisenhower's army. taking your phone calls until our program enda at 10:00 -- ends at 10:00 a.m.. sandra is next. caller: i guess i am sitting here with a lot of other people crying. i am the daughter of a world war ii veteran. he was the 13th person to get the distinguished service cross.

east -- he fought with the red devils division on the beaches of normandy. three purple hearts, five stars. we put the medals together. my father never talked a lot about the war, ever. his life was definitely shortened by the consequences of what happened to him in the 27 months that he fought. -- i pullingat everything out. magazine,"in "yank which has his name in it. they were talking about how he made it across a river. with,ories that i grew up the ptsd that he had for the first probably four years of my life. it was real significant. there is probably a lot of us out there.

i am yet another nurse who works in the field of mental health and addiction, probably because my earlier years and the impact affectedroism and it -- and how it affected our lives. so thank you for sharing it this morning. host: rob is in ohio, good morning. caller: hello, thank you for having me on. listen, my dad was in world war brother was in father,r ii, my wife's and uncle were in world war ii. you would only hear stories. there was not a whole lot of talk about stuff. my brother, i am 60. my oldest brother was in vietnam. my dad sat down and had a talk with him, and that is the first

time i ever really heard a whole lot about what my dad was involved in, and what took place. i know that he was mixed in with a group of british on d-day. i do not know where they were at. i showed him a map and he said he was there, but that was about all. and then, later on i found out that he was in the battle of the bulge. and the germans were not taking prisoners. he played dead and they were even bay and adding the dead. i guess he had enough lot on him that they decided that he was dead. up -- wentncle was up through italy. one funny note, when my dad was in england, my mom's brother had a big boisterous laugh, really loud. you could hear him everywhere. i guess he was in a movie, and

he laughed, and my dad recognized him and ran into him. my whole family has and will -- some way, shape, or form has served in the military or law enforcement. one other little side comment. i did not appreciate the guy talking about his democracy, that is a new political term. dad,body i know, my uncles, and relatives would've voted for donald trump. he is not a politician. thank you. host: about 10 minutes left in " washington journal." stick around here, we will head to the national world war ii memorial on the national mall in washington, d.c. for a commemoration event of the 75th anniversary of d-day, and speaking there this morning will be alex kershaw, author of the book "the bedford boys," and " the first wave," about those who

first landed on the beaches in normandy. also, speaking at the event will be the chairman of the friends of the national world war ii memorial, the acting superintendent of the national mall and memorial parks. that gets underway at 10:00 a.m. the national world war ii boreal dedicated in world war for in 2004. that would be the 60th year anniversary of d-day. -- this was president george w. bush in 2004. [video clip] the honor, allon those who labored and led, they took a more practical view of the military mission. when,ans wanted to fight, and got -- win and go home.

, the.i.'s had a saying only way home is through berlin. long,ad to v-e day was and traveled by valiant men. history will always report where the road began, it began here, with the first footprints on the beaches of normandy. after d-day, former president eisenhower returned to this place and walked through these rows. he spoke of his joy at being a ,randfather, and then he said when i look at all these graves i think of the parents in the states whose only son is buried here. sacrifice, they do not have the pleasure of grandchildren, because of their sacrifice, my grandchildren are

growing up in freedom. the supreme commander new -- knew where the victory was won and where the greatest debt was owed. always, our thoughts and hearts ofn to the wons -- sons america who came here and rest here. we thanks of them as you last saw them. we think of men not far from boys who found the courage to charge towards death, and when death came were heard to call mom, and mother help me. we think of men and the promise of years of life, loved, mourned, and missed to this day. ,efore the landing in omaha sergeant earl parker of bedford, virginia proudly passed around a picture of danny, the newborn

daughter that he had never held. if i coulde fellas " see this daughter of mine, i would not mind dying." he is remembered here at the garden of the missing. he is remembered back home by a woman in her 60's who proudly shows a picture of her handsome smiling young dad. buried and named in this place are held in the loving memory of america. we pray that in the piece of the cemetery that they have reached the far shore of god's mercy. [end video clip] host: that was -- host: that was 15 years ago. of course, more world war ii veterans in attendance than than at today's ceremony. the count was over 160. noting in their story on the d-day anniversary,

an 18-year-old serving in d-day would be 93 this year. the department of veterans affairs estimates that under 500,000 world war ii veterans were still living. time for a few more of your phone calls. on the west virginia line for world war ii relatives. morning and a salute to all the veterans of all of our wars. my dad was in april -- and able goner in world war ii. living uncle was a teenager that was driving a landing craft on d-day. he passed away and i think he was 93. my mom's brother served in the pacific. one of my uncles died on the aircraft carrier franklin. his other brother was shipped off because of the sullivan rule. they named their first grandkid after my uncle philip, who died

on the franklin. so a salute out to all of the veterans, especially the veterans of d-day. thank you. host: robert, west columbia, south carolina. in morning. caller: good morning. host: you've got to turn down your television. i will let you do that so we do not hear that in the background before you begin your statement. as we shall live pictures of some of the veterans arriving at the world war ii memorial, the national world war ii boreal on the national mall, the veterans being applauded by those that are present. that is expected to get underway. go ahead. caller: thank you. first of all, i want to comment to a few people who degraded our president. we live in the greatest country, the greatest nation with the greatest president. he has done more in two years

than a few presidents in the past. what he has done today, i think it was great. he saluted and praised those veterans, and thank god for those people. i have an uncle who was in home.y, and he came he will not talk about it. i have a cousin who i am named after, robert, was on the arizona when it well. buddyately, him and his had gotten out and jumped in a dumpster. i was named after him. i love the navy, i served in the on anand i served aircraft carrier. i came out in 1964 before vietnam. i lost a lot of friends in vietnam. people do not realize the sacrifice that troops make to keep this country free from

tierney, terrorists, and i think todd i live in the greatest country of all time. in the god that i live greatest country of all time. host: john is next. caller: i will try and be quick. father and hisy they werere orphans, both 18 and world war ii, and my father's brother went and pilot in thewas a pacific. instructed as a pilot for six years during world war ii. army,ed 25 years in the flew helicopters in vietnam.

so, i know a little bit about that. we in worlding is, at the countu look , roosevelt wanted to attack germany in 1942. churchill talked him out of it. during that time the russians fought continuously the battle of stalingrad and all of that while we fought in africa and italy, and finally in 44 we did the d-day. every one of those people are really heroes. but if you study history, the russians lost 20 million people including civilians and soldiers

while the americans lost 600,000. in vietnam we lost almost 60,000, which is 10% of what we lost in world war ii. voteverybody that takes a everybody that joins up is a hero in my opinion. thank you. host: john in wisconsin. our last caller. we will be back tomorrow. we leave you with that image from omaha beach. stickt you to tak around for the world war ii d-day commemoration event taking place on the national mall. that begins momentarily here on c-span. [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. 2019]