now is what i call world war co2. this generation will decide how f'ed up the planet will be for generations in the middle of the 21st century and the late 21st century. if these conditions get out of control this could be a planet that is substantially degraded, defiled and ruined for generations to come. host: got your point. you talk about the home front during world war ii. on american history tv, it was last weekend we aired an event from the american veterans center, their conference. one of the panels featured world war ii veterans and one of the last living rosie the riveters. her name is may cryer.

her damage on the c-span homepage on that panel if you want to watch that again. it was the american veterans center annual conference. c-span.org is where you can go for that. pauline in jamaica, new york. caller: hello. on 95 years old. on december 7, 1941, all i was thinking about was my birthday on december 14. i was thinking about getting a bicycle. when they bombed pearl harbor, that was over. no more rubber. no more sugar. no more butter. no more nothing. all we could say was god help america. i remember president roosevelt coming on the air. my daddy listened to him. my mama listened to him. the war was just something that we had to fight.

the only time we saw pictures of the work -- there was no tv. you had to go to the movies. that was the time we saw the news. when i was in high school, we learned everything about the islands. i never heard about the islands. i had to remember all the islands, the pacific islands. that is my memories. host: what do you think when you think back about that day? what you think about franklin roosevelt and him addressing a shocked nation on december 8 and then leading this country through world war ii? what are your memories of franklin roosevelt? caller: when he came on the radio and said we are now at war with the empire of japan, i

remember that so clearly. when he talked to us, you know, he evenings, mayor luaia of new york talked about the funny papers on sundays. i member so much. i can't tell you everything. i was there.s old. you know what we used to say about the soldiers and sailors when they would pass by? hubba hubba. [laughter] so many memories. god bless america. i hope we turn out better. i won't be here but i pray for all of you that will be here. host: thank you for calling in. we take viewers back to december 8, 1941. about 12:30 in the afternoon. franklin roosevelt addresses the united states congress and the

country. [video] >> yesterday, december 7, 1941. a date which will live in infamy. the united states of america was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of japan. the united states was at peace with that nation and solicitation of japan, still in conversation with its government and its emperor, looking towards the maintenance of peace in the pacific. i ask that the congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by japan on

sunday, december 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the united states and the japanese empire. [applause] host: franklin roosevelt from december 8, 1941. we are on the 83rd anniversary of the pearl harbor attack. asking you to talk about the legacy of that attack, the legacy of that generation that fought in world war ii. a special line for world war ii veterans and their families. we want to hear your stories. (202) 748-8002. ron in michigan this morning. go ahead. caller: my father served three years in the pacific fighting the japanese. i was in vietnam.

i served with that division. people don't know much about vietnam history. two months after we signed a peace treaty with japan in august, the united states transport ships, sailors were transporting waffen ss pows from french pow camps. they were sent to vietnam to re-colonize vietnam. every enlisted man on those united states ships signed a petition saying they disagreed with the united states military sending nazi pows to start the vietnam war. host: what was the americel division? caller: americans in new caledonia. that was the designation for that division my father served

in. the americal division was reactivated for the vietnam war. it participated in the meal i massacre -- mei lai massacre. we are using a round up, agent orange on the american people which is poisoning all the bees and butterflies and the people. the legacy of vietnam, the agent orange that we dumped on vietnam. we never compensated this people. veterans like me are dying. now the american people -- thank you to monsanto and you other big business people. host: ted on the line for world war ii veterans and their families. oceanview, white. good morning -- hawaii. good morning. i guess it is late-night for you. caller: i'm always up.

i was a manager of the world's largest macadamia nut farm on the big island. when you are the manager of the factory, you are up many hours. i have got this sleep deprivation thing going on from people that worked too much. i'm retired now. i wanted to say tomorrow morning my father lost his left arm on pearl harbor day. there are a few things about that. i grew up on a farm. i grew up about nine years after that in the early 1950's. i'm a three-year-old kid looking around. i look at my dad. he only has one arm and we are running a farm. i may be only three but i kinda know what's going on already. another person would say it makes you a better person when you see somebody struggle to

keep things going with one hand. at four years old i had that left hand he lost. it made me think about things from a very early age. it made me a better person. made him a better person. all his life i was his missing left arm. it is good to be the right-hand man. i was the left-hand man. host: did your dad talk much about that day and losing the arm? caller: like many veterans, him and his brother were in europe. he was eight tank -- a tank mechanic. he worked on sherman tanks during the battle of the bulge. his brother was in the battle of leyte in the philippines. i would talk to both of them. i guess there is a -- it is hard for them. i hear this story a lot. many don't like to talk about

it. i would have to very carefully pry a little information out, what i could. host: your dad stayed in the service after losing his arm? caller: no. host: his brother was the one in europe? caller: both of his brothers did . he was in a dive bomber. i don't want to drag this out. he had been shot down in the battle of leyte in the philippines in his plane and was in the ocean for two days thinking they were dead. just from being shot down, number one. being with the sharks for two days. finally rescued him. he is sitting there going we made it. i don't believe it. he's talking to his buddy sitting three feet away from him. he looked over and all of a sudden his buddy got quite.

his head was gone. a, because the plane had come -- kamakazi plane had come in. one of the blades of the propellers took his head off. shot down, in the ocean. and then have a blade come by, it changed him forever. he was a very considerate man. he probably talked more about it than anybody. i used to go visit him. i lived in hawaii south of pearl harbor for 50 years. i found it ironic i ended up here. i was in the air force in the vietnam war. i told my wife -- i used to fuel b-52 bombers and jp-4 into f-4s.

it makes you think if you are aware. i hear a lot of vets and families and it makes you aware. host: are they all gone at this point? caller: yes, they are. not too long ago but yes. host: what do we lose when the last of that generation is gone? caller: it depends on their families. me and my brothers -- my dad's brother is a double cousin of mine. in world war ii, people got together through friends and families and i have a double cousin, he was on the aircraft carrier. he was in berkeley. we talked about it a lot. i used to ask him, i don't get over there. i would go once a year and see him. i would drive out east of waterville in oakland,

california. it seemed appropriate. he was the appropriate uncle to visit. i got more out of him than anybody. he went to school on the g.i. bill and got a doctor's degree and ended up being a medical examiner of all things. you would not think but that's what happened. he did his whole career that way. i know he was on an aircraft carrier that was one of the small carriers when the japanese attacked our fleet. he was on a jeep carrier, a smaller transport carrier. they were always considered the greatest generation and they really were. i grew up thinking how are we ever going to live up to that? the people that were born in the early 1950's and late 1940's. you know what? i look around and i ended up getting an engineering

scholarship during the vietnam war. we did not have enough ships. they started an engineering school and i got a scholarship to become an engineer. it makes you think more than the average person. i don't think the people i grew up with -- i think they appreciate those people -- i don't think they appreciate those people and acknowledge them enough. host: what was your father's name? caller: glenn lilly. host: thank you for telling us about glenn lilly and being his left-hand. members line.veterans and family : i am calling today to honor my -- lieutenan henry boykins. he was iillinois national

guard when the war broke out. he never returned home. he became a p-38 pilot in the aleutian islands. they call it sometimes the forgotten war of their. he was an escort for bombers -- up there. he and his wingmen were lost in the mission. they never recovered the bodies or the planes. i don't know exactly what happened to them. the bomber returned but the p- 38s did not. valentine's day of 1944, a western union telegram arrived. my grandmother and my mother think it is from their son and brother. it turns out it was a notice that he was missing. a few weeks later, confirmed dead. i would say since -- they call us the were babies. the children of that generation. we are starting to leave the planet also.

it is time to go back and keep the memories alive and think about what happened and what language we would be speaking if it was not for that generation. that is it for now. host: lee in garrison, new york. a couple of your essages and tweets. "it was an attack that lived i infamy. ral members of my family signed up for military service december 8. my grandfather and several of his brotheght in the war, l as my grandmother's brothers. a master sergeant in the texas 36th division. he was friends with and interviewed by bernie pyle." -- ernie pyle." we are split by region. (202) 748-8000 for the eastern

and central time zone. (202) 748-8001 for the mountain and pacific. timo inansas. sacrifices of the heroes thatthe said we will fight for freedom. let us never forget." tom in new york. you are on the washington journal. caller: the u.s. people with god's help will accelerate any type of suffering. [indiscernible] my godfather, he fought in the army and the navy. loved the united states. we were a special breed, the american people. we love god and are very patriotic. thank you very much. may all the souls that perished out pearl harbor rest in peace. amen. host: pam from randolph, ohio.

good morning. caller: i am a daughter of a world war ii vet. my dad enlisted after pearl harbor. he spent a few years in the service as a radio man in the pacific islands. i guess maybe this is a point i want to make. he came home a different man. unfortunately, alcohol took over as he tried to deal with the stress of the battle he fought. he told me he was a target. he had a target on his back. it was difficult for him for sure to come home and try to deal with life after. his sister told me once he was not the same man. before he married he would get up in the night and go door-to-door with a fake gun in

his hands as if he was still fighting the war. he enlisted. he was patriotic. he wanted to fight for our country. many of those veterans are unique and some anyways. -- in so many ways. i wish i had him around today that i could talk to him more about this. has enough to hal -- as an alcoholic it was hard to have those conversations. i would want to know more about -- more than anything to help him deal with the stress he brought back with him. he had seven children. he was a wonderful person in so many ways. he could not really be the father that we all needed growing up. i would want to help him. maybe as a special ed teacher looking at the ills of society and problems people have, i wish i could have talked more about how he could -- could confront

the demons in a better way. i have such respect for this generation of people who fought and did it because they love the country -- loved the country. host: what was his name? caller: charles. he died in 1989. yeah. great guy. host: that was pam in ohio. setting aside the first hour of the washington journal today to talk about the 83rd anniversary of the japanese attack on pearl harbor. the summer 7, 1941. -- december 7, 1941. the legacy of the generation that fought in world war ii in the broader strokes. this was the attack on pearl harbor by the numbers. it began at 55 a.m..

2390 were killed. the attack lasted 110 minutes until about 9:45 a.m. half the dead were on the baip u arizona. seven u.s. battleships were at pearlr. that included all the ttleips in the u.s. pacific except for onethe uss colorado. they were all either sunk or damaged. the arizona and the oklahoma were eventually able to return to active duty. we want to show viewers the universal pictures newsreel that aired in the month after pearl harbor about the attack. [video] ♪ >> december 7, 1941. a day of infamy. as japanese diplomats were conferring with the secretary of

state on his measures, planes were sweeping down on pearl harbor. this record includes both u.s. films and pictures made by the enemy as they drop their loaded bombs on the naval base, wheeler field, civilian homes and schools. 100 airplanes and midget submarines took part of the attack. the battleship arizona was completely destroyed and four others severely damaged. three battleships and three cruisers suffered lesser damage. nearly 200 airplanes were destroyed. the pacific fleet appeared to be completely immobilized by the sneak attack. nearly 3000 casualties added to the catastrophe. within hours, the united states declared war. the attack on pearl harbor united americans as never before in history. the explosions at pearl harbor

forged a will for complete and absolute victory over the forces of evil. in hawaii, civilian and soldier turned to caring for the wounded and homeless. makeshift plans were made to fight the invader on the beaches and in the streets. the japanese lost five midget subs, 29 airplanes and 100 men. a small cost for the damage they inflicted on the u.s. fleet. two carriers had been a patrol and missed the attack. the ships let other units in the fleet at the battles of coral sea and midway less than six month later, the first steps on the long road to complete victory. host: the universal pictures newsreel from back during that time. taking your phone calls. 83 years later, the 83rd

anniversary of the attack on pearl harbor. lane on the line from texas for world war ii veterans and their families. caller: good morning. i don't really know much about that time. my dad didn't talk a lot about it. i remember being real concerned about having a cerebral hemorrhage. my dad had a cerebral hemorrhage. he said, what are you worried about? you had a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 18. yeah. i'm concerned about having a cerebral hemorrhage. he said, didn't anybody tell you i was in the war? i said no. i didn't know about you being in the war. he explained he joined the navy. he was from southern illinois. he was poor.

when he was 15 he joined the navy. yeah. he lied about his age. i guess they didn't really pay much attention to paperwork back then, or maybe it was easier to forge or something. he was in the navy. he enjoyed being in the navy. he got to see all sorts of parts of the world he had never seen before. he probably never would have been able to see. one day -- he was still really young. around 20. he was out in the ship. he was with the navy. they brought him out in the middle of the ocean and they said -- they told everybody to go up on the top deck. watch this. they went out and watched. they set off an atomic bomb and let us all watch it. we all stood and watched the bomb. then they took half the guys off the ship and left the other half to eat the food.

it was not long after that i had a cerebral hemorrhage. he said and pretty sure it was because of the radiation from the bomb. in the navy they will let you die by yourself. when i look up -- woke up there were guys with lab coats and clipboards. i was partially paralyzed. they gave me a discharge from the -- a medical discharge from the navy. that is how i have a cerebral hemorrhage. it didn't have to do with heredity. host: did he ever find out which atomic test it was? caller: i don't know anything about it. the thing i asked was, didn't you get really mad? i would get really mad if they set off a bomb and i was

paralyzed for years after that. he said no. we said we would do anything they told us to do. if it was to support the government, we were going to support the government. i had friends that went to war and they died. they asked me to do this. i agree beforehand i would do it, whatever they asked. he really did not have any kind of problem with it. host: thank you for telling us. ming next in maryland. good morning. caller: good morning. host: you are on the line for world war ii veterans and their family members. caller: good morning. host: who are you thinking about today? caller: my father served in world war ii out of the philippine islands.

as well, i had a cousin that was a tuskegee airmen, andrew turner. three other cousins that were in the 555, fire fighters that were paratroopers. i have many family members that i look back on and think of an honor as being defenders of our country. i'm so sad that so many of them are gone. the younger ones don't recall or remember the heroic moves they did to help our country. i just wanted to express it and say i am so honored to have them be family members of mine. host: this is from hawaii news

earlier this week. a 100. 4-year-old pearl harbor survivor is back. he touched down in honolulu on tuesday ahead of the 83rd commemoration of the attack on pearl harbor. he's one of the few remaining survivors from the date and the only one left from the uss dobbins. his flight was met with water cannons and a band. what do you remember about that day? being scared. i wondered about my brothers, where they were. a musician and the navy band, he was starting a quiet day when the attack began. he sprang into action. all these years later he is back in the islands to commemorate the solemn anniversary and the lives of those lost that day. that is from hawaii news now. this is sandy in columbus, ohio. caller: good morning.

my father served in world war ii along with many family members. he was a sergeant. i am reading his papers. administration, nco, sergeant of rifle company. he was in combat areas, it says. i can remember as a child -- i was a late child -- i remember him talking about the day -- d-day. he would just constantly talk about d-day. my brother, my oldest brother that i never met, he went in at 16 years old. in the navy. they were going out over a cleanup crew. there was a storm. he washed ashore in norfolk, virginia.

i never got to meet him. they lost his records. he is in a nameless grave. me and the family are working to get him a stone. it has been challenging. i have an uncle with a purple heart. my father's brother. one thing i mother's brother used -- my mother's brother used to talk about the seriousness of what they went through, they talk about funny things. he said they decided to go to the latrine, him and his buddy. when they got there he asked his buddy, are you scared? the man said no. i'm not scared. then why are you wiping me? they would laugh and make some jokes. it was a serious time. a lot of them have been forgotten.

i honor all of them. all of them. my youngest uncle, he just died two years ago of patriotic cancer. he was a paratrooper. 75 jumps. i have seen him through that. i honor our soldiers. i am hearing from other people. they were proud of their service. host: thanks for that from columbus, ohio. you talked about unidentified remains and working to identify them. you might be interested in this afternoon on c-span2's american history tv ahead of the 12:50 p.m. remembrance ceremony that will air live on american history tv. 12:20 this afternoon. we will re-air an event that first showed in september. it was the burial at arlington national cemetery of david

walker of virginia. he died on december 7, 1941. his remains were not identified until last year at the it of 2023. he received a burial at arlington with full military honors. our c-span cameras were there for that ceremony. the family allowing us to record that. we will be airing that. it's a half-hour ceremony from 12:20 p.m. eastern time right up until that live ceremony at the world war ii national memorial on the national mall. that is at 12:50 p.m. rick in phoenix, arizona, on the line for world war ii veterans and families. arizona very much a state connected to pearl harbor. the uss arizona. go ahead. rick, are you with us?