so doess georges patton makes hs entrance. so the thing is that is now the prologue. when i first wrote the book it's tough to find a way in. you always want to know, you have to start the story at the beginning but where is the beginning so my beginning originally was the fall of paris picking up where it left off. when you write a sometimes these people you are writing about they want to tell their own story and they kind of yell at you as you research so we don't start with august 26, 1944 we start may 15th 1944 and go through the d-day so chapter one which i wrote was about that paris moment is now i think chapter 14 because all these people and it's w funny when you write these things i could hear patton's voice telling me he wanted to be more of the story and i could hear churchill saying let's go back to d-day. it's the biggest event in history. so that is the wonderful thing about writing these stories. you had this dramatic event. you think of taking berlin and it just sounds like a very blaÉe military book and yet another book about how they capture berlin a

george patton and buzz aldrin. list of notable graduates are just as impressive as the architectural on campus. it was the first institution in the nation to adopt the gothic style of architecture. four buildings forming anne a fortress, among them the ex question set cadet chapel which resembles a medieval fortress. immigrants were told they would get citizenship if it was completed in five years. they completed it in 19 months. one of the graduating class from 1802 to 1976. tradition remains a big part of the academy. as soldiers wear the same style gray uniforms as those in 1802 as a badge of honor while living out the motto, duty, honor and country. the holiday season would not be complete without the annual west point holiday concert that takes place at the academy's eisenhower hall. named for a class of 1915 graduates, general and later president, dwight d. eisenhower. it's one of the largest theaters in america designed to hold the entire corps of cadets. here is the west point band performing the christmas

we have george patton, we have bernard montgomery, winston churchill and the wife of hemingway, a journalist in her own wife and she was crazy brave and she was in a hospital to cover the d-day landings and went ashore even though she wasn't supposed to be there. a phenomenal journalist and a two star general in american history and had a torrid mid war affair with martha. and not only you get a write a war book and a romance in the middle of it, which is kind of cool. let me backtrack, for those who don't know me and some of the students who have wondered how do you become a writer, what that life is like. i always wanted to be a writer. i mean, since i was a little kid, but i remember literally six years old telling my mom, mom when i grow up, i want to be a writer and the first thing she said, don't be silly, writers don't make any money, find something else. so that kind of informed my thought process. you know, i'm a bad example of how to go into your career path because i mean, i got fine grades, but when i got to college my favorite thing to do is skip class and go to the beach and re

so it is the george general georges patton makes his entrance.so that's a so the thing is that now the prolog what a first wrote the book you know it's always tough to find a way into the book you always want to know you know you had to start the story at the beginning but whereas the beginning and so my beginning originally was the fall of paris just picking up or taking paris left off. and then i realize, you know, it's kind of funny when you write sometimes these people you're writing about, they want to they want to tell their own story and they kind of yell at you as he research to to be more in book. so we don't start with august 26, 1944 in paris. we start there in may 15th, 1944, and we go through the d-day length. so chapter one, which i wrote was about that. the paris moment is now chapter i think chapter 14, though, because all these people and it's funny you write these things, you know, i could hear patton's voice telling me he wanted to be more of the story. i could churchill saying, you know, let's go back to d-day. you know, weren

if anybody found out that george patton had a prayer card. >> pete: the military unit chaplains and other or pushed out and marginalized. the same example, dwight eisenhower wrote two letters on d-day. one worked and one didn't. one was a resignation letter. not a single general said, "maybe it is a good idea to step aside after troops killed and the debacle in afghanistan. we have a failure. >> harris: that is a good one. >> pete: they were effective in politicians and cater to the obama administration at the biden administration. those administrations got what they wanted. >> emily: a special note of gratitude for those continuing to serve in those positions despite all the pressure and former congressman doug collins sits with us on the couch a new jersey state police, those are men and leaders among us in faith and on the field that are persevering right at the top. >> dagen: this is fixable once you identify the problem went in the polls might do, mike gallagher said post-vietnam era, the military went through something similar. and i think about where i grew up surrounded by the nor

and george s patton. then with target shooting and equestrian on those to practice for the events. jim thorpe played baseball which had nothing to do with that and the entire swedish team was left on leave from their jobs for six months to train for the olympics but they were getting full pay from their jobs to do that amateurism or professionalism so in soro many ways he was the fall guy and the victim with a sham of amateurs. >> so again something i never knew he competed in the 1912 olympics. >> but then the future president of the us on that committee and the international olympic committee for decades. was that plutocrat traveling the world that he was that the e-uppercase-letter himself. a mediocre one he competed against jim thorpe and beat him so overwhelmingly that the avatar of amateurism just to compete it doesn't matter where you win or what nation you are from anyway that was the beginning of that relationship so he consistently denied his due and decided to give back to that happen for jim t

another member of the 1912 a lipid team was george s. patton, the future general here he competed in the modern pen tackle alone, a group of military even, target -- in the modern pen tackle on -- pentathlon. jim thorpe played baseball and had nothing to do with the events he was in. the entire swedish team was on leave from there job to train for the olympics but getting full pay for their jobs is that amateurism or professionalism? in so many ways jim thorpe was the victim of all of that sham of amateurism. kevin: that brings us to david breckinridge. and something i never knew coming in the 1912. -- avery brundage, and something i never knew. david: i always envisioned him as a fat cat traveling the world and staying in posh hotels. he was a did kathleen -- deca thlete himself. brundage had just competed and it doesn't matter what nation you're from come he was so humiliated he quit after eight events -- what nation you are from, he was so humiliated, he quit after eight events. brundage rose to power and consistently denied jim thorpe's do

so does general george s patton makes his entrance. so that's now the prologue. it's always tough to find a way into the book. you have to start the storyat the beginning but where is the beginning ? my beginning originally it was off all of. then i realized it was leaving, so that the people you're right about what to tell their own story and they yell at you to be more in the book so we don't start 1944 in paris, we start their we go through the d-day landings of chapter 1 which i wrote was about that paris moment is now i think chapter 14 because there's all these people and explain when you write these things. i could hear patton's voice telling me he wanted to be more in the story and i could hearchurchill saying let's go back to the day . why are you writing about d-day, it's the biggest event in western history so that's the wonderful thingabout writing these stories .you have this dramatic event, something called taking berlin which without context you think of taking berlin, it just sounds like a very kind of blasc military book. like yet another book ab

another member of the 1912 olympic team was george s patton, the future general. he competed in the modern pentathlon a group of military events, target shooting, fencing, equestrian, he was paid by the u.s. army to practice for those events. is that amateurism or professionalism? jim thorpe played baseball which had nothing to do with the events he was in. the entire swedish team was on leave from their jobs for six months before the olympics to train for the olympics, but they're getting full pay from their jobs to do that. is that amateurism or professionalism? so, in so many ways, jim thorpe was just the fall guy, the victim of all of this sham of amateurism. >> and that sort of brings us to avery brundage and again something i never knew, avery competed in the 1912 olympics. >> he was then the future president of the u.s. olympic committee and the international committee for decades. and i always envisioned him as this sort of fat cat, plutocrat, travelling the world and staying in posh owe hotels. he was a decathlon participant, a mediocre one. and thorpe de

george c. scott. and he was gonna play patton and he felt the script that they had done for, um, burt lancaster wasn'thatever, my script not only, umm, got i don'ted, but was sort of a hit and nominated for an academy award. and the week i was gonna for sure get fired from "the godfather" was during the oscars. and which i watched with marty scorsese. i remember marty said to me, when, when i won for patton. he says, "well i guess they're not going to fire you right away." so in a way, the patton story saved me from what looked like surefire curtains on "the godfather." >> these two openings strike me as showing something really interesting where you're always trying to do something very distinctive, very you know, different. why is it so important to you to do things in this very distinctive way that, that others haven't done? >> well there was a wonderful director, dusan makavejev, who told me, "hey francis, a good rule is that when you shot all this stuff, look and decide what's the best thing you have, the second best thing and the third best thing. take the best thing you have and make it the end