>> gs. >> use of the john keegan -- and andy rooney? >-- you spoke to john keegan, and andy rooney? >> i called at his office three years ago. he got on and said in a nutshell churchill was the greatest man of the 20th- century. then he told a story about stumbling -- he had made a left turn that day, he might have been crushed at the bottom of the underground escalator when the german bonds fell. he went on about taking the nation's inner be-17's and b- 24's. i asked him, with your colleagues dying around you, the british go out and the americans go out and some do not come home -- you still kept churchill in high regard? he said, absolutely. one other family i called -- the son of tip o'neill, tommy o'neill, who is a friend of my brothers. in your house, growing up, back in the day -- your father was a consummate irish politician from boston. what was the take on churchill? >he said, a great man. there was no irish-english antipathy. >> how many hours did you spend, and how many different times dispense with william manchester? >> we knew each other for five years. i visited two o

>> i spoke to sir john keegan. he was very encouraging. he has now left us. i have spoken to the great- grandson, randolph, who is in his early 40's. winston the third, as people call him, lived in west palm beach. i lived there. we get to know each other pretty well. he was a good source. we would go out to lunch and talk about his grandfather. >> i counted in the index, 16, 17, 18 interviews william manchester did in 1980. and then i counted not more than six that you did, obviously recently. who did you talk to that help you? >> a lot of the people bill spoke to are gone. i spoke to the grandson of winston and to the daughter. i spoke to -- who else might be in there? one fellow i spoke to is dr. porter crow. he was a gi and later became a english professor down south. he had been bayoneted on borneo by a japanese soldier who was out of ammunition. he told stories that were just marvelous. it was from him that i learned that captains would allow the troops to play records on the epa system, but one record they would not allow was bing crosby singing "i'll

the top-level explanation when john keegan writes that is what happens if i was not in a position to right that but there was said detailed recreation of a specific time or place it is a gift that mine memories were so fragmented they were very specific on particular days than one month of september september 2006 i do not have much the kidnap have recreated that so the third book is to try a to get the feeling right to what does it feel like to come back to get shot at? were to come home from matter to walk through the airport that you realize who will you shoot in case something goes wrong or drive down the road put your son in the hockey gear to realize here actually putting him in the bomb suits and sending him off to work on the idd. that is the book i tried to right to the average experience. of percent surveyed duty officer and ordinance disposal that is the bomb squad. we all go to the same school and are interchangeable so i was assigned army unit the navy is assigned to the marines and we are mixed up and we work together. cited a couple two hours but a couple of normal day