[applause] this attack is back [applause] [applause] downstairs getting ready to start the ceremony, he was asking do i stand for the army or for the air force because he was in the army airce force. I said you are 93yearsold q. Can stand up for anybody that you3ol want to. [applause] and Army Air Force veteran who served in world war ii between 1941 and 1945. He enlisted on his 18th birthday just two months after the bombing of pearl harbor. After graduating from the airfield as a Fighter Pilot in august of 1943, at the ripe old age of 19, he spent the remainder flying to p. 47 and p. 51 in the n pacific with the 78h fighter squadron. He participated in the first landbased fighter mission over Japan December and april 1945 and has the unique distinction of having flown the final combat mission of world war ii on the 14th of august, 1945, the data combat ended. On this mission his wing man was the last man killed in a combat mission in world war ii. His experience as a Fighter Pilot are captured in his book the last Fighter Pilot publisher earlier this year. Please welcome to the platform the recipient of the distinguished flying cross and the air medal world war ii veteran and Fighter Pilot captain jerry yellin. [applause] [applause] thank you. I have to begin by sayingng this is an unbelievable honor for me to be throughout my air force career i was constantly reminded that the air force that i r serd in stood on the shoulders of giants and those giants were the men, no apologies to the women present, but in world war ii there were no women in combat. Not that none of them served. But you and your generation properly referred to as the greatest generation set the standard for what it means to fly, fight and win which is the basis of what is today the greatest air force that i proudly served in. You gave us a warrior ethos that defines who we are and im talking from the air forcem perspective, but the same standards are present across all of the surfaces and it is because of men like jerry yellin and your generation that gave that to us and so i am just so honored to be up here with you. We talked about some questions we were going to go through but ive got to start with one. We talked about you flew to p. 47 and p. 51. My dad would tell me its the greatest Fighter Aircraft ever built. Ive got a soft spot in my heart for the p. 51. Youve got to tell us what was it like flying to p. 51 mustang . We learned to play over the 400horsepower and then the 600horsepower. Each one of those you flew with an instructor. Then we got the p. 47. Then we got the finest airplane that wasat ever built. The sound of it, the feeling of the instant response with anything that he wanted to do. Still the best airplane. I would agree with you. [applause] you made reference in the book we will be talking about the availability in our bookstore and in the book you share your experiences. I think to start with and although the book ends with it, walk us through the last mission. August 141945. I landed on hiroshima day the first comic bomb was dropped. They said they dropped one and i said what are you drinking. But it was true 1945 the second bomb was dropped on nagasaki. We thought the war was over. At that point in time i was flying with 50 others who were killed and i never thought about theofthem as being dead were transferred. We would see them someday and we were called to a briefing and told we were going to fly another mission so we asked why are we going to japan again and he said they are negotiating but there is no movement. Youre going to broadcast the code words to abort the mission. When that was said to. He said no way. Early on the morning of augus august 14 i said they are not going to make it to japan. But we flew all the way. They dropped the things and we find him somewhere in japan. We needed that 90 gallons of fuel to get back. Somebody on the squadron called 90 gallons. I gave them the thumbs up and i invited them into some very heavy weather towards the b29 would fly on the being back to. When i came out, he was gone. There was no radio contact, no visual. When we landed, we found the moment we started to stray, it had already been over for three hours and was never broadcast to us. Thats a devastating day, the last of 400 plus thousand. In q4 21 fax you were 21 . You made reference to those that were tragically killed either in combat or during world war i ii. How did the loss of so many affect you personally . You have to understand that when you put the uniform on, you dedicate your life to protecting your friends. When they go you cant think of them being dead or gone. So there was one guy on the 29th of may. [inaudible] into getting my place for a mission on june 1 the squadron took off andnd was glad to the 7 fighter planes found and 27 were killed. Its hard for me to tell you the truth of how i felt. We were there to protect our freedom. It was after the war that i suffered. I spoke to them every night. I thought about suicide, i couldnt work and i suffered from what is known now as ptsd and didnt get my life back until 1975 when i learned. Japan was evil, germany was evil. We fought against those countries who are all west point graduates. I didnt know anything about world. They were the greatest generation. They wrote the book speaking about the catchy titles but the leaders of the free world who served from west point and from annapolis. Thank you for that perspective. The war ends in 1945 and i think i heard you say you spent some time in the freezer beyond world war ii. But then like millions of world war ii veterans coming youve returned from the war and started a whole new life in the civilian world that returning workforce and the work ethic and the belief in freedom that you broughbut youbrought back to ouy really launched an incredible period in american history. How did your military service prepare you for that new life and what transpired after . I think the military service for me was the greatest experience that i had in my li life. I had a scholarship to college and i was going to become a doctor. I didnt have any money for books or clothing or housing so i postponed the entrance to college in the Spring Semester of 1942 and i made up my mind i remember when i was 11 or 12yearsold i went to boy scout campen for two weeks and that ge me the fundamentals to join the military and to be in the military. The discipline of what he learned. We were all quarterbacks who could fly these planes come bomber pilots and guyss like that. We became a squadron and more interested in protecting our bodiefriends than we were then d in our ownti lives. Today i have six grandchildren, for signs and it seems to me like its all about me not about you but the military frame of mind of service tota the countr. Thank you for setting the standard for so many ofry us. You made reference to some of the things you struggled with based on your comment in world war ii although we didnt have a name for it at the time how has your experience impacted your life since your triumphs and struggles how have you used those experiences . I enjoy speaking to people and going to eighth graders, tenth graders, seniors in high school to talk about a 10 of the population that served. We fought against evil and conquered, created democracies in germany, japan, italy and the two countries that we fought with as allies, russia and china seemingly to me are the enemies of the world. Thats what o ive learned is we are not the color of your skin or the language we speak. We are not the religion that we believe, we are all human beings exactly the same and we have to preserve that. We have to protect those that believe. Its probably the best of my life from the time when i was in uniform. I wore the uniform proudly. We have several young people here, weve got the band, the c, several young people in the audience. I know some cadets, children of the chaplain, others. What would you say to them and to those who are at s the point where they are considering or simply have an opportunity to make a decision about serving the nation as a member of the United States military was what you say to them . My mother used to read a lot of books and eat years ago when i was 13yearsold i read a book called the magnificent obsessi obsession. Its the story of a small town inll new york state where they were drowning in data with doctor was dying of a heart attack and the Fire Department have one resuscitate her that served the old man and the young doctor died. Thousands of people came to his funeral. His family discovered a journal that he had kept and have it translated. The opening lines of that journal said do something good for someone else every day of your life and tell no one what you did because by talking about it, you might lose the benefit. So i would suggest finding a way toe help somebody every day even if it is a smile. The professions that i admire in america are three that put the t uniforms on and the fourth as teachers in schools to learn a subject and give themselves away using their subjects t the subjr People Knowledge and they are not as respected as i think they should be. My feelings are we should be giving a little bit of ourselves every single day. That is the advice i would give. [applause] we are all part of humanity. If we think of everything as living on this earth the trees, birds, fish, animals, it all comes with the territory and that has to be protected from what mothers pass on to their daughters and we need to keep doing that. But today that is what life is about. Wonderful. So now we will open it up to see if our audience has questions they can ask you directly. Any final thought you would like to share . No. I am just proud to be an american. [applause] and then i can wear this uniform proudly. I cannot tell you what an honor it is to be in this audience on this day in 2017 so i look at my life like looking at the Checking Account there is money in the bank i could spend today and jeff that promissory note tomorrow so today is the day and i am just thrilled to be here. Thank you serve. We would like to open up with any questions you may have for captain yellin if you have a question please raise your hand. We do have time for a couple of questions and come to the microphone but i have a question this is broadcast worldwide through facebook and recorded by cspan so we have a very large audience and you suffered for a number of years with ptsd so what suggestion or guidance would you give to somebody listening to this that is in need of help . I was told i had battle fatigue and the war was over so forget about it. To the veterans today 20 commit suicide every day. They need something for themselves. We spend a lot on antidepressant or antipsychotic drugs which is sometimes addictive or transcendental medication on meditation is a 700dollar fee for a lifetime of health there is a website they can find out about it i still medicate twice a day 20 minutes a day i am alive and it is keeping me alive because you cant force it on anybody but it helps to remove the stress of combat. Hello. My fatherinlaw is 94 from world war ii who flew over the himalayas from india and is alive today and he does walk with a walker and i sit with a very good friend of mine who was 95 years old and went through combat in italy. They are still the 5 and if you have not read the book the greatest generation need to read that it is a wonderful book. I appreciate that. [applause] in preparation of coming here with your life after the war with that reconciliation i do know if you would take a moment just to share that . It is a long story but i would like everybody to hear that. I was a consultant in california with asked me to go to japan to speak so with iwo jima you can replicate the site and the sounds but not the smell of 20000 bodies rotting in the sun i had no use for the japanese people and i said no. Im too busy so i told my wife when i came home i turned down a trip to go to japan and said jerry you never asked me once if i wanted to go to japan. [laughter] so in 1983 and found myself there i was completely overwhelmed by the culture and education in the food and the scenery and everything they said we should give him a ship japan as a graduation present he signed the contract 1984 to teach english in japan for one year now it is 2017 and he hasnt come back yet. So there. [laughter] he married the daughter of a, cause the pilot who hated me as much as i hated him and we became friends and family. The oldest is 28 has a masters in physics from mit in japan. And is one of 100 people who got a job. And then to graduate from a fouryear course in philosophy from the twoyear course to get a masters in philosophy and the 21yearold granddaughter so my enemy is my family and that whole thought process is my family in japan that is the biggest lesson i could learn i wrote a book about that i dont like to promote myself but that is the book i am proud of those of those three american grandchildren and my love for them. [applause] we have time for one last question then we will hear from the choir as acing the dramatic battle hymn of the republic and afterwards jerry will be available to autograph copies of his book that is available in the lobby. Thank you for your service and for keeping us safe in america. Have you flown anything since or even gotten in a jet . Having parents both in the navy have to say go army navy beat army. [laughter] [applause] you never lose the ability to make love once you get old and you never lose the ability to fly i flew in phoenix two days ago. [applause] i flew the new. [roll call] at Laughlin Air Force base in december and am going back to phoenix in january to get a ride in the f16. [applause] they have a very small club of pilots today that are Fighter Pilots and they say theyre not going to let them do that. [laughter] not only did he fly that plane in the air force base he actually landed it be 17. I dont know how i got to be this age but i genuinely feel honored to be here with you with the marine chaplains that is one of the thrills and honors of my life. Thank you very much. [applause] captain yellin, thank you we will begin with the battle hymn of the republic we will begin with the battle hymn of the republic. One more round of applause for these young people who share their musical talents with us today from the warrant High School Concert choir. [applause] so i went and say this is the ideal education [inaudible conversations]