[speaking foreign language] it is a long way from iran to fort bragg, north carolina. Halfway around the world, you might say. But that is where the story begins. It is my story, but it could be the story of a great number of other u. S. Army advisors. They served in nearly 50 countries overseas. My name is captain paul weinman. My assignment with the military Assistance Advisory Group in iran is as an advisor to the Imperial Iranian Army special forces group. But before you teach you have to , learn the hard way. At fort bragg, we learned our special forces lessons well. Lessons that would make us into tough, welltrained soldiers able to handle any situation in some faroff land. North carolina, or north iran. A jump is a jump. The same intention as you go out the airplane door. The same big lift in your chest as you see that parachute billowing out. When you land, it may be the safe ending to a flight, but your job is just beginning. Your students know your part five in this exercise. You have been dropped presumably into enemy held territory where guerrillas friendly to us are operating. You are to link up with the Guerrilla Force in your area, train them in the tactics we have been teaching you and follow through on a bridge destruction mission with them. Lets synchronize our watches. The time is now 08 21. Lieutenant weinman . Yes sir. You will be met by guides and from your guerrilla bands, moved to your Mission Support site where you have the balance of today and tonight to organize your guerrillas, make your reconnaissance, and prepare for the attack. Your guerrillas will hit the bridge tomorrow morning prior to daylight. My job was to direct the guerrillas, the special forces man fights in the action as a matter of self defense. The exercise appeared to be going well. My instructions on the approach seem to have paid off. Quickly, the sleeping guards were taken care of. [explosion] it was all right, but you made a couple of bad mistakes. Any idea what they were . For one thing, we made way too much noise coming up the bridge. Right, too much wrecking. You sounded like a herd of elephants. And another thing, your guerrillas spent too much time in the target area to blow the bridge effectively. You could eliminate this problem by preparing more thoroughly. Business of this special forces, there is no room for mistakes. It was not all muscle work. You have got a head on your shoulders and you are expected , to use it. Psychological operations is one of three related activities. The others are counterinsurgency operations and unconventional warfare. Forame two prerequisites guerrilla warfare. Lieutenant weinman . An inaccessible area of a and communications. Thank you. Captain wilford . Captain, i rarely saw a guerrilla radio. Guerrilla communications was normally done by messenger. Thank you, captain wilford. This is not to say that communications are not desirable for successful guerrilla warfare. It is just that as a special warfare man, you must know how to make do without. As you well know, gentlemen, here at the school we stress communications. They stressed communications at the school, all right. Like putting up a 30 foot bamboo pole as an antenna. It does not require a requisition to supply but it can , extend the range of a radio set by four times. Because an infinite variety of daily challenges and tasks may lie ahead, the man who wears a the green beret must master what seems like an infinite variety of skills. Such as a 100 foot descent down a wind swirled rope. He learns techniques to sustain himself in distant reaches of the jungle, or an arctic wasteland. Above all he knows the ultimate , alternative faced by the special forces men in action, adjust or die. So, he has learned to adjust, to live off the land, and on and off the water. For he may someday have to infiltrate the area from the water. Or a target may be on a waterway. That is why Amphibious Training is necessary. As a sport, scuba diving is popular. But for us scuba is not a sport. , it is an essential skill of special forces operations. Again, it is not a matter of learning from a lecture or from charts or books. We learn by doing. Our Graduation Party wasnt exactly the senior prom. But a realistically staged ambush exercise. A few minutes after the simulated ambush was started, it was over. Swiftly, the guerrillas stripped and their vehicles of guns, ammo, food, and gasoline. Then, back into the wooded country that was our protection. A simulated attack, yes. But realistic practice for the real thing. If it ever comes. With the end of the field exercise, and the return to fort the specialurse at forces school was over. After many months of hard work, my class was given the right to wear the coveted special forces beret that the late president kennedy described as a mark of excellence. My next stop on my journey to iran was in the opposite direction. The Army Language school at monterey, california to learn farsi, the language of the country. Welcome to the persian department. You are beginning a year intensive study of farsi, persian. A language spoken by 35 million people. Salam means hello. Our first achievement in the adventure that was the learning of a new language. From the beginning, all communication was conducted in farsi. Salam. Salam. Salam. Salam. [speaking farsi] at first, the repetition seemed endless. A language like farsi comes hard. Learning a new language makes you feel like a child, drifting in a world of strange, baffling sounds but always seem just beyond your comprehension. [speaking farsi] there were times when you felt it was too much, that you would never achieve the point of being able to communicate with fluency, accuracy, or speed. The goal seemed unreachable. But, you plugged away. Not only in the formal classes, in the Language Laboratory as well. [speaking farsi] then, in your room too. Often far into the night. We learned not only the language, but also the history geography, and customs of iran. , and always practice. You listen, then you repeat. Listen, then repeat. Listen, repeat. We spoke farsi amongst ourselves and probably even in our sleep. I had the good fortune to meet and become friends with a young iranian student studying in a nearby university. Saturday afternoons, we often walked together. However, sightseeing was not the object. [speaking farsi] it was starting to come a little easier, but i knew i had not yet acquired the language skill i needed for my next assignment. Then, one day it happened. An incident in a judo class showed me that at last i was thinking in the language. While working out with my friend, he had the bad luck not to fall right. [speaking farsi] in the excitement of the moment, wanting to communicate immediately to my persian friend, i answered him, but not in english. In farsi. I had reached the turning point of thinking in the language and from then on, it seemed that i made rapid progress. [speaking farsi] my promotion came through very close to graduation day. Understandably, a happy day for me. After the graduation ceremony, the faculty gave us a small party. A toast was proposed. [speaking farsi] i had been chosen to answer for the group. [speaking farsi] i said, i am amazed that after one year of listening to our farsi, you still remember your farsi. I, and the rest of the students, thank you. Because of your understanding and patience, we have achieved our goal. We hope to get acquainted with the iranian people and the iranian culture so that we can repay you for some of your hard work. Again, we thank you. [speaking farsi] now i was in iran as an army advisor. How strange it all seemed at first. I had been trained for over a year and brought halfway around the world to serve for two years as a member of the military Assistance Advisory Group in iran. U. S. Army special forces mobile training teams during the course of the next two years will visit for short periods to instruct in specific subjects to help their train asanian Army Special Forces groups. Being able to speak the language and participating in the activities of the unit helped to bridge the gap that many times separates a stranger from the people of the country he is in. My counterpart, the commander of the Iranian Special forces group proved to be a good leader , with a keen understanding of an advisors problem. As the american advisor to the Iranian Special forces group, i participated in the units training in order to pass on those techniques i felt were most important. [speaking farsi] [gunshot] [speaking farsi] but somehow, the most important thing is not what i taught, but what i learned from people like lieutenant jalil, one of the fine officers of the units. I was learning from my students even as i was teaching them. For example, in the english class i taught at the military academy, the west point of iran i felt that i was not only their , teacher, but also their friend. In our country, especially in iran, the southern part, we have very little rain. Because of our geographical conditions, because of our climate we have much rain in , many parts of the united states. [speaking farsi] i just the greatest thrill for any advisor is when the men that he advises perform a successful maneuver. With the officers of the special forces unit we planned on , exercise to parachute drop into a particular area to test internal security. Flying at night over a training area, simulated as being in enemy hands, we prepared to make our jump in order to rendezvous with a Guerrilla Force waiting below on the improvised drop zone. In order to be influential, and effective in the eyes of the iranian counterparts, and advisor must show his point as well as talk about it. The guerrillas moved out to meet us. A prearranged password was exchanged. [speaking farsi] then, we moved with the guerrillas off the drop zone and disappeared into the interior interior. After weeks of training, the guerrillas were finally ready for an attack against simulated forces. An effective advisor learns how to influence and guide, by interjecting his advice and in support of the units mission. And by letting his iranian counterpart take the lead in all action. The attack over, the signal was given to move out. The mission had been accomplished. The men had done well. Very well. , as they say in farsi. The unit had performed perfectly, led by their own officers. I have confidence in these men as a fighting unit and as friends. I think the units overall spirit was best expressed by one young soldier when he said, whatever the job, i want to do my best. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] a tweet asking about an issue that still resounds today. His question is about how many people were fathered by u. S. A g. I. s in vietnam, how are they treated 45 years after their departure . You could be featured in the during our next live program. Join the conversation on facebook on facebook. Com hist ory. On twitter on the book, the accidental president , Harriet Truman and the four months that changed the world. The funeral was saturday and sunday. Truman was terrified to give the speech. He talked about it, then i before he had prayed to god he would not message up. He climbs the stairs, four stairs to the pulpit. He looks out and sees his wife in the crowd, crying. She was crying because roosevelt is dead, the nation is in shock. She never wanted to be the first lady, never wanted her husband to be president. She is afraid for him. Meanwhile, he has to go up there and inspire confidence in his administration and the entire world. The world has to understand america will continue, that the war will continue. Tonight on cspans q a. Next, a panel of scholars talks about people who disliked and opposed Abraham Lincoln during his presidency, including members of his own cabinet. This discussion was part of the annual Lincoln Forum symposium in gettysburg, pennsylvania. It is about one hour and 15 minutes. Frank good morning, i am frank williams, chair of the Lincoln Forum. Welcome to this panel of forum 22, relating to lincolns enemies. I am so pleased to have a distinguished every time someone says distinguished, i r. Nt to run to the merlot ba it is like saying, with all due respect, in my courtroom. [laughter] but o