Good morning. It is a pleasure and an honor to welcome all of you here for our presentation this morning by alex kershaw. My name is side bunting c y bunting. I work at the world war ii memorial and have the continuous honor and privilege of being from thatmany heroes period in our history and to thosee their families and interested in learning that andory more thoroughly making up the deficiencies, i may say, of the extent to which that history is being taught in our schools and colleges, particularly in our schools. The ignorance of the history of our country, and particularly of its military history, is being being ignored it is widely ignored and that has got to be fixed. One of the best people to fix it, of course, is our speaker this morning, alex kershaw. We feel in the 75th year of the anniversary of dday, particularly close to what we call the greatest generation. On memorial day, we honored who have paid the supreme sacrifice and all of our wars, but we have always felt a particular closeness to what we call the greatest generation, many of whom are slowly passing from the scene. Stephen ambrose, ikes biographer, said the quality of character we impute to them is one which has grown increasingly rare in our culture, namely modesty. Of these gentlemen has said to me that when people thank him for his service, he is embarrassed. He thanks them for their thanks. But what else would i be doing . And that is, i think, a wonderful testament. Our speaker is one of the titans of the profession. That is to say, people who have made their lifes work the study , particularly what to us is the most famous portion of the war, in europe. He is a graduate of University College oxford, probably its most prominent and famous graduate since the poet shelley. [laughter] mr. Bunting how about that . It is also one of the few that had a oxford distinguished american president. Can you remember who it was . Recognized the promotion from Yale University and did well by it. Needs, as they say, no introduction. Most of you have probably read at least one of his books, but we are very grateful that he has joined us this morning. Without further ado, may i introduce and present to you alex kershaw . [applause] mr. Kershaw good morning. Can you hear me ok . Actually, that is way too flattering of you, sir. I did actually have a room not far from the shelley memorial, but i wont tell you what we did on top of the shelley memorial. Tour foren on a book quite a while. First of all, i want to say that im 53 years old and ive been in this country 25 years. My wife is american. My son is american. And, sir, thank you. I spent 53 years of my life growing up in a beautiful, peaceful, and prosperous and democratic europe because of what you did in world war ii. Thank you for being here today. [applause] mr. Kershaw i should say that there are several institutions in this wonderful country Whose Mission statement is to honor the sacrifice and to remember the courage of the socalled greatest generation and the friends of the National World that. Memorial act to do their mission is. And successful, and i cannot thank you enough or inviting me here today. You do a wonderful job. Their mission is pure and successful. I want to remind you that at 5 00 this morning, Dwight Eisenhower did this. He was in a room with seven of , 60overlord commanders cigarettes a day, a constant right ear and eye palsy in his right hand from signing summary documents. He walked with his hands clasped to his back like this, his chin on his chest, blueeyed, very handsome, looking very stressful, and some people said that he walked up and down for five minutes. Ike said to Walter Cronkite after the war, no way. That would have seemed like a lifetime, but he was walking up and down deciding if he should give the final order to go. 75 years ago. Finally, he looked over around 4 30 in the morning, and he looked up and said quietly, lets go. Today is an historic day. Im going to take you through very quickly some of the highlights of dday. Im going to focus mainly on the yanks, of course, but being a limey, my heart will beat a little faster when we come to some characters. The point of the book and my story is to highlight the guys who got the job done, who, had they not succeeded, dday may have failed. These are the people, young combat commanders, most of them never in combat before, never been fired at in anger before, who were given the critical jobs on dday. They had the longest arts of survival, the toughest missions, and the highest stakes. Let me start with this really beautiful colorized photograph. Deadliest the sector on omaha. 900 of you guys killed in a roundabout three hours on omaha beach. By far the highest casualties of any of the five invasion beaches. The 16th infantry regiment landing on omaha. I dont want any overt self advertisements. What i did was try to give a sweep of the invasion but take a character from each of the beaches and each of the major , sort of 50mile front, and i wanted one guy to symbolize or personify that force. A roundabout what time is it now . It is about 10 00, so 75 years ago. Around about now, it would take an hour or so, this gentleman here, Lieutenant Colonel joel crouch, finally received his. Rders to go these guys are incredible. These are the crew of the very first plane to drop americans into normandy on dday. Pilot, 10,the lead head honcho in for amphibious sicily,s in europe salerno, dday, bastogne, and finally, facetime across the rhine in march of 1945 , across theth time rhine in march of 1945. Notice the colors on the c 47 behind them. Over 20,000 gallons of white tont used at the last moment mark the colors of these planes. Excuse my language can i use the word that asked can i use the word badass in this company . These guys are the definition of badass. These are the first 18 guys the first 18 guys to jump out of joel crouchs plane are these guys. At 12 15 a. M. Ped on dday. They were pathfinders. Their job was to set up radar and bright lights to guide in that gorgeous come along sky and screamings eagles that would arrive later. , 28 is their commander years old on dday. Never been in combat before. Frommped at 12 15 a. M. Around 500 feet. It took about 20 to 25 seconds, and when his parachute hit the dosoaked grass, he officially became the First American to see combat to land on dday. Every single one of the men actually had a stogie in his mouth. This is a true story. On one practice jump, one of his guys looked at him and did not have a stogie in his mouth. He was about to jump out. Stucky grabbed a stogie, it in his mouth and everything went ok. 43 times with a stogie in his mouth, and believe it or not, when he rolled over into that grass, still had a stogie in his mouth. Went awol from the hospital, was demoted, and saw combat all the way through to the end of the war. Highly decorated, came home, and a great hero. First american on dday. This is where my heart starts to beat very fast because this is the brits at pegasus bridge. Around 30,lider is 40 yards from its objective, set free a run midnight at 6000 feet. The pilot has a compass and a stopwatch and lands 30 yards from the objective. Want to point out one thing here these are wheels on the wood and canvas glider. They are cosmetic. They are not used. That glider landed at 90 Miles Per Hour and this is what they use. They used the skin underneath the skid underneath. Can you imagine . Crash landing at 90 miles an hour. The most Successful Operation of dday was the first Successful Operation. Twoges, pegasus here bridges were taken. The first success of dday goes out. Am. Code words ham and j something that is brits us brits are immensely proud of. The question is did you guys land first or did we echo or did we . We, im half american, so i will not apologize for that. Led officially at 12 12 a. M. And was part of a decoy unit, so when he jumped out of a plane, he had a gramophone in his arms, and he landed successfully, started to play the gramophone, and the gramophone played the sounds of war. With him when he jumped were hundreds and hundreds of ruperts. Abouta mock paratrooper three foot high. They dropped thousands of these in normandy, and his operation was a success. The germans thought the sound of war from the gramophone was a british regiment and that all these dummy paratroopers were actually real. Anyway, he is number one. This is lieutenant sorry,. Aptain Leonard Schroeder utah beach here officially recognized, again in the press in 1944 as the First American to wait a sure wade ashore. Think about that. Guy on utah beach to come ashore. Good friends with Theodore Roosevelt junior. In fact, Theodore Roosevelt junior was in the very first wave with him. He was that company commander. Its about 150, 200 yards. I have actually stood on the beach with a came ashore and schroeder said he looked over to his right and saw this guy, the most famous son of one of your great president s, huffing and puffing with a Walking Stick running across this beach and shouting at guys. This seawall, thats utah on the right. Lovely photograph showing you what it was like. Three or four miles from the beach. 300 or 400 yards from the beach, this officer here would not be taking a good glance at the beach. He would have his head well down, but this shows you ordinary workingclass americans about to perform a miracle. They are landing in a deadly part of omaha beach. One of the characters in my book, one of the guys i can very attached to, he looks like my son. This is lieutenant John Spalding. This was taken in his early 20s. Fromis a famous photograph the national archives. Its called the jaws of death. Up here, you will see the bluffs. That where my finger is pointing is where the american graveyard is today. Over 9003 hundred americans buried there. Fittingly, that is where spalding and his unit fought on dday. This is a very powerful, perhaps a best shot of what it was like to land june 6 on omaha beach. Again, wonderful representation of the first wave on omaha. Look how rough the water is. This was no cakewalk in deed. Some of these guys have been in the boat for four hours. Schroeder said four out of five guys in his Landing Craft were seasick. Most of them could not wait to get their feet on the beach. They did not care if they were going to get killed or not. Just get me off this god damned Landing Craft. The bluffs are there where the graveyard is today. You will notice if youve got really good eyesight that this is the first wave. These are soldiers down here. That is the first place you stood a chance of living on omaha beach in the first wave. They are pinned down and cannot get off the beach. Very dramatic, very intense shot of what it was like to arrive. Imagine five and a half miles of that along omaha beach. s clusterede g. I. Around a long these defensive obstacles here. Very bad thing to do. If you cluster too long five for 10 minutes as a group, you would be killed. You would be shot. The thing you had to do on omaha was standup and run as fast as you could into the line of fire. That was how do we live. Live. T was how you would for quite a while, people claimed to be that guy in that photograph. There were several people that claimed to be this man. Agree thatst people this is private houston Riley Company f company. He signed the photograph. That was his third time in the first wave. When he landed on omaha beach, that was the third time he had come out of an aircraft in the first wave. North african, sicily north africa, sicily, then omaha. This photograph on the right here is obviously taken after the war. On dday, they did not stand around discussing how best to get up the cliff. Guys, never been in combat before. 225 guys, 60 casualties. Theother officers in company were killed or wounded, and then he was promoted to the , he shoutede cliffs out ive assumed command of the. Pany and he shouted back, i couldnt give a monkeys. Get your ass back up the cliff. Believe it or not, it was two or three times lower than some of the cliffs they had climbed in england. Weeks aftert two dday. They had both received the distinguished Service Cross. He held of his distinguished Service Cross in front of his and cried and said, this is for you. One of them shouted back, no, you keep it for us. I get emotional. I was in normandy with a guide who said over there is where the ceremony was held, and i found an account bit and by the range of postwar who said three days after dday, he was walking far from where that photograph was taken, and he said it was a beautiful day. The sun came out, and the sun reflected off the stars on the officers uniforms. The officers had been lined up one side of the lane and on the other side, he said, i will never forget seeing the light catch on the dead officers star s. Back to spalding. Im going to speed up. If you have been to the american graveyard under lookout point, when you look down, you will notice you remember there is a beautiful winding path that goes down to omaha beach. That name, the spalding path, for a good reason after this guy. Look how young he is. He has the distinction of being the First American officer, and it is an important distinction. The First American officer, never in combat before, nervous as hell the night before. Bad dreams, sleepless nights for months, first guy, First American officer to lead others on omaha beach. We needed him to do it and we needed dozens of others to do it. Thats the story of omaha beach. These guys made the difference. Not the navy, not the bombers, not the generals. Day. Guys saved the he arrived at the top of spalding path, at his as it is known today. He said he had an angel on his shoulder. 18 guys with him, the first guy on june 6, 19 44. I will be selfindulgent now. He did not go to my college, University College. Actually, bill clinton went to my college, too. If you go into the dining hall at my college i dont want to get to diverted here, but if you walk in, the first and you see it is three british prime ministers, obviously. And over here, way over in the corner hidden is a not very good oil painting of bill clinton. And that is when he obviously did not inhale. [laughter] mr. Kershaw i did, but that is another story. Scottish noble, commander of 2500 mostly british workingclass lads. Fellow oxford graduate, a poet, and a brutal warrior. He said to his men dday was only the third day that he was in combat in world war ii. The two previous days had been so spectacular, the raids he had commanded, that he was a legend among his men. This is one of them. Most of you know that was a bloody disaster. Us brits wasted an entire canadian division. God knows why. We shouldnt be forgiven, but his part of the raid was a spectacular success. Dday, to his men before you are going to be the fine cutting edge of the army on dday. He also said, if one of you mix a single mistake, youll never go into combat with me again. Makes a single mistake. He was brutal. Have you seen this photograph before . Himself,lord levitt scottish estate. Hes leading his men roundabout 8 30 in the morning on dday. You see the tanks in the background. Those of you who have seen the movie the longest day will recognize the famous piper, the only guy out of 150,000 allied troops who was allowed to play the bagpipes. In an interview after the war both of them survived. Love it, actually, was badly lovett,let it actually, was badly wounded. He said he was watching lovett because he wanted him to test the water to see how deep it was. It was not up to his neck. Him he was tod play the pipes, so he was actually playing the bagpipes here. You can see the pipes. He was the only guy with a bagpipes and i think the only guy wearing a kilt. Know, true scotsmen when you are wearing a kilt, you dont wear anything underneath the kilt. He said he followed lovett ashore and it was very cold water. Shockingly cold. And we dont know anyway, i will go there. They were very small. But he walked onto the beach. Lovett turns to him and says play the pipes. All day, lovett would tend to tune. Say give us a very british. Beachked up and down that playing the pipes. Incredible story. This is me with another commando. He is french. In france today, he is a god, a superstar because he is one of only three living frenchman who landed on dday, actually invaded his own country to liberate it. Leon gauthier. He had a green beret. I was tinted to steal it, but i would have been shot i was tempted to steal it, but i would have been shot. That is his daughter there. What is amazing about this photograph i find it amazing, anyway is that if you look behind him, you will see an oil painting. That oil painting is a representation of where he landed. The room where he is sitting next to me is less than half a mile away from where he landed. Up until a few years ago, he would walk back and forth along the beach where he fought on dday. One of three french guys from 177 who invaded their own country on dday. What itense picture of was like for the british. You can see guys have been shot. You can see the wounded being carried ashore. This is what it was like for the british. Of they film we have first hour or two of dday, actual Motion Picture film, is taken by the canadians. This shows you the canadiens. Look at the intensity of this. This is coming in at juno beach. Landed anand british hour after the americans. Over 300 canadians killed. Thats the second deadliest beach. The deadliest was omaha with 900. When we talk about dday and omaha beach, theres a reason we talk about omaha beach. It was by far the deadliest place for allies. Bradley over here. You can recognize him, the great general p or this was taken midmorning on june 6, 1944, and this guy is extremely worried. Es thinking had had beene has as one officer described it, we are being butchered by hogs. Even by 10 30, 11 00 in the morning, he is getting very sketchy reports and they are of disaster, that this has been a failure. Thekfully, he did not make decision to pull troops off, but he was very close to withdrawing the 29th division from omaha beach. Imagine what would have happened if we had taken the street of divisions of the second American Beach p or John Spalding that i showed you early on, young american, a few dozen perhaps, young officers made the difference. The penetrations from omaha, kind of a weird map, but one of the things i wanted to point exitst one of the main were taken by frontal assaults. Not one. Not one of the main exits were taken by frontal assaults. Not one. We outflanked them. Over 900 americans killed in omaha. From the 160th infantry regiment, 147 sorry, 247 been killed. Company a, National Guard unit from benson, virginia. 102 men out of 180 killed. The most lethal place you could be on dday. 102 men slaughtered. ,hats not wounded psychologically damaged for the rest of your life thats killed dead on the from bedford virginia, there were 34 19 were killed on omaha beach. How to omaha here, narrow that flimsy bridge is. Imagine if we pulled troops off. The distance is over 25 miles. It would have made a big, big difference. Notice the canadians here, successfully the closest, they pushed inland eight miles, but it is still a sketchy picture by june 6. Success is by no means assured. We spend another 77 days in combat before we win the battle of normandy, over 20,000 americans will lose their lives before the bridgehead reaches paris. Some statistics here. A number of americans killed around 200,000, the total casualties 6000 u. S. Casualties. Far more than the british and canadians. Thats because of omaha beach. You didnt have the majority of troops on dday, but you had the majority of deaths and casualties. A picture when it was relieved june 8. Combat went on till 7, 1945. Y these guys were fighting relentlessly for two days after june 6 and were finally relieved. Hade who didnt sleep well been in combat, awake for over 72 hours. Was one of the guys who found the guns. Finally, because we can often talk about numbers, but we shouldnt talk about numbers because what we should be doing today and tomorrow is remembering individuals, human beings, people. Faces of human beings, americans who never thought they would be in the conflict in human iry when they joined will finish now on the european half. Its an honor for me to be here to talk to you as an immigrant. Slightly overeducated, maybe. I say to people when i take them to omaha beach, this is the place you will feel proudest be an american of anywhere in the world. Bloodiest fans you can possibly be outside of this country. Them, when you landed on the shores of normandy in 1944, it was not so that you could have freedom in this freedom wasr assured, ours was not. The deaths of over 140,000 itricans was for europeans, was for me so that i could grow up in freedom. It was a great gift, a beautiful gift, the most generous in your entire history, thank you. [applause] wasnt too long, was it . I will take questions. Yes, absolutely. [inaudible] its a very good question. We didnt have enough experience combat troops on dday. Only one division came that was the first division. We had the Fourth Division and 29th division. 29th division was National Guard units. Men. Ly had so many there was an argument that guys who hadnt seen combat before might be more effective. They wouldnt be scared. They were scared, but they didnt know what war was about. Every time you go back into combat, it becomes harder. I wrote a book about the liberator do we have somebody thatwhose father was in beautiful thunderbird patch. 500 days your father was in combat in world war ii. There division that there that third division, 635 days. The National Guard units performed magnificently. They did a very, very good job. They were representative of all of america. 1930sarriors from the came from all different backgrounds, racially mixed, they did a phenomenal job. , boy did they perform heroically. They did a fantastic job and they carried on performing heroically. There follow their unit, wasnt a single guy left in the it company in the it company in the eighth company. According to the documentary, goebbels played a key role in keeping the germans convinced that normandy was only a thing. Youre talking about the garbo, and the counterintelligence operation before and after the date. Before and after dday. Ive seen the same documentary. They were convincing them pretty effectively that the normandy invasion was a diversion. Hitler believed for a week that it was a diversion exercise, that the Main Invasion would come at the northern calais. Continued to provide information that made the germans think that might be possible. You couldnt give obvious clues. Smart Intelligence Officers would not by an obvious story. You had to give little fragments of information, disperse them makey and make the germans the decision for themselves. Yes, sir. I have a question about the russians. Front was normandy. The first front was the russians. Please comment. Thats a very good question. We are talking about the russian involvement in the summer of 1944, basically. Began in the early august of 1944 on the eastern front. Size of0 times the says dday. Once the russians launched that attack, they were never stopped. Three quarters of german casualties on the eastern front. Its not being revisionist to was chewed upte on the eastern front. If it hadnt been for our great allies, the soviet union, we would not have prevailed in europe in world war ii. Them toutely relied on and a norm is extent to do most of the fighting to an enormous extent to do most of the fighting. When i had dinner with a couple of leftwing frenchmen 20 years ago, they said all this american stuff about normandy the russians won world war ii in europe. You will still hear that. When was the last time you voted . Today, itrope is free was liberated. Eisenhowers we come as liberators, not conquerors eisenhower said we come as liberators, not conquerors. The dying and fighting was done by americans. Us brits dont like to say that too often. You did most of the fighting and dying, you finished the job in western europe. Thank god. We had no one left. You guys did. If we hadnt invaded or if that invasion had failed, all of western europe would have been communist. France was about to go communist anyway. Thats why we liberated paris. Eisenhower and churchill and roosevelt were scared to death that all of france would have been taken over by the communists. We put the gall in paris in paris is a in parisgurehead as a figurehead. France was liberated. You had the marshall plan, the greatest act of generosity in your countrys history. He rebuilt most of europe and protected it for the last 75 you rebuilt most of europe and protected it for the last 75 years. Yes . You mentioned that the only way off the beach was in the line of fire. Was it a particularly American Point of view . How does that differ from the other forces that were fighting . I would hate to say nationalist, but i came across a study of an australian journalist, kind of neutral, who compared canadians and british and americans in normandy after dday. When the fighting became very bogged down, it was a war of attrition, their character emerged. The canadians were like ice hockey players. Theyu whack them hard, kept whacking you back. They were very determined, canadians didnt take too many ss prisoners. Were often more hesitant. Montgomery was hesitant to use british lives. He suffered badly in world war i, actually laid in a trench with a bullet through his lungs for 24 hours. He knew all about trench warfare. Men were hunted by woodward one. Were haunted by a world war i. Were hesitant, certainly less gung ho, which brings me to the americans. You guys were prepared to be more aggressive. Prepared to use lives to get the job done. You are by far the most aggressive. Speaking, you had not been in the war for as long as us and you were just more aggressive. On the ground, definitely. [inaudible] apologize. [laughter] im very sorry. I want to mention the incredible seamanship and gallantry on behalf of the destroyers that went into what agroundve easily gone and there gunfire was in normas leanne accurate was enormously accurate. It was nevertheless a very important aspect. I apologize if i didnt include a navy guy in the first wave. Yes, as the general said at the end of the day, he said to thank god for the u. S. Navy. What you did in omaha and utah was incredible. Individuals made a big difference getting off the beach. In terms of destroying the German Defenses, it was you guys. You came in close and pinpointed strong points all along that beach. For the first few hours, it was sketchy. By the time you guys knew where you were supposed to be firing, you did a devastating job, very good job. If it hadnt been for you guys, it would have been very different. [inaudible] are you familiar with a study where the rangers at the last minute were told to not take the cliffs . The commander of the second regiment battalion was a guy called little. 4, heys before on june was out in the English Channel with officers from the second ranger battalion and broke down. Many topshe had too of gin. He gathered his officers around him and said this is madness, this is a suicide mission. He had an Intelligence Report come back that the guns werent there. He said, why are we doing this . Was why are we doing this, we shouldnt be doing this, the guns arent there. Little was right. The guns werent where they were supposed to be, but they were close by. They were found and disabled and they couldnt be used on dday. Command heer had to be pulled down on the boats screaming and shouting and shoved into a room. Bottle. Ordinary lack of little went back into combat after dday and perform superbly. He was in cripple officer but not in the days before dday he was an incredible officer but not in the days before dday. [inaudible] september, i wonder if you ever met major winters in your research. Ive been to the monument thats been placed there recently. Im a huge fan. Winters was something of a hastings warrior. Girlfriendave a before he went to war. He said i didnt want to be distracted by love. I didnt have time to show emotion to anybody else. Hes an extraordinary guy. He should have received the medal of honor for his actions in normandy. Americans received the honor on dday. You think of all those thousands on omaha beach, only four one was Teddy Roosevelt junior. That was kind of political. He killed himself enormity, died normandy, died of a heart attack. He wanted to emulate his father. He deserved the metal. The medal. The other three were all big red one on omaha beach. Only one of those guys came back after the war. Out of 153 to sting wished distinguisheds Service Crosses we had a problem with awarding medals. Withhower had to intervene Jimmy Monteith eisenhower put a note in his file saying this guy receives the medal of honor. Do not downgrade it to the dsc. There were several cases where we downgraded medal of honor recommendations. It goes to show you the level of bravery there was on omaha. One last question . [inaudible] thats an amazing 82nd airborne story, one of the great battles that came after dday, the 12th of june, a critical position, the germans counterattacked fiercely. The 82nd airborne performed with great heroism and managed to hold that critical bridge. My favorite journal from world war ii is involved in that action. He had an of 1945, affair with Martha Gellhorn and the great german singer at the same time. [laughter] they went to lunch together, apparently. Jim was a key part of that amazing operation. 37 years old, amazing general. Thank you so much. [applause] introduce twoe to people before we go any further. First of all, this is barbara george. Would you please stand up . The daughter of a distinguished american soldier and veteran of francisco, who is with us. Thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. [applause] also, eli linden. Would you stand up, sir . A veteran of the normandy campaign. [applause] a pleasure and an honor to have you here. [applause] in our Panel Discussion and our Panel Discussion will now begin. Doctor . If you want to ask a question later, please [inaudible] may i Say Something about you . Savannahleman lives in. Is your wife from the Southern United States . Minnesota. Thats why we live in savannah. [laughter] there is a species of british historian that i recall, an anglo confederate. Is it not true that at oxford, one of the set texts is the Jackson Valley campaign . You have to immerse yourself in the American Civil War from the side of the south . Is that not true . Yes, unfortunately. They sided with the aristocrats. Whatever. [laughter] the Panel Discussion, alex, is in your hands. Thank you for being with me here. I think everyone has heard enough for me, so i will keep my comments to a minimum. Icouldnt help but notice, have to face the combat infantry badge here, im very honored to have met world war ii veterans im not sure whether he would they with me to a man, all said the one medal they wear that they care most about is this one here. It shows that you saw the real thing. , what were you doing 75 years ago today . Today rs ago on the eve of dday. I well, i married 70 years am married 70 years. , lets see well, i was in europe. I was a prisoner of where at the time. Of war at the time. 1944, just before dday. I was a prisoner of war in months untilive the russians came in and liberated the camp. The iron curtain was starting then because they kept us in their quarters for about five days. We were hoping the gis would send trucks and bring us back. This was right near the elk river. It didnt happen, so we decided to walk. There were about eight of us americans who walked back. The first thing they did was to spray powder on us to delousing. Us. Elousine one morning, i woke up and found an itch, that was the only time i was able to take a shower. The doctor that took care of us was a british doctor that was captured in dunkirk. Saw whyed back when he i was scratching myself. I was able to take a shower and i got rid of it. Ago back to 75 years you landed three weeks after dday . I came in about three weeks after. Days,there a couple of probably about a week, and then they sent us to utah beach, army,i joined pattons the third army, i was with company k 358, the third army. Until ihere i stayed was wounded. Inas wounded at utah beach the battle of the hedgerows. Thed a piece of shrapnel size of my fingernail, which they took out, and then they felt it wasnt going to heal right away, so they sent me back to england for two months, which was ok with me. [laughter] then i rejoined the outfit again, same company, same pattons army, this is just before thanksgiving, and i was there and the next morning, we had to go out we had turkey for giving, inks will never forget that we had to go and take the siegfried line. On the way, when i rejoined them, i rejoined them with someone else. It was just the two of us. The sergeant pointed at him and made him the first scout and me the second scout. We were just coming out of a clearing and the germans had pillboxes, which we didnt know about. The first scout was hit by a rifle grenade. He blew up maybe five yards away from me. I hit the ground because i knew the Company Behind me would open up. They did. Town, we hadke the two german prisoners we captured, we took this house but we knew the germans would come back and counterattack, which they did. They encircled our couple of houses that we had. Figured it was time to when they brought tanks in, thats when we knew we had to go into the basement. On my dog tag, in one corner, they have an h which stands for hebrew. I knew it wasnt good to be captured by the germans with that on it, so i buried my dog tags. Day, 75 yearss later, it is still in the ground. Thing they would do is throw a hand grenade in. Germans yelled out to them, comrades. There were eight of us. They lined us up out stairs, outside, and they did not put us on their tanks to write us to ride us behind the lines. We had an american plane circling above, and they were directing artillery fire. When they started to fire, they , and the rounds commander of the tank we were on just closed up the hood. That was a good time to get off and escape, but we had no idea where we were. So the third round, i think, would have really hit the tank, and they put us on boxcars, three days i do not think i sat down for three days and they rode us back to the other side of the river. Tank ot off the arry, off the boxcar, i had pain in my chest every time i took a deep breath. I had them had ago had impetigo on my face with a rash, and frozen feet. When i turned my head to decide my eyes crossed, but otherwise i was fine. [laughter] so the british doctor that was captured four years ago, he took care of me. All i had was a warm bed. So i eventually got better. I was only 20 at the time. That is about 76 years ago. 96. 6 congratulations. I went back with the british and they put us in their good, butand that was the americans would send , but in red parcels in all of that time, five months, we just got one. In the package was cigarettes, which could have saved my life. One cigarette would buy a loaf of bread that big from the russians that used to go into town. So eventually, five months later, we heard gunfire. We knew the russians were getting close to our camp. Before that, we used to get the report that would tell us was going on in the war, and we heard about the battle of the bulge. We thought it was just propaganda, they were just would say this, but i about 10 days later, almost a 106thdivision of the walked into our camp, so we knew the war had to go on a little longer. Can i come back to you in a while . I want to come back to normandy in a while. Madame, this must be somewhat of a bittersweet occasion for you, because you lost your father my father in the war, yes. Tell me about your feelings right now as we look back . You lost your father come you never had a father father, you never had a father. Right. Well, it is kind of hard for me because i was two and a half when he died. I think probably my mother and grandparents were just at home praying. The eighth infantry regiment and the fourth infantry division, landed on utah. Led his battalion and saw that the enemy had an ambush position in the back, and he saw that it was hurting, severe casualties and everything. He organized a group of volunteers to go back and take out the enemy position, but he lost his life doing that. And what day was that . Dday plus one. So the eighth infantry regiment, he would have known him . He would have. He absolutely would have. Was the First Battalion commander or second battalion . I dont know that. I only have copies of his orders, i do not have the whole history. My mother talked like she knew general marshall and general patton and fancifully i mean, she talked like she knew them all. I dont know. Jim, the sixth of your father would have landed the sixth of june, your father would have landed, and would have met commander roosevelt. Im sure he did. How to you look back on dday yourself . You must feel immense pride, but it is sad. I am immensely proud of my father, but it is sad. Otheremotional, and went people do not understand about dday or operation overlord, it amazes me. Where have you been all your life . It is important. We need to remember that. I should say that my mothers father was killed a few months after she was born. Oh, that is sad. She is 76 now. ,or her to not have a father shellof what might have been. Thank you for being she always wonders what might have been. Thank you for being with us. . Id you ever go to any reunions i do not know anything about them, there have not been any reunions. Your father was killed on the seventh of june. Thousand,o and a half the casualties were less than 200. Some say it was 197. Most of them were killed by mines. But the day after, when her father was killed, when they went into the hedgerows and started to really fight very, sheercely in normandy went into normandy and came in three weeks later. When you arrived in normandy, there were over one million allied soldiers fighting in normandy, and it was field by field. Can you describe what it was like to arrive in that ferocious battle as how old were you . I was 20. 20 years old. I did notarrived, even have to get my feet wet justse they had ships that let downright onshore, let down right onshore, so i did not have to worry about that. They must have been about three or four miles off the beach is beaches off the already. The first thing i saw at omaha was the cemetery. They were bringing back bodies to be buried there, and i said, what am i doing here . I better get back on the ship. And i wasdoing that, in omaha for maybe one week or two weeks, i cant remember, and that is when i became the replacement. I was with the 76 th division and they broke us out. I went to utah beach, pattons third army. I joined the company k of the 358th regiment. That was the battle of the hedgerows that we fought in. What was that like for you . Use a battle of the hedgerows, but take us through an average day of your life in the hedgerows. No, it was not an average day [laughter] they were trying to kill me. [laughter] take us through a typical day, then. Im glad they didnt. In with another g. I. , and the germans were shelling our area. But they hit,ize, the shrapnel hit us nearby, and my buddy who was in the same foxhole had a piece of shrapnel that went through his arm. I went to bandage him, and we called the medic they were brave. They got us out of the hole while we were still being shelled. They took care of him and asked me how i felt, and i said as far as i know, im ok great but they checked me out ok. In they checked me out and my back, right over here, there was a piece of shrapnel that was sticking half in and half out, and they told me i was wounded, otherwise i never would have known. So they decided to send me back to the field hospital, and that is where i was operated on. What they did, they took the shrapnel out but it together, and they stitched it. Every time i would move my arm, it would open up again. They felt the only way i would get better and get it healed was to send me back to england, which i did. I went back. And operated on me again just let it heal normally. Inntually, sometime november, i went back and the army sent me to the wrong area. They sent me to belgium. I was supposed to go to france, um, they sent me to belgi and in those days we used to watch the boats coming over. They were all lit up as they would come. Then everything would stop and that is where it would crash. That is what we did. Eventually they sent me back to my outfit. Can you tell us about your mum . We often forget about the people at home on dday, waiting for news of their loved ones. Did your mother talk about what it was like to be at home and away from your father . No, she did not talk much. You did not talk about those things in those days. I know he became captain, and for a year he was not allowed to take his dependence with him we did,ts with him, but and we travels to different basis. When she got the letter that he had been killed, it was hard because all of her friends had been army wives, and they had all been sent back to their home states. They lost contact and communication, because it is not like it is today, and that was hard on her. So she found herself kind of a loan. Kind of alone. She was sent back home, but her friends were in different states. Were you the firstborn . Now, i am the third. She had been to boys and myself. How did she manage that . What happened . She took odd jobs here and there. I thought they were volunteer jobs, but my brother told me she got paid a little bit. And my fathers parents were very helpful. Her parents were not helpful. I do remember the banker in town , because it was a very small , so, he was very prominent on easter he would buy my two brothers suits. That is what he did every year, because they were growing boys. Remarry . Ur mother i was abouthen 14 or 15. It was not a good marriage, and it was understandable. I think all of the wives were in love with their husbands. An at to na one meeting 1 meeting, children of american veterans, and we told our stories. I found that almost all of the , and almostarried all of the marriages fell apart. I think that is just because they were so in love with their husbands, and it is just such a different person and such a different time that it just couldnt work out. Do you think that was because they were very young when they married and they idealized their husbands . Yes. That could be. They had not spent much time with their husbands during wartime. It is hard to know when they do not talk about them. Many times i have heard relatives of veterans say that their fathers never talked about world war ii. You hear this over and over again. When did you Start Talking about your experiences . It must have been years after i came back to the states. I was getting 10 for my wound, which was something in those days like 13. 25, so it was practically nothing. I got a job right away, and a week later, in an advertising agency, which i eventually made a career of. I never really talked about it. , had friends that were also e southrved in th pacific and some served in europe. Out of 14 others, they all came out ok. I was the one that had the most trouble at the time. So it was quite a time. Do you still find it difficult to talk about the reality of what you went through , the trauma . Not have a problem. I could not go to a movie that showed any kind of battle, but now i am over that. At 96. [laughter] could i oh, carry on, please. I went to a Memorial Day Service and there was a better in there, he had been in pearl harbor. He said it wasnt until four years ago and went back to pearl harbor that things clicked for him. In fact, he went with his daughter and soninlaw, but his wife, ir said to his have never seen dad talk about this before. Now you cant shut him up. Did you go to reunions for the unit . Not really. I did not know what division to go. I was in the states for a year and a half with the 76th, but no, i never really went to any reunion. I will put this up to the audience, because im sure they have questions. Thank you both for being here and thank you both for a different kind of sacrifice, but a very important one. Thank you. [applause] yes sir . Hedgerow . The going is one thing is my hearing. The gentleman wanted to know what hedgerow is. Can you describe it . Grownedgerow is a lot of a lot of leaves, a lot of trees, and it was like a barrier where you could not see what was on the other side of it. It was not a three foot hedgerow that you have in maryland, they were often 12, 14 feet high, a sherman tank could not move it stir it around. Very serious intelligence failure, we had not recognized that the landscape we were fighting them with hedgerow country, and it sometimes took one of your units or company, it might take a day to take one single field surrounded by these hedgerows. And we had foxholes. Right. The natural defense of the germans. Yeah, that was the German Defense too. Any other questions . Where is your father very . The American Cemetery in france. [inaudible] up, that would be fine. Thank you. Yes sir . Where you other bothered ever bothered again by your german captors concerning your jewish religion . Did they catch on after a while, because a lot of jewish gis ditched their dog tags. Were you ever bothered by it again . Did the germans ever find out you were jewish . No, no, no. To this day, i think my dog tags are still buried in that house. I went down about three or four feet. [laughter] did you discuss that with other jewish guys in your you unit . They basically marked us here, they knew what the nazis were doing. We never talked religion. It was never discussed. You never talked religion . No, no, no. Anyone else . What was your fathers name . Malcolm l. George. We were the beneficiaries, all of us sir . [inaudible] did you know about the concentration camps . No, we did not know back then about the concentration camps. This was a pow camp that had russians, the french, and the british. Afterward,lians after they surrendered. How well were you treated . How well were you treated . Did the germans treat you her mainly humanely . The war was getting close to the end. I remember when Franklin Roosevelt died, they let us all out, the americans all out and pay homage to him. I remember that. In 1945 . Yeah. I remember april 12, 1945. Lots of americans cried that day. Did you see americans cry . I did. I had tears in my eyes because he was the only president well, i knew abraham lincoln. [laughter] lly . Ersona several people have mentioned we were the beneficiaries of great leadership during world war ii, and i sometimes wonder what would happen to politically incorrect general who mentioned something in the age of wolf blitzen and Political Correctness and all of that. General patton, talking to the 45th division in sicily, said the following i know many of you are of italian descent. The reason you are going to lick italians youe are going to be fighting is because you are descended from italians who came to the new world, and that rich and fertile blood flows in your veins. The italians that you are fighting and defeating have a weaker blood. [laughter] wow wow, huh . Just thought i would share that with you. It is true. [laughter] do we have one last question in the back . Patton once said if you want to die for your country, your job is to make the other guy die for his country. [laughter] we are talking about George Patton you must be very proud to have served in the third army. A swashbuckling, fantastic outfit. You must be very impressed. I used to clean out his pistol. Did you . [laughter] no, no, no. [laughter] i was about to say, where is it . [laughter] yeah, but he was quite a general. Three star he never made four stars threestar, he never four stars,rs but he was quite a general. There is a picture of passion, and i am in that picture. I got in, a friend of mine took the picture. So i have him in my house. [laughter] that is a comfortable experience, yes . But he was quite a general. Thank you all again, it is great to have you here with us. Thank you all again. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] i have a comment and a question to the world war ii veterans. All of us, we are on by your experiences. I am a vietnam veteran who also and had an opportunity to teach at the army war college. We did a study on why we as americans, brits, aussies and koreans we had in vietnam, why do we fight . It is not for motherhood or apple pie. For those of you that were in combat, you are talking to another combat veteran. What was it that helped you and motivated you when you were in that foxhole, kissing mother earth to get out of the way of the germans or whatever it was what drove you to fight . Would you share that with me and with us . The gentleman asked, what kept you fighting . What drove you to fight . We knew there was a war we had to win, because eventually the germans who knows . With invading, they almost captured all of russia and all the other countries, so we knew it was a war that we had to win. That is what kept us going. I know it is very personal. Any of the other veterans like to comment . I didnt hear that. Were you also fighting for the guy right beside you . Who were you fighting for every day, your brothers in combat with you . Yeah, every day. I had two brothers. One was older than me, who i happened to see when i was in the hospital in england. One that was younger, which they er sent overseas, because i do not know if you knew about the sullivan brothers, but five of them were all killed, so they never sent the last one. I know my brother had three blue stars my mother had three blue stars on your window, and if you were killed they changed it to a gold star. I know that. I know that my father was in the reserve corps and was then called to active duty. I asked my mother why he did that. She said she thought it was his duty to serve. Thats it. I think so, thank you for doing your piece. [applause] joint American History tv sunday, when we marked the 50th anniversary of the stonewall riots, a key turning point in the gayrights movement. Eastern,at 8 30 a. M. We are live with historian mark steyn, editor of the stonewall riots a documentary history. We will answer calls and tweets from the Stonewall National monument in new york. Film thethe 1968 second largest minority. Andomosexual human beings homosexual american citizens. Everyone always remembers the the second homo, but phrases, american citizens and human beings. Followed by the second film gay and proud. Have you beenars a homosexual . I was born a human sexual homosexual. [inaudible] i am sorry there is not politician here with us today. I think lindsay should have made a point to be here today, as well as some of the gay Movement Organizers themselves. Watch the 50th anniversary of the stonewall riots, the reviews are in for cspans the president s book. Milepost in our everchanging view of the president s. And from the New York Times review of books, and engrossing read. Read how president ial historians ranked the best and worst chief executives from George Washington to barack obama. Explore the challenges they faced and legacies they left behind. Cspans the president s is available as a hardcover or ebook today at cspan. Org president s or wherever books are sold. Announcer 50 years ago, on may 18, 1969, apollo 10 blasted off for an eightday mission to rehearse for the moon landing to come two months later. It included a lunar orbit, a descent within nine miles of the moons surface, and crucial test that paved the way for apollo 11. Apollo 10, to sort out the unknowns, is a halfhour nasa film documenting the mission. Narrator may 18, 1969. We were almost ready. Man had orbited the moon once. Man had test flown the lunar youll, the lunar mod