Transcripts For CSPAN3 World War II Fighter Pilots 20240713

Did yesterday with a quote, but in the introduction to the quote, has anyone not seen private ryan . Anyone not seen it . Thats what i figured. For those of us that have served and particularly those of us that have faced combat that opening scene is something that youll never forget, ever, i hope you never forget it, but the scene most important to me actually came later in the movie. Tom hanks laying on the rubble called over private ryan and he asked him to kneel down, and he said to him two words, earn this. Any victory Worth Winning must be deserved, anda t as the victories are in scale so must be our exertions, deserve victory, Winston Churchill said. We shall not win through the evils in our enemy, we shall win through the merit in ourselves. Deserve victory, and let that be the touchstone of every thought, word and deed. Frankly, i think about that pretty much every day. Am i living up to my own expectations, let alone the expectations of others . Today were going to hear from people that deserved victory and earned it. Yesterday and the day before we heard from a lot of people that fought on the ground. Were going to hear this morning from some incredible legends that fought in the air. So it is truly my pleasure to introduce mr. Jerry burton. He is the past president of the tuskegee Association East coast chapter and former air force veteran himself. So with that, well begin todays program with mr. Jerry burton. [ applause ] thank you, everyone. Thank you. It is my honor to be in the room again with the original Tuskegee Airmen and a second pow in the room, another Fighter Pilot from world war ii. So you will have a special treat of gentlemen that a lot of people, one, dont even know still are around. So without further ado, i want to make sure you have enough time to see them all. Lieutenant colonel james harvey iii. [ applause ] colonel harvey, fighter in three wars. Next well have colonel Alexander Jefferson. [ applause ] colonel jefferson, combat pilot, pow. Colonel joseph petersburst. [ applause ] colonel peterburst has a special designation with his name, as well. Call him ace. He did 49 missions before becoming a pow, and then somehow escaped and evaded and flew with the russian army. Incredible stuff. So with that, lets give them all a round of applause and then well dig into this. [ applause ] so well start on the end. Colonel harvey. Colonel harvey has a special hat on. I like to see it because a lot of people think of tom cruise when they see the hat. The unfortunate part is, tom cruise wasnt the first. Colonel harvey was a part of a top gun squadron, a group that went to nellis field, took their airplane, took their Maintenance Group and became top gun, the First Top Gun of record for the u. S. Air force. Right. Colonel harvey, if you want to tell us a little bit about yourself. What do you want people to know about your service and about your time flying combat airplanes and then becoming a top gun. Oh, boy. [ laughter ] i know its a long list. Never made any model aircraft or anything like that, never did anything as far as aircraft goes. I lived in a small town in northeastern pennsylvania called nangola station so you can imagine how big that is. Anyway, i sat in my front yard one day and i saw this flight of p40s fly over in formation. I said id like to do that and that was it. [ laughter ] so i got into the military. I was drafted. I tried to enlist in the Army Air Corps in january 43 and they said they werent taking enlistments at that time and i was out of the war and the reason they said that is they didnt want me. So i was drafted in march of 43, and i went to fort meade, maryland, and took my written exam, a physical, and had a uniform issued and went to jefferson barrack, missouri, for basic training and finished my basic training in Jefferson Barracks missouri and based on my score that i had on my written test they put me in the Army Air Corps. The Army Air Corps engineers, and they sent me to fort belvoir, virginia, and at fort belvoir, my mission was to go into the jungle, doze out an area and build an airfield so i was part of the engineer battalion and we used to go out and practice every day and i said no, this isnt for me, so i applied for Cadet Training and there were ten of us, nine whites and myself. Two of us passed, and from there went to biloxi, mississippi, for 30 days of basic training. More basic training, and finished there and went to tuskegee and the rest is history. Thats good stuff. Thank you. A lot of times you do things and you start off not realizing how far you will go. Colonel alexander. I see colonel alexander is another one of those that did some things that a lot of people wouldnt expect. I know when he started he didnt figure hed write his own book and i see the book sitting here, and the title red tail captured, red tail free. So to go to the red tail free part, i want to ask you first, where did you come from, what squadron did you fly in . And then can you tell us the day you remember that you said im a pow, but im going to be okay. Okay. All right. Guys and girl, ive got five minutes to talk about something that takes me two hours. Lets start out real quick, Alexander Jefferson, born in detroit, michigan, went to Clark College in atlanta, georgia. The war is going on, 19 i graduated in 1942. The japanese bombed pearl harbor on what date . Anybody . What date . [ inaudible ] okay. The United States congress made see, i have to do this short, damn it. [ laughter ] congress developed the 99th squadron. They allowed blacks to fly and they said we started in 1941. I graduated in 42. The war is going on. The draft is about to get me so rather than get drafted i went down and volunteered for this new air force that was just developed. I graduated in january 42, and i flew combat with the let me tell you the 332nd Fighter Group made up of blacks, all selfcontained first of all, and i flew combat with the 301st Fighter Squadron commanded by general, at that time, colonel davis. Well get back to that. I flew combat and had 19 missions escorting the b17s from italy up into germany, we flew top cover. We had one mission, number 19, and trying to knock out radar stations on the coast of Southern France. I got hit and the damn thing came up to the floor and i had to bail out. I bailed out in Southern France occupied the germans at that time. I spent nine months as a pow half of the time in poland and then in germany. Liberated in whats the 1945. Liberated, and came back to the United States, spent the rest of the time in the air force. So you can tell i put all my thoughts on paper sxoots all written down from there. I tried to make it quick and i can show stuff in there, but we dont have time, so i ended up with nine months, nine and a half months in germany as a pow. I think that was significant and there were 32 of us blacks who were pows in germany by the end of the war. 32 yeah. Wow. We can go from there. Thats incredible. Thats it. Thats incredible. Colonel peterburst. Yes. Listening to the other the other two Tuskegee Airmen, a question came to my mind, first of all, well do the same thing and ill go back to colonel harvey, but first thing is where are you from . Where did you go through training . Where was your training at and then tell us about your time as a pow . Well, my time as a pow isnt very long. Okay. Anyway, i was born in st. Paul, minnesota, on the 25th of november, 1924, and we moved to wisconsin, and i did my informative years growing up in the milwaukee area. I had a vocation to become a priest and i went to a seminary after grade school, and i was my third year of a 12year trek to priesthood and ordination, and i was coming down the stairs of the gym to play pool on a sunday morning and i heard the 7th of december 1941, japanese bombed pearl harbor, and i knew at that time i was going to join the service and fight for the country. So i left the seminary, and on my 18th birthday of 1942, i was accepted into the Aviation Cadet program and i did my training through the Southeast Air command with georgia and florida and i graduated as a Second Lieutenant Fighter Pilot, 19 years old and went through combat training. After that, the p40s and accumulated about 150 or so hours and the p40 and was assigned to europe on the 55th Fighter Squadron and they had converted from p48s to p51 and i had about 20 hours and i started flying, bat. Im the 12th of december 194437 then through 49 Subsequent Missions and the last of very exciting, most of them and the last one was the most interesting. Do you want me to continue . Go ahead. On the 49th mission the air force was putting about 1500 bombers and targets in the berlin vandenberg and the area. My squadron was escorting some 450 b17s with the escort. We were around the area and uneventful until the bombers dropped the bombs and we got hit by a swarm of 262 turbo jets and i was flying high cover and i observe served the 262 blew up the b17 full throttle, and came in at the 6 00 position just about the time he blew up the second b17. He rolled over and started down to the deck, and i chased him and he disappeared into some clouds. Id gotten hit in the left engine. I saw some smoke and a little fire and i did follow him into the clouds and i said to heck with it, and i saw an airfield full of german aircraft. Any of the Fighter Pilots know youre not spozed to be seen and what the heck . [ laughter ] so anyway, id made too many passes and i destroyed at least five on the ground and set the hangar on fire and i felt a thud. And i had the condor and the fourengine aircraft, part of hitlers fleet. Anyway, i blew that up and i felt another thud and got oil, and made it to 10,000 feet and made it bag to vandenberg losing altitude and i finally had to bail out after 300 feet over berg and was captured immediately, interrogated and went to p, w camp and after a five, six it was pandemonium, and refugees are up and down on motorcycles trying to keep some sort of sense to the pandemonium. Anyway, got the stalin 3 which was mostly russian prisoners of war. This was near berlin and right outside of berlin and the russians were fighting in berlin and the security at the camp was too lax and i escaped. You walked away . I started down the road and after about five or six miles i heard a rumbling and i hid in the ditch and here come a tank unit and i came out and fortunately the lieutenant of the russian tank, the lieutenant could speak english and he gave me a rifle and he said were going to wittenburg. So i sat with the russian tank to berlin up to wittenberg where i was repatriated to meet the russians. Eventually, got back to paris and got stabbed at delaos and all that stuff and started my way home on the last convoy through europe. I got home and i anxiously married my fiance josephine who i named my aircraft after, josephine, and in the process of doing the paperwork i had to get my moms permission to get married because i hadnt turned 21 yet. [ laughter ] very nice. Thats it. Very nice. You were in the northern part of germany. I was in the southern part, stalog. I was in stalog where there was close to 10,000 american pows. There was a heck of a lot of us, and i didnt have any chance to escape because we were heavily guarded and it was heck. Wow. Okay. Colonel harvey. Germanys leading ace was in the states in 2013 looking for the pilot that shot him down. Did you make contact, by chance . I cant hear him 37. What did he say . Say your question again . Germanys leading ace was in the states in 2013 looking for the pilot that shot him down. Did you make contact, by chance . Oh, yes. [ laughter ] see, i never claimed a 262. By the time i got liberated and everything the war was over and to heck with it and you didnt worry about that sort of stuff. I didnt. Got home and got married so six years went by and finally, through various, many european researchers, swedish and norwegian and german researchers they came to the conclusion that i was the one that shot down walter shook who was a top german ace. He had 206 confirmed aerial victories. He had 198 victories on the north sea area with russia. Most of his victories there were against the russians and he transitioned into the me262 turbo jet, and on his First Mission he shot down three aircraft, and the first time he was in the 262, and he shot down three aircraft, and he was the one that, in fact, he had on the 5th of may of 2005, we met in california and became close 14s and he was a real gentleman. We spent the rest of his life and i together doing various shows and stuff, but he tells me that when he went into the clouds he made a left turn hoping to avoid me if i tried to follow him, and he said as soon as he started his turn his left engine disintegrated and he had to bail out and he bailed out at about 1,000 meters and he broke both of his legs and ankles when he bailed out so he was basically out of the war at that time. When he said my friend joey, joey saved my life because if he would have got up again and flown he felt certainly he would have been killed and thats the way it was during the end of the war. How fortunate you were to be able to bail out. I had to bail out, and i thought about it when you were talking. Out of all my nine, about a year of training in the tuskegee, i never had one minute on, quote, how to bail out. [ laughter ] you bailed out of 51. You bailed out on the right side. Are you kidding . No. I bailed out of the left side. Ill be damned. Our job was to knock out radar stations on the coast right on the shores of Southern France. Later on, i found out that these radars control the guns around Southern France, out to harbor on Southern France. It came in at 15,000 and we dove in and we came in at 250 miles an hour, and went right across the top of these radars and huge touers with a lot of buildings underneath and the machineries going on and had about 200 feet, and boom and as i went along, fire came up out of the floor and it hit the square, and i said to myself, how do i get off of this with the boom, boom, boom . Finally decided real quickly, full power, pull up and i think i may have gotten to about 1,000 feet. At the same time, down on the left side you have a little wheel and it controlled the flaps back and forth, pulled over a red lever and the canopy popped off. As i was going up, when i got to about 1,000 feet. I think it was 1,000 feet, i dont know, and turned the stick loose and quite naturally, the nose would drop abruptly and when it dropped abruptly, bang i hit the big buckle and it threw me out and i remember the tail going by nice and slow and easy, but they told you if you bailed out you count one, two, three and then you pull the dring and a parachute will deploy. Well, heck, i came out, and i saw the tail go by, and i looked down and i saw trees and i said oh [ laughter ] i abruptly pulled the dring and bang, the parachute opened and i swung down and hit a tree. I said well, and all of a sudden i heard a voice real german, quote [ speaking Foreign Language ] and i said oh, hell. My nine months in germany started right there in Southern France for about a week, and with two or three with two or three german soldiers escorting me out of germany. On that same mission we lost one guy, joe gordon was killed. Macon was a prisoner, daniels was a prisoner, i was a prisoner and one other guy. We lost five men on that one mission. What we later found out, it controlled the guns firing off the post and one guy that was a pow and the four guys were pows and the rest of the time they were hungry, but as a pow, we existed. Ill leave it there and later on go into the book where very good. Good. Colonel harvey, i was going back to you and you asked a question of the panel, but i want to give you a chance, first of all, we want to know where youre from first. I didnt do that at the original outset and then, two, im curious, flying so long with the military, what airplanes are you were you actually qualified in to fly out of all those throughout those years, what airplanes . So where are you from . What airplanes . Like i said before im from a small town in northeastern pennsylvania called noongola station. And we were the only black family out there, and so there wasnt any prejudice whatsoever. I got along fine with everybody. I was the only black in the school in high school, and we didnt have the only sports we had were tumbling and basketball. I was the anchorman on the tumbling team, captain of the Basketball Team and my senior year i was class president and valedictorian, and i was treated just like every other person and like i said, i didnt the only when i noticed the world was subjected to segregation is when i took the train from 44th pennsylvania to fort mead, maryland and we stopped in washington, d. C. , and we had a twohour layover on the way to fort meade. So i got off the train, went, had breakfast, came back and went to get back in the car that i was in, and they said no. You ride in the car where negros ride. So welcome to the south. Your introduction, in other words, to segregation and discrimination. Yes. I can feel it. Same thing. That was my introduction to segregation, but i didnt let it bother me. The way i looked at it, i didnt have a problem. They had the problem. Yeah. So i just did what i had to do to accomplish what i had to accomplish, and like i said before, i went to Engineering School in fort belvoir, and didnt care for that. Applied to Cadet Training and got accepted and off to tus keegee i went and the rest is history. Give us a list of airplanes that youre qualified in . Aircraft im qualified in. Well, in primary we flew the pt19 made by fairchild, a long wing modifying and then in basic we flew the standard bt13 also known as the vaulty vibrator and in advanced the at6 and when we finished advanced training we got ten hours in the p40 at tuskegee and i got my ten hours there and from there to walterboro, South Carolina for combat training and then we were flying the p40 and later switched to the p47, and when i finished combat training in april of 45 and i had my bags packed and catch the train to go to norfolk to get on the ship to go over and join the 332nd, and we got a message saying to hold and the war in italy was over and they were hoping to round up the whole theater which they did in may. Hitler gave up the following month in may so i would have been in the high seas. I didnt make it overseas to join the group. During that time the germans had very good intelligence, excellent intelligence, so hitler knew i was coming and thats why he gave up. [ laughter ] and then like i said, weve got p47s and since i didnt go over i joined the 99th at godman field, kentucky, and they had p47s so i knew p47s up until the time of integration, and that was in june of 49. They built the 332nd up and scattered us up all over the world and Eddie Drummond and i and the pilot in the 99th, we were assigned to a Fighter Group in massala, japan. Our 201 file had been forwarded to the Wing Commander and in there was our picture so he the Wing Commander called the pilots in the base theater and he said we have these two negro pilots coming in and theyll be assigned to one of the squadrons. All of the pilots told us this themselves and they said nowhere are we going fly with them. No way. Anyway, we reported into the Wing Commander and we were talking in his office, and he said what do you want us to call you . I said, well, im a First Lieutenant and Eddie Drummond is Second Lieutenant and how about lieutenants harvey and drummond and then he said okay, and he made a mistake and we have three Fighter Squadrons on the base and two p51 squadrons and an f80 squadron. Which squadron do you want to go through . I said f80 and he put us both in the f80 squadron and we didnt have any t23s which was the trainer version and he had an at6 and thats what we flew in advance. In the backseat there is a head that you can pull up and you cant see out. What they had me do, they had me get in the backseat and piloting up front which was one of them and they got inspruks for taxi and takeoff and he lined the aircraft up on the runway and he said okay, you have it. So im in the backseat under the hood. So i apply the throttle, down the runway, pull up the gear and all that good stuff, and fly around, doing the maneuvers he wants me to do and then contact Ground Control approach and vector in for the landing and touchdown on the runway and the pilot up front took over. Now, what does that have to do with flying the f80 . Nothing. I think they wanted to see if we could fly. Period. And we proved we could. So i checked out in the f80. So i was combat ready in the f80 and then after leaving masala, japan, and after leaving masala, japan and going to victorville, california i flew missions in korea and got 126 in the f80 and went to victorville, california and they had the f86 so iec whiched out the f86 and flew the f86, a, e, f and d models and i was combat ready in that aircraft. So i was combat ready in the f80 and the f86 and then i checked out any f89, and i got two missions in that and we checked out in the f94 and i got one in that, and then i ended up as Operations Officer of an f102 squadron and 71st at Suffrage Air Force base michigan and its the big delta wing. Very fast, goes supersonic on the day, and people ask me which is my favorite aircraft, and i say the f102 because Fighter Pilots like speed, and we go supersonic on the deck, like i said, so that was the aircraft that flew, and each of the aircraft and the military aircraft fighters that i was combat ready in. I had a good life. Excellent life. I enjoyed it. Every minute of it. Thats good. Thats great. See . The list of legendary airplane, a lot of people have to now go back and look at the tape and look at the list and pull those pictures up of those airplanes and you will see that not all of them performed the same way. You had to have certain skills with certain airplanes, specially the delta dart. You like to go fast, but then you have to slow down. The one question well ask and then well separate and split this. Ill get about one or two questions from the audience so those that have one prepared and ready, first of all, you need to speck loud so that we can hear you down here, but while were getting ready for the yung people young people to ask a question i want to give you an opportunity a couple of minutes each to address the young people and let them know what do youpeople to to give you an opportunity a couple of minutes each to address the young people and let them know what do you think they are as where you left it . So do you think that you are leaving this legacy of your aviation career in good hands with the young people in the audience . Im sure there are a lot of prospective pilots in the audience, maybe. Theres a lot of uniform so they have some interest in military in their future. So ill allow you to give them a little bit and if we can get one or two from the audience that have a question then well address well come back to you. So well start with colonel peterburst. No, i think we have set a standard that is in a different era and you guys are in a completely new universe than what we lived in, and i realize its very difficult to associate just like i went to the 100th anniversary of my unit last year and theyre flying f22s and i went into the simulator and its just not the flight. We are flying by the seat of your pants jen raisigeneration are entirely different and the one thing that whatever your endeavor is, you do your best. You do your best and strive to do your best and if you do your best, the rest of it, the promotions and the jobs and that sort of stuff will come in, but that would be my best just get an objective and do your best to achieve it. Excellent. Become selfactualized. Colonel alexander . Im sitting here taking you guys and gals, its the peak of where we were. We flew f86s and now f2s and i read a new one, the f35 and a completely new world, but theres been a transition from where you were, but stepping through i was a reserve officer. I accompanied four people through the Academy Air Force adviser and training today is so much advanced, but its so productive. We also want to ask you, do the best you can. Be a nerd. [ laughter ] seriously, sit on the front seat in class. You ever see the guys walk in and the first thing they do is go to the back of the room . Be a nerd. Sit on the front seat. The teacher is trying to give you this knowledge. Transfer this knowledge to you and if you sit too far back like me, you cant hear it. And it was different from what was 70 years ago. Take advantage of it. Be a nerd. Thats my advice. [ laughter ] outstanding. I have to get a patch and put that on there. Colonel harvey . Yet tuskegee men were so good. Each one of us wanted to be the best. If you get all of the bests out there you have quite an organization, which we had. Whi, who was the best . Of all of those pilots . It all depends on who is telling the story. laughs right now i am. laughs that is perfect. Sir, i see you standing near the microphone, if you can give us your name and your school and then ask a question. I am mitchell from miami university, good morning gentlemen. Other than trying to be as excellent as possible and trying to get the best job you possibly can done, what are some specific qualities or traits that are essential to have for a combat pilot . Specific qualities or treats, that you are going to need to be a fighter or combat Fighter Pilot. Who wants to take it first . Go ahead. Be tough. Exactly, it is true. Your answer may be a short line but we have a consensus. No seriously. Yes sir. Good morning gentlemen, mission or first class stops in, gentlemen, i am wondering if you can speak on how you were able to overcome the segregation in the military and overcome the many challenges that were put in place in front of you being African American in a segregated military in the 1940s. You do the best that you can, period. Under the circumstances. Segregation was an obstacle, literally, you had a feeling, trying to join the system, trying to join the economic political system, it felt as though when you walked into a baseball game you had two strikes against you. Many times there are too many things that have been that makes you feel as though you were not where the, and the application you felt and, you felt as though the instructor was putting things in your obstacle. But you do the best you can under the circumstances, as general davis, our boss, who went through west point in four years and during those four years nobody spoke to him officially. Trying to get him to quit. But he made it, he was our leader, we had a slogan, failure is not an option, gentleman, failure is not an option. We have that theme when you take an exam, flying combat, flying period. Failure is not an option. Still today, that is the background. All right. Failure is not an option. We will go to the mic over here, name and school here. Good morning gentlemen, federal university, my question is for you colonel, i was wondering if you could share someone who served in world war ii, korea and vietnam, if you could share a little bit about your experience of coming home, specifically after vietnam. Experience of coming home, and its directed to one of the colonels. I flew in korea, i flew 76 missions in korea, and korea was the forgotten war, coming home was nothing pro or con against it, you got your missions done and came home and didnt experience any problems there. In vietnam, there was a tremendous, of course its a historical fact that all the troops were treated very badly. I was of a senior rank and, it didnt affect me. Although, i was around, i and i was a career military that, i really cant relate to that particular question. But in korea, i had some very interesting experiences there. Id like to maybe point to one mission i had, no palming trenches along the ridge, we had a good in a palm run, did a rocket one, we didnt have any electronically controlled guidance so, we tried to stay little as you fired your rockets, through the canopy, and it hit my armor plating, and all i saw was the explosion in the canopy, and i reached out, my hand was full of blood, i didnt know what was happening. I dont know how bad i was wounded. So i make it back to base, my wing man had a radio failure, so i brought him in, and and we got back to, base he broke off first, and he landed, and all of the people followed him, thinking, so i came in, landed nonchalantly, brought the taxi back to my landing spot, i mean my parking spot, and i tried to get my i get up, and my crew chief was startled, with the blood, he falls off the wing, almost breaks his leg. But what happened is, the bullet smashed the canopy and all the glass went into my face, i had about four days of picking glass out of my face. Then i was flying again. That got a little. Thank, you sir. Colonel harvey, you have a separate experience as far as the integration, or non integration of the army during world war ii, mercifully in the states, so is there, are there any stories that you could tell, as far as being at blackboard, were you part of the integration activities, or desegregation activities that would go on in ohio or indiana or kentucky . I think i covered them before. At the start of integration, in june of 90 49, when i went to japan, that was the start of integration. Thats when i grow like i said before, i went, and i was assigned to a squadron there. Their, during my whole military career, i didnt have any problems whatsoever. One thing, i was good. I was the best in the squadron. To put it bluntly. And they dont come any better. We proved it. You are the best thats right. Integration is something that we had to reach and conquer. If you have the attitude, even in civilian life, theres an attitude, i am the best in class, wherever you are. After the war, integration took over. And during my life, in the military, and my life in civilian life, still. I am the best everybody says, well, how did you feel . What do you mean, how did i feel . Im fighting the system im trying to join this country as a human being. And it was tough at certain times, even in the military, segregation was still i am the best. Somebody said, did you cry . Heck now laughs i cant cause like i used to to express myself. I existed, hell. I had a good time doing it to you Better Believe it so an hour few minutes that we have left, id like to give you the opportunity to give us, once you left the military, what was your profession . What did you do as far as where you a doctor, a lawyer . I took care of mamas deer snottynosed brats for 35 years. I was a schoolteacher the best thing in the world. I had a ball. I taught elementary science. In other words, why did that airplane stay in the air . What do you mean, stall . What happens . And how do clouds form . To explain these things to a fifth grader, and all of a sudden you look at him and say, oh yeah, bingo. This is the best feeling in the world. Why what happens when an airplane why doesnt airplane stall . Real quickly, i can do this, in about two or three minutes. The shape of the wing, is round, it comes out, kind of like a hump, as it goes through the air. The air going off the top of the wing has to go up and then it comes down. The air on the bottom of the wing, the wind goes right straight through. Its not affected. But by going up and going down a little bit, it produces a poll. Lift you have to go a certain speed, going through the air, to make that air go up and come down. Lift a plain ordinary airplane, about 90, 95, if it goes below that, 70, you dont get that lift. Why does the airplane stall . Youd be surprised doing experiments in a classroom, we have fun. Producing lift. Understanding why did airplane having to go 90 miles an hour, or 100, to produce that air going across the top. Lift part of my life was teaching science, and id say, improving these youngsters. With this attitude, i am the best sob in the world because life is great. Life is great you better enjoy it, because nobody else can make you feel the way i feel. Colonel harvey . What was your profession. What was your chosen profession once you left the military . I stayed in the military, and i retired in may of 1965. And i had four daughters, and then i had my wife, of course, so i needed a job, and so united was in town, interviewing, so i applied for united and he said, you need all of our qualifications except one. We have a cut off of 35. Okay, i said. So i retired in madison, wisconsin. At that time that was the home office for oscar mire, and i interviewed with oscar meyer, and this was in may of 65 when i interviewed, and i interviewed for about a week with everybody, just shy of oscar himself, and they said you are hired, when do you want to go to work . I said i retired the 31st of may and i would like a week off, they said okay, report the 7th of june. So i reported the 7th of june to oscar meyer and at that facility they had slaughter through the completion of all of their products, so my training was a slaughter through the end, was a three month program. One month into the program they needed a salesman in northeastern new jersey. So they sent me there. So i was a salesman for three years in northeastern new jersey, and then i was transferred to detroit, michigan, as a district manager and then i was transferred to philadelphia to the plant as an assistant sales manager, and then, during this time at a philadelphia plant, oscar meyer held marketing conferences and in my position at the plant i was eligible to attend these conferences so in 71 we had a marketing conference at disney world and disney world hadnt completely open yet, only part of it was open and thats how we had our conference, so the last day of the conference i am sitting in the dining hall, by myself, in a booth, and the president of oscar mayer, comes in and says, may i join you . I said yes. And we started talking. And he said, we started talking about promotions, he said we sent a guy to seattle, who was previously in the Western Region and he knew our operation very well so that is why we sent him up there. The opening in Salt Lake City where, did assigned you there because of the mormons and the blacks, it just doesnt wear, and he said where would you like to go . I said, well i would like to go to denver, but i know the Center Manager in denver does well, and that was it. In april of 72, i got a call from headquarters in madison, wisconsin, and they said go to los angeles for interview for a job in denver. So i went to los angeles, past the interview and was assigned to denver. The Center Manager in denver was transferred to st. Louis, missouri, it was a larger distribution center, anyway, in denver i had ten salesman, to district managers, three secretaries, and i had a cooler facility and the company would sign products in, our keep them in my cooler and we would fill all orders for the stores and supermarkets out of the cooler, so i was in that job for seven years, and then i retired from oscar mayer, a total of 14 years, retired in may of 1970, i put in 14 years with them. So i went from flying airplanes to selling winners. laughs it was a good job though. He was the best. Right. laughs applause all right, col. Peterburs, if you could give us well, my profession was the military so when i retired i spent 36 years, five months and active duty and now i am 40 years retired. Wow. So i was able to retire after active duty. So there is our range. After i got out i got my masters, and that went really well but i didnt want much to interfere with my retirement. There you go. Thats music to my ears, by the way. Yes, sir, colonel harvey . During my whole life, a youngster all the way through until i got married, i was a perfectionist. And there is nothing a perfectionist cannot do. And washing out and, then never entered my mind. Perfectionists can do anything. Then i got married. laughs i had to put that on hold. When my wife passed away, i went back to my old procedures. I did not have a worry going through flying school. I never entered my mind that i was going to watch out. And thats why are like i said, i went back to my old ways. I can do anything up to a point. laughs very nice. This bothers me. So again, we appreciate everyone coming in and taking their time and learning. I encourage you to take the programs back with the names of the gentleman here, Lieutenant Colonel james harvey, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Jefferson and, colonel joseph peterburs. Take those names back, google them, look them up, and learn, a lot more than we have time to learn today. But we want to show our appreciation for them coming in, and participating in the program. applause thank you. Thank you. Journal, before you leave, i wanted to let you know that youre not the only guy that got out of the air force, and went to work for oscar mayer. As did i in fact, i frequently, when i talked to kids, i frequently tell them i probably am the only guy thats actually driven they wienermobile. And i worked out of the philadelphia plant, but i was down here for oscar mayer in the sixties, so we crossed paths, and i remember the meeting in florida, at disney world, which had not been finish yet, when we were down there. So its a small world. You just never know. Yes it. Is thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. History on two feet applause thank you