Whenever he talks on the subject, he always shapes that evidence. If been pointed out is wrong, he continues to show it in the same way. That is what i think there is such junk science in the kennedy case. Junk science is everywhere in the case. Thank you very much. [applause] youre watching American History tv, all weekend, every weekend, on cspan3. To join the conversation, like us on facebook and cspan history. History bookshelf features popular American History writers and airs on American History tv every weekend at this time. Were letters war letters is a collection of letters for military personnel from every major american conflict since the civil war. In this event from 2002 at the library of congress, Andrew Carroll is joined by guests including chuck hagel and former senator bob dole in a reading of passages from the book. This is about an hour. Good evening. The library of congress. Im john cole, the director of the librarys center for the book, and here tonight we are here tonight for a historical event, to reintroduce the Armed Services editions, and especially the idea of distributing free books to our servicemen and women and to our veterans. In other words, on the initiative of Andrew Carroll, who i will introduce any moment, we are launching a great big book giveaway. The original Armed Services were part of a cooperative venture between the American Publishing industry and the u. S. Government that took place between 1943 and 1947. In these years, the government distributed to american servicemen and women nearly 123 1322on copies of the popular titles that were published in the series. The books included bestselling fiction, classics, mysteries, history, poetry, westerns, and even reference books. You can see many of these books in a small exhibit as you leave the lecture hall tonight. The exhibit is located just outside the door. He will understand what i mean when i say that these flat, at a pocketable books special trait that i think endeared them to the Publishing Community and probably made it ok for the publishers to work with the government. There is a photograph of the hardbound for sale copy of the book on the front of each of these giveaway paper bounce. Paperbounds. Subtitled a novel of husbands and wives. s introduce hundreds of thousands of u. S. Servicemen and women to reading for the very first time. I have a letter tonight from the. Irst Lady Laura Bush the center for the book has had both barbara bush and laura bush as our honorary chair people during our reading promotion campaign. Im afraid this is just heart of what happens to me when i start bush family. T the we are grateful to all of them. Laura bush is also honorary chairperson of our promotion reading campaign, and host of the National Book festival, which she chairs in which the library of congress sponsors and which we are planning to have but have not officially announced for october of this year. Lets hope. [applause] this is from laura bush. Im pleased to send greetings as you gather at the center of the book to participate in the launching of this wonderful project. When mr. Andrew carroll contacted me about the legacy project and its aims, i became an immediate and enthusiastic supporter. My father served in the 104th Infantry Division in world war ii and im sure he was one of those young soldiers who eagerly awaited the next shipment of Armed Services editions to come his way. The legacyd that project is reinitiate in the publication and distribution of and i can just imagine the smiles this endeavor will bring to the faces of our troops, wherever they may be. I applaud mr. Carols initiative in erecting the project and compiling the war letters. Cure lake clearly, his request for letters from all over the country struck a responsive chord in thousands of people. Im sure you will enjoy hearing , and i encourage you to spread the word about this excellent effort. With best wishes, laura bush. [applause] the library of congress has its own complementary and still comparatively young veterans project. In october 2000, the u. S. Congress voted unanimously to create the veterans history project, which is located in the librarys american folklife center. Its mission is to collect the memories, accounts, and documents of war veterans from world war i, world war ii, and the korean, vietnam, and persian gulf wars, and to preserve these stories of excellence and service for future generations. Two of tonights speakers, senator hagel and former senator dole, are members of the projects fivestar advisory council. Brochures describing this project are available in the itty room. Anteroom. I would like to ask the director of the project. If you would like more information or have questions, please see ellen or one of her colleagues after reception. Thank you, ellen. [applause] as laura bush and the Washington Post this morning noted, Andrew Carroll is the mastermind behind this project and the book war letters, extraordinary correspondence from american wars, which has just been published in paperback, and which will also be sold after reception tonight. All the proceeds from the sales go to veterans and other charitable groups. Including many hats, one as the director of the american poetry and literacy project grade tonight he is wearing his hat as director of the legacy project, a National Effort to collect and preserve american war letters written to introduce tonights program, i am pleased to present Andrew Carroll. [applause] good evening. Thank you all for coming out, particularly those of you who had traveled long distances to be here. I am especially grateful to john cole and everyone here at the center for the book. They have been phenomenal to work with. I have barraged them over the past several months with an endless stream of anxious faxes, emails, phone calls. There are kidnappers less demanding than i have been and they have been a joy to work with. This is a historic occasion and all the more so because of these seven extraordinary readings we have tonight. And so we are grateful beyond words to them, as well. In the interest of time, its not possible to list all the people who made this evening and this project possible, but i do want to say a special thanks to the veterans of foreign wars, this folks in mrs. Bushs office. The folks at the pentagon have been incredible. I am eternally grateful to them. The folks at jeep, which i will explain in a moment and the volunteers who are here, some of them drove up from North Carolina to help out tonight. A brief word about the legacy project and why we are here. Today marks the beginning of National Military appreciation month. And i am happy to see that al ex wax has been instrumental in bringing attention to this is here with us tonight. And we figured what better way to honor those who have served and those who are serving in this country than through their own words, the letters theyve written home. The sole mission of the legacy project is to encourage americans to seek out and preserve these letters before theyre lost forever. Since 98, we have received over 60,000 never before seen letters from every war in our nations history. People have found these in their attics, their basements, their closets and they offer unprecedented insight into what the true nature of warfare is and the sacrifices and demands from those who fight. I cant emphasize enough that we are still looking for letters. If you have a veteran, if you know a veteran, if you know someone who is in the service, were looking for their emails, their correspondence. We only need photocopies, not originals. If you want more information on how to reach us, its in the war letters book and on our website, warletters. Com. The other reason were here tonight is to celebrate the release of the first Armed Services edition in 55 years. As john mentioned, the u. S. Government working with the military and the Publishing Industry gave out 120 million of these little books in that cargo pocket size, all different titles. I know john showedd one of his. I could not resist bringing one of mine. I love the more offbeat titles. This is a book, one of the first pop Psychology Health selfhelp books. It is called make the most of your life. You can imagine a young g. I. In the trenches think about [laughter] across this chapter. There are a few sentences that struck me. Its a chapter for those who feel that their looks are an impediment to success. And the author writes, if only i werent so ugly in appearance, these people might say, i would have a chance to succeed. To this he replyies, with can very few exceptions, the people that have changed the world are physically misshapen and unattractive. Why, just sit in the galleries of our congress and look them over. [laughter] clearly, success is not a beauty contest. [laughter] this, of course, is in no reflection of the congressmen and senators we have here tonight who are all very handsome men. Are they still here . Ok. Good. Theyre still here. For years, i wanted to bring these books back and thanks to john and many of the people, we were able to do this. And so i am proud to present to you the first Armed Services edition since world war ii, formatted in the first cargo pocket size of the original. Although the war letters is not the first to be published since world war ii. I desperately hope its not the last. I would like to bring back a new generation of titles, black hawk down, dday, flags to our fathers, whatever it may be and to bring back this great tradition of giving free words to the troops. Every one of you tonight will receive a free copy of this as you leave. We would be grateful if you would help us spread the word about this project in the military, in the media, in the Publishing Industry with the veterans groups. I have one small favor to ask you. Technically, these books are only supposed to go to the military. This is a special occasion and we wanted you all to have a copy. But if word gets out that were just giving these away everywhere, it will be absolute pandaemonium and we wont be up with demand. So i would be extremely grateful if we could keep tonights give away just between us and everyone watching on cspan. By all means, spread the word about the project. Just dont let on you got a book. It will be our secret. In all seriousness, thank you very much for coming. Enjoy the reading, enjoy the book and here we go. Our first reader served in the u. S. Army. Active duty from 19561959. In 1961 he was in washington, d. C. Eventually he went to work with abc news where he has been for the past 35 years. If i were to list all of the awards hes won, including four emmys, we would be here all evening. Suffice it to say, he is the coanchor of this week with Sam Donaldson and cokeky roberts he. Hes also quite simply one of the most respected journalists working today and it is a great honor to introduce Sam Donaldson. [applause] thank you. Thank you, andrew. What does that little book say about reporters, by the way . I think some people believe if we do have a final armageddon, there will be three forms of life left on earth, cockroaches, coyotes and reporters. I would like to argue against it. I was very lucky. I did serve in the army for 2 1 2 years, but we didnt have a war on at that time. The closest i got to it was in nevada, the 3,000 yards away from ground zero when they blew up an atomic device equal to the nagasaki bomb. Some people say that explains it, but i think thats a cunnard that we had better leave at that point. Letters are a dying art. We have email, not just the telephone. And it is a wonderful thing that youre doing with these and i have the privilege of reading three letters from world war ii. Lets begin. Though i know i can never become a killer, a young navy pilot wrote to his mother in 1942, i will never feel right until ive actually fought. Being physically able and young enough, i believe i belong out in the front and the sooner there, the better. Less than a year later, the young pilot was in combat and his enthusiasm for battle had tempered. Oh, mom, he wrote home, i hope my brothers and my own children never have to fight a war. Friends disappearing, lives being extinguished, its just not right. You probably guessed that that young navy pilot was 22yearold lieutenant George Herbert walker bush. On september 2nd, 1944, bush almost became a casualty himself in the war when his plane was attacked and caught on fire off the island of tujima. Bush jumped from the plane, striking his forehead on the tail and parachuted into the ocean. Injured, but conscious, he was picked up hours later. While on the sub, bush frequently typed letters home to his parents and the following was written two weeks after he had been rescued. Dear mom and dad, several days have slipped by since i last sap sat down before this machine. Days not without excitement. Gradually, im becoming more use to this life. At first, i missed my daily bath. But now i am used to my weekly one. Today was the big day. With my back comes a clean set of clothes. Bath comes a scenic lead of clean set of clothes. But unfortunately, i only came equipped with pants, drawers and flying jacket. I have been on the mid watch for the last few days. That puts me on watch from 12 00 to 2 00 at night and from 12 00 to 3 00 during the day. If were submerged, i dont stand watch for obvious reasons. I am certainly eager to get back to the squadron now. I can picture the letters on my desk and i long to tear into them. I havent heard from bar for almost a month. Did i tell you about my goatee . It started off beautifully, but gradually developed into a joke. So today, off it came. If worse comes to worse, however, im convinced that i can grow a fairly presentable goatee, given plenty of time. Did you ever see that oaks girl with the funny nickname . I cant remember it for the life of me. She was my downfall. Well, ive rambled on long enough. Much, much love to all the family and yourself, papi. Now, what i want to know, we know who bar is. Who is that oaks girl and what happened . The second letter, also from world war ii, across the globe in italy and not long after george bush sent that letter home that i just read, another young world war ii pilot and future politician was writing letters to friends and family about his experiences. He was also interested in what was going on back in the United States. And in november, 1944, he wrote to a friend about the upcoming election between franklin d. Roosevelt and the republican nominee, thomas dewey. His opinions about the two candidates could not have been stronger. Listen to this. Dear bob, i suppose youve been following the political battles of dewey and fdr with your usual interest. Id lost track of them, but the stars and stripes have revived my interest. Im going to be more than disgusted if dewey doesnt win. I really think we need a man like dewey in there now. For one thing, he has a fairly definite attitude toward everything really vital and thats something no new deal has certainly established. I believe dewey will give businesses the confidence in the government they havent had for quite some time now. I like his plan for a simpler and definite tax policy. Have you read his recent eightpoint platform . It seems very good to me. It especially like the vigor and efficiency that hes shown in the past and even the way hes conducting himself in this campaign. I think hell do a lot toward clearing up the dozen and one messes the government is in now. Well, i hope this letter finds you ok, bob, in good spirits. Your friend, George Mcgovern. [laughter] if they found this letter in 1972, he might have lost the election. Of course, George Mcgovern would be awarded both the air medal and the distinguished flying cross for his bravery under fire, something he almost never spoke about during his political campaign. There is a book out, wild blue, the great book. Read it. Hes a true hero. And the third letter from the pacific, in his early 40s at only 58, the war correspondent ernie pile lived, eight, but you thinked, drank and marched with american gis in order to depict as accurately as possible the hardships that they endured. In 1943, he had won the Pulitzer Prize and his columns were appearing in hundreds of newspapers back in the United States. His private letters, especially to his old friend and editor Page Cavanaugh were whimmical and sometimes bawdy accounts of life on the front lines. In north africa, pile sent off the following in 1943, yours of the 23rd new members at hand, ive been at the front for seven solid weeks. Although you may not believe it, i like it up there because life becomes so wonderfully simple. You sleep, merely by picking out a level spot to throw your bed roll. You never wash at all or take off your clothes. Crapping is a slight problem because you have to take down about nine layers of clothing and expose yourself to the cruel tunisian chill. I took my first bath in five weeks and immediately came down with a bad cold. I practically have become a teetotaler. The reason is obvious. There isnt much to be had. Ive gone for weeks without a single drink and actually, i feel 1,000 times better, though i hate to admit it. Thanks for sending me the tom trainer columns. I think hes a much better writer than i am. Too bad he doesnt make nearly as much money, teehee. [laughter] i heard just a few weeks ago from washington pete branson had been knocked off. I was sorry, surprised. Somehow i thought it would never happen to him. And weve just had word that it has happened to Ben Robertson of the herald tribune. An old and good friend of mine. The war has been tough. Get me off the tone, would you . Loving embraces to your wife. So weve learned how you take a crap in the cold tunisian chill. And he signed it, a bull abooboo. Well, there were approximately 100 war corespondents killed in combat in the 20th century. Almost half died in world war ii. Pile, as you know, became one of them. Following a convoy of trucks on the tiny Pacific Island of ba sh ima, pyle and several other men were riding in a jeep suddenly raked with machine gunfire. No one was hit. They dove into a roadside ditch a few seconds ernie poked his head up, smiled and called out to one of the men, are you all right . And in that brief moment, a japanese sniper shot ernie pyle to the head. Thank you. [applause] just a quick note about the letters that mr. Donaldson read, like all the letters in the book, they are previously unpublished and president bush very kindly sent me his first letter where he kindly sent me the letter that he signed off on and the ernie pyle letter thats never been seen before, either. The next reader is one of our most distinguished members from the armed forces. From december 1998 to august 2001, she served as deputy secretary assistant to defense and the most senior ranking woman in the u. S. Military. She is the first and only woman in American History to achieve the rank of vice admiral. Her personal declarations include the Navy Distinguished service medal, three legion of merit awards and three Meritorious Service medals. She will be reading letters by women who have served this nation in wartime. It is a great, great honor to issue to introduce you to patricia a. Tracy. [applause] thank you. This project is wonderful. Im privileged to spend every single day with men and women whose courage and spirit is reflected in these kinds of letters. And to have a little bit of time to share what its like to be around those people with you is a great privilege. The first letter im going to read tonight is from the gulf war era. It was sent by sandy mitten. She was manning a 50 caliber machine gun. She wrote on january 22nd, 1991 to her mother. Dear mom, well, we are five days into war. Amazing, isnt it . These are trying times in these past five days and im sure there will be many more before i leave here. Im fine and i plan not staying plan on staying that way. Weve had some pretty close calls. Two nights ago, the patriots went off right from our port, which is about one mile from our compound. There was a terrible boom when it went off and a second book boom when it broke the sound barrier. There was debris all over. If i ever had any doubts about whether next p. M. Back again. In the middle of that sentence, we had a scud attack. You should have seen it. People are really doing strange things now and emotions were high. Tempers short. Iraq ended up putting a missile or two into israel again. That country isnt going to hold back much longer. I cant blame them. Hussein is trying to kill civilians. Before this all came about, i wondered if i would really be able to use my weapon against someone else. I have no question now. You know, like so many others, i prayed for a peaceful end before this. But now that i isnt peaceful, and it wont be, i just want to do whatever it has to be done to get this whole damn mess over with. Its now become a situation where if i shoot and i end up killing someone, if they were trying to do me in, thats just too bad. I thought i would never say that, but it really does put a different light on things when youre right here not knowing what to expect next. Well, mom, take care and god bless you. Keep praying. Every little bit helps. Love, your daughter, sandy. Whats remarkable about this letter is that at the time sandy mitten wrote it, she was a grandmother. She was known as the gulf war granny. She joined the navy in 1959. In 1974, she joined the coast guard reserves. Shes alive and well today. She is retired from the military and she lives in the midwest. My second letter is from world war ii and describes a very different set of circumstances. Not all the letters that were written home were about combat circumstances. This is where from a young woman in the summer of 1945 who as an army nurse wrote to her sister about a memorable trip to rome while she was stationed overseas. Dear betty, today was my turn to go to the vatican. Two catholic nurses from another hospital joined us as we were crossing. There were thousands of gis at the audience with the pope. We stood in the front row. The pope stopped right in front of me. Hes as small as i am. I gave him a big smile and he extended his ring for me to kiss. Methodists dont do that sort of thing, kissing old mens rings, as you well know, so i didnt. If one thinks of the sanitary aspects of that custom, its repulsive. Instead, i extended my hand to him and gave him a happy, hearty handshake. We chatted briefly. I told him i came from wisconsin. Also about the great fishing there. And put in a good word for father. The catholic nurses on either side of me wanted to hit me over the head when it was over. They were burned up because he didnt speak to them and wasted his attention on me. They broke out a package of cigarettes and started to smoke in the vatican. To me, that was a sacrilege. I have an infected finger from a jab with a dirty needle in the o. R. The medicine ive been taking has made me sluggish. Love, june. And in last letter is from albania written in may 1999 by a 24yearold u. S. Army captain from westchester, pennsylvania. She was a peace keeper in albania, so a very different kind of experience. Hope all is well on the home front. Things are progressing day by day here. Last friday, i went on patrol with guys from the 82nd airborne infantry. They gave me a hard time at first when i showed up saying that congress wouldnt allow me them to take a woman on combat patrol. I told them to stuff it. [laughter] it was good to get outside the wire and see what this country is all about. As we drove through a local village, children swarmed the vehicle shouting mre and chocolate. The people would also say please dont leave albania. The town itself was decrepit, the buildings and houses had no windows and appeared to be crumbling. We asked around and finally found the village elder doctor schoolteacher mayor. He was a distinguished older man with impressive charisma. The most moving part of the experience was talking with this man and realizing the flight of these people. Plight of these people. His eyes cheered when he spoke of his appreciation for the United States and he thanked us for being here. As we left, all of the schoolchildren had gathered outside. They were light and dark. They had different color hair and they were all good spirited. Children are children, i suppose. For the first time, i felt the impact of our presence here. It makes me all the more grateful for all that i have and all the more humble. Please pray for the victims over here. They are much more our brothers and sisters than we know. I love you and miss you very much. Chris. Thank you. [applause] tonight of course marks a special event with the Armed Services edition. We have organized many readings like this before. Last year, we had senator mccain, roberts, Chris Buckley and some other very prominent washingtonians reading war letters. Weve organized smaller readings around the country. In all that time, we have never had a veteran read his own letters until tonight. This gentleman went to extraordinary efforts to find his letters and were extremely grateful for that. I know he will cringe at this term but he is a true war shero. In side byin vietnam 1968, side with his brother and they were both squad leaders in the armys 9th Infantry Division. He received many military decorations including two purple hearts for injuries sustained in combat and he is, of course, currently the u. S. Senator from nebraska. It is a great honor to introduce senator chuck hagel. [applause] andrew, thank you. Chief justice has just arrived, senator doyle, sir. He didnt want to miss your presentation. Let me first thank andrew and john and the library of congress for what are you doing. I think everyone in this room realizes the impact, not that i would have, others here tonight will have, but the completeness of what is being transferred tonight and the way that is being transferred. We are a remarkable nation for many reasons, but certainly most important among them is that we respect those who have given of themselves and their Selfless Service to causes much more important and much nobler an than their own self interests. And that is what is reflected tonight as much as anything else. And those of us who are privileged tonight to participate, and i surely am to be in the company of the readers that you have chosen, i appreciate this opportunity. I also appreciate the opportunity to become acquainted with a book on how to succeed when you have limitations that chaerly rangels never had that problem, nor bob dole, but mere mortals like me, ive had to struggle. But i am very much in the debt of you, andrew, for your imagination and your focus on putting something together much larger and grander than your own selfinterests. Thank you. Id like to share with you tonight a couple of letters. They will most likely not be in their completeness because they would be, i think, too boring. And i would begin with a letter from my father, who wrote this letter to his mother on june 10th, 1940. You might ask why would i read such a letter. It does have some relevance to it, not only the fact that he had something to do with me being here tonight, but 18 months after this letter was written, my father was in the 13th Army Air Corps getting ready to go to the South Pacific where he served for 2 1 2 years as a Radio Operator tail gunner on a b25. My father came back in 1945 and he and my mother were married on valentines day in 1946. In october of 1946, i was born. If you want to count that up, it fits, admiral, it does. Little things you check in life before you offer yourself for a public candidacy, and i thats one of them. They always told me, bob, before you ever decide to run for office, make sure youre legitimate. And so my father and mother married on valentines day 1945, went on to have four sons. And my father died when i was 16 years old in high school. Id like to begin with part of his letter to his mother and then move on to a couple letters that my brother, tom, wrote, who was a great disappointment to all of us. He became a lawyer. But nonetheless, he was a very valiant warrior and a far better soldier than i, and as you will quickly discern, a far better writer than me. And then i will make a meager contribution, andrew, and a couple of short letters i wrote to my mother and my brother, mike, and my brother, jim, who were still in columbus, nebraska when tom and i served together in vietnam with the 9th Infantry Division, 1948. 1968. June 10th, 1940. June 10 happens to be the birthday of my wife, so i found this also to be a bit of one of those the stars aligned and, jan, i couldnt go wrong. And you know how she always looks for the microphone and camera, and i can hardly pry her away. Thats a joke, by the way. She never has. Dearest mother, i hope you will forgive me for not writing sooner, but i have been so busy that i just didnt have much time to write. My father had been out of High School One month and had a job as a salesman in this little town in the sand hills of nebraska, about 1200 people. I hope youre having a wonderful and restful time in denver, colorado, where my grandmother was visiting her sister. We are all well and hope to stay that way if we didnt die of food poisoning. It mainly occurs at supper. Im getting along just fine with my work and that is not all. I rated first in my sales class saturday the 8th. I beat the boss and ruby h. And mr. Remmington said i was really doing well. And really doing a fine job, and i was becoming a very good salesman. Mother, i dont want to worry you, but there is a bill being passed in congress this week shed always worry when a bill was being passed in congress a bill is being passed in congress this week and the bill says that all men and boys between the ages of 17 and 45 have to take military training. I think its a draft. But it doesnt mean that were going to go to war. Ive heard of the war talk. I dont think well go to war because hitler is too afraid of the United States of america. And my father goes on to make some personal comments to his mother and ends the letter by saying, dont worry, mom, it will work out. Well, i think im going to go now and do some other important things, but dont think im neglecting you. But, gosh, you know, im not very good at writing letters. So ill close for now, your loving son, charles dean. I began with my fathers letter because he set a standard in our family that was very important for all of us. And so i thought it was important to share the beginning of my presentation with you this way. My brother, tom, who later became the extinguished Law School Professor who has written 12 books now was not a good writer, barely got out of high school. He freely acknowledges that. So my mother printed up a series of postcards that were selfaddressed and were had stamps. She did everything but write the letter for my brother. And so she would send these to tom and there were not high expectations. And you can understand better in one of his responses. This was a response he sent back to my mother in april of 1968. Again, its a postcard, five cents in those day, by the way. Her name is on the postcard with her address dated columbus, nebraska. Then in columbus, nebraska. And my prolific brother writes, no salutation, just two down, ten to go. Well, hell, uptight, great shape as usual, tom. [laughter] this is a march 1968 letter that i wrote, and i normally would sign my brother toms name to it for obvious reasons. So this march 1968, march 19th, 1968 letter begins, deer, mom, mike and jim. Today thomas hagel took part in his first patrol. Did an outstanding job, i think. Now, the significance of that is that when my brother first got to vietnam, he went up to the dmz and was assigned to then colonel George Pattons 11th armored cab, the famous general pattons son who as i think we all know became a general, as well. And tom was with patton for about a month before he was transferred down to the dmz where i was with the 9th division, and were still uncertain as to how that happened because the army is so good at coordinating everything. And we suspected wed never see each other in vietnam and somehow it all worked out. So he then was transferred to my unit and beginning of this letter is telling my mother and my two brothers at home that he had just gone out on the first patrol with us. Well, that successful patrol, be that as it may, the First Sergeant actually assigned tom to my platoon, second platoon, and my squad, third squad. So really we cant get any closer. Im concerned about that. He even sleeps approximately two feet from me. This is not good. We both realize the consequences that could develop if something would happen, but we have accepted this fact, so no problem. Both of us are fine and our spirits are very high. Hope things are going smooth at home. We love you all. Chuck and tom. This was about two weeks before, ten days before tom and i were wounded together the first time. This is a letter sent april 12th, 1968. Dear mom, mike and jim. Easter is almost here and we havent even given it a thought. But we did think about jim. Jim was our youngest brother. Getting his tonsils out. It must have been painful. Tom and i had our tonsils out, so we knew it was not a happy time. Hope things went well and hes recovering. Today tom received a package from his friend, bill german, also today we moved in to the rubber plantation. Were scheduled to stay here for about a month. Its not too bad here. Although its hot as hell. It rains damn near constantly morning, noon and night. And the humidity is unreal. We just heard that tom was promoted to specialist fourth class. The First Sergeant told him personally. That was impressive. We dont talk to First Sergeants. You understand that, admiral, you dont talk to probably any of those guys either, do you . Theyre intimidating. They are for me. Hell get his orders for specialist fourth class this week sometime we think. This will officially proclaim now he is of my rank. Hes really tickled about it. And im glad for him. He deserves it. I think it gave him a big boost. Love, chuck and tom. Well, you shouldnt say anything unless you have something to say, andrew, and thats the way we did it. This is the july 1968 letter. The significance of this letter is many of you know 1968 is when the tet offensive occurred and it was in late february, lunar new year. You might recall about two months later, the north vietnamese and vietcong regrouped and attacked again in june of 1968. And so this letter was early july during the second offensive and our unit was brought into saigon and into the area around saigon, which was a chinese district. It was pretty much destroyed after the first offensive. Dear mom, mike and jim. Only time for a short line, but we wanted to let you know that were both fine. Weve been fighting in saigon for the last three days. Our entire battalion, many casualties. No doubt youll be hearing about the second of the 47th infantry in saigon. There seem to be a lot of Television Cameras around. Even then i was a shameless politician looking for a camera, but tom and i were called back to bear cat. That was our division base camp. To start nco Academy Training tomorrow. Im a little surprised they would take tom and i both together. Well, tom and i will be competing against each other in the nco academy. We already know that the hagel brothers have the first and second spots nailed down. Its just a matter of which hagel gets first. Actually, neither hagel got first. We did get through, but we did not score in the i think tom remembers it differently than i. I think i was third, he was fourth. But he doesnt think so. We will go back into saigon if were still there in the next week. Also, as you may have guessed, there will be no r r for the next couple months. R and r, i think most of you know, is rest and relaxation. And in vietnam, unlike korea, Charlie Rangel and world war ii, bob dole, you didnt have those like we had them in vietnam. Ive always talked about one of the main differences between those of us who served in vietnam and those who served in other wars, we knew there was an end. At the end of 12 months if you were an enlisted man or 13 if you were a marine, you left. Youd come back, but you knew you would go home. What the world war ii veterans that had to deal with in korea, they were uncertain. There was great uncertainty, especially world war ii, as to how this would all end. That was as much on the personal side of this, the big difference between those who served in vietnam and the other wars. So we all desperately looked forward to that r and r, which incidentally we did take about two months later and tom and i went to hawaii where we met my grandmother and my mother and my brothers and more aunts than i ever knew i had. The aunts all had to come and cheer on the war effort. And i know most of those women were not relatives, but nonetheless, my mother let them come. It was nice to see them. So the remainder of this letter is that we will put another time together for an r and r and we know youre disappointed and we are disappointed. Well, ladies and gentlemen, i am grateful for an opportunity to share these letters. I did spend some time over the weekend going through a good many of these letters that my mother has. That is one of the things that heavy burdens that god gave mothers is to keep letters from your sons and daughters, and im glad she did. And it was an interesting time over the weekend to go back over that and especially read letters from colleagues and friends who had served not with me but in other parts of vietnam at other times and what they had to say about their experience and about their families and what this country meant to them. Thank you very much. [applause] i just want to emphasize again that we are still looking for war letters. This is not directed to anyone in particular, say youre a senator, school teacher, and you might have letters from vietnam. Wed be interested in seeing them. Just photocopies is all we need. On april 14th, 1945, our next reader was a 21yearold Second Lieutenant with the 10th Mountain Division fighting the germans in the hills of italy. On this particular day, he was leading a very dangerous raid and he saw one of his men get hit. He rushed out to take him back to safety in a shell hole and in doing, so he made himself an easy target. These were machine guns and artilleries exploding all around him and moments later, he was shot right through the right shoulder and it did extensive damage and in fact temporarily paralyzed him. It would be 9 hours before he would get real medical treatment in a hospital. And when he arrived, many people said he would not survive. He, of course, did. He returned to russell, kansas, went to law school and eventually went into politics. In 1968, he was elected to the United States senate and eventually became its majority leader. In 1966, he resigned to run for the presidency. I dont think im betraying any confidences by saying that didnt exactly pan out. But less than a year later, he was awarded the president ial medal of freedom, our nations highest honor for his service to this country. Because is he best known for his service with the 10th Mountain Division, his sense of humor and his patriotism, we have chosen three letters for him that relate to all three and it is a great honor to intoroduce senator bob dole. [applause] i wonder if there are any other just have all the world war ii veterans stand. [applause] i ask people sometimes wonder what would happen had we not won world war ii. Would we be here tonight. Probably not. I dont know what language wed be speaking or who would let us speak, so it was sort of an important occasion. And youre talking about books. I talked to my reviewer in new york, i said have you read my last book, and he said i hope so. So maybe we can get that in the next group that goes out. I remember trying to find the letters that i had written back home to my parents and others a and hope to run across those one of these days. World war ii was a very defining moment in the last century. After we got home we had the g. I. Bill of rights. To many of us had the money go on to college. You can see what education means, and how important it is, and even today as we talk about letters, its all about education. So im honored to read three letters from world war ii veterans and the following was written in the spring of 1944 by two stationed in england. The two young men were desperate for male and appealed to total strangers to write to mail and appealed to total strangers to write to. And this is written to Elizabeth Jane. This is a fan letter. You see you wrote a letter to a friend of yours, c. W. Foust. My executive officer and i saw your beautiful and neat handwriting, smelled the sweet perfume on the letter head, and said anyone who sends such letters must be more wonderful than lana turner, betty hufton and ingrid burgman put together. We then said why not write her a letter. So i, me, her this is it. Let me explain we are two very lonely lads and our morale is very low. We have hearts of gold but girls never seem to bother finding it out once looking at our comical faces. My executive officers name is bill. He graduated from georgia tech in february. As for looks, he doesnt really have any. He claims he was born in a way, but i dont believe god could make a man with ears like that. I dont think he has any eyes, at least a never been able to find them. He says he can see, so i guess that settles that. He has eyes. His nose looks like a very large red apple. Its his best feature. At least you know he has a nose. His mouth is really a good looking one, except that he has no lips. Were at a loss to explain why he just has no lips. I should stop here, but i wont. His physique he has 26 inch shoulders and a 36 inch waist. He claims he had a girl once, but i doubt it. Anyway, every day he wishes he would get a letter from a girl but he never does. , couldnt you surprise him with one just for the morale of the boys in the service . Girls dont like me either, but im really a swell guy. Im not good looking, but i think i have a sort of inner beauty. I cant explain why they dont discover it. To begin with, i have beautiful red eyes. At least you can see mine. And i have a long firmly formed nose and i think my lips are a little thick, but you wouldnt notice them much if i didnt lisp. But at least i dont stutter like bill. Perhaps youre looking for a good upstanding young man to fall for. Have you considered falling for lct man . That was Landing Craft tanker. They used to hall tankers around. Haul tankers around. Lct men. Dont the word just thrill you . Were heros. And ending saying it has been fun knowing you already and you havent even answered us. Dont forget to first of all, fall in love with us, and, second, write us a letter. So until we hear from you, goodbye and we eagerly a wait your answer. Bubbling over with unwanted love. President and Vice President of the Elizabeth Jane fan club of england. [laughter] these guys were good. Post number one, membership closed. She did respond, but she was in love and would go on to marry a pilot. But she did respond to the letter. Now andrew said i was in the tenth Mountain Division. Of course theyre now in afghanistan. Different group obviously. And thankfully. But there were a lot of casualties. It was in april and the war was about to end and except somebody hadnt told the people i guess in italy. So there were a lot of casualties. Sam, in fact, was over there, Sam Donaldson, and filmed the area in which i was actually wounded, at least i told him it was. We sort of reached the age at world war ii, we started off with 16 1 2 million, and there are less than five million of us now, and we can tell almost any story we want. Right . Theres nobody around to correct it. Were all going to be heros before this isoff, i know. This is a rather tough letter, but i think as andrew said, probably worth reading just one of these. In early may have 1945, the german army surrendered to the ally forces, but the authority expressed by Many American soldiers in their lefrts home was not shared by all. Some were unable take to get the terrible cost of that victory. Max, a 24yearold sergeant with the tenth Mountain Division, which was mine, sent the following letter to a friend back in state college, pennsylvania. May 6, 1945. Dear russ. I got your letter several days ago ge at a time when i was feeling rather low and it worked as a tremendous shot in the arm to my morale. Everybody around me had a wild time when the news first came about the end of the war. But although i felt just as jubilant as the rest, i still had the memories of death and destruction id seen in the last few weeks, too. Fresh in mind to feel like i didnt feel like cheering and shouting. Only about one out of three who came overseas with us is still around. And it gets pretty rough watching first one, and then another, get knocked off. Ive never told anyone back there about the experiences ive had and the things ive seen, but i cant seem to mike myself forget them. Maybe if i told them just once, could i start to for get them like the time the medic i knew had his leg blown clear off and his head blown open. The time i tried to make myself eat a lunch of cheese hd crkersrshile crouching inn shshelhoholeitith fe d ddd germanarouound. D the timehahat t 88 landed just in front o m me to killwowo of my gdd friends and leaveee flat on my back. The time one of my men got wounded and i got my hands covered with blood trying to help him and three days later, the blood was still there. Getting off its faintly sweet smell because i hadnt yet had a chance to wash. The night i dragged my five comrades stiff bodies from the hillside where theyd lane dead under enemy observation. I can easily see why we can never expect folks at home to understand what weve seen and done. Now at least partial peace has been obtained. I only hope that all our states man and people at home and overseas will see the peace as a real and lasting one. I and all the rest of us will certainly do everything in our poeer to preserve that peace. We owe that much at least to our buddies who are gone. Im not expecting to get home for a good while and there may be some rough fighting ahead against the japanese. But im planning on coming back. Enough for now, say hello to all the rest of my friends back there. Max peters returned home in july well, i guess he means like today. So i dont know where max was, but glad i wasnt with him. But in any event, it was a tough time. And this is the third letter from a prisoner of war in a german prison camp. Lieutenant Richard Wellbrock kept a secret diary in the form of letters to his wife and their 2yearold son. For eight months while brock recorded his existence as a p. O. W. Battling chronic hunger, sub zero temperature, loneliness and infections. And this is one excerpt. Mary, my darling, he wrote on december 24th, 1944, it is Christmas Eve and if ive ever needed you, i do now. Im bluer than ive ever been in my life. I still wake up in the middle night with nightmares and some of men who have been down two years wake up screaming. So the nights dont lack interest. Well, in april 1945, he says spirits soared, however, as he heard the muted thunder of distant shelling. Allied troops were fast approaching. On april 29th, the camp was finally will i be bralted. Finally liberated. The next day he wrote, one last letter to his wife. Said mayor rirks my darling, yesterday at 12 40, the American Flag was raised. The battle for the area started at 9 00 and continued until then. It was a tense oig three hourks but we had few casualties. To be free once again to describe it is far beyond my ability. It was a spectacle that ill never be able to fully describe to be one of 175,000, one of 175,000 prisoners in this camp, to see them all english, indian, russian, french and american, fall to their knees as they watched the American Flag rise over this hell hole. Many of these men have been there for five years. Five years. We are supposed to be flown to lahar and from there back home, which would be soon. Darling, it doesnt seem possible ill be with you in a month. For eight months that has been my prayer and hope and now at least i can finally realize it. I love you with all my heart and i always will. Do you remember the last night in the states when i told you i would make it ok . Well, ive done it and ill be there soon. The thought of you and kent made it possible, believe me, and i hope and pray that kent will never have to keep a record such as this and that man at last has learned wars only cause suffering. My love forever, richard. And 30yearold richard delivered his letters to mary personally. He returned to the states alive and well by christmas 1945. Thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] bookshelf, here from the countrys bestknown american writers of the past decade, every saturday at 4 00 a. M. Eastern. To watch these programs any time, visit our website, www. Cspan. Org history. You are watching American History tv all weekend, every weekend on cspan3. Up next, the editor of the National Review talks about his book, lincoln unbound how an lsplitter young rail saved the American Dream and how we can do it again. This is from the 17th annual symposium of the lincoln institute. I bring you greetings from the holy land. [laughter] somebody asked in either day, when were you in israel . Ive never been to israel. Why do you keep talking about the holy land . Im talking about springfield. I was born and raised in arlington and after that he went to the university of virginia where he did his undergraduate work. After graduating from that party school, he turned serious and was a Research Assistant for charles krauthammer. Five years later, he became editor of the National Review a post he has held since 1977. He was a syndicated columnist opinion columns for politico and essays for time. Hes also written a political thriller about a Nuclear Armed iran and an inebriated journalists. He lives in new york with his wife vanessa and as a fan of the Washington Capitals as well as the new york yankees. Lowerys most recent book lincoln unbound was published last june. It is engagingly written, thought provoking and deeply insightful, though it does have one serious flaw. It is far too short. Please welcome rich lowry. [applause] thank you, everyone. Michaels introduction was a bit too long. He really couldve just said im a political pundit. It is wonderful to be here with you in this place discussing this man, and especially with so many scholars that ive relied on in the research for my book. One of the great pleasures in the process of writing this book form he has been in getting to know michael, after relying on his work so long. When it was really crunch time for me, and when i was desperately under deadline with my book, i was on a family obligation to go on vacation with my wife and inlaws. And i needed all my books, but i did not know what was going to, while i was writing. I had two rolly bags and my inlaws always want to avoid Additional Charge for anything. And i have to say i dont find anything about writing a book pleasant, even reading a new book. When you are a new author, you are obsessed with your new book. And i just want to share with you one vignette what that was like for me. I live in new york city, and i was going out to california for a couple talks. And i was on a plane with wifi. And i had my ipad and i was obsessively checking email. And i get an email from my wife saying, did you buy 500 worth at walmart . And i was obsessed with my book so i thought that she was accusing me of buying my own