I, Nelson Mandela do here swear to be faithful to the republic of south africa. Born to a chief of a small village, mandela was one of 13 children and the first member of his family to attend school. In the 1930s he began opposing authority and the authorities that made colored South Africans secondclass citizens. As white south africa became more aggressive, so did he. As the head of the armed wing of the African National congress, mandela led violent sabbatini town hall attacks and was arrested and tried in 1962. He would spend 27 years in jail, but he was never forgotten. Eventually international and internal pressure led the president to announce apartheid would be dismantled and mandela would walk free. But rather than secret bution, mandela reached out to his former oppressors and tried to heal a divided nation. In 1993 he and declercq shared the Nobel Peace Prize. We appreciated the contribution they have made toward the development of this country. In 1994 he voted for the firs
Please wait until you get it so the cameras will be able to pick up the audio. Being young during that time, in my studies at school when i was getting my phd we talked to a lot of wives who lost their husbands in the current wars. What did the home front what did the men and women do when a neighbor or a friend got news they lost a husband . Are you speaking to me . Anybody on the panel. Oh. I lost Three Friends in the war. One, his ship was bombed and split in half. And he was asleep on the bottom deck at that time. And the other one, jerrys plane was bombed and of course, they were all killed on the plane. And then ben worked at firestone with me. And i always felt so bad that he enlisted because he was all that his mother had. He had no reason to enlist. He wouldnt have had to but he did anyway. And he was all she had and he didnt come home. I guess i was one of the lucky ones. My fiance came home and we got to be married and had three children. Thats one. Another question for the
To be married and we had three children. Of course, theres one. Another question for the panel . This question is for mrs. Olson and mrs. Snyder. I heard the toughest job is an army wife. How do you feel about that . Do you feel that . Or a marine wife. When he got home, we were married in three weeks after he got home. The war was still going on, he got to come home because of what he had been through, so thats why we were sent to camp leje e lejeune. We lived there on base for almost a year almost two years i think, we lived on base and it was one of the most fun times of my life. I could walk to the ocean, the grocery store, even though we lived in a what today they call a travel trailer. Thats what all the married marines lived in. I had to learn to cook on a camp stove, i had to pump up a little tank on the front of it. I had some wonderful times. I had marine friends and families, the whole base was family mostly and we had some lifelong friends we made there. Actually, it was a
Speakers lecture series. Its an hour and 40 minutes. Thanks so much for inviting me to be with you and for joining me on this gorgeous new york morning. This is the third presentation ive given in this fantastic auditorium at the New York Historical society in just over a year. And all i can say is you folks are gluttons for punishment. Were going to talk about the second world war. I was just in normandy for the 70th anniversary of dday. And that campaign certainly has taken center stage this spring just as it has in our National Narrative about the liberation of europe since june 6th, 1944, when it permanently eclipsed the dramatic prorks tracted, sanguinary struggle in italy. Well try to bring that italian war back into focus a bit. I have two confessions. First, i have not seen the movie paizon which showed last night. I have not seen it. If you have questions about it, i am not your man. Secondly, ill talk mostly about the campaign in italy up through the fall of rome. The war goe
I think that there needs to be a campaign of writing letters instead of all these emails because they can keep those lett letters instead of they cant keep the emails. Theyre in space. Letters are tangible. And reread them. Thats the wonderful part. And years and years from now, those soldiers can read them and think back. It is very necessary for people to write letters. At 5 00 a booth will open over by the statue where you can make a card to send to a current soldier. We have time for one more question. We have one more. I have to get through the maze. Thank you. What effect or what memories do you have from the rationing that went on during world war ii . I know my mother has talked about it briefly, but she doesnt talk very much about those memories. Well, as kids we didnt notice it so much except for a shortage of bubble gum. [ laughter ] it would pass very quickly if some store got it. Because we did have a farm and access to other farms we were able to get things that probably