one is his sense of humor but two what you just said, his view that everybody on capitol hill is absolutely equal, men, women, no matter what you look like. and he lived that and carried it out in his staff and staff honestly that is still there today. yeah, he led by example. bill: jo, i thought one of the most impressive stories i read about bob dole last night and again this morning is when he was wounded. in april of 1945. you imagine the theater in europe is about to conclude, what, a month later and he gets grievously injured in the army test 10th mountain division, a german shell strikes his upper back and right arm. shatters his collarbone and part of his spine. his quote is this. i lay face down in the dirt. i could not see or move my arms. i thought they were missing. he was paralyzed from the neck down, transported later to a
bill: that was a powerful moment with elizabeth dole putting her head and hands on his casket. dana: quite a love story between the two of them. bill: josh holmes is still with us as well. did you get the sense when you spoke to him a few days ago that he was coming to the end of his time here? yeah, actually, bill, we have kind of a funny throwaway question that we do at the end of every interview with every guest we ve ever had. if you can plan your last meal on ert, what would it be. he said biscuits and gravy and i ve been having it every night for quite some time. something that betrays both wit and humor and also a reality his end was coming sometime soon. he was very well aware of that. dana: josh, maybe just one other comment here about the bipartisan nature of these events. we do know how to do this well,
humor, very sar doneic and it was mostly aimed at himself. i remember meeting him the first time. he thrust out his hand. he had a pen in it so you couldn t shake his hand and realized that that war wound had left him unable to literally shake your hand and he had to literally teach himself how to write with his left hand. he had been brought up as a righty and had to teach himself to write with the left hand but weighs an imposing figure and a deep partisan who nonetheless had deep relationships with democrats and worked in common cause on great issues. bill: he learned to write with his left hand after that injury. yeah. bill: many times encountering him in washington, d.c. and elsewhere i saw the pen in his right hand as well. your story is well taken. what did it mean to him to be a proponent of the american with
than complaining what had been lost. that was reflective of his entire career. here is the chaplain now. with deep gratitude for the life and legacy of senator robert joseph dole. we are grateful that in his selfless devotion to you and to these united states, he has revealed to us what moral and faithful service should be. as we honor his 79 years of standing up for what s right, we stand before you to offer our heartfelt prayers. we ask that the influence senator dole has had on countless people, leaders, neighbors, and strangers alike would not be without long-lasting fruit. in ex willing to senator dole s integrity, disarming humor, and deep compassion, may we be inspired to reach into the depths of our own small town
with senator dole a few weeks ago, i believe. how did that go? bill, it was incredible. we were lucky enough to have an interview with senator dole a few weeks ago for a veterans day episode we were doing on the ruthless variety program. he chose to do it. we knew he was feeling ill and not up to his usual snuff but i have to tell you, we went in there and asked him a few questions and as sharp as he ever was. body was clearly failing but he had a few messages he wanted to get to the american people at the end. we are very fortunate to be the conduit for that. dana: one of those messages is that he felt optimistic for the future of the country. can you tell us more on that? yeah, dana. the thing about bob dole, everything that he has gone through, the grievous war wounds, the entire career, disappointments and ups and downs and being able to have a good sense of humor through it all got the sense he is an