[applause] plaws [applause] as we were downstairs getting ready to start, captain yellin was asking me, do i stand for the army . Or do i stand for the air force . Because he was in the Army Air Forces. I said, sir, youre 93 years old, you can stand for anybody you want to. [applause] captain jerry yellin is an Army Air Forces veteran who served in world war ii between 1941 and 1945. He enlisted on his 18th birthday, just two months after the bombing of pearl harbor. After graduating from the air field as a Fighter Pilot in august of 1943, at the ripe old age of 19, he spent the remainder of the war flying p40, p47, and p51 combat missions in the pacific with the 78th fighter squadron. He participated in the first landbased fighter mission over japan on 7 april, 1945, and has the unique distinction of having flown the final combat mission of world war ii on 14 august, 1945, the day combat ended. On that mission, his wing man was the last man killed in a combat mission in world war ii.
Asianamericans. Our party reflects the diversity of our country. Trish lets face it, the party that has done all it can to stamp out white men, especially old white men, out of existence, they just cant avoid electing an old, white man. Forget there were a lot more talented people on that stage other than biden. Not hard considering all his faux pas. What my dad used to say . I got hairy legs that turn, that turn blond in the sun. And the kids used to come up and reach in the pool and rub my leg down and watch the hair come back up again. [laughter] trish i mean, fullon weirdness, right . So amy klobuchar, she was actually a pretty worth while candidate. Policy wise not my cup of tea, but you know what . She sure as heck seemed a lot more with it than joe biden. Low bar right now. And a heck of a lot more on point than comrade are bernie. I am the only one in the New Hampshire debate when asked if we had a socialist leading the ticket that raised my hand. I do not think that this is th
Trish lets face it, the party that has done all it can to stamp out white men, especially old white men, out of existence, they just cant avoid electing an old, white man. Forget there were a lot more talented people on that stage other than biden. Not hard considering all his faux pas. What my dad used to say . I got hairy legs that turn, that turn blond in the sun. And the kids used to come up and reach in the pool and rub my leg down and watch the hair come back up again. [laughter] trish i mean, fullon weirdness, right . So amy klobuchar, she was actually a pretty worth while candidate. Policy wise not my cup of tea, but you know what . She sure as heck seemed a lot more with it than joe biden. Low bar right now. And a heck of a lot more on point than comrade are bernie. I am the only one in the New Hampshire debate when asked if we had a socialist leading the ticket that raised my hand. I do not think that this is the best person to lead the ticket. The math does not add up, nearl
Craig smith. [applause] a pleasure to see you. Thank you for being here tonight. Nice to be back in lawrence. You have written for the most powerful people in the world. Tell us about your early life and more about how you get to be a president ial speechwriter. The way i became a president ial speechwriter could only happen in america. I was an undergraduate debater where i got a lot of training, how to sift evidence, how to build arguments. I then went on to Communication Studies where i focused on the ancients, cicero on oratory, then institute of oratory, all those things are incorporated in the speechwriting craft. I then became a professor of Communication Studies focusing on rhetoric and public address, wound out after starting at San Diego State at the university of virginia. I was at the university of virginia in 1976. I was invited to the university of North Carolina of chapel hill to give a guest lecturer at 10 00 in the morning. Turned out gerald ford was lecturing on the c
Tonight we welcome our two great the coauthors of wartime escapes and rescues. I have to say they had me in grade school. I was a fourthgrader when hollywood released the great escape starring James Mcqueen Steve Mcqueen and james garner and charles bronson, among others. All of the guys in my class fell in love with it. We would play at out at recess. Each one of us would take one of the roles. Of course all of us wanted to be mcqueen. He was the cooler one. I always was the one who got executed at the end of the movie. Of course the Queen Mcqueen survives. The movie was based on a true story. The film gave us a real life ending to this story. Only three of those men who escaped stayed escaped. And anothern pilots pilot from the netherlands, no americans. Escape was not often tried and when it was it did not succeed. When it did, it really was an inspiration. It was often hollywood stuff. This is the third time david has spoken here at the library. The last was a little less than a ye