History professor Theodore Wilson talks about their wartime experiences and how that later influenced them as future commanders in chief. The Kansas City Public Library hosted this event. It is about an hour. Prof. Wilson if i did not know very much about my parents, im not sure how much i knew about world war ii, but i do very much appreciate henrys very generous introduction. It is about an hour. Prof. Wilson if i did not know very much about my parents, im i am delighted to be taking part in the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the end of world war ii in europe and particularly tonight in europe sponsored by the Truman Library institute and the Kansas City Public Library. Institutions with which i have enjoyed opportunities to cooperate and for which i have enormous respect as sources of intellectual inquiry in this region. One caveat before i take you back to the america of 1941 to 1945. Title of my lecture is a gloss on tom brokaws bestseller the greatest generation, which
Clifton Truman Daniel the eldest grandson of president harry truman. Our viewers are about to go on a video tour with you on a trip he took this summer, to hiroshima and 90 sake. How did this come about . German truman my son brought home a book about a real little girl living in hiroshima who was two years old when the bomb exploded. She survived the bombing but contracted radiation induced at nine years later. She followed the japanese tradition that said if you for 1000 paper cranes you are granted a wish. Hers was to live. Unfortunately she did not work. She folded many more than 1000 cranes and died in 1955. I read the book and i mentioned that in an article to a japanese journalist couple of years later. That article was red in japan and i got a phone call from the older brother who said he had seen the article, and we talked through an interpreter over the phone. He said he would like to meet someday. It took us another six years, we finally met in new york. At that point he inv
Summer to hiroshima and nagasaki. How did this come about . Ifton it was a long time coming. My son wesley brought home a book about a real little girl living in hiroshima who was two years old when it exploded. She survived the bombing but contracted radiationinduced leukemia nine years later. She followed that if you could fold origami cranes you are granted a wish and hers was to live. It did not work she fulton more than 1000 and died of leukemia and again 55. Died of leukemia in 1955. We finally met at the World Trade Center in may of 2010, and at that point hiro invited me to come to nagasaki and hiroshima. Expectationsve about what this trip would be about . Clifton no. Really e i was just wisht know the word, his broughtcontact was what me. His desire that i come that it would be a good idea is what won me over. It didnt take me much persuading. At that point my expectations were wideopen. Caller was this host was this an official trip . Clifton no official capacity at all. Hos
Hell to pay. We are very appreciative of that. For agoing to talk to you little bit. [applause] d. M. Giangreco great to be here. Start off to test with some interesting quotes i have heard recently. Navy mind of the waters off of northern japan to keep the russians from invading first. Quote, still and prepared to seize the northern end of hia nshu, from their his Armored Divisions would sweep down towards tokyo leaving postwar japan a divided nation like germany. Was nothing to stop the soviets from invading before the americans and seizing all of northern japan. Well ok. Much like fantasy football alternate history can be an enjoyable diversion from trotting and read trotting the same old ground. What is interesting about these overheard quotes is that they were all uttered as statements of fact by educators and serious historians, and while they and similar ideas have bubbled up for decades, virtually all of these comments were made within the last year during the runup to the 70th
About your book from october 31st, 1996. You know, this is my last campaign and maybe i will run for school board someday. [laughter] brian your book is called the last campaign. You say in the book that moment got you the title. Why . Anthony i saw that moment in a Political Science budget class in 2003 and decided to write my thesis for that semester on that idea that a president ial library is the president last campaign, not the final electoral contest. And when i finished that paper, my professor said this is a book, you should consider making this into a book. A week later, i got into an rv i had and traveled to all the president ial libraries in six weeks, the once i had not been to yet. I came back convinced that maybe there was more than a book in it. For me, going to the president ial libraries was only the beginning of the journey. Because seeing the libraries as a tourist was different from researching in the records and going to the National Archives and seeing how the lib