[applause] break singing military music [ [singing military music [singing military music ] [choir singing military music ] [choir singing military music] [choir singing military songs] [choir singing military songs] [applause] >> as we were getting ready to start the ceremony, captain yellin was asking me, die stand nor army? or die stand for the air force? he was in the army air force. i said, sir, you're 93 years old. you can stand for anybody you want to. [applause] >> captain jerry yellin is an armia air forces veteran who served in world war ii between 1941 and 1945. he enlisted on his 18th 18th birthday. just two months after the bombing of pearl harbor. after graduating from luke army airfield as a fighter pilot in august of 1943, at the ripe old age of 19, he spent the remainder of the war flying p-40, p-43 and 5-51 combat myths in the pacific with the 78th 78th fighter squadron. par tis pated in the land based fighter mission over japan in 1945 and has the eunuch distinction of healing flown the final combat mission of world war ii on 14 august 1945, the day combat ended. on that mission his wing man, phillip, was the last mon killed in a combat mission in world war to 2. his experiences as a fighter pilot in the pacific theater are captured in his book "the lath fighter pilot" published this year. welcome to platform, world war ii veteran and fighter pilot, captain jerry yellin. [applause] [applause] >> thank you, sir. i have to begin by saying, this is an unbelievable honor for me. throughout my air force career, i was constantly reminded that the air force i served in stood on the shoulder giants, and those giants were the men and no apologies to the women present but in world war ii, there were no women in combat. not that none served. but you and your generation properly referred to as the greatest generation, set the standard for what it means to fly, fight and win. which is the basis of what is today the world's greatest air force i proudly serve in. you gave us a warrior ethos who defines who we are. that same ethos, those same standards, are present across all of our military services and it's because of men like jerry yellin and your generation that gave that to us and i thank you, and so i'm so honored to be up here with you. we had talked about some questions we're going to go through. i have to start with one. talks in the bio about you flew p40, p47 and p51. i'm the son of a naval it's u aviator. my dad would tell me the corsair was thegrasser fighter away build. i have a soft sport for the p51. when i see one flying i'm absolutely in awe. you have to tell us, what was it like flying that p51 mustang? >> we learned to fly on the 220-horsepower steerman. then a 400-horsepower vibrator, and then a 600-horsepower at6. each one of those airplanes, you flew with an instructor. then we got into a p40, which was a fighter plane being used by china against the japanese, and then we got the p47, which we called the jug. hard airplane to fly. then we got the finest airplane that ever was built, the p51 mustang. you could fly that with your fingertips. the sound of it, the feeling, of instant response with anything that you want it to do. that is what the p51 was about. still the best airplane. >> would i agree with you. [applause] >> made reverence during the bio to your book. i have a copy hereafter. we'll talk about the availability of is in our book store and captain yellin will be available to autograph copies of the book. you you share experiences as a fighter pilot in the pacific during world war ii. i think to start with, and although the book ends with it, but walk us through that last mission. the last fighter pilot. the last mission, august 14, 1945. >> we -- iland on iwo jima on august 6th the day the atomic bomb was dropped on hiroshima. the prop was still spinning and they told me we dropped one bomb, wiped out a city. i said what are you drinking? i want some. hard to believe. but it was true. and then on august 9th, 1945. the second bomb was dropped on nagasakiment we thought the war was over and would not fly anymore mission. that point in time i was going with 15 guys who were killed. never thought about them as being dead. they were transferred. we'd see them again some day. were called to a briefing on august 13th, a room this size, 100 plus pilots. and told we're going fly a final mission, another mission. someone asked him jim tarp, our co, why are we going to japan again in the said the japans are negotiating but there's no movement. we have to go and teen them honest. but they're going to broadcast the code words utah to abort the mission. we hear that and went go to japan. when that was'm said, fill leaned occupy to me and said, captain, if we go on this mission, i'm not coming back. and i said, what will you talking about? he said it's a feeling have. i wasn't top and told him what fill told me. and he told me, you cannot go to doc lewis the flight surge but ill phil will go me might get over the mission. phil said no way. early on the morning of august 14th, i said, phil, get on my wing and don't get off. just stick in close. we're never going to make it to japan. we flew all the way to a drop tank where we had to drop our external tanks. we dropped our tanks. we went in a straight airfield somewhere in japan, over in japan. and we needed 90 gallons of fuel to get back to. i looked over and phil was on my wing and i gave him a thumbs up. he gave me a thumbs up. and i led my flight of for airplanes into have request weather toward the b29 we would fly on the wing back with. when i came out of the clear skies he was gone. just gone. thereos no radio contact. no visual contact. and when we landed back on iwo jima we found the moment we started to strafe, the war had already been over for three hours. it was never broadcast to us. we never heard it. that was the devastating day. he was the last of 400 plus world war ii veterans who gave their lives. he was the last. 19 years old. >> you were 21? >> i was 21. i was the old guy. >> grandpa. you just made reference to a number of close friends and fellow pilots that were tragically killed, either in combat or in flight accidents during world war ii. you relayed several of those incidents in your book. how did the loss of so many affect you personally? >> well, you have to understand that when you put the uniform on on the military or the policeman or the fireman, you dedicate your life to protecting your buddies, and when they go, you can't think about them as gone, being dead or gone, because if you did, you'd never fly another mission. wouldn't get into the airplane. so, i had three men that were killed, one guy on the 29th of may, danny mathis, and ashared the kill of a zero. landed on ewe scream ma -- iwo jima. i had a toothache, and they pulled wisdom teeth and i was drownedded. danny mathist took my place. the squadron took off, 27 fighter planes within down, 25 guys were killed, including danny mathis, and my airplane, and it's hard for me to tell you the truth, back then i missed my airplane. i didn't miss danny. we were there to protect our freedom and there to fight and we did that. it was after the war that i suffered. i've spoke to these guys every night, 16 guys i flew with. i thought about suicide. i couldn't work. i suffered for what is now known as ptsd, post post-traumatic stress disorder and didn't get mitt life back until 1975 when i learned how to meditate to relieve stress. combat is killing of people who are that they believe. that's the height of evil. japan was evil, germany was evil. italy was evil. we fought against those countries, and i don't believe that i'm part of the greatest generation. general eisenhower, general marshall, general macarthur, all west point graduates. was 18. i didn't know anything about the world. but admiral million nit -- but they were the greatest generation. tom brokaw wrote a book about it, sold a lot of books, but the leaders of the free world were the military men who served from west point and from annapolis. >> thank you for that perspective. the war ends in 1945. i think i hard you say downstairs you actually spent time in the reserve beyond the end of world war ii. but then like millions of world war ii veterans, you return from the war, you started a whole new life in the civilian world, the -- that returning work force and the work ethic, the belief in freedom you brought back to our society, really launched an incredible period in american history. how did your military service prepare you for that new life and what transpired after the war? >> i think that military service for me was the greatest experience i ever had in my life. we -- i graduated from high school in 1941. i had a scholarship to college. i was going to become a doctor. i didn't have any money for books, didn't have any money for clothing or housing, so i postponed entrance to college, the spring semester of 1942, when we were attacked on pearl harbor, december 7th, i made up my mind i was going fly fighter planes against the japanese. i remember when i was 11 or 12 years old, i was preboy scout. i went to boy scout camp for two weeks. two week davids me the fundamentals to join the military. to be in the military. and the discipline we learned, we were all quarterbacks, all guys who were cocky guys who could fly fighter planes, bomber pilots weren't guys like that, but we were. and we became squadron. we became more interested in protecting our buddies than we were interested in our own lives. our life was all about you. today i have six grandchildren. i have four sons, and today life is all about me, not about you. and the military put in that frame of mind of service to our country. >> thank you for setting that standard for so many of us. you made reference to some of the thing uses you struggled with based on your combat experience in world war ii. your dealing with pts, although we didn't have a name for it at the time. how has your experience as a veteran impacted your life since, your triumphs, your struggles? how have you used those experiences? >> i enjoy speaking to people. i enjoy going to eighth graders, tenth graders, seniors in high school, to talk about 10 percent of the population served in the military in world war ii. 16 million of us served. we fought against evil. we conquered the people who were evil, created democracies in germany, japan, and italy that exist today. as friends of america. and of two countries that we fought with are allies, russia and china, seemingly to me are the enemies of the world. what i've learned is we're not the color of our skin, we're note language we speak, we're not the religion that we believe. we're all human beings. all exactly the same. and we have to preserve that, that feeling. isis is evil today. they are willing to kill people for what they believe and that's we have to protect the freedom of people who believe that everyone its human beings. everybody is part of humanity. i try to give that message. probably the best time in my life, other than the time when i was in uniform. i wear the uniform proudly. i'm an american. >> what would you say -- we have several young people here, the band, the choir, several young people in our audience, i notice some rotc cadets, children of our chaplain. others. what would you say to them today? those who are at a point where they are considering or maybe simply have an opportunity to make a decision about serving our nation as a member of the united states military. what you say to them? >> my mother used to read a lot of books, and 80 years ago when i was 13 years old issue read a book by a minister called "the magnificent obsession." and it's the story of a small town in lake george, new york state, where the richest son of the richest 20 or 21-year-old boy was drowning and a beloved doctor, dr. hudson, was dying of a heart attack, and the fire department had one resuscitator. they served the young man. and the old doctor died, and then thousands and thousands of people came to his funeral. and his family discovered a journal that he had kept, and had a translated from the code into english. the opening lines of that journal said, do something good for someone else every day of your life, and tell no one what you did because by talking about it, you might lose the benefit for you or to the other person. i would suggest to everyone, find a way to help somebody, find a way to do something for somebody, every day, even if it's a smile. the four professions i admire in america are the three who put uniforms on, and the fourth, teachers in schools, who learn a subject and give themselves away in using that subject to give other people knowledge and they're not as respected as i think they should be. my feelings are that we should be giving a little bit of ourselves away to other people every single day. that's the advice i would give to the younger people. [applause] >> so, for you, what you just described is those of us who wear the uniform, especially around veterans people, tell us, thank you for your service, but what i hear you saying is, service is what our lives should be about every single day. doing something for someone else. so, service is not just military service. service is how we should lead our lives. >> i believe that very much. we're all part of humanity. i think that the pure purpose of everything that is living on this earth, from trees to birds, to fish, animals, is a to pass ourselves on, and there's nothing -- no one goes to recreation school. all comes with the territory. and that territory has to be protected. our fathers pass on to their sons, mothers pass on to their daughters, what is good in life, and we need to keep doing that. we might have lost some of it, but to me that is what life is about. >> wonderful. in a moment we'll open it up to see if our audience has any questions that they would like to ask you directly. any final thought you would like to share before we open it up to the audience? >> no. i am just proud to be an american. [applause] and continue to wear this uniform proudly. i can't tell you what an honor it is to me, for me, to be in this audience, on this day, in 2017. i sort of live my life like my banker looks at my checking account. there's a cancelled check, can't get that back anymore. today is money in the bank, i can spend today. and colonel scott owes me a promissory note for tomorrow. don't know if i'm going to get paid tomorrow. so today is the day, and i'm just thrilled to be here. thank you. >> thank you, sir. we'd like to open up now to any questions you may have for captain yellinment we have -- if you have a question you want could ask, please raise your hand and we'll get the microphone to you. >> we have time for a couple of questions and raise your hand; i'd like to ask a question of captain yellin. this is being broadcast really worldwide via facebook, and it's being roared by c-span, so we have a very large audience. i know you said you suffered with post-traumatic stress disorder for a number of years. what suggestion, what guidance might you give to somebody listening to this that would be in need of help. >> i was told that it had battle fatigue, the war was over and you can't forget about it. the veterans today, 20 or 22 commit suicide every day. those who served. they need something for themselves. we spent a lot of for antidepressant, antipsychotic drugs which are skies arick disand we can teach transdental medication for a veteran for a one-time fee for health. tm.org is a web site they can found out about it. i still meditate twice a day 20 minute as day. kept me alive and it's keeping me alive. i'm an advocate of that. you can't force it on anybody . it's something that is called remove the stress of combat. did it for me. it can do it for others. >> center section, sir. >> hello. yes, my father-in-law, 94, world war ii, flew c47, flew through the hump over the himalayas from india to -- to india. alive today and does walk with a walker, and today i sat with a very good friend of mine at a breakfast who is 95 years old, and flew combat in italy. so, they are still the five percent and those of you who have nod read the book "the greatest generation" need to read it. it's a wonderful become. thank you very much, sir. >> i appreciate that. [applause] >> sir in preparation and coming here, read a little bit about your life after the war, and a little bit of reconciliation you made through your family. ... i turned down a trip to go to japan and she very quietly said jerry, you never once asked me if i wanted to go to japan. bso being a dutiful husband, in 1983 i found myself in japan. i was completely overwhelmed by the culture, the education, the scenery, the people, everything. my youngest of four sons was down in san diego state and said we should give him a trip to japan for graduation present. we did that he signed a contract to teach english in japan for one year now it's 2017 and he hasn't come back yet. i have three japanese grandchildren. the oldest is 28, he has a masters in physics from the mit of japan. he is one of 100 people who got a job from 23000 applicants. his brother graduated from london in philosophy and was offered a course in oxford to get trained in philosophy which he did in one year. my enemy is my family. my whole thought process of world war ii is to kill japanese but now i have three grandchildren in japan and family in japan.se i found that was the biggest learning experience i could ever have. i wrote a book about that in 1988 of war and weddings. i don't like to promote myself. i'm proud of them and my three american grandchildren. we are all the same and my love for them. [applause] we have time for one last question and will take that now and then will we hear from the choir and band the dramatic battle hymn of the republic his books are available in the store. >> thank you for your service. thank you for keeping us safe in america. have you flown anything since your time on the 51. have you gotten a jet and experience that and having parents both in the navy after quickly say, go maybe, beat army. [applause] [laughter] >> you never lose the ability to make love unless you get old and you really never lose the ability to fly. i flew in phoenix two days ago. [applause] i flew the new t6 at laughlin air force base in december and i'm going back to phoenix in january to get a ride in an f-1 f-16. [applause] they have a very small club of pilots today called the 9g club. they pull 9g's and imac and let him do that. i think i'll make it through. >> he not only fluid but he actually landed it. [applause] >> i don't know how i got to be the sage but i generally feel i'm in the prime of my life right now and to be here with the chaplain in the audience is one of the thrills and honors of my life. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> wayne, captain yellen, thank you. we will conclude with the battle hymn of the republic. [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ my eyes have seen the coming ♪ ♪ of the coming of the lord ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ glory, glory hallelujah ♪ glory, glory hallelujah ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ glory, glory hallelujah ♪ glory, glory hallelujah ♪ ♪ ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, i think it's appropriate to have one more round of applause for these that have shared their musical talent with us tonight ♪ ♪ >> here's a look at some of the best books of the year according to amazon. chief u.s. columnist for the financial times argues that liberal democracy is threatened in the retreat of western liberalism. in the last castle, denise castle reports on biltmore house, the largest private residence in american history. tom nichols, professor of national security affairs at the war college argues that due to the spread of the internet and 24 hour news, expert opinion is now being discounted in the death of expertise. you've al he's looked at the future of humanity in his book. wrapping up the best books of 2017, the essay on the upbringing of the daughter of indian immigrants in canada. one day we will all be dead and none of this will matter. >> in our eighth grade biology class our teacher gave us a checklist of dominant versus recessive genes. the subject occurred to me only years later that we would all end up looking darker and more vague than we did in the past. she wasn't exactly unhappy but she did express some concern regarding the loss of the blue-eyed and natural blonde. we were paired up with someone with the ap opposite to compare genes with someone to see what our potential child will look like. let me drive this home. the public school teacher in calgary told her teenage students to pretend they were going to have sex with each other and their biologically likely babies. i was one of the only ethnic kids in the class. my jeans were already steamrolling everyone else's. my partner eric, white boy went down the genetic checklist with me. when he arrived at hair on fingers or knuckles, i looked at my hands for what felt like the first time for standing up for my knuckles were soft black strands of hair. i was horrified. how had i never noticed such a great test feature. i always knew my legs were hairy, my arms were hairy and my upper lip bristled but i have overlooked this new library. i don't have any eric said as he looked up at me and i had my hands under the desk and i looked up and said me neither. >> some of these authors appeared on booktv. you watch them on our website cb.org. >> it's my pleasure to invite to the podium the vice president of programs and the chair of this conference planning committee. thank you mimi for all your hard work.

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