Like many of you i always enjoy hearing stories about world war ii. Mentioned, for the last 15 or 16 or 17 years, i have been involved with projects centered around world war ii. I was at the library of congress collecting stories. I have heard hundreds of stories from world war ii veterans. But my ears always perk up when i hear stories about the 42ndgee airmen in the four combat team. Hear about itto this morning. Who servedn patriots in those units bring a different perspective to service to country and bravery under fire. It is a very special morning that we have two members, one of each has served in one of those units. Was amaster sergeant veteran of world war ii. 42nd combate four team and also the 100 and first airborne division. Its kind of unusual to have a stpaneseamerican with the 101 airborne. Have Alexander Jefferson who flew 19 missions over italy and france except for the last mission in which he was captured by the germans and was a pow. Lets get started. Id like to start gentlemen as i mentioned earlier, can you hear me ok . Start with mr. Alexander. Us a little bit about her background, where you grew up, where you came from and why you joined Tuskegee Airmen . Im a College Graduate. You had to be a College Graduate to go into the army air for in 19 41. Remember, they bombed pearl harbor in december. I graduated six months later from college and the draft board was after me. They wanted to send me to the army. If the draft board had caught me, i would be a book private. Corpsjoined the army air and as a cadet, learning how to fly, with the excitement made 75 per month. After nine months, you begin a Second Lieutenant was a little gold bar on your shoulder and a set of wings and you make 150 per month. Plus 75 for flying pay. Now which will you take . [laughter] airmen. Came a dusky it is part of my life. I had a good time. Could you give us a background on the Tuskegee Airmen form . Segregation. 1941 a black man could not join with a white man. It took an act of congress to inablish a flying field alabama. Airfield ton entire train blacks to fly. It took an act of congress. Segregation, sigrid but socalled separate what socalled equal. Oh by the way, this was president roosevelt. Cpt. Ng called roosevelt started civilian Pilot Training because he felt there was a were coming on. With germany and england fighting in the United States did not have an air force. He knew that we needed pilots. , open up a say flying field and train pilots because congress and the American Public would have raised all kinds of hell. So, he started the civilian Pilot Training which means in each college there were training young people to aviation. One of the schools was the tuskegee institute. Prompted andams supported by civilian the civilian and Pilot Training unit at tuskegee money ind by the a fund. She was on the board of the fund. She was there in tuskegee to learn how the money was being spent. She took a ride with chief anderson. It was advertised that the blacks were starting to fly tuskegee. I came along halfway through the program. Was and i got shot down and all that kind of stuff. We will get to that. , how did you get into the United States army . 1924. As born in i dont knows anyone hears from california. You know where coyote pass is . In the boondocks. Its where the strawberries were. Anyway, my mom and dad had a farm there for it i was born in los angeles on coyote pass. I went to school with marilyn monroe. She was very homely. [laughter] she divorced her husband a highway patrolman and then she blossomed out in the 10th grade. [laughter] alongen pearl harbor came and i was and internment camp. I didnt mind being in the camp. I saw a lot of cool machine gun and followed me down. Camp i didnt mind it. I didnt mind it at all. The spotlights and we went under the bark wire fence up the river and we made it to the place we run to jump in and the summertime. In the camp, you had to line up to take a shower or a bath. The women had to go one place and we had to wait until the women finished and then we would go in. In the same way, we had to wait 1643 was my barracks number. We went block i block. You ate lock by block. If you get sick, you have to look out. There were not that many doctors there. He couldntol hear the step of each other ways and girls walking in. He was an old guy anyway. I took off my shoes and walked in. Ok, where are you going . [laughter] and then from cedar rapids iowa, she asked me if i wanted to get out of the camp and finish school in des moines, iowa. I said sure, so i went back there and finished school. 1944 i joined the service. The442nd inh florida. I went overseas with them. Could you talk a little bit about the 442nd . It is the most decorated regiment of the United States army. Not one of us came out without a purple heart. Not one of us. He got 18 shots from his leg up to his chest. But he is alive. He lived through it. It was like brothers and sisters. We were really close. ,f you know someone next to you you better know what he or she does. It is very bad because in buddy he isa radioman got his shot and died in his arms are all he got was a purple heart. What good is a purple heart to a when its not the mother and father. What good is the purple heart . That washe gentleman hit they took him to wisconsin i told the sergeant at the time take my bronze star and put it on the grave and he did that. And the mother and the father of the sun wrote to me and said thank you very much. It meant something to me. Guys when you are fighting you know each other. You know what he or she is going to do. If you dont do that, you sure wont survive. Was also a 442nd segregated unit as well, right . Can you talk open a bit about how you and your fellow soldiers felt about joining the army and serving the country . Toi had to join the army show the u. S. Government that i was loyal. Think the rest of the japanese americans did the same thing. I dont know for sure. War regardless of the navy, or marines. But the navy, thank you very much. Because if you have a talent going. A challenge i have a challenge going, i say send the navy, army, air force. But i think you guys in the navy and marines. I was in the marines for 30 years. I learned what they are. Different from the air force and the army. Thank you, bob. Alex, do you want to talk a little bit about what i just mentioned your wife the Tuskegee Airmen joined . Number one. This is my country. Umber one best country in the world. I have news for you. Where are you going to go . If you dont like the country, leave. I am serious. To as ao wants black man i know segregation went on for 350 years. This country got free labor. Think about it. What is slavery means. When you work a guy from morning to night. Free labor. Hadhis country had not slavery, you would never have the civil war. You would never have jefferson washingtonmilton, raise all kinds of hell. If you did not have slavery, you would not have the civil war. And all the rest that made this country so great. Still have a lot of the crazy cooks in this country. , that you are here learning the basics. We depend on young people to ton and take apart become part of this country and make this country better. I aint leavin. [laughter] i cant drive my cadillac through the jungle. Think about it. The italians are not going to go back to italy to give are not going to go back to germany to italy. Germans are not going to go back to germany. Think about it. Why did we join the army . To prevent fighting, segregation, evilness. That is part of my life. Have you flown before you were a tuskegee airman . Our training was exactly the same as white training. You go through primary, basic, advanced. Three months in each phase. It was exciting. O learn how to fly we flew underneath the ambassador bridge. In combat, i flew longrange escort missions. B24s, andb17s and the common teat commandeered them from italy to germany, italy to austria. Stay near the bombers. Germans and chasing trying to get victories. Protect american bombers, 10 lives withevery b17, and six enlisted men. Every time you protect a bomber, you save 10 lives. You protect the bombers going from italy to germany. On the last mission, we had radar stations on the coast of Southern France, before the invasion of Southern France in august of 1944. Hold that thought. Bob, you went to italy first . I went to france. Talk about the 101st. I volunteered for the hundred and they airborne, approved it. I was the only japaneseamerican airborne. How would you received . Were you received . No one said, here comes the j aps. It was nothing like that. My mentor was a guy named pee wee martin. He is 95 and still jumps out of airplanes. He became my mentor. If it wasnt for that gentle man, i wouldnt be living here today. Gentleman, i would be living here today. Withour with you were g company, 506 . Yes. We dont know too much about that company . It was in the movie, band of brothers. Dont believe everything. Just like the Tuskegee Airmen. We will talk about that later. Bastone, itso all ecompany. They dont talk about general pattons outfit. Dont talk about the 555. Do you know . Yes. Who are they . Knowe only triple nickel i is the black parachute unit. It was the transportation, all black. The germans attacked. They fought along with us. Theont say nothing about 555. From bastone, i went to the last concentration camp. Say, there was no such thing as this camp. Or concentration camps. Dachau. We will talk about that later. My captain was on my right. There was a dead jewish gentleman there. With his mouth open. Salinzky, get something to cover him. Mouth, man opened his put them in his teeth, and walked away. Its in the book. I will ask him the next question. ,ou were flying over france what happened next . We came in at 15,000 feet, all four of us. It was a beautiful day. We hit the switches and the tanks did not come off. The other two guys left me, quite naturally, because they picked up speed. I am back here, trying to get these 110gallon tanks underneath the wings. I finally got them off. They were 200300 feet in front of me. Wall, everything to the pushed it through, and picked up speed. Has to put in new valves, i knew i was going to catch hell when i got back, because i had water in the engine. I went about 400 miles an hour, firing at these radar stations. I saw someone get hit. Before we got to the stations, black smoke was coming out of him. Hits on the target. We shot up the buildings. I go across the target. 200 feet. An boom the thing came through the floor, out through the top of the canopy. We were wearing heavy gloves, on oxygen, quite naturally. I had to get out. 400 miles an about hour. D, oilhing was redline pressure, water. I have to get out. The fire started on the floor. We pulled back on the stick. I got about 800 feet up, i dont know. Maybe 1000. I was going up and pulled the red lover. Red lever. The canopy goes up. The left hand was on tehe wheel, which means the wings go down. Right here, turned the stick loose, and naturally, the nose abruptly. I hit the bar. You had straps here and here. When you hit the buckle, the safety comes loose. Tail go by. The fire goes by. Out, you normally count, 1, 2, 3 then you pull the dring. The parachute came out and i am sitting on it. , opensing, the cable the parachute. The tail goes by, i see the trees. I said, hell. I pull out real faset. Real fast. [laughter] i remember saying, too low. All of a sudden, bang the parachute pops. I am swinging. I hit the tress. Thats how close. I am trying to get loose, and hear this voice. Yah , hell. Oh the germans the gun looked like it was that big around. That was the introduction to my nine months in germany as a pow. I knew he soldier was excited, looking at this brown skin. Because i dont know if he is going to shoot. After we got on the ground, he saw my gold bar, and saluted. Naturally, all i could do was return the salute. That was my introduction to nine months in germany as a pow. Thank you. Just a minute. You talked a little bit about liberating the camps. Where were you at the end of the war . Hideout. Hitlers you stayed in germany for a while after the war ended . Yes. I got transferred into the 82nd airborne. Near dachau. You were a pow for nine months. Where were you at the end of the war . We were liberated by general pattons third army. I saw him writing on a tank riding on a tank. We were liberated by him. We were sitting for a day. Someone said, there is a place down the road with a want of dead people. What the hell are you talking about . They have dead people down the road. We liberated them in the jeep. [laughter] you could smell the place a mile before you got there. Everyone is sitting here. Saturday morning, you had a saturday morning barbecue. The holder of the barbecue permeates the neighborhood odor of the barbecue permeates the neighborhood. I will never forget it. They were burning bodies. Piles and piles of dead. Dachau. Room, and there were on a table, as long as this table, covered with hair. People, cut off the hair, and used it for seat cushions. Someone was there with a pair of nails, pulling off the with gold. There was a table covered with dentures. Said, things like that never happened when i told them. Of me. The hell out dachau. I hate it. Thank you. We could go on. Both of these gentlemen had careers after world war ii. I was a teacher. I was going to talk about your air force service. [laughter] vietnam. D in korea and that is a story for another day. We have a few minutes left. I sent perhaps we would have time for a couple of questions said we would have time for a couple of questions. Does anyone have questions they would like to ask . Did you have any knowledge of the genocide going on before going to germany . That experience like for you, realizing that thing was going on . The United States at that time did not advertise. Nobody knew in the United States. I dont know why the press was that way. Disgusting to me. Anything . Him butknow about i dont understand it. Vehicle overke his the dead bodies . I know what a dead body is in what it smells like. He didnt know until he got in there. Vietnam and korea was the same. I would go on and never see it again. Thank you. Any others . Alex parker, virginia tech. My question is for the colonel. Did youpow camp, what do to keep yourself and your buddies going and make sure you survived . Let mehe camp itself, book. His this is my we had timeitself, enough to read, there for classes. There were classes. We had music. We were treated as officers, as human beings. We didnt have enough food. The germans didnt give us enough. We start. We starved. I went from 119 pounds to 116 at that time. We had time to draw. I have a book, here. Pictures and i brought these home, reproduced them. We had classes in the music music, classes in chemistry, literature, we did everything. Like was normal. Life was normal. Lets give us a round of heroese for these two of world war ii. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] americanre watching history tv, 48 hours of programming of American History on cspan tv. Follow us on twitter for information on her schedule and to keep up with the latest history news. 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