See saving private ryan . Anyone not see it . Thats kind of what i figured. For those of us that have served, and particularly those of us that have faced combat, that Opening Scene is something that you will never forget, ever. I hope you never forget it. But the scene most important to me actually came later in the movie. Tom hanks, laying on the rubble, called over private ryan. And he asked him to kneel down. And he said to him two words. Earn this. Any victory worth winning must be deserved. As victories are increased in scale, so must be our exertions. Deserve victory. Winston churchill said. We shall not win flew the evils in our enemy. We shall win through the merit in ourselves. Deserve victory. And let that be the touchstone of every thought, word, and deed. Frankly, i think about that pretty much every day. Aim living up to my to my own expectations, let alone the expectations of others . Today, we are going to hear from people that deserved victory and earned it. Yesterday and the day before we heard from a lot of people who fought on the ground. Were going to hear this morning from some incredible legends that fought in the air. So it is truly my pleasure to introduce mr. Jerry burton. Jerry is a past president of the tuskegee airmen association, east coast chapter. Former Air Force Veteran himself. So with that, well begin Todays Program with mr. Jerry burton. [ applause ] thank you, everyone. Thank you. It is my honor to be in the room again with the original tuskegee airmen and a second p. O. W. In the room. Another Fighter Pilot from World War ii. Youre going to have a special treat of gentlemen that a lot of people, one, dont even know still are around. So without further ado, i want to make sure you have enough time to see them all. Lieutenant colonel james harvey iii. [ applause ] colonel harvey, a Fighter Pilot of three wars. Next were going to have Lieutenant Colonel alexander jefferson. [ applause ] colonel jefferson, Combat Pilot, p. O. W. Colonel joseph petersburg. Colonel peterburs has a special designation with his name as well. Call him ace. He did 49 missions before becoming a p. O. W. And then somehow escaped and evaded and flew with the russian army. Incredible stuff. So with that, lets give them all a round of applause, and then were going to dig into it. [ applause ] well start on the end. Colonel harvey. Colonel harvey has a special hat on. I like to see it because a lot of people think of Tom Cruise when they see the hat. The unfortunate part is Tom Cruise wasnt the first. Colonel harvey is a part of a top gun squadron, a group that went to nellis field, took their airplanes, took their maintenance crew, and became top gun, the first top gun of record for the u. S. Air force. Right. Colonel harvey, if you want to tell us a little bit about yourself, what do you want the people to know about your service and about your time flying combat airplanes and then becoming a topgun . Oh, boy. I know its a long list. I never made any Model Aircraft or anything like that. Never did anything as far as aircraft goes. I lives in a small town in northeastern pennsylvania. You can imagine how big that is. I was standing in my Front Yard one day and i saw this flight of p40s fly over in formation. I said id like to do that. That was it. So i got into the military, i was drafted. I tried to enlist really in the Army Air Corp in january 43. And they said they werent taking enlistments at that time. That was the height of the war. The reason they didnt they said that is they didnt want me in the Army Air Corps. So i was drafted in march of 43. So i was went to fort meade, maryland. Took my written exam, my physical. Had a uniform issued. And went to Jefferson Barracks Missouri for basic training. Finished my basic training at jefferson barracks, missouri. Based on my score that i had on my written test, they put me in the Army Air Corps. Army Air Corps engineers. And they sent me to virginia. And there, my mission was to go into the jungle, doze out an area, build an airfield. I was part of the engineer battalion. And we used to go out and practice every day. I said, no, this isnt for me. I applied for Cadet Training. And there were ten of us, nine whites and myself. Two of us passed. And from there, i went to biloxi, mississippi, for 30 days of basic training, more basic training. Finished there and went to tuskegee, and the rest is history. Thats pretty good stuff. Thank you. A lot of times you do things and you start off not realizing how far youre going to go. Colonel alexander, i see Colonel Alexander is another one of those that did some things that a lot of people wouldnt expect. I know when he started, he didnt figure he would write his own book. And i see the book sitting here, and the title, red tail captured, red tail free. So to go to the red tail free part, i want to ask you first where did you come from, what squadron did you fly in, and then can you tell us the day you remember that you said im a p. O. W. But im going to be okay. Okay. All right. Guys and gals, ive got five minutes to talk about something that takes me two hours. Yeah. Lets start out real quick. Alexander jefferson. Born in detroit, michigan. Went to Clark College in atlanta, georgia. The war is going on. I graduated in 1942. Stay with the japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on what date . Anybody . What date . [ inaudible ]. Okay. The united States Congress made lets see, ive got to do this shortly. Goddamn it. [ laughter ] congress developed the 99th squadron. They allowed blacks to fly and they said we started in 1941. I graduated in 42. The war is going on. The draft is about to get me. So rather than get drafted, i went down and volunteered for this new Air Corps that was just developed. I graduated in january 42. And i flew combat with the 99th. Let me say the 332nd Fighter Group, made up of blacks. All selfcontained. First of all. And i flew combat with the 301st fighter squadron, commanded by general at that time, by colonel leo davis. Well get back to that. I flew combat for 19 missions, escorting the b17s from italy up into germany. We flew top cover. We had one mission, number 19, striking. Going trying to knock out radar stations on the coast of southern france. I got hit, the damn thing came up through the floor. I had to bail out. I bailed out in southern france, occupied by the germans at that time. I spent nine months as a p. O. W. And half the time in poland and then in germany. Liberated in 1945. Liberated. And came back to the united states, spent the rest of the time in the Air Force. So you can tell i put all my thoughts on paper. Its all written down from there. I tried to make it quick. I can shove stuff in there, but we dont have time. So i ended up with 9 1 2 months in germany as a p. O. W. I think its very significant that there were 32 of us blacks who were p. O. W. S in germany by the end of the war. 32 . Yeah. And well go from there. Thats incredible. Thats it. Incredible. Colonel peterburs. Listening to you the other the other two tuskegee airmen, a question came to my mind first of all were going to do the same thing and ill go back to colonel harvey. The first thing is where are you from . Where did you through training . Where was your training at . Tell us about your time as a p. O. W. The time as a p. O. W. Isnt very long. But, anyway, i was born in st. Paul, minnesota, on the 25th of november, 1924. And we moved to wisconsin and i did my formative years growing up in the milwaukee area. I had a vocation to become a priest, i went to a seminary after grade school. I was in my third year of a 12year training to priesthood and ordination. I was coming down the stairs at the gym to play pool on a Sunday Morning and i heard 7th of december, 1941, japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. I knew at that time i was going to join the Service And Fight for the country. So i left the seminary and on my 18th birthday, 1942, i i was accepted into the aviation cadet program. And i did my training through the southeast air command, alabama, georgia, florida, over that area. And i graduated as a second lieutenant Fighter Pilot, 19 years old and went through Combat Training after that in the f40s. And oh, accumulated about 150 or so hours of the f40 and was assigned to europe to the 20th Fighter Group, 55th fighter squadron. And they had just converted from p 38s to p51s and i only of course only had p40 time. I checked out the p51, got about 20 hours and started flying combat. Flew my first Combat Mission on the 12th of december, 1944. Then flew 49 subsequent missions. The last very exciting, most of them. And then the last one was the most interesting. Do you want me to continue . Go ahead and give okay. And then on the 49th mission, the Air Force was putting up about 1500 bombers on targets in the berlin, brandenburg, bris and other areas. My squadron was escorting some 450 b17s with about a 90fighter escort. We entered the area uneventful until the bombers dropped the bombs and we got hit by a swarm of 262 turbo jets. I was flying high cover. And i observed one of them blow up a b18. I rolled over and started down balls full throttle and came into a 6 00 position just about the time he blew up the second b17. And he rolled over and started down to the deck. And i chased him. He disappeared into some clouds. I had gotten hits on his left engine. I saw some smoke and a little fire. And i didnt follow him into the clouds. I said the heck with it. I saw an Air Field that was full of german aircrafts. I started straight again. I was by myself, 19, 20 years old, and what the heck . So anyway, i made too many passes, and i destroyed at least five on the ground. And i set a hangar on fire. On my last pass i felt a thud. I was after an me200 condor, the fourengine aircraft. Part of hitlers fleet. Anyway, i blew that thing up. As i was coming off, i felt another thud. Got a oil over my wind screen. Made it to the 10,000 feet, made it back losing altitude, i had to bail out at 300 feet over berg and was captured ito immediately, interrogated and went to a p. O. W. Camp after a five, Sixday March through germany at which time it was just thousands of refugees going east and west. German army. They tried to keep some kind of sense to the pandemonium. Anyway, i got to buchenwald which was stalag 3, which was mostly russian prisoners of war. Thats about spent about ten days there. Russians were right outside of berlin. The prison camp. The russians are fighting in berlin. And the security at the camp was very lax. So i escaped. You walked away . Walked away and started down the road. And after about five or six miles, i heard a rumbling. And i hid in the ditch. Here comes a Tank Unit. And i came out and fortunately the lieutenant of the russian Tank Unit, the lieutenant could speak english, so i communicated with him. He gave me a rifle and said hop on. Were going to wittenburg. So i fought with the russian Tank Unit from berlin up to wittenberg. Where i was repatriated by an Army Patrol that came across the elba to meet the russians. Eventually, across, got back to paris and got stamped and deloused and all that sorts of stuff. And started my way home on the last convoy through europe. Got home, and im anxiously waiting to marry my fiancee josephine, whom i named my aircraft after, is josephine. And in the process of doing the paperwork, i had to get my Moms Permission to get married because i had not turned 21 yet. Very nice. Thats it. Very nice. You were in the northern part of germany. I was in the southern part. I was in stalag 3. Where 10,000, close to 10,000 american p. O. W. S, there was a heck a lot of us. Didnt have any chance to escape because we were heavily guarded. And it was heck. Wow. Okay. Colonel harvey . Germanys leading ace was in the states in 2013 looking for the pilot that shot him down. Did you make contact, by chance . What did he say . Say your question again. Germanys leading ace was in the states in 2013 looking for the pilot that shot him down. Did you make contact, by chance . Oh, yes. [ laughter ] see, id never claimed well, you know, by the time i got liberated and everything the war was over. The heck with it. You didnt worry about that. I didnt. Got home, got married. So 60 years went by and finally, through various, many european researchers, swedish and norwegian and german researchers, they came to the conclusion that i was the one that shot down walter schuck, a top german ace. He had 206 confirmed aerial victories. He had 198 victories on the North Sea Area with russia. Most of his victories there were against the russians. He transitioned into the turbojet. And on his first mission, he shot down three aircraft. The first time he was in the 216. He shot down three aircraft. And then he was the one that, in fact, he had, on the 5th of may of 2005, we met in california. And became close friends. He was a real gentleman. And we spent the rest of his life and i together doing various shows. He tells me that when he went to the clouds, he made a left turn, hoping to avoid me if i tried to follow him. He said, as he started to turn, has left engine disintegrated. He had to bail out. He bailed out at 1,000 meters. So he sprained both of his legs and ankles when he bailed out. So he was basically out of the war at that time. Hed always say, my friend joey. Joey saved my life because if he wouldve got up again he felt certainly he wouldve been killed. Because thats the way it was during the end of the war. I was thinking how fortunate you were to be able to move out. I had to bail out. I thought about it while you were talking. Out of all my nine, about a year of training in the air in tuskegee, never had one minute on, quote, how to bail out. Did you bail out 51. You bailedout of the right side. Are you kidding . I bailed out of the left side. Our job was to knock out radar stations. On the coast, right on the shores of southern france. Later on, i found out that these radars controlled the guns around southern france, out the harbor of southern france. Came in at about 15,000. We dove in. We indicated about 250 miles an hour. And went right across the top of these radars. Huge towers with a lot of buildings underneath where the machinery is going on. At about 200 feet, so, boom. And as i went along, fire came up out of the floor. Darn thing hit the square. I said to myself, how do i get out of this . Finally decided real quickly, full power, full up. And i think i may have gotten to about 1,000 feet. At the same time, on the left side you have a little wheel. It controls the flaps, back and forth. Pulled the red lever. And a canopy popped off. As im going up. I got about 1,000 feet. I think 1,000 feet. I dont know. And turned the stick loose. And quite naturally the nose dropped abruptly. And when it dropped abruptly, bang. I hit the big buckle. It threw me out. And i remember the tail going by nice and slow and easy. What they told you is as you bail out, you count, 1, 2, 3, then you pull the dring and a parachute will deploy. That came out. And i saw the tail go by. And i looked down. I saw trees. I said, oh [ laughter ] you pull the dring. And bang. The parachute opened. And i swung down. And hit a tree. I said, well, thats fine. Then all of a sudden i heard a voice. A german. [ speaking german ] i said, oh, hell. [ laughter ] my nine months in germany started right there. In southern france. For about a week. And with two or three german soldiers escorting me out of germany. On that same mission, we lost one guy, Joe Gordon was killed. Nathan was a prisoner. Daniels was a prisoner. I was a prisoner. And one other guy. We lost five men on that one mission. What we later found out, the control, the guns firing off the coast. And maybe it was one guy is a p. O. W. And three or four Guys P. O. W. S. So, i spent the rest of the time hungry, but as a p. O. W. , we existed. Ill leave it there. Later on i will go into the book. Very good. Good. Colonel harvey . I was going back to you and you asked the question. But i want to give you a chance. First of all, we want to know where you are from, first. I didnt do that at the original outset. And two, im curious, flying so long with the military, what airplanes were you actually qualified in to fly, out of all of those, throughout those years, what airplanes . So, where you from, what airplanes . Well, like i said before, im from a small town in northeastern pennsylvania. And we were the only black family out there. And so there wasnt any prejudice whatsoever. I got along fine with everybody. I was the only black at the high school. The only sports we had were tumbling and basketball. I was the anchorman on the tumbling team, captain of the basketball team. And my senior year i was Class President and valedictorian. And i was treated just like any other person. Like i said, when i noticed the world was subjected to segregation is when i took the train from 40 ft. Pennsylvania to ft. Meade, maryland, and we stopped in washington, d. C. And we had a Twohour Layover on the way to ft. Meade. So, i got off the train. Went and had breakfast or came back. Went to get back in the car i was in. They said, no. You ride in the car where negroes ride. So, welcome to the south. Your introduction, in other words, to segregation and discrimination. I can feel it. Same thing. That was my introduction to segregation. But i didnt let it bother me. The way i looked at it, i didnt have the problem. They had the problem. I did what i had to do to accomplish what i had to accomplish. And like i said before, i went to Engineering School at ft. Belvoir. And didnt care for that. Tried for Cadet Training and was accepted. And off to tuskegee and the rest is history. Give us a list of airplanes that you are qualified in. Aircraft im qualified in. Well, in primary, i flew the pt19. The fairchild aircraft, made by fairchild. Low wing plane. And basically flew the standard bt13. In advance, the at6. And when we finished advanced training we got ten hours in the p40 at tuskegee. It got my ten hours there. And from there to walterboro, south carolina, for Combat Training. And there we were flying the p40 and later switched to the p47. And when i finished Combat Training, that was in april of 45, had my bags packed. Had an hour to go to norfolk to get on a ship and join the 332nd. We got a message saying to hold us. The war in italy was over and they expected war in the european theater, which they did in may. Hitler gave up the following month of may. I wouldve been on the high seas. So i didnt make it overseas to join the group. During that time, the germans had very good intelligence. Excellent intelligence. So hitler knew i was coming. Thats why he gave up. [ laughter ] and then, like i said, we got p47s. And then since i didnt go over, i joined the 99th in kentucky and they had p47s. So i flew p47s up until the time of integration, and that was in june of 49. They broke the 332nd up and scattered us all over the world. Eddie drummond and i, another pilot, we were assigned to a Fighter Group in japan. Before we departed, our 201 file had been forwarded to the Wing Commander. And in there was our picture. So he, the Wing Commander called all the pilots in and said, we have these two negro pilots coming in. They will be assigned so one of the squadrons. The pilots told us that themselves. They said, no way are we going to fly with them. No way. Anyway, Eddie Drummond and i reported to the Wing Commander. We were talking in his office. He said, what you want us to call you . I said, well, im a first lieutenant. Eddies a second lieutenant. How about Lieutenants Harvey and drummond . He said, okay. But then he made a mistake. He said, we have three fighter squadrons on the base. Two p51 squadrons, and an f80 squadron. Which squadron do you want to go to . I said, f80. So they put us both in the f80 squadron. They did not have any t33s. The Trainer Version of the f80. But they had an at6. That is what we flew in advance. In the back seat there is a hood you can pull up and you cant see out. So what they had us do, they had me get in the back seat. And the pilot up front, which is one of them, they got instructions for taxi and takeoff. He lined the aircraft up on the runway and he said, okay, you have it. Im in the backseat, under the hood. I apply the throttle, down the runway. Pull up the gear. Prop pitch, all that good stuff. Fly around, doing what he wants me to do. Then Contact Ground Control approach. Vector in for a landing, touched down on the runway. Then the pilot up front took over. Now, what does that have to do with flying the f80 . Nothing. I think they wanted to see if we could fly. Period. And we proved we could. So i checked out in the f80. So i was combat ready in the f80. And then after leaving japan, in between leaving japan and going to victorville, california, i flew missions in korea. Got 126 in the f80. Went to victorville, california, and they had the f86. So i checked out the f86. And flew the a, e, f, and d models. So i was combat ready in the f80, the f86 and i checked out in the f89 and i got two missions in that. And then f84. I got one mission in that. And then i ended up as Operations Officer of an f101 squadron. The f102 was the big delta wing. Very fast. Supersonic. People ask me which is my favorite aircraft and i say the f102 because Fighter Pilots like speed. They can go supersonic, like i said. And those were the aircraft i flew in. Those were the military aircraft fighters i flew and was combat ready in. And i had a good life. Excellent life. I enjoyed every minute of it. Thats good. The list of legendary airplanes a lot of people have to go back now and look at the tape and the list and pull those pictures up of those airplanes. You will see that not all of them performed the same way. You had to have certain skills on certain airplanes, especially the delta dart. You like to go fast but then how are you going to slow down . So the one question i want to ask and then we are going to split this. I want to get one or two questions from the audience. So those that have them prepared and ready, first of all, you have to speak loud. While we are getting ready for the young people to ask their question, i want to give you the opportunity, a couple of minutes each, to address the young people and let them know, what do you think they are, as where you left it . So do you think that your leaving this legacy of your Aviation Career in good hands with the young people in the audience . I am sure there are a lot of prospective pilots in the audience maybe. There are a lot of uniforms so i am sure they have some interest in the military in the future. And then if we could get one or two from the audience that have a question then we will come back to you. So we will start with the colonel. Well, no, i think we have set a standard thats for a different of course era. You guys are in a completely new universe than we lived in and i realize that it is very difficult to associate i went to the 100th anniversary of my unit last year and they are flying f22s. I went into the simulator. We were a fly by the seat of your Pants Generation and you are entirely different. So id say the one thing that i think whatever your endeavor is, you do your best. You cant do more than your best. You do your best. You strive to do your best and if you do your best, the rest of it, the promotions and the jobs and that sort of stuff will come in. But, that would be my advice. Get an objective and do your best to achieve it. Become selfactualized. Okay . Colonel alexander . I was sitting here thinking, you guys and gals, at topeka, where we were, we flew f86s. And now there are f22s and f35s, a completely new world. The transition from where you were i was a reserve officer. And i have i accompanied four people through the Air Force academy as an adviser. And the Training Today is so much advanced. But it is so productive. Very productive. We also want to ask you, do the best you can. Be a nerd. Seriously. Sit on the front seat in class. Have you ever seen a guy who walked in and the first thing they do is go to the back of the room. Be a nerd and sit on the front seat. The teacher is trying to give you his knowledge. Transfer this knowledge to you. And if you sit too far back, like me, you cant hear it. Life is so exciting today. From what it was 70 years ago. Take advantage of it. Be a nerd. That is my advice. Outstanding. I need to get a patch and put that on there. Colonel harvey . I will let you in on a secret. As to why the tuskegee airmen were so good. Each one of us wanted to be the best. So if you get all of those bests together you have quite an organization. Which we had. Now, who was the best of all those pilots . It depends on who is telling the story. [ laughter ] and right now, i am. That is perfect. Sir, if you could give us your name and your school. And then ask your question. I am midshipman hoffman from miami university. Good morning, gentlemen. Other than trying to be as excellent as possible and do the best job you possibly can, what are some specific qualities or traits that are essential to have for a Combat Pilot . Specific qualities or traits you will need to be a combat Fighter Pilot . Who wants to take it first . Go ahead. Be a badass. [ cheers and applause ] exactly. Its true. [ laughter ] you are darned right. Your answer may be a short one but we have a consensus. Seriously. Yes, sir, Name And School. Yes, sir. Good morning, gentlemen. Midshipman dodson. Vanderbilt university. I wonder if you could speak on how you were able to overcome the segregation in the military and the many challenges placed in front of you being africanamericans in a segregated military in the 1940s. You do the damn best you can. Period. Under the circumstances. Segregation was an obstacle. Literally, you had a feeling, trying to join the system, the economic, political system. You felt as though when you walked into a Baseball Game that you had two strikes against you. Many times there were too many things that happened that made you feel as though you were not worthy. And the application you filled in, you felt as though the instructor was putting obstacles. Its fantastic. But you do the best you can under the circumstances. As general davis, our boss, who went through West Point in four years. And during those four years, nobody spoke to him officially, trying to get him to quit. But he made it. He was our leader. We had a Slogan Failure is not an option. Gentlemen, failure is not an option. We had that theme when you take an exam, flying combat, flying period. Failure is not an option. Still today, thats the background. Failure is not an option. Well go to the mic over here. Your Name And School please. Good morning, gentlemen. Midshipman stevens. Vanderbilt university. My question is for you, colonel jarvis. I wonder if you could share as someone that served in World War ii, korea, and vietnam i wonder if you could share about your experience about coming home, specifically after vietnam. Your experience of coming home . And directing to the colonel, sir. Okay. Well, i flew combat in korea, flew 76 missions in korea. Korea was the forgotten war. Coming home, there was nothing pro or con. It was just a job. I went over, got my missions done, came home. I did not experience any problems there. And in vietnam, there was a tremendous it is a historical fact that all of the troops were treated very badly. I was of a senior rank and it didnt affect me. Although it was around, and i was a career military. So that i really cant relate to that particular question. But in korea, i had some very interesting experiences there. I would like to go into one little mission i had. Napalming troops along a ridge. We had a good napalm run. Came around, did a rocket run. We did not have the electronically controlled guidance so you had to keep your aircraft pretty straight and level when you were firing the rockets. I had some small arms go through the canopy. Hit my armor plating. All i saw was the explosion inside the canopy. Reached up, and my hands were full of blood. I did not know what was happening as far as how badly i was wounded. I made it back to base. My wingman had a Radio Failure so i brought him in and we went back to base. We got back to base. He broke off at first. He landed chl. All of the meat wagons and stuff followed him. So i came him and landed nonchalantly. Traffic, taxied back to my landing spot, i mean, my parking spot. My Crew Chief was up on the wing. I got up and he was startled. With the blood. He fell off the wing and almost broke his leg. [ laughter ] what happened is, when the bullet went through the canopy, all the plexiglass went into my face. I had three or four days where they took glass out of my face. And then i was flying again. That was a little korea incident. Thank you, sir. Colonel harvey, you have a separate experience as far as the Integration Or Nonintegration of the military during your initial World War ii time. Mostly in the states. So are there any stories that you can tell as far as being there . Were you were a part of any of the integration activities or desegregation activities that went on in Ohio Or Indiana or kentucky . Well, i think i covered them before. Okay. At the start of integration, in may of 49, sorry, june of 49 when i went to japan. That was the start of integration really. That is when they broke the Fighter Group up and scattered us all around the world. I went to japan and was assigned to a squadron there. During my whole military career, i had no problems whatsoever. One thing i was good. I was the best in the squadron, to put it bluntly. And the tuskegee airmen, they dont come any better. We proved it. So you were the best. Thats right. Integration is something that we had to meet and to conquer. We had the attitude, in civilian life theres an attitude, i am the best in class or wherever you are. After the war, integration took over. And during my life in the military, and my life in the civilian life, still i am the best. Everyone says, how did you feel . What do you mean, how did i feel . Im fighting the system. Trying to join this country as a human being. And it was tough at certain times. Even in the military. Segregation. But still, in my experience, i am the best. Someone says, did you cry . Heck, no. I Cant Cuss like i used to to express myself. [ laughter ] i existed, hell. I had a good time doing it too. You better believe it. In the few minutes that we have left, i would like to give you the opportunity to give us, once you left the military, what was your profession . What did you do as far as were you doctors, lawyers . I took care of mamas dear little snottynosed brats for 35 years. I was a schoolteacher. Best thing in the world. I had a ball. I taught elementary science. Wow. In other words, why did that Airplane Stay in the air . What do you mean stall . What happens . How do clouds form . To explain these things to a fifth grader and all of a sudden you look at him and he says, oh yeah. Bingo. Best feeling in the world. Why what happens when an airplane why does an Airplane Stall . Real quickly, i can do this in about two or three minutes. The shape of the wing is round. It comes up kind of like a hump as it goes through the air. The air going on the top of the wing has to go up and it comes down. The air on the bottom of the wing as it flies, the wing goes right straight through and is not affected. By going up and down a little bit, it produces a pull, lift. You have to go a certain speed going through the air to make that air go up and come down. Lift. Takeoff speed is about 90, 95. If it goes below that, 70, you dont get the lift. Why the Airplane Stalls. You would be surprised. Do little experiments in the classroom. We had fun producing Lift And Understanding why an airplane has to go 90 or 100 miles an hour to produce the air going across the top. Lift. Part of my life was teaching science. Youngsters, to leave them with this attitude of i am the best s. O. B. In the world. Because life is great. Life is great. You better enjoy it because no one else can make you feel the way i feel. Good. Colonel harvey . What was your profession, what was your chosen profession once you left the military . Well, i stayed in the military. I retired in may of 65. And i had four daughters i had to raise and then i had my wife, of course. So i needed a job. So united was in town interviewing so i applied for united. And they said, you meet all of our qualifications except one. We have a cutoff of 35. I said, okay. So i retired in madison, wisconsin. And at that time, that was the Home Office for oscar meyer. And i interviewed with oscar meyer. This was in may of 65 when i interviewed. And i interviewed for about a week with everybody just shy of oscar himself. And they said, you are hired. When do you want to go to work . I said, i retire the 31st of may and i would like a week off and they said okay, report on june 7th. I reported the 7th of june to Oscar Mayer and at that facility, they had slaughter. And so my training was slaughter through the end, it was a threemonth program. One month into the program, they needed a salesman in northeast New Jersey and so they sent me there. I was a salesman for three years in northeastern New Jersey. And then i was transferred to detroit, michigan, as a district manager. And then i was transferred to philadelphia to the plant as an assistant sales manager. And then during this time, at the philadelphia plant, Oscar Mayer held Marketing Conferences. And in my position at the plant, i was eligible to attend the Marketing Conferences. So in 71, we had a Marketing Conference at disney world. And disney World Hadnt completely opened yet. The polynesian village was open and that is where we had our conference. So the last day of the conference im sitting in the Dining Hall by myself in a booth. And the president of Oscar Mayer comes in and says, may i join you . And i said yes. And we started talking. And he said, we started talking about promotions. He said, we sent a guy to seattle who was previously in the western region and he knew our operation very well. So that is why we sent him up there. The opening in salt lake city, we didnt send you there because of the mormons and the blacks it just doesnt work. And he said, where would you like to go . And i said, well, i would like to go to denver but i know the manager doesnt want to leave. That was it. In april of 72, i got a call from headquarters in madison, wisconsin. They said go to Los Angeles for an interview for a job in denver. And so i went to Los Angeles. Passed the interview. And was assigned to denver. The manager in denver was transferred to st. Louis, missouri, it was a larger Distribution Center there. Anyway, my crew in denver was ten salesmen, two district managers, two secretaries, and three cooler people. I had a cooler facility. The company would send products in and we would fill the orders for the stores and supermarkets out of the cooler. So i was in that job for seven years and then i retired from Oscar Mayer. A total of 14 years. Retired in may of 1970. I spent 14 years with them. So i went from flying airplanes to selling wieners. [ laughter ] it was a good job, though. But he was the best. Right. [ laughter ] [ applause ] all right, colonel, if you could give us well, my profession was the military. So when i retired, i spent 36 years, 5 months in active duty. Now i am 40 years retired. Wow. I was able to beat my active duty. There is our range. When i got out, i got my masters but i didnt want much to interfere too much with my retirement. That is music to my ears, by the way. Yes, sir. Colonel harvey . During my whole life as a youngster all the way until i got married, i was a perfectionist. And there is nothing a perfectionist cannot do. And washing out of flying school never entered my mind. Perfectionists can do everything. And then i got married. [ laughter ] i had to put that on hold. And when my wife passed away, i went back to my old procedures. I did not have a worry going through flying school. Never a thought in my mind that i was going to wash out. And today, like i said. I went back to my old ways. I can do anything up to a point. [ laughter ] very nice. So again, we appreciate everyone coming in and taking their time and learning. I encourage you to take the programs back with the names of the gentlemen here. Take those names back. Google them. Look them up. And learn a lot more than we had time to learn today. But we want to show our appreciation for them coming in and participating in the program. [ applause ] thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Colonel harvey, before you leave, i wanted to let you know that you are not the only guy that got out of the Air Force and went to work for Oscar Mayer. As did i. In fact, i frequently tell kids that i am probably the only guy that you will ever meet that has actually driven the wiener mobile. There you go, no kidding. I also worked out of the philadelphia plant. I was down here in washington, d. C. , back in the 60s. So we crossed paths. I remember the meeting in florida, in disney world. It had not been finished yet when we were down there. So small world. You just never know. Yes, it is. Thank you all very much, ladies and gentlemen. History on two feet. [ applause ] weekends on cspan2, every saturday, american History Tv documents americas story. And on sundays, Book Tv brings you the latest in nonfiction books and authors. Funding comes from these television companies and more. Including charter communications. Broadband is a force for empowerment. Thats why charter is empowering opportunity in communities big and small. Charter is connecting us. Charter communications, along with these television companies, supports cspan2 as a public service. Each week american artifacts