Transcripts For CSPAN3 Politics Public Policy Today 20140902

Yeah, 2 a day. I think i got 2. 25 after i was promoted to run the drill. On your very first job, you learned how to work with your hands, didnt you . Well, that wasnt quite the whole story. I worked in with my hands when i was a boy. Time was the agony of walking, going from mine to mine, looking for a job. I take it, then, that you during that period, you were able to lay aside a little money for future activities . Well i certainly laid enough money aside to get down to San Francisco and look for a better job. Well mr. Hoover, how did you happen to get into professional engineering after those underground mining days experience . Well, i developed a great friend of dr. Brenner here at stanford. He was one of those men who always boosted youngsters along. He introduced me to the leading engineer in San Francisco, mr. Lewis janner. Mr. Janner gave me a temporary appointment. He had an application for an engineer to go to australia. There i went on my first 10,000 job. Subsequently do that, your work took to you countries all over the world, didnt it . Yes, as a partner in an International Engineering firm, we managed mines in china and india and burma and australia and russia. I doesnt know where all. Including the United States and canada. So that during the first seven years of this century, i went around the world seven times with my entire family. Well it must have been good to get home, then, after one of those long trips in those days. Always a thrill to come back to america. This is the place where freedom really lived. Did you not practice engineering in russia during the czarist days . Yes, sir, we had very large operations which we managed in russia. One of them was at a place in the urals. We had over 100,000 men. And a very successful operation. The main interest in it was that it was a complicated chemical and metallurgical operation that eventually the bolsheviks want able to operate it when they seized it because they locked up all the brains from the staff. So it was closed down for 15 years or more and all of those people put out of a job. During your experience in russia, how did you get along with the russian people. We got along extremely well because at that time the government was anxious to see the development of the Natural Resources of the country. We were the First Americans to come in. We had no political implications. British and french and all the other nationalities carried with them certain political possibilities, so the russians welcomed the americans. I see. We had no difficulty getting on with the people because with that type of an operation, we tried to get the best intelligence there was. We paid wages far higher than the common wage of the country. We never had a strike or a labor difficulty. Mr. Hoover did you ever hear from any of those russian workers afterwards . Some years after that i undertook relief of communist russia on behalf of the American People and i picked some of our staff who spoke russian. Our american staff and sent them back in connection with relief. They went to kishtim to look around. There they were met by a deputation that came to them with a petition saying, will you not get mr. Hoover and his men to come back, life was so much better. Do you have any souvenirs from that day . Yes, i have an interesting souvenir. Ray, this was presented to me by the workmen in the mines of russia, its a typical russian piece. It has one curious quality. Aside from its artistic merit, which is really very good. And that is the curious plaque which resembles bronze. Come from the fact that they use most impure iron in the world in order to make it. Runs 10 of sulfur. No american iron smelter would touch iron ore of more than. 1 of 1 . Nevertheless they built up quite an artistic industry. On the basis of that curious iron and the artistic quality of the russian workmen. What is that over there . Those are ancient chinese porcelains, shall we take a look at them . Ray, this is a very unusual display of the ancient chinese porcelain art in blue and white. In form and in arrangement. They are the very height of chinese concepts in artistic arrangement and in workmanship. We thought it would be appropriate that this set of five would be placed in the memorial room to mrs. Hoover downstairs and that has been done. She, of course, collected these items, did she not . She collected porcelains for over 40 years. Lets go and sit down. You were in many you were many times in china, then, werent you, mr. Hoover . Yes, i went to china originally as a part of the Engineering Firm i mentioned to you. As the chief engineer to the then department of mines. It had been created by a reform government. That job came to an end by the boxer uprising, which threw the government out. And mrs. Hoover and i have to spend a month under artillery and rifle fire. In the town of timsin until the American Marines came in and rescued us. Outside of your experience in the boxer rebel yen, mr. Hoover, how were your relations generally with the chinese . The chinese are a very friendly people. I traveled over a great part of china over the the two years prior to that. And i had nothing but courtesies from everybody. I, of course, had an official position. And had certain protections in the shape of a company of cavalry, usually. But theres nothing to comment on it particularly. Theyre an infinitely friendly people. They have a sense of humor. They are highly individualistic. And of course, poverty is the total aspect of china except in a very narrow circle. Mr. Hoover, what do you think now that the communists are in power will happen to the Chinese People . Ray, when the armies drove them out of the mainland, the first thing he did was disarm chinese population right down to the very butcher night. No population with pitch forks can ever create a revolution to throw out machine guns. The consequence is that regime is fixed until such a time as the failure of its methods and failure of productivity should cause the regime itself to change. And no doubt they will have fights amongst the chinese leaders. They have already shown that. And often enough, revolutions of that kind in history have blown up by fights among the leaders. And there are some of those fights going on now. The russians, of course, will have influence on the chinese. Do you think that the russian attitude on easing world tension may have some effect on the chinese reds . I think that they may have to restrain them, if they want to get their own objectives. We may be witnessing a phenomena similar to that which we saw at the time that stalin came into power. He wanted time to build up his industry and his armies. And he became the most peaceful thing there was running around the earth at that time. He joined the league of nations, he signed the kellogg pact, he made peace treaties with 30 of his neighbors. Nothing could have been more promising for lasting peace. Well in 1939, he violated every one of those agreements. So that one can only wonder that perhaps this new regime, wanting time to consolidate, being troubled by a failure in agriculture and hunger amongst their people, would like to have an interval of peace. I have no confidence with the objectives of those people that it would be a lasting peace with good will towards men. But it might be endurable. We might able to reduce the armaments of the world somewhat, all of which might come out of geneva and thats what we must pray for. This book here, mr. Hoover, looks familiar. I think i recognize it as being commonly called the equikila. This book was published just 400 years ago. It is in latin, it was in latin. And comprehended the whole gamut of the mining and metallurgical and Chemical Industries of their time. There were great difficulties in the translation from the latin because the technical terms had been invented by the author. In latin, 600 years after the language was dead. But mrs. Hoover was an accomplished linguist. She was able to read it and with her background of Technical Training and the fact that i knew something about the subjects, we were able to make a translation of it for the first time. It was purely a labor of love. It had no great practical value at that modern times. Although, many of the processes illustrated here are still in action. In any event, for a couple of hundred years, it was the textbook of those industries. And at one time, they chained it in an iron binding to the altar encathedrals in mining towns such as san luis and the priests translated it for the benefit of the miners, plus the illustrations. So that the book had at one time a great weight, but of course now its only a matter of interest. There is nothing particularly public about the book at that time. There were 2,000 copies printed and distributed amongst engineers. Since that time its become a rare item. And it now sells for 250. But we dont have any more of them. You didnt get the 250 . I didnt get the 250. Well it must have been a tremendously difficult job to translate it. It was a difficult job. It took five years. And furnished a Family Interest during that entire period. Mr. Hoover, when did your career as an engineer come to an end . It came to an end when i, shortly after i took over the belgian relief in 1914. I didnt know it at the time. We all expected the war would be over very shortly. And we would get back to work. But as the war went on and on, my clients and partners had to have some other interest. So i never went back to the profession. Who was it who asked you to get into the relief work . That was the combined pressures of leading belgians, the belgian ambassador, the prime minister, and the American Ambassador in london and the American Ambassador in brussels. They all seemed to concentrate on me to undertake that job. So that this operation carried on during the war. You certainly must have been in some exciting experiences from time to time. Well most of it was a pretty humdrum business. You had to transport a tremendous volume of food overseas with a fleet of 300 ships. You had to distribute it, transport it inland. Ration the population and take possession of it the agricultural product and so forth. It was the first Food Administration in the history of the world. The incidents that came out of it were nothing very startling. One of them i remember rather distinctly. That the Service Across the north sea was maintained by the dutch and they frequently lost but they always provided methods of escape so nobody much was drowned. One day i went down to take the boat. And i had usually paid the bill for my food and cabin at the end of the trip. But the steward came to me and said youll have to pay cash. And i said, how come . He said well last voyage, the Queen Wilhelmina went down, and the passengers owed me nine pound ten and i never got the money. You seem to be modest there, mr. Hoover. Seems to me i recall a story of actually being under fire. I was under fire a number of times. But the only time i really got wounded was when the germans were bombing a town of bologne where i was stopping overnight. I got up and looked out the window to see this performance and the germans dropped a bomb in the street right opposite the hotel, and i got showered with glass. I got cut up a lot. But i never got a purple heart. Now, didnt some of the authorities fight the feeding of starving children during your belgian relief career . Why had to transport all of our material through the british blockade. And a Great Division arose in the british cabinet as to the desirability of our going on. The military side of the cabinet insisted that 10 or 12 million starving belgians and frenchmen would invees the germans a lot and the german were also short of food and it might bring the war to a quicker end. That was their argument. I was called before the cabinet. And i found a short time of sir edward gray and lloyd george, mr. Asquith who was then prime minister, were all on my side, so i pushed the issue even further. Ultimately i got a subsidy of 5 million a month from the british to carry on the work. And in the end before we were done with four years from it, i was receiving 10 or 12 million a month from the british. You may have answered a question thats in my mind, mr. Hoover. May i ask at this point, what do you think of of the policy of starvation as an instrument of warfare . It might be an instrument of warfare. It might conceivably bring war to an earlier end. But starvation leaves a mass of human beings that are a liability to the world for all time, both themselves and their descendants. Your work in belgian relief did not end your food operation, did it, sir . No. The belgian relief effort continued throughout the war, and i continued to conduct it. When we came into war, i withdrew the american staff and substituted dutch inside of belgium. At that time, the british and french who were beginning to find food difficulties were beginning to call on me for advice. And about that time. President wilson asked me to take over the United States Food Administration. So i became food administrator of the United States. Continued on that until the timn of the armistice in 1918. Then i was asked to go to europe on behalf of all the allied governments to take over their rehabilitation of the food supply for some 315 Million People in europe. That work ended when, sir . I took it up again in russia in 1923. So you might say i had spent about nine years on that kind of a job. By that time, of course, you were in the president s cabinet as secretary of commerce. I was. And then you also had some relief work left to put on your shoulder as secretary of commerce, did you not . Well, that was the russian problem. We had one job in mississippi. Thats what i was referring to. Could you tell us something about that . The flood of 1927 was the greatest flood thats ever been known along the mississippi from cairo down. And the protections were weak and they all gave way and the country for 1,000 miles north and south and from 70 to 150 miles wanted it. So president coolidge asked me to take over that job. We moved about a million and a half of people out of the ground and pulled them out of the water and put them in camps and looked after them for three months and put them back in their homes again. We lost only three lives in that operation. Three lives. And at the expense of it was conducted entirely by american charity. We never called on the government for a dime except that i had the services of the navy and the coast guard. You referred briefly to russian relief. In 1923. Could you tell me more about that . A dreadful drought struck south russia in 1923. Maxim gorky on behalf of the communist government appealed to me to undertake some american help. I organized the operation. We sent some 200 americans into russia. They game them completely free movement. I raised congressional appropriations about 70 million of american money and we unquestionably saved about 17 million russian lives. They credited us with that. And when we finished, they got out of a very beautiful scroll addressed to my and the American People of gratitude. And youll find it somewhere here in the library in russian. But when the american communists get too entirely abusive, i send out a photograph of it in translation by way of stopping them up a little, huh . I see. Then mr. Mover, as i recall, the next great work in relief was the organization of relief during the depression. Could you tell me something about that . Well, unemployment across grew with the depression and especially when the whole economy of europe collapsed and brought us down. And i organized relief in the United States. We at the time i left office, we had about 18 Million People on relief in the United States. And mr. Roosevelt found he had to continue the same number up until about pearl harbor. Your own next operations in the field of relief then came when, sir . Well, i at the beginning of the second world war, i was appealed to by some eight or nine different governments in europe who had been occupied by the germans to again come to their relief. We organized some relief for them, but in the course of three or four, two years, the military people in control of the allied side adopted the old british doctrine, and they closed off our operations. It was not until the war was over when the inevitable post war famine began that i again was called back into service. Bear in mind that every world war will create a worldwide famine. I dont need to go into the reasons for that. But its a solemn fact. And mr. Truman was faced with a famine in 1946. Even greater than the world has ever seen before. He asked me to take a part in the management of the famine, and i did so by organizing the necessary setup in washington and again i visited 38 different nations by plane, organized their Food Administrations, got their cooperation. And in the end, we pulled through. When we started, we were convinced 800,000 people were die in the famine, but we found help all over the world that we hadnt expected. And in the end we pulled them all through. There was no mass starvation anywhere that i know of. Well its very clear, mr. Hoover, that your operations in the field of relief have been literally tremendous. May i ask you this, quite frankly, during all these years, did you accept any compensation in connection with your relief work . Ive never accepted compensation either for relief or for federal service. Except in this sense that i have at time taken federal salaries and expended them on matters outside of my own needs. And use. I was led to that by an overall question of conviction of my own. I dont say this in disparagement of men accepting salaries from the government, because most of our officials must have them to live. But it happened that i had prospered in my profession at the time when the income tax was only 1 . I was able to save a competence, and i felt that i owed to my country a debt that was unpayable and i had no right to ask her to pay me. So that that was the practice right up until 30th day of june this year. And yet, sir, i think that on occasions, you had been smeared. Yes, every public official has been smeared. I take it that the final test as to whether smears are of any right or effectiveness is when Congress Makes an investigation of a fellow. Ive been in federal service 40 someodd years and i havent yet been investigated by congress. I see. Thats certainly the answer to it, isnt it . Maybe. Mr. Hoover, i know that you have had a special interest in children, and i believe that you set up a special relief for children. Could you tell us about that, please, sir . Well that originated during the belgian problem. There were two million belgian children. The normal ration for an adult is deficient in the type of food that will support child life. So we have set up an extra meal every day for all the children in belgium. Two million of them. When we came into the relief of europe as a whole after the armistice we expanded that service and carried about 12 or 14 million children. If you catch them young enough you can feed them up so they become normal. If its gone too far they are the ancestors of all of the bandits and racketeers in the world, huh . But that brinks to mind did i interrupt you, sir . Well, when world war ii came on, i having set up these arrangements all over the world in 39 countries to meet that famine. I found that there was a tremendous impoverishment and undernourishment amongst children all over the world. A desperate situation. There were some 30 million of them as we calculated them. So i took that matter up with the united nations. And the american administration. And they set up an organization, i suggested the men who should operate it. And these were the men who had operated in europe and world war ii. And world war i. And theyre still operating it until this day. So far as i know, they looked at her nearly 50 million children in the last five years. I see. As you were speaking there of Child Welfare and child relief work, mr. Hoover, my mind went back to a rather notable statement you made on the subject. As i recall, it was back in 1930 when you were president. I believe you had summoned a Child Welfare council at that time. I think its in here in this book. Im wondering if it wouldnt be appropriate for you to tell us about it at this time. Well, i can read it to you, if thats telling you about it. All right, sir. That statement has been republished many times, rather an old statement to the American People, im afraid. The older i grow, the more i appreciate children. We approach all the problems of childhood with affection. Theirs is the problems of joy and of good humor. They are the most wholesome part of the race. They are the sweetest, they are fresher from the hands of god. Whimsical, ingenious, mischievous. We live a life of apprehension what their opinions may be of us, a life of defense against their terrifying energy. We put them to bed with a sense of relief and a lingering of devotion. We envy them the freshness of adventure. And the discovery of life. We mourn over the disappointments which they will meet. Thank you, sir. I think that probably brings us up to your work with the government Reorganization Commission. Two president s, i believe, called you to washington to take up that work. Could you tell me what your and the fabulous waste and duplication and waste, lack of efficiency. So the congress, president in each case set audiotape commission. In both cases, i was asked to take the chairmanship. The first Reorganization Commission of six years ago. Secured the adoption of a great many of the recommendations of 70 . They related largely to reorganizations of different agencies and setting up a new structure of the government. The korean war and the rearmament came along and obscured whatever savings there were. The Second Commission examined the government from a functional and policy point of view. We have made recommendations, which if adopted would enable the balancing of the budget and a very substantial reduction in taxes. The last commission required five years to get its proposals adopted. It may take us some years to get these. I feel certain that they will come. I believe you intend to keep working at it, to see what you can do to make it come true . The press seems determined on getting me retired, but i cant stop until we get these recommendations adopted. Mr. Hoover, it seems to me this is an appropriate time for me to ask you this. In view of world conditions with our own country and abroad, what do you think with respect to the chances of private enterprise returning and the chances of our having greater individual freedom again . Well, you mentioned abroad. There has been a total economic revolution in germany. Germany has gone back to a Free Enterprise system and has become the most prosperous state in europe. Likewise belgium retreat freddie socialism into Free Enterprise and has been prosperous every since. The last election in britain guaranteed the retreat from socialism into Free Enterprise. In our own country, we havent made as much progress as we should. The second Reorganization Commission, however, proceeded on the thesis that this was a country where the economic and social system was based on private enterprise and individual action. Both of them naturally regulated to prevent unfair practice and prevent a monopoly and the government should only intervene with people in matters in which the people could not support and take care of themselves. Well, our department has departed a longways from that basis. And the recommendations of the Reorganization Commission are very largely in the nature of methods of return back to the fundamental pieces on which this country was founded. We covered a vast number of subjects here today. We covered a lot of ground. I think the thing that comes out of it, working man all your life. However, i do think that youre also known for your relaxation. Would you tell us how do you get your relaxation . Well, i go fishing whenever i get a chance. Also, i go to baseball games and then the other exercise of that ki kind. I have a rather yen for fishing because the ripple of a brook and the slap of the wave against the side of the boat will brainwash most anybody into a much cleaner position, huh . Didnt you once make a very famous statement about fishing . I dont know. I said a lot about it. I explained that the president s all went fishing, they all have, even if they never fished before, and that was because the American People have respect for privacy only on two occasions. One of them is prayer and the other is fishing, and president s pray all the time. The fishing question is often a problem of getting away from here to somewhere else and getting out of an awkward spot, and it doesnt matter much how much fish you get. If you get any, you know perfectly well that all men are equal before fishes. Theres no sense of these evil thoughts that seem to infect our social system. That, of course, brings me to another subject that i wanted to ask you about before we part. Your interest in boys club. I refer to that because i was thinking of your talking about baseball and fishing. You have a very vital interest in the boys club. Will you tell me what that means to you. Well, i have been the chairman of the board of the boys clubs now for nearly 20 years, and i was connected with it even before that. But its a completely systematic method by which elder people could be of help to youngsters outside of their normal schooling and parents and so forth. The boys clubs have got about 400,000 members. Theyre all slum boys. Its a slum movement. It is probably the best preventative to youth delinquency there is in the United States. These boys are taken in and they are given certain manual training, theyre given music, and they have ample gains and theyre organized into teams instead of gangs, and they have equipment that is growing in dimensions. Today it would cost 120 million to replace the equipment we have in those institutions, and i might mention to you that the boys clubs, these boys clubs, developed five Major League Players in the last series. And it also gives a chance for the older man to do something for the boys just as older men have done did things for you as you were growing up, isnt that right . Thats a large part of it. Its based on voluntary help with elder people. The carpenter goes in and takes charge of the carpenter shop, and if he develops a boy that looks like a carpenter, he helps him along in life and so forth. Mr. Hoover, while i have been sitting here, i have been wanting to ask you something about these flags. This flag is the president s flag s that not right . Thats quite right. Would you tell me, please, why you have it here . It is the only gift that your president receives from the American People. He gets no pension, he gets no title, but he gets his own flag. He has a right to fly it. Unlike a senator, who is called a senator or a governor who is called a governor after he leaves office and also a president is you better mention the kentucky colonels and all the generals. The president is just nothing but plain mister, and i think its a comfortable feeling. Well, mr. Hoover, i want to thank you for this session that you and i have had here together today. Theres just one other thing. I wonder if you would be willing to give me something of your philosophy, something of your feeling about your fellow americans and about your country. Ray, thats rather an extensive subject. One time i wrote a passage on the subject, and i think youve got it in that book. If youll give it to me i dont think i could phrase it as well as i did at that time and do it extemporaneously. So if youd like i dont mind reading it to you. I wish you would, sir. Perhaps without any modesty i can claim to have had some experience in what the word america means. I have lived in many lands, many kinds of american life. After my early boyhood in an iowa village, i lived as a ward of a country doctor in oregon. I lived among those to whom hard work was the price of existence. The opportunities of america opened to me through the public schools. They carried me to the professional training at a Great American university. I began by working with my own hands for my daily bread. I have tasted the despair of fruitless search for a job. I even know the kindly encouragement of a boarding housekeeper. I have seen america in contrast with many nations and many races. My profession took me into many foreign lands under many kinds of governments. I worked in governments of free men, of tyrannies, the socialists, of communists and i have met with princes and kings and despots and desperados. I have seen the squalor of asia. I was not a tourist, i was associated in their working lives and in their problems. I had to deal with their social systems and their governments. And to these great masses of people, there was a hallowed word, america. To them it was the hope of their whole world. Every homecoming was for me a reaffirmation of the glory of america. Each time my soul was washed by the relief from grinding poverty of other nations by the greater kindness and frankness which comes from the acceptance of equality and the wide open opportunity to all who want a chance. It is more than that. It is a land of selfrespect born alone of free men. I have had every honor to which any man could aspire. There is no place on this whole earth except here in america where all of the sums of man can have this chance in life that has come to me. I recount all this in order that i may give my own testimony. The meaning of our word america flows from one pure source. Within the soul of america is freedom of mind and spirit and man. There alone are the open windows through which pours the sunlight of human spirit. Here alone is Human Dignity not a dream but an accomplishment. Perhaps it is not perfect, but it is more full in its realization here than any other place in the world. Each week American History tvs reel america brings you archival film that is help tell the story of the 20th century. At the end of 1963 the United States had about 16,000 military advisers in South Vietnam sent to help the army of the republic of vietnam in their war against ho chi minh and the communist north. Next, from 1963 a 30minute u. S. Army film documenting the activities of captain William Johnston who trains and assists South Vietnamese troops while they are constantly being attacked and harassed by vietcong. 50 years ago on august 10th, 1964, the situation in vietnam was transformed when Lyndon Johnson signed the gulf of tonken resolution with congress granting the president broad powers to increase american involvement in the conflict. Since the outbreak of hostilities in 1959, United States Army Advisers in vietnam have undergone a variety of experiences and learned much about the complexities of guerrilla warfare in southeast asia. Working through m. A. G. These advisers have increased in nz . n each is assigned to a specific n activity or unit of the army of the republic of vietnam, commonly referred to as arvin, to make sure that u. S. Equipment is used and maintained properly and to teach by lecture, demonstration, and by setting an example. Perhaps the advisers most important function is to advise and assist the unit commander his arvin counterpart to make suggestions skillfully and cpadjusted to the customs and traditions of the vietnamese and to the individual personality of the commander. Since 1959, in fact since 1956 when m. A. G. Advisers were sent to vietnam, many lessons have been learned, many guidelines, techniques, and principles have been developed. Perhaps the best way to describe the experience of u. S. Advisers in their relationship with the vietnamese and to illustrate the Lessons Learned is to tell the story of one u. S. Officer, captain william r. Johnston, who from may 1962 until april 1963 served as m. A. G. Adviser to the first Infantry Battalion 11th regiment, 7th infantry division, army of the republic of vietnam. 34yearold michiganborn captain johnston with a wife and two children in chicago would soon learn that his military assignment required a thorough knowledge of counter guerilla techniques and infantry tactics. To maintain a workable relationship with his arvin counterpart and other vietnamese soldiers and civilians he would have to make some changes in his approach towards human relationships. His counterpart, captain khan had received infantry and artillery training in the United States but they were still a large gulf of di injury vent cultures separating them. So function efficiently, it would be up to captain johnston to bridge this gulf as rapidly and completely as vietnamese customs would permit. As johnston met officials such as a district chief and arvin Regimental Commander, he had to adhere to the u. S. National policy and his obligation would be to support the military operations of the incumbent government of vietnam. When johnston reported to the First Battalion, they were stationed at a sugar mill. The main source of sugar, rum, and molasses for all of the republic of vietnam, it was located in the delta on a river 16 kilometers east of the cambodian border. One primary mission of the First Battalion was to provide security for the mill as well as to stop the vietcong from forcibly collecting taxes from farmers who brought in sugarcane. Captain johnston made it a point not to rush matters in establishing himself with the vietnamese and with captain khan. With them here is sergeant dock, a School Teacher drafted into the army and now johnstons interpreter. The american captain learned that the mill employed 2,000 workers and was in an area largely controlled by the vietcong. They estimated 30 of the employees were guerillas who operated on night patrols disrupting supply lines. Feeling his way carefully, one of captain johnstons first recommendations was to improve artillery emplacements thereby increasing flexibility of fire for the 155 howitzers at the sugar mill. He also suggested that living in shelters improvised from ponchos was neither helping morale or contributing to supply economy and khan agreed to construct barracks. Another basic mission was to secure a portion of the only usable road for transport of personnel, sugar, and supplies between the mill and saigon. The road led through vietcong infectioned territory with an estimated two companies of guerillas operating in the First Battalions area of responsibility. However, despite the presence of the First Battalion, word was received one morning that the road had been cut during the night. Captain johnston hurried to the scene where it was reported that the vietcong were still in the area. Battalion troops arrived a few minutes later. The Battalion Commander was at renlmental headquarters and by now johnston had learned that khans workload was such that he could not always be available. The Second Company tried to intercept the guerillas, but only succeeded in driving them into the jungle. By this time johnston considered himself a member of the battalion, was aware that the officers and men liked to hear him say, well do this or our battalion. He recommended a course of action to the Company Commander remembering an adviser never commands, only suggests. With the vietcong still within range, a 30 caliber machine gun was brought into use. A 60 millimeter mortar crew quickly set up their weapon and began firing. Suspects were rounded up for interrogation. Johnston would assist in this as soon as he could. Once the guerillas were driven off and the chance of harassing fire reduced to a minimum, civilians recruited by the district chief began repairing the road. Some of these same farmers had undoubtedly been recruited by the vietcong to dig it up the night before. There were several motives for cutting the road. Most important, of course, was to disrupt transportation and supply. These passengers disembarking so their bus can bypass the damaged portion illustrate another motive, which was to enable the vietcong to halt civilian traffic in order to recruit guerillas, capture or kill officials, take hostages, collect money, and to deliver propaganda harangues and leaflets. When the road was sufficiently repaired, the flow of traffic resumed taking passengers to their destinations as well as fuel and supplies to the sugar mill. As a result of the cutting of the road and other night activity by the vietcong, captain johnston made a recommendation which led to the first appreciable disagreement between him and captain khan. The recommendation was for regular night patrols throughout the area. Although it was eventually followed, the Battalion Commander refused at first because he was adhering to the old concept of fighting by day and defending by night. Johnston then asked permission to lead volunteer patrols, and khan reluctantly consented. They proved so successful that the Battalion Commander drew up his own plans for nightly patrols receiving high praise from division. Johnstons reward was satisfaction from the results obtained. While stationed at the sugar mill, captain khan, captain johnston and the First Battalion participated in other combat operations either at company level, as a battalion, or as part of a larger unit. Helicopters played an Important Role in such operations and it was up to johnston to request helicopter support through the regimental adviser as well as to brief u. S. Pilots. The First Battalion operated with an Airborne Unit during this mission which was designed to clear an area where vietcong had been active near the capital region. At first to get an idea of the capabilities of battalion troops, johnston accompanied the lead elements. Huts which served as guerilla hideouts were burned to the ground. A communist information booth was leveled by First Battalion soldiers and members of the selfdefense corps. Even in the midst of combat, troops took a break. Johnston quickly learned that vietnamese have less stamina than americans and that they must have frequent breaks and four meals a day. However, this did not interfere with the highly successful mission. A sizable number of prisoners and suspects were captured. When johnston arrived on the scene, he learned that they had not been searched. He suggested to the Company Commander that this be remedied. One was found to be on the wanted list, a hard core vietcong named liu who had committed murders and atrocities against civilians. Interrogation of prisoners presented a major and continuing problem to johnston in his capacity as an adviser. It was also an infantry advisers responsibility to help arrange for armored support when needed. In a later mission, these m113 armored personnel carriers were requested to assist the First Battalion in clearing an area of the delta. The high grass made it easy for the vietcong to hide. However, some were captured, and many suspects flushed out for interrogation. In obtaining armor or any other support, it was up to the u. S. Adviser to make his counterpart aware of its availability as well as to establish liaison with each supporting unit through the m. A. G. Advisory team headquarters. In addition to armor and army aviation, other support obtained by captain johnston and captain khan included artillery, enginee engineers, signal, ordnance, medic medical, and naval. It was while the battalion was stationed at the sugar mill that johnston recommended inauguration of a Program Designed to retrain the units personnel. The u. S. Adviser devoted much time to helping supervise this training which emphasized techniques especially adapted to the local terrain as well as weapons training. This exercise stressed unit tactics in clearing an area. Both the training and the area selected proved so successful that higher headquarters assigned the First Battalion the task of training three companies of recruits as regimental replacements. These recruits as well as members of the battalion who could be spared were also given training on the new claymore antipersonnel mine. Because the demonstration range which the battalion built was located outside the compound and trainees were subject to sniper fire, they kept loaded weapons in hand. The lecture phase was conducted by lieutenant keem, battalion s5. Johnston had recommended him for this duty because he spoke some english and the two could communicate directly. The u. S. Adviser had then given keem additional english instruction as well as an intensive course in the use of the mine. Throughout his tour as adviser, johnston had become increasingly aware of doublechecking the translation of his words, especially since he had discovered that the instructors and interpreters often injected their own feelings or opinions on a subject instead of translating literal ly. During the first few classes on the claymore, johnston personally set the mine in the ground and prepared it for debt tin nation. Realizing the importance of teaching by demonstration, he showed no reluctance about getting his hands dirty. However, he realized it would be wrong to continue to do the work himself and that he would have to persuade one of the battalion officers to take on the responsibility. Use of bayonets to hammer in targets illustrated a minor but persistent problem he faced as an adviser. Ever since he joined the battalion, he had observed the men misusing the bayonette. Instead of employing more appropriate tools. Frequent on the spot corrections and appeals to the Battalion Commander had thus far produced no result. With targets in place and the lecture phase completed, johnston let lieutenant vin, a Company Commander, detonate the mi mine. Something was wrong. It failed to detonate. Johnston quickly improvised a field expedient meth not removing the batteries and teaming up with lieutenant vin to make manual contact. Early in january 1963, two companies of the First Battalion moved from the sugar mill to a village where beige major bak was on hand to greet johnston and captain khan. A cp was set up in the village pagoda. The tiger on the sign is a religious symbol. The other two companies remained at or near the sugar mill to help the selfdefense Corps Company take over thew vt surrounding terrain. Shortly afterwards, Master Sergeant jones of baltimore, maryland, arrived to serve as the battalions first enlisted adviser. Primary reason for moving two companies of the battalion was to have them help convert the village into a strategic hamlet. Since the village was in the heart of vietcong country, johnston never went anywhere without his ar15 rifle, keeping it by his side even when he slept. His chief duty at this time was to advise captain khan on providing security for workers constructing the hamlet as well as on planning patrols and companysize operations. This battalion soldier was captured and killed by the vietcong while guarding the construction site at night. There was another basic reason for the battalions move to the village. This was so it could provide security for a road reconstruction project. Rendered impassable by the vietcong in 1959, repair of this radio would provide a shorter route from the village to saigon. Captain johnston went over it carefully so he could advise the Battalion Commander on plans for protection of construction crews. Actual reconstruction was done by civilians who were paid for their labor by the vietnamese government. Arvin engineers lend support with bulldozers, other equipment, and personnel. During the entire project, johnston maintained liaison with u. S. Engineer advisers. Despite security measures, the vietcong dug up sections at night and subjected workers to harassing fire. On this occasion, Sergeant Jones spotted a Guerilla Force while johnston after several refusals persuaded the Company Commander to call for mortars. He also found time to reassure an anxious mother whose son was being interrogated as a suspect that he would not be mistreated. In addition to their basic duties, the three u. S. Advisers concern themselves with battalion morale. These palm fronds were for the roof of a barracks johnston had recommended, captain khan had authorized, and lieutenant clement had been delegated to supervise. Even though johnston expected to be reassigned to the United States before it was completed, he had not hesitated to recommend its construction. He knew he could count on lieutenant clement, his probable successor as battalion adviser, to follow through on the project. At johnstons suggestion, clement and Sergeant Jones with sergeant dock aiding assisted usis activity by presenting residents of the village with books, pamphlets, and calendars. Because the village was located near the river and even closer to many access canals, the First Battalion was given its most Important Mission to date. Produce from this rich agricultural area and from the even more productive south was transported by boats to roads which led to saigon itand other cities north of the delta. Road and river traffic was frequently intercepted by the vietcong who collected tribute and terrorized them if they were uncooperative. The First Battalion was assigned the mission of clearing the area southeast of the village and of constructing a selfdefense corps post at the junction of the canals. Upon receipt of the order, captain johnston and his counterpart formulated a plan for the post selecting a position which would command both canals and afford the best route for reinforcements. Khans planning impressed johnston convincing him that advising can work both ways for he was getting many good ideas from his counterpart. The plan included preparation of materials at at the village and movement of the first and Second Companies from the sugar mill area so almost the entire battalion would proceed downriver to the construction sight. Two platoons would be left to secure the cp and lieutenant clement would remain with them. As the men split bamboo to transport downriver, johnston saw that hed won a minor but significant victory. They were using ma chet at thises instead of bayonets. His appeals to khan and the men had taken affect and misuse of bayonets had apparently ended. As they prepare to move down river, men of the battalion were deeply concerned about something and it wasnt the prospect of backbreaking work in 120 degree heat or the almost certain casualties they would take. Tet, their version of chinese new year, was two weeks away. Unless they completed the sdc post before then, 30 would misleave time at home and the rest around the feasts and festivity at the village. At a nearby port on the river, the equipment was loaded on board lcms. Responding to requests through command and advisory channels, the navy of the republic of vietnam had assigned four Landing Craft in support of the battalions mission. Johnston was on hand to watch the lcms pull out. Manned by Vietnamese Navy personnel, the craft would transport the equipment by river and then canal to the construction site. Meanwhile, the battalion paralleled the river on foot. Its immediate objective, to clear the area of vietcong. Walking with them were johnston and the Battalion Commander. They cleared villages and searched huts all along the populated route to the site of the sdc post. Johnston and his counterpart found that all adult males had left, confirming their belief that most of the population were vietcong. At another hut, a last moment escape by vc was indicated by food still being cooked. Despite all precautions, an ambush resulted in the wounding of two men. On the river the navy was having its obserwn taste of the vietco receiving harassing fire from the thick jungle. In return they opened up with their 20 millimeter cancannon. As soon as the battalion arri d arrived, they started digging in to set up a defensive perimeter on johnstons recommendation. He explained some of his other reged datiorecommendations to t Regimental Commander and khan realizing it wasnt enough to say this is the way the American Army did things. They uncovered several traps. With security established, the first lcm was signaled to come in. Johnston lent a hand in tying it to the bank. The battalion was now ready to begin its basic mission, construction of the sdc post following the plan drawn up by johnston and his counterpart. The wall for the triangular post would be of mud which would become almost as hard as concrete when it dried. A blockhouse was constructed at each corner of the triangle. Captain khan personally supervised many phases while johnston was everywhere observing and advising. One of his recommendations was for use of concertina wire. Their joint plan also included the digging of a motor surrounding this entire post. Construction was frequently interrupted by mortar duels with the vc who subjected them to harassing mortar and small arms fire. Casualties were sustained by both sides. This sdc soldier received mortar fragments and an arvin mortar killed this guerilla. Vietcong harassing fire during the posts construction led to a disagreement between adviser and counterpart when johnston recommended clearing fields of fire in opposition to khans desire to spare the local farmers coconut and banana trees. Johnston won his point and sdc personnel together with members of the battalion burned fields of fire on both sides of the canal. The following day another battalion soldier was critically wounded by sniper fires at 1150 hours, a significant time since it was 10 minutes before virtually all arvin troops took a siesta. Helicopters did not respond to a request for evacuation and almost certainly would not during the siesta period. Deeply concerned, johnston radioed a request to the renlmental adviser for a u. S. Piloted helicopter. He received a regretful refusal because only when arvin refused a mission could u. S. Pilots be sent. Three hours later an arvin helicopter landed. The wounded man lost his right eye and was paralyzed on the right side. Johnston deeply involved helped load him on the helicopter. With the sdc post almost completed, the battalion moved the bulldozer across the canal to assist in the construction of a watch tower. While being offloaded from an lcm, it became stuck in the soft mud. Johnston and his counterpart hurried to the scene. Having had some experience with track vehicles, johnston felt he had the solution but kept it to himself to permit khan to direct operations. The Battalion Commanders methods were suitable for wheeled vehicles but only succeeded in bogging down the tractor even more. Both the Battalion Commander and his u. S. Adviser were worried for several reasons. First, they might lose a bulldozer. Second, the troops were under harassing fire. And, third, the allimportant deadline of tet was drawing closer. Delay could well cost the men their holiday and morale could become dangerously low. As he later admitted, johnstons concern for the men led him to use poor judgment. He attempted to advise his counterpart in front of his officers and men leading khan to reject the recommended solution. Khans acceptance of advice given in front of others would have caused him to lose face so he continued to use his own methods. Even procurement of a second bulldozer and use of all available men didnt help. Finally johnston in private issued an ultimatum in khan. Use the method he had recommended or he would make a report to regiment. This would result in even greater loss of face and possible disciplinary action for khan. The Battalion Commander reluctantly gave in. Johnstons method was to anchor the bottom of the track to a stationary object so the tractor would pull itself over its own treads and out of the hole it had dug for itself. His method worked. The men threw their hats in the air in a spontaneous expression of joy. They made it. A few days later, their mission was fully accomplished. The sdc post was completed. The sdc men and their families moved in to man the post and set up housekeeping bringing in firewood for cooking and drinking water. It was a scene of domestic tranquility against a backdrop of anticipated violence. With the post fully completed in ten days, the battalion headed back to the village. The vietcong unsympathetic as always hit them with an ambush. It was quickly met with small khan directed the action. More First Battalion casualties were added to the price of the sdc post. Captured vc prisoners showed there was another side to the balance sheet. Now they could complete the final leg of their journey back to the village. A few days later captain johnston received orders for reassignment to the United States. He had said goodbye to all the men except the wounded. His good friend, khan, was with him on this last mission. There was a heartwarming Mutual Respect between adviser and counterpart and between officers and men. At least one advisory technique had burned itself into johnstons subconscious. These were, indeed, his troops. It was time for him to return to the United States and for lieutenant clement to replace him. The new battalion adviser had already learned, as johnston had, that a careless word or action could not only jeopardize the success of a mission, but could cost the United States dearly in goodwill and cooperation. He recognized that the rapport developed by captain johnston had been achieved at great personal sacrifice and at considerable cost to the United States. Inevitably there would be problems. It would be up to him to work them out as johnston had. However, one fact was certain, all else being equal, he would have an easier time of it because his predecessor had laid the foundation of a workable relationship with his counterpart and the rest of the battalion. Each week American History tv reel america brings you archival films to tell the story in the 20th century. Released in 1938 and sponsored by the Farm Security administration, the river is a 31minute documentary about the Mississippi River valley and its role in american commerce. The film promotes various new deal proms by arguing that poor farming and timbering practice have caused excessive erosion, flooding, and destruction. During production of the film, a catastrophic flood hit the ohio river and extended the Mississippi Valley leaving about a million homeless and hundreds dead. The filmmakers captured many scenes of this flood and incorporated them into the documentary. The film was made with the kooges of the public works administering, the civilian conservation corps, the Tennessee Valley authority, and the army corps of engineers. From as far west as idaho down from the Glacier Peaks of the rockies, from as far east as pennsylvania down from the ridges of the alleghenies, down from minnesota 2,500 miles, the Mississippi River runs to the gulf carrying every drop of water that flows down twothirds the continent, carrying every brook and ril, rivulet and creek. Carrying all the rivers that run down twothirds of the continent. The mississippi runs to the gulf of mexico. Down the yellowstone, the milk, the white, and cheyenne. The cannonball, the muscle shell, the james and the sioux. Do you know the judith, the grand, the osage around the plat, the skunk, the salt, the black and minnesota. Down the rock, the illinois and the kankakee, the muss key gom. Down the miami, you what bash, the licking and the green, the bum berland the kentucky and the tennessee. The wichita the red andia zoo. Down the missouri, 3,000 miles from the rockies, down the ohio 19,000 mil 1,000 miles from the allegheny. Down the arkansas, 150 miles from the great divide. Down the red, 1,000 miles from texas. Down the great valley, 2500 miles from minnesota. Carrying every rivlet and brook, creek and ril, carrying all the rivers that run down twothirds the continent, the mississippi runs to the gulf. New orleans to baton rouge, baton rouge to natchez, natchez to vicksburg, vicksburg to memphis, memphis to cairo, we built a dike 1,000 miles long. Men and mules, mules and mud, mules and mud 1,000 miles up the mississippi. A century before we bought the Great Western river, the spanish and the french built dikes to keep the mississippi out of new orleans at flood stage. In 40 years, we continued the levee the entire length of the delta. That mud plain that ex tands from the gulf clear to the mouth of the ohio. The ancient valley built up for centuries by the old river spilling her floods across the bottom of the continent. A mud delta of 40,000 square miles. Men and mules, mules and mud, new orleans to baton rouge, natchez to vicksburg, memphis to cairo, 1,000 miles up the river. And the planters brought their blacks and their plows and their cotton over to the river. Down through the trace, down through cup ber land gap, over from georgia and south carolina, over from the tidewater, over from the old cotton land west of the big river. West to the steamboat highway, down the highway to the sea. Down the missouri, tobacco and whiskey down the ohio. Down from pittsburgh, down from st. Louis. Hemp and potatoes, pork and flour, we sent our commerce to the sea. We made cotton king. We rolled a million bales down the river to liverpool and leeds. 1860, we rolled 4 million bales. Rolled them off mississippi, rolled them off louisiana. We fought a war. We fought a war and kept the west bank of the river free of slavery forever but we left the old south impoverished and stricken. Doubly stricken because besides the tragedy of war, already the frenzied cotton cultivation of a quarter of a century had taken toll of the land. We mined the soil for cotton until it would yield no more and then moved west. We fought a war and it was a double tragedy. The tragedy of land twice impoverished. Black spruce and norway pine, douglas fir and red cedar, scarlet oak and shag bark hige hickory, hemlock and aspen. There was lumber in the north. The war impoverished the old south. The railroads killed the steam boats, but there was lumber in the north. Heads up, lumber on the upper river. Heads up, lumber enough to cover all europe. Down from minnesota and wisconsin, down to st. Paul, down to st. Louis and st. Joe, lumber for the new continent of the west. Lumber for the new mills. There was lumber in the north and coal in the hills. Iron and coal down the monongahela, iron and coal down the ohio, down to pittsburgh, down to wheeling. Iron and coal for the steel mill, for the railroads driving west and south. For the new cities of the great valley. We built new machinery and cleared new land in the west. 10 million bales down to the gulf, cotton for the spools of england and france. 15 million bales down to the gulf. Cotton for the spools of italy and germany. K imq we built 100 cities and 1,000 towns p st. Paul and minneapolis, davenport, moline and quincy, cincinnati and st. Louis, omaha and kansas city. Across to the rockies and down to minnesota, 2500 miles to new orleans. We built a new continent. Black spruce and norway pine, douglas fir and red cedar, scarlet oak and shag bark hickory, we built 100 cities and 1,000 towns, but at what a cost. We cut the top off the alleghenies and sent it down the river. We cut the top off minnesota and sent it down the river. We cut the top off wisconsin and sent it down the river. We left the mountains and the hills slashed and burned and moved on. For the water comes downhill spring and fall, down from the cut over mountains, down from the plowed off slopes. From as far west as idaho and as far east as pennsylvania. Down every brook and rill, rivulet and creek. Carrying every drop of water that flows down twothirds of the continent. 1903, 1913, 1916, 1922, 1927, 1936, 1937. Down from pennsylvania and ohio, kentucky and West Virginia, missouri and illinois. Down from North Carolina and tennessee, down the judith, the grand, the osage and the plat. The rock, the salt, the black, and minnesota. Down the monongahela, the allegheny. The miami, the wabash, the cash and the black, down the corn and the red and yazoo. The cumberland, kentucky, the tennessee, down the ohio 1,000 miles from pittsburgh. Down the arkansas 1,000 miles from texas. Down to the mississippi. New orleans to baton rouge to naches to vicksburg to memphis to cairo. 1,000 miles down the levee. The long vigil starts. 3,800 feet at baton rouge. River rising. Memphis. River rising. Cairo. River rising. 1,000 miles to go. 1,000 miles of levee to hold. Coast guard patrols needed at paducah. Coast guard patrols needed at paducah. 200 boats wanted at hickman. 200 boats wanted at hickman. Levee patrol. Levee patrol. 2,000 men wanted at cairo. 2,000 men wanted at cairo. 100,000 men to fight the river. To fight a battle on a 2,000mile front. The army and navy, the coast guard and the marine corps, ccc and wpa, red cross and the Health Service fought night and day to hold the old river off the valley. Food and water needed at louisville. 500 dead, 5,000 ill. Food and water needed at cincinnati. Food and medicine needed at laurenville. 35,000 homeless in evansville. Food and medicine needed in aurora. Food and medicine and shelter and clothing. 750,000 down in the valley. Last time we held the levy but the mississippi claimed the valley. She backed into tennessee, and arkansas and illinois and missouri. She spread her arms over thousands of acres of land and she left farms ruined, houses torn loose. 1903, 1907, 1913, 1916, 1922, 1937. We built a hundred cities and a thousand towns but at what a cost . 1937 the entire nation sent help to the stricken people of the valley. Congress appropriated millions to aid the flooded cities and villages and to rehabilitate the flood victims. But spring and fall, the water comes down and for years, the old river has taken a toll from the valley more serious than ever she does in flood time. Year in, year out, the water comes down. Down from a thousand hill sides, washing the top off of the valley. For 50 years, we dug for cotton and moved west when the land gave out. For 50 years, we plowed for corn and moved on when the land gave out. We planted and plowed with no regard for the future and 400 million tons of top soil, 400 million tons of our most valuable resource have been washed into the gulf of mexico every year. And poor land makes poor people. Poor people make poor land. For a quarter of a century, we have been forcing more and more farmers into tenants. 10 are shared croppers down on their knees in the valley. A share of the crop their only security, no home, no land of their own, aimless, footloose and impoverished. Unable to eat even from the land because their cash crop is their only livelihood. Credit at the store their only reserve. A generation growing up with no new land in the west. No new continent to build. A generation whose people knew Kings Mountain and shiloh. A generation whose people knew freemont and custer. But a generation facing a life of dirt and poverty, disease. Growing up without proper food, medical care or schooling. Ill clad, ill housed and ill fed and in the greatest river valley in the world. There is no such thing as an ideal river in nature but the Mississippi River is out of joint. Dust blowing in the west, floods raging in the east. We have seen these problems growing to alarming extremes. When we first found the great valley, it was 40 forested. Today, for every 100 acres of forest we found, we have 10 1l3;m¿nr today 5 of the entire valley is ruined forever for agricultural use. 25 of the topsoil has been shoved by the old river into the gulf of mexico. Today, 2 out of 5 farmers in the valley are tenant farmers. 10 of them sharecroppers and we are forcing 50,000 more into tenancy and cropping every year. Flood control of the mississippi means control in the great delta that must carry all the water brought down from two thirds of the continent. And the old river can be controlled. We had the power to take the valley apart. We have the power to put it together again. In 1933, we started. Down on the Tennessee River when congress created the tennessee  valley authority, an authority commissioned to develop navigation, Flood Control, agriculture and industry in the valley. A valley that carries more rainfall than any other in the country. The valley through which the tennessee used to roar down to paducah in flood times. With more water than any other tributary than the ohio. First came the dams. Up on the clinch at the head of the river we built norris dam. A Great Barrier to hold water in flood times and release water for navigation in low water season. L hunuy2 next came wheeler, then guntiswheel, a series of Great Barriers that eventually will transform the old tennessee into a link of freshwater pools, locked and dammed, regulated and patrolled down 650 miles to paducah. You cannot plan for water unless you plan for land. The cut over mountains, the eroded hills, the gullied fields that pour their water unchecked to the valley. The ccc working with the Forest Service and agricultural experts have started to put the worn fields and hillsides back together. Black walnut and pine, roots for the cut over and burned hillsides. Roots to hold the water in the ground. Black walnut and pine for the new forest preserves. Soil conservation men that worked out crop systems with the farmers of the valley. Crops to conserve and enrich the topsoil so that the day a million acres of land in the Tennessee Valley are staying instead of speeding the water off the ground. But you cannot plan for water and land unless you plan for people. Down in the valley, the Farm Security administration has built the model agricultural community. Living in homes they themselves built paying on long term rates, the homesteaders will have a chance to share in the wealth of the valley. More important, the Farm Security administration has loaned thousands of dollars to farmers in the valley. Farmers who were caught by years of depression and in need of only a stake to be selfsufficient. And where theres water, theres power. Where theres water for Flood Control and water for navigation, theres water for power. Power firefighter fa eer for th valley cut off for years of the advantages of urban life. Power to the cities and factories, West Virginia and North Carolina, tennessee and mississippi. Georgia and alabama, power to make a new Tennessee Valley for a new generation. Power enough to make the new river work. You can view this and all other reel america programs at cspan. Org. Enter reel america in the search engine. While congress is on break we are showing programs normally seen weekends here on cspan3. During American History tv. Today we are featuring programs from our archival reel america. Starting shortly the flight of apollo 11, the eagle has landed, a nasa documentary. After that a 1955 interior Department Film explains the need to control and regulate the waters of the Colorado River and the construction of the hoover dam. In about an hour, nbcs a conversation with herbert hoover. In 1960 the nations president discussed his childhood and life beyond the presidency, his time in china during the boxer rebellion and his involvement supplying food to civilians in german occupied belgium in world war i. Also, a u. S. Army film captures captain William Johnston. 200 years ago, british soldiers invaded washington, d. C. And burned down the white house and the u. S. Capitol. While president James Madison and first Lady Dolly Madison fled the city. This week, live coverage of a twoday forum marking the burning of washington. All starting tomorrow at 1 00 p. M. Eastern. And day two of the conference on the war of 1812 also live thursday here on American History tv. The White House Historical association and the u. S. Capitol Historical Society starting at 8 30 a. M. Eastern time. Each week, American History tvs reel america brings you films to help tell the story of the 21st century. 45 years ago on july 20, 1969 as millions around the world watched on live television, Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon. Next a half hour nasa documentary chronicling the apollo 11 mission from liftoff to splashdown. Contact lights. Engine stops. Descent. Out of control. Override off. Off. 13 is in. We copy you down, eagle. Houston, the eagle has landed. Roger, tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys that were about to turn blue. Were breathing again. Thanks a lot. Were getting a picture on the tv. Theres a great deal of contrast in it. Currently its upside down but can he can make out a fair amount of detail. Okay. Neil, we can see you coming down the ladder now. Sunday, july 20th, 1969. Around the world nearly a billion people watched this moment on television as the first man from earth prepared to set foot upon the moon. At the foot of the ladder. The fetebeds are only deep breath in the surface about one or two inches. Ability surface appears to be very, very fine grained as you get close to it. Its almost like a powder. Its very fine. Im going to step off now. Thats one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. All that we have accomplished in space, all that we may accomplish in days and years to come, we stand ready to share for the benefit of all mankind. As we explore the reaches of space, let us go to the new worlds together. Not as new worlds to be conquered but as a new adventure to be shared. Since the earliest time, man has imagined this moment, the moment when his fellow man would make the first journey to the moon. Now the time had come. In the 6th decade of the 20th century, the ancient dream was to become a reality. The flight of apollo 11 was the culmination of many years of planning, working, building and testing. Thousands people had contributed toward this day of accomplishment. The great saturn 5 rocket and the complex apollo spacecraft had been assembled together and moved to the launchpad. The equipment and techniques and personnel had been proved in earlier missions and now they were ready. The astronauts chosen for this mission had flown it many times in groundbased simulators. They had all been in space before. They had trained carefully and well. Now, they, too, were ready. Astronaut Michael Collins would pilot the apollo command module. Astronaut edwin ald rin jr. Would pilot the lunar module. Astronaut Neil Armstrong would serve as mission commander. Armstrong would be the first man to step up on the moon. July 16th, the day had come. The moon awaited. The men rose early, ate breakfast and dressed in their spacesuits. Other astronauts had made this journey to the launchpad but never with such anticipation. July 16th, 9 32 a. M. Three hours later, the apollo command module moves forward to extract the lunar module from the third stage of the launch vehicle. Both are moving at more than 17,000 miles an hour. Docked together they will sail a quarter million miles across the see of space to earths neighbor. We understand that you are docked. During the threeday journey to the moon, the astronauts kept busy, check lists, navigation and observation, housekeeping. They must work in a weightless environment, keeping their spacecraft and themselves in good condition. Data must be collected and reported, experiments must be performed including photography both inside and outside the spacecraft. Because of the film speed these actions appear faster than they actually were. July 19th, apollo 11 slows down and goes into orbit around the moon. The bright blue planet of earth now lies 238,000 miles beyond the lunar horizon. Astronauts armstrong and aldrin now in the lunar module separate from the command module. Astronaut collins remains behind. Preparation for the lunar module descent to the moon now begins. The command module assumes the new name, columbia. The lunar module will be called the eagle. From columbia Michael Collins camera sees bright rays of the sun reflecting from the surface of the eagle. In this strange metallic bird rides the ancient and endless dream of all of mankind. The command pilot can see detail which his camera cannot record. The four landing pads of the lunar module are fully extendedn and locked in place. The eagle is poised and prepared for its descent to the lunar surface. The moon Landing Craft rocket engine fires to slow it down and to place it on the pathway to the landing site in the sea of tranquility. There is tension and caution as the eagle flies lower. Warning lights blink on as the commuter tries to keep up with demand for control data but the status remains go. Eagle, we got you now. Its looking good, over. Roger, copy. Eagle, houston, plus 18. Youre a go to continue. You are a go to continue power descent. Altitude now 21,000 feet. Still looking very good. Velocity down now to 1,200 feet per second. Youre looking great to us, eagle. Roger, we got you. Were going at alarm. Good radar data. Were now in the approach phase. Everything looking good. Altitude 42 houston, youre go for landing, over. Roger, go for landing. 3,000 feet. Altitude 1,600. 1,400 feet, still looking very good. 33 degrees. 100 feet. Down to 19. 1,201. Roger, 1,201 alarm. Were go. Altitude velocity late. It is down. 220 feet. 15 forward. Forward. 200 feet, 4 1 2 down, 5 1 2 down. 60 seconds. Lights on. Down 2 1 2. Forward. Forward. 40 feet down 2 1 2. Picking up some dust. Four, forward. Four, forward. Drifting to the right a little. Okay. Engine stopped. We copy you down, eagle. Tranquility base. The eagle has landed. Through the window of the eagle, armstrong and aldrin see what no human eyes have ever seen before. Their spacecraft casts a long shadow across the undisturbed dust of centuries. Seven hours after landing, after careful preparations for later ascent were completed, armstrong opens the eagle hatch and begins his climb down to the surface. The first footsteps on this strange new world must be taken cautiously. The moon has only 1 6th the gravity of earth. The nature of its surface was still unknown. Im going to step off now. Thats one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Once on the surface, armstrong scoops up a small sample of lunar dust and rock, precaution against the possibility of an emergency takeoff. According to plan, astronaut aldrin now descends from the vehicle. His equipment would weigh 333 pounds on earth. Here they way about 66 pounds. For a brief moment, the first men on the moon turn and look at the stark landscape around them. An experience which no one before them can share. But theres much to be done in the limited tim which they can on this airless, cloudless satellite of earth. This sheet traps and holds particles from the sun, the so called solar wind which constantly strikes the moons surface. Results of this experiment will be taken back to earth to reveal new secrets to anxious scientists. An American Flag is left behind on the moon. Together with medals honoring american and soviet space men who lost their lives in earlier space tests and a small disk carrying messages of goodwill from 73 nations on earth. A plaque on the lou mar module reads here men from the planet earth first set foot upon the moon, july 1969 a. D. We came in peace for all mankind. Through a specially made television camera, viewers in many nations on earth were able to watch the astronauts as they walked and worked on the moon. Despite the bulky spacesuits and the backpacks containing oxygen, temperature control and communications equipment, the apoll 11 crew found they could move easily about the surface. Because there is no wind or rain on the moon, these footprints will remain for centuries. In addition to collecting rock and soil samples, the explorers leave behind a seismometer. It will leave behind information on impacts as well as lunar movements. A 100prism laser reflector would help man measure the exact distance of earth to moon to an accuracy of 6 inches. These were the first of many experiments which will be taken to the moon to provide man continuing and increasing knowledge about the moon and vastness of space beyond. After two hours and 31 minutes, the first lunar explorers had completed their research on the moon. A night of rest in the lunar module, countdown preparations and they were ready to come home. Tranquillity base, houston. Guidance recommendation. Youre cleared for takeoff. Roger, we understand. Were number one on the runway. Seven, six, five engine on. Beautiful. Very smooth. Very quiet ride. Theres the one crater on there. Thousand feet high, 80 feet per second vertical rise. Eagle, houston, youre looking good. All green. Right down u. S. 1. Eagle, houston, going right down the track. Everything is great. Horizontal velocity approaching 2,500 feet per second. Roger. Some 120 miles to go until insertion. July 21st, the eagle and its twoman crew lifted off perfectly and rendevoued to dock with the mother ship columbia. While armstrong and aldrin explored the moon, astronaut collins had kept a long and lonely vigil in the columbia. The approaching eagle was a welcomed sight. Later, the three men would share their reflections on this adventure with the world. I believe that from the early space flights we demonstrated potential to carry out this type of a mission and, again, it was a matter of time before this was accomplished. I think its a technical triumph for this country to said what it was going to do a number of years ago and then by golly do it. The relative ease with which we were able to carry out our mission which, of course, came after a very efficient and logical sequence of flights, i think that this demonstrated that we were certainly on the right track when we took this commitment to go to the moon. I just see it as a beginning, a beginning of a new age. Once again, the bright blue planet of earth rises over the lunar horizon. For those who had witnessed mans landing in the sea of tranquillity the moon would never again appear quite the same. July 24th, dawn in the pacific. Apollo blazes across the heavens