The Megyn Kelly Show - Revisiting World War II： History Week on The Megyn Kelly Show ｜ Ep. 457

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00:00:30.600 Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show.

00:00:32.540 Your home for open, honest, and provocative conversations.

00:00:41.820 Hey everyone, I'm Megyn Kelly.

00:00:43.520 Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show.

00:00:45.280 Perhaps no event defined the 20th century more than World War II.

00:00:50.660 A battle of good versus evil.

00:00:52.340 A story of atrocities we hope will never happen again.

00:00:55.800 Of the 16 million Americans who served our nation around the globe

00:00:59.600 during that war, only about 167,000 are still alive today.

00:01:06.000 180 of these heroes are dying every single day.

00:01:11.000 And with them go countless stories of heroism,

00:01:15.960 of depravity that they witnessed,

00:01:19.140 and of honor in which they participated,

00:01:22.080 perhaps unmatched at any other time in history.

00:01:24.840 Today, we're going to talk about their stories

00:01:27.100 and the lessons we can all take from them

00:01:29.520 as we walk through the arc of World War II

00:01:33.520 with a filmmaker who has made it his life's mission

00:01:37.500 to make sure the brave souls who fought and won that war for us

00:01:41.580 are never forgotten.

00:01:43.560 He's interviewed so many members of the greatest generation,

00:01:46.080 he's lost count.

00:01:47.420 His dozens of documentaries have taken him

00:01:50.000 to the battlefields of Europe, the Pacific,

00:01:52.580 and here at home in Hawaii,

00:01:54.380 where a Sunday morning attack

00:01:55.900 propelled America into World War II.

00:01:59.480 Tim Gray is the founder and president

00:02:00.940 of the World War II Foundation

00:02:02.360 and a documentary filmmaker.

00:02:05.320 Tim Gray, welcome to the show.

00:02:07.040 So great to have you here.

00:02:08.420 Thank you, Megan.

00:02:09.660 It's a pleasure to meet you.

00:02:11.260 Oh, the pleasure's all mine.

00:02:12.220 I've enjoyed your work for a long, long time

00:02:14.380 and appreciate the personal touch you put on everything you do,

00:02:18.960 going right to the guys who fought this battle

00:02:21.780 and getting their take on it

00:02:23.960 before that's no longer possible.

00:02:26.620 It's hard to imagine, right,

00:02:28.100 that there will be a time on this earth

00:02:30.100 where there are no more members of the greatest generation

00:02:33.420 to walk us through this history.

00:02:35.220 These are precious souls still walking amongst us.

00:02:38.740 It's amazing when you think about the fact

00:02:40.780 that you can talk to people who actually saved the world.

00:02:46.720 I mean, I can't remember.

00:02:48.240 I mean, I can't talk to George Washington.

00:02:50.340 I can't talk to Benjamin Franklin.

00:02:53.000 I can't talk to a lot of those people,

00:02:54.540 but I can actually talk to people

00:02:56.120 who were involved in World War II

00:02:58.300 and actually played a role in saving the world,

00:03:01.460 which I think is extraordinary,

00:03:03.020 but it is also a very short window

00:03:06.220 that we have to talk to these people.

00:03:08.140 And I think, you know, it's just amazing

00:03:11.660 that we have that opportunity.

00:03:13.900 Let's just start there

00:03:14.520 because you think of the greatest generation

00:03:16.160 and in particular, those who fought in World War II.

00:03:18.560 There are some seam lines that pull them together

00:03:21.640 and that describe most of them.

00:03:23.460 And you've spent more time with them than anyone.

00:03:26.240 How would you describe these guys?

00:03:28.340 I mean, what is it about them?

00:03:29.880 What are some of the adjectives that jump out at you?

00:03:32.680 Humble.

00:03:33.380 You know, they could be going around to your local mall

00:03:35.660 or they could be going around to your local place

00:03:38.040 and saying, you know, hey, look at me.

00:03:40.420 I saved the world.

00:03:42.540 I want the likes on my Instagram page.

00:03:45.120 I want the likes on my Facebook page.

00:03:47.980 But they don't do that.

00:03:49.760 It just blows my mind that there's such a generation

00:03:53.260 that is so humble about the fact

00:03:56.940 that they really dictated where we are today.

00:04:00.040 And so, you know, when I look at that generation,

00:04:04.740 I think, you know, if there's any generation

00:04:06.820 that really deserves the fact to want that attention,

00:04:10.940 it's that generation, but they don't want it at all.

00:04:14.480 That's the thing is that, I mean,

00:04:16.140 they are literally the opposite of selfie culture

00:04:19.380 that we find everywhere around us today.

00:04:22.700 And there's a quiet dignity about these guys.

00:04:25.480 I've interviewed a fair amount of them.

00:04:26.540 I'm happy to say over my years as a journalist,

00:04:28.780 there's a quiet dignity.

00:04:30.880 There's a deep patriotism, deep, deep love of America,

00:04:34.800 hard earned and hard fought.

00:04:37.620 And there's just some sort of a bond between them

00:04:41.100 and between them and the country.

00:04:44.020 They survived the Great Depression.

00:04:45.820 They fought World War II like it was a job.

00:04:48.720 And then they came home and they went on with their lives.

00:04:51.200 And their lives were centered around their job

00:04:53.920 and their family.

00:04:55.660 And that was it.

00:04:57.420 I mean, they didn't want the accolades.

00:05:00.240 They felt the accolades belong with those who were buried

00:05:03.740 in American cemeteries in Manila and Normandy

00:05:07.280 and Holland and Belgium and other places.

00:05:10.700 There was almost this survivor's guilt that they had.

00:05:15.360 So when they came home, they took the lessons of World War II

00:05:18.940 and they applied them to their own daily lives.

00:05:20.880 And some of them dealt with them better than others.

00:05:24.080 I mean, some of them came home and they were fine.

00:05:26.780 Some of them came home and they had a problem with alcoholism.

00:05:30.820 Or some of them came home and they had a problem

00:05:33.000 with committing suicide.

00:05:35.420 Or they had a problem with their families in some way

00:05:39.160 where they would wake up their mom or their wife

00:05:42.060 or their children in the middle of the night

00:05:44.840 and be screaming about a Japanese bonsai attack.

00:05:48.700 And the families at home couldn't understand.

00:05:51.720 But they came home and they rebuilt America

00:05:54.240 to what it is today.

00:05:56.080 And when I think about that generation,

00:05:58.540 anytime I go to a mall or anytime I log on to Amazon

00:06:01.680 or anytime I want to travel to Ohio or Montana

00:06:05.120 or another state, I don't need papers.

00:06:09.060 I don't need someone to check in with me.

00:06:11.160 I don't need someone to authorize my daily activities.

00:06:17.740 And that's all because of that generation.

00:06:20.000 But it's just so funny that they're kind of like

00:06:22.340 the anti-Kardashian generation,

00:06:24.560 that they just went on with their lives

00:06:27.220 and they saved the world.

00:06:29.260 And they just didn't want any credit for it.

00:06:31.920 And they felt all the credit belonged with those

00:06:33.920 who never had any opportunity to live a full life

00:06:38.280 or to have kids or grandkids

00:06:39.920 or to be someone who solved cancer

00:06:43.240 or solved the dilemma of autism or dementia

00:06:46.800 or Alzheimer's or something.

00:06:50.960 So to me, they lived their lives

00:06:53.060 in honor of those who never came home

00:06:54.720 and have the opportunity to do great things.

00:06:59.220 And it's awe-inspiring.

00:07:02.380 You're so right.

00:07:03.200 I mean, the juxtaposition is stark

00:07:05.540 when you think about someone like Kardashian

00:07:07.260 who is famous for being famous,

00:07:09.160 for doing absolutely nothing.

00:07:11.080 All she wants is for us to celebrate her,

00:07:13.540 the way she looks, her money, her vanity. 0.98

00:07:18.280 And these guys were famous

00:07:20.460 for doing something extraordinary,

00:07:22.380 but wanted no fame, eschewed the spotlight

00:07:25.980 and would never have wanted a celebration

00:07:28.740 of anything around them.

00:07:30.240 They would have deflected the credit

00:07:32.200 onto the country and to others.

00:07:33.920 Exactly.

00:07:35.520 And I think that's kind of what's lacking in America

00:07:38.160 is to understand the sacrifice

00:07:41.680 that was made to preserve everything

00:07:44.520 that we are today,

00:07:46.560 our ability to believe in a God

00:07:50.500 and to believe in a religion

00:07:51.780 and to believe in whatever we want to accomplish.

00:07:56.460 And I think that generation humbly did that

00:08:00.220 and they left us a blueprint in which to follow.

00:08:04.460 And I think we've gotten away from that blueprint

00:08:06.520 in a lot of ways.

00:08:08.520 And so when I look back at that generation,

00:08:11.080 I always say, you know,

00:08:11.900 I always tell the younger generation

00:08:13.660 that, you know, these men have left us a blueprint

00:08:16.200 on how to be better Americans

00:08:17.780 and how to be better people.

00:08:20.880 And we've kind of gotten away from that.

00:08:24.320 And I think that's unfortunate in a lot of ways.

00:08:27.040 Yeah. And now we need to follow it.

00:08:30.240 Now we just need to know it and follow it.

00:08:32.540 All right. So let's talk about the war

00:08:34.600 and go through the arc of it

00:08:37.080 so people have a better understanding of it.

00:08:40.160 I think to understand how we got into World War II,

00:08:42.680 you need a basic understanding

00:08:44.060 of how World War I ended.

00:08:47.000 You know, most of us on tourist trips,

00:08:49.100 if we've ever had the privilege

00:08:51.020 to go through Europe, through France,

00:08:53.680 if you're lucky, you get to go through the Palace of Versailles.

00:08:56.840 And we know that word Versailles.

00:08:58.540 And what happened there was directly related

00:09:01.540 to the Second World War

00:09:03.320 in a way many people may not understand.

00:09:05.840 So let's start there.

00:09:07.520 Yeah. I mean, Versailles,

00:09:08.600 the Treaty of Versailles ended World War I.

00:09:11.240 And a lot of people,

00:09:12.580 especially over the last,

00:09:14.240 I'd say 30 years or so,

00:09:16.060 have decided,

00:09:17.460 historians have decided

00:09:18.880 that World War I

00:09:19.840 was really a continuation

00:09:21.240 of World War II.

00:09:23.320 And it was.

00:09:24.380 And I think World War I

00:09:26.160 directly led to World War II.

00:09:29.160 And a lot of that

00:09:30.580 dealt back with the Treaty of Versailles

00:09:32.520 and how Hitler utilized

00:09:34.100 the Treaty of Versailles

00:09:35.340 to really emphasize

00:09:37.680 how the German people were mistreated

00:09:39.640 and blamed for World War I.

00:09:42.300 And there are some lessons there.

00:09:43.640 I mean, my understanding

00:09:44.780 of the Treaty of Versailles

00:09:45.720 is it essentially humiliated

00:09:47.560 or humiliated Germany.

00:09:49.520 And it basically dismantled

00:09:52.520 their military.

00:09:54.280 It imposed harsh penalties

00:09:55.740 against them.

00:09:56.640 It put all the blame on them

00:09:58.260 and left them unable

00:09:59.600 to really function

00:10:00.340 in many key ways.

00:10:02.240 And they became

00:10:03.160 predictably resentful

00:10:04.940 over those terms.

00:10:07.500 And up rose Adolf Hitler. 0.62

00:10:10.100 It was no accident.

00:10:10.880 Those things were connected.

00:10:13.080 And he decided promptly

00:10:14.960 to play the victim

00:10:16.320 and play Germany as the victim.

00:10:18.000 And surely thereafter

00:10:19.660 decided that the villain

00:10:21.160 would be Jewish people.

00:10:24.260 Yeah.

00:10:24.500 I mean, he was the right guy

00:10:26.040 at the right time in history

00:10:27.960 like Mussolini was in Italy.

00:10:30.080 He was a flamboyant leader

00:10:31.620 who basically blamed

00:10:33.460 all of their problems,

00:10:35.160 Italy's problems,

00:10:36.080 and then on Hitler's side,

00:10:37.400 Germany's problems 0.92

00:10:38.280 on World War I.

00:10:39.320 When he blamed them,

00:10:40.020 he blamed it on the Jewish people.

00:10:42.380 He blamed them on the communists.

00:10:44.000 And he was elected

00:10:46.020 on the fact that

00:10:47.180 he was that person

00:10:48.660 who could take the results

00:10:51.960 of World War I,

00:10:53.200 which was the economic depression

00:10:54.840 that Germany was in,

00:10:56.460 the fact that Germany's military

00:10:58.060 had been decimated

00:10:59.460 and deactivated,

00:11:01.340 and that he would restore

00:11:03.280 that aura to Germany.

00:11:06.780 And we've talked to German soldiers

00:11:08.200 who said basically

00:11:10.640 that Hitler was that person 0.99

00:11:13.520 who said,

00:11:14.460 you know,

00:11:14.740 we were wronged

00:11:15.780 in World War I

00:11:16.820 and this is what

00:11:18.160 we need to do now.

00:11:19.840 And then again,

00:11:20.480 by the time he was in power

00:11:22.120 and his directives were known,

00:11:26.100 that it was too late

00:11:27.880 to have former resistance

00:11:30.180 or to object

00:11:31.760 to what he was doing.

00:11:33.780 Even before World War II, 0.69

00:11:35.020 I mean, that's the thing

00:11:35.900 that a lot of people sort of miss.

00:11:37.720 In the 1930s,

00:11:38.840 he built Dachau,

00:11:40.420 one of the, you know,

00:11:41.120 the first concentration camp.

00:11:43.200 It was Kristallnacht

00:11:44.020 was in 1938, I think.

00:11:46.020 Hitler was doing this 0.97

00:11:46.820 before the war

00:11:48.200 was actually launched,

00:11:49.720 targeting Jewish people.

00:11:51.380 But obviously,

00:11:52.500 then his eyes

00:11:53.760 became more territorial

00:11:55.320 and he started grabbing territory

00:11:57.800 and that's when the war

00:11:58.600 actually broke out in earnest.

00:12:01.020 Yeah, he started looking

00:12:02.040 at Czechoslovakia.

00:12:03.300 He started looking

00:12:04.080 at the expansion of Germany,

00:12:05.840 that Germany needed more room.

00:12:07.480 And because of World War I, 0.60

00:12:09.580 that Germany was due 0.98

00:12:11.460 this more room.

00:12:13.480 And he looked at Czechoslovakia

00:12:14.920 and the Brits and the French

00:12:16.520 gave him Czechoslovakia.

00:12:18.060 And then he started

00:12:18.960 to look at Russia 0.72

00:12:19.720 and he started to look

00:12:20.720 at the Soviet Union.

00:12:22.020 And that, of course,

00:12:23.260 led to the start

00:12:24.600 of World War II.

00:12:25.520 And it's just one

00:12:28.760 of those situations

00:12:29.660 where you look at it

00:12:31.400 and that Hitler 0.91

00:12:32.520 really did a great job

00:12:34.560 of appealing to the common man

00:12:37.240 in Germany

00:12:38.600 in World War II

00:12:39.620 that the government

00:12:40.380 has forgotten about you

00:12:41.940 and that we need

00:12:43.720 to get back to,

00:12:45.080 you know,

00:12:45.860 being able to honor you

00:12:48.120 and to help you.

00:12:49.980 But then again,

00:12:50.700 he had no plan

00:12:51.940 that would ever succeed

00:12:53.260 in doing that.

00:12:55.140 Yeah.

00:12:55.340 And we now know,

00:12:55.920 of course,

00:12:56.100 he was not abiding

00:12:56.800 by the rules

00:12:58.480 in the Treaty of Versailles

00:13:00.020 saying no more militarization

00:13:01.500 to the contrary.

00:13:03.220 So just for the timeline,

00:13:05.260 World War I ended

00:13:06.240 November 11th, 1918.

00:13:08.380 Fifteen years later,

00:13:09.860 January 30th, 1933,

00:13:11.320 Hitler was appointed 1.00

00:13:11.940 the German leader.

00:13:13.400 And September 1st, 1939,

00:13:15.820 is when World War II

00:13:16.940 was considered

00:13:17.400 to have begun.

00:13:18.600 Germany invaded Poland.

00:13:20.980 A couple weeks later,

00:13:22.440 the Soviet Union

00:13:23.360 invaded Poland. 0.68

00:13:24.180 In the beginning of the war,

00:13:25.120 the Soviets were friendly

00:13:26.580 with Germany.

00:13:27.680 I mean,

00:13:27.880 people forget

00:13:28.820 that that's how it began.

00:13:30.560 I mean,

00:13:30.680 one of Hitler's greatest mistakes, 0.99

00:13:31.880 I think,

00:13:32.260 was going after

00:13:33.340 the Soviet Union,

00:13:34.120 just getting so power hungry

00:13:35.440 and land hungry.

00:13:36.660 He thought he could take

00:13:37.320 the Soviets as well,

00:13:38.420 which would be a critical moment

00:13:40.100 for the world, right?

00:13:41.540 Because he couldn't.

00:13:42.780 And the Soviets decided 0.88

00:13:43.680 to fight with the Allied powers.

00:13:45.900 And soon thereafter,

00:13:47.240 the war ended.

00:13:48.220 But in any event,

00:13:48.820 in the beginning,

00:13:49.800 he took Poland.

00:13:51.500 He invaded Poland. 0.80

00:13:52.420 The Soviet Union

00:13:52.880 invaded Poland. 0.68

00:13:54.040 And there was fighting

00:13:54.940 going on for quite some time.

00:13:56.660 In 1940,

00:13:57.800 Norway was invaded

00:13:58.600 by Germany.

00:13:59.940 Same year,

00:14:00.840 Winston Churchill

00:14:01.420 becomes prime minister.

00:14:03.340 And the war is underway.

00:14:06.620 Now,

00:14:06.800 the United States

00:14:07.480 at this point

00:14:07.940 is isolationist.

00:14:09.480 We've been through

00:14:10.280 a world war.

00:14:11.200 We don't want

00:14:11.800 another world war.

00:14:12.880 The American people

00:14:13.560 are not in the mood

00:14:15.500 at all.

00:14:16.620 But we are helping

00:14:17.900 our friends,

00:14:18.700 are we not?

00:14:19.880 Yes,

00:14:20.140 we are.

00:14:20.600 We're helping them

00:14:21.480 through what's called

00:14:22.260 Lend-Lease,

00:14:23.060 which is giving arms

00:14:24.260 to England

00:14:25.240 and giving arms

00:14:26.820 and supplies

00:14:27.500 to the Soviet Union.

00:14:29.120 I mean,

00:14:29.280 there's a point

00:14:29.860 on December 6, 1941,

00:14:32.040 the day before Pearl Harbor,

00:14:33.440 where there's about

00:14:34.100 88% of the United States

00:14:36.240 that has no interest

00:14:38.080 in helping

00:14:38.660 what's going on

00:14:39.880 in Europe.

00:14:40.480 There's just no interest

00:14:41.960 in getting involved

00:14:42.860 in another world war.

00:14:44.880 And that all changes

00:14:45.820 on December 7, 1941.

00:14:48.480 So 88%

00:14:49.700 of the United States

00:14:50.940 is against

00:14:51.820 getting involved

00:14:52.880 in the war in Europe,

00:14:54.040 despite the fact

00:14:54.880 that England is alone.

00:14:56.100 France has already conceded.

00:14:58.380 The Netherlands

00:14:58.900 have already conceded.

00:15:00.300 Belgium,

00:15:00.820 everybody's already conceded.

00:15:02.980 But the United States,

00:15:04.480 having been through

00:15:05.760 World War I,

00:15:06.700 or at least the last year

00:15:07.960 of World War I,

00:15:09.020 wants no part

00:15:10.020 of the war in Europe

00:15:11.420 until the Japanese 1.00

00:15:12.720 attack Pearl Harbor,

00:15:13.840 which I find interesting

00:15:14.660 is that

00:15:15.240 it's such a high percentage,

00:15:17.480 88%,

00:15:18.320 87%,

00:15:19.100 88%,

00:15:19.880 that wants no part

00:15:21.520 of that war in Europe

00:15:22.720 until

00:15:23.560 we're attacked.

00:15:24.920 And I think that's the way

00:15:26.240 the United States is

00:15:27.260 in general,

00:15:27.900 is that we're not

00:15:28.860 a warring nation,

00:15:29.920 but when we are attacked,

00:15:32.460 like a December 7th

00:15:33.960 or a September 11th,

00:15:35.580 2001,

00:15:36.820 that we respond.

00:15:39.320 So history

00:15:40.420 doesn't repeat itself,

00:15:42.300 but it certainly rhymes.

00:15:44.060 And that's what was

00:15:44.620 the case in 1941.

00:15:47.540 You have a great documentary

00:15:48.460 among many,

00:15:49.560 this one called

00:15:50.580 Remembering Pearl Harbor.

00:15:51.660 And I recommend it

00:15:53.600 to everybody.

00:15:54.120 It sets the stage

00:15:54.940 with the actual

00:15:55.860 greatest generation,

00:15:57.180 with the actual veterans.

00:15:58.880 But it sets the stage

00:15:59.800 in Pearl Harbor

00:16:00.360 quite nicely

00:16:00.940 about how

00:16:01.980 it was going that day,

00:16:03.660 how it was a rather

00:16:04.620 peaceful day.

00:16:05.480 No one anticipated this.

00:16:07.260 To the contrary,

00:16:08.560 there had been a bulletin

00:16:09.400 not long before

00:16:10.160 suggesting this would

00:16:11.460 never happen.

00:16:12.180 It was just too long

00:16:13.060 a reach,

00:16:14.080 a stretch for the Japanese.

00:16:15.520 They didn't really need

00:16:16.140 to worry about getting

00:16:16.900 attacked at Pearl Harbor.

00:16:17.920 I mean,

00:16:19.540 a war was underway,

00:16:20.580 so we were watching it,

00:16:21.900 but we didn't think

00:16:22.940 it could happen.

00:16:23.460 So here's,

00:16:24.040 this is from

00:16:24.500 Remembering Pearl Harbor

00:16:25.320 on the day before

00:16:27.440 Tom Selleck

00:16:28.040 narrating SOT 3.

00:16:31.400 Some sailors

00:16:32.420 and soldiers

00:16:33.080 that Sunday morning

00:16:34.200 were already

00:16:34.920 at church services

00:16:36.040 by the beach.

00:16:37.540 Others were up early

00:16:38.440 playing a little

00:16:39.060 toss and catch

00:16:39.940 on the docks

00:16:40.680 before reporting

00:16:41.780 for duty

00:16:42.340 if they had to work

00:16:43.320 on December 7th.

00:16:45.200 Chowbell sounded

00:16:46.140 good for breakfast.

00:16:48.760 All was peaceful

00:16:50.000 and serene

00:16:50.960 on Oahu

00:16:51.740 from Pearl Harbor

00:16:53.380 to the nearby airfields.

00:16:56.640 And then,

00:16:57.600 what happened

00:16:58.340 very early that morning?

00:17:00.660 The Japanese attack.

00:17:02.320 I mean,

00:17:02.780 it was a situation

00:17:03.600 where we expected

00:17:04.920 the attack

00:17:05.460 to come in Guam

00:17:06.440 or the Philippines

00:17:07.880 or at Wake Island.

00:17:09.700 And we had

00:17:11.080 a warning

00:17:12.520 that war

00:17:13.400 was inevitable,

00:17:14.560 but we did not

00:17:16.080 know where

00:17:16.620 it would come.

00:17:18.040 And Pearl Harbor 0.95

00:17:18.780 was not high

00:17:20.100 on that list.

00:17:21.780 Can we just take

00:17:22.200 a step back

00:17:22.740 and talk about

00:17:23.180 the Japanese?

00:17:24.000 Because we set it up

00:17:24.660 by talking about Germany

00:17:25.440 and a little bit

00:17:26.220 about the Soviet Union.

00:17:26.940 The Japanese,

00:17:27.860 what are they doing there?

00:17:28.900 Yeah, what are they doing there?

00:17:30.360 Yeah, go back

00:17:31.020 and talk about

00:17:31.520 their participation,

00:17:32.720 their interest,

00:17:33.260 and their start

00:17:33.840 in this war.

00:17:35.060 Japanese were,

00:17:37.620 Japan is a country

00:17:38.640 of zero

00:17:39.600 natural resources.

00:17:41.560 And they needed

00:17:42.200 natural resources.

00:17:43.380 And so they had

00:17:44.480 already invaded China.

00:17:45.860 They had already

00:17:46.400 invaded Korea.

00:17:47.760 They had already

00:17:48.900 invaded French Indochina,

00:17:50.920 which is now Vietnam today,

00:17:52.300 because they wanted

00:17:53.160 to expand,

00:17:54.100 but they needed

00:17:54.620 natural resources.

00:17:56.200 So the United States

00:17:57.360 decided at that point

00:17:58.740 that they would start

00:17:59.680 to cut off

00:18:00.620 supplies to Japan,

00:18:02.920 whether that be

00:18:03.520 oil or steel.

00:18:05.360 So Japan always felt 1.00

00:18:06.460 as though they were

00:18:07.020 backed into a corner

00:18:08.100 and their expansion

00:18:09.600 was dependent

00:18:10.320 on these resources,

00:18:12.200 these natural resources.

00:18:13.380 So if the United States

00:18:14.340 was not going to supply

00:18:15.620 these natural resources,

00:18:17.440 that they would have

00:18:18.380 to disable

00:18:18.980 the American Pacific fleet

00:18:20.480 at Pearl Harbor.

00:18:21.660 And that's exactly

00:18:22.440 what they tried to do

00:18:23.480 on December 7th, 1941.

00:18:25.080 But they did not

00:18:26.480 understand that,

00:18:28.440 A, that the American

00:18:30.120 aircraft carriers

00:18:31.200 were not there,

00:18:32.660 and B,

00:18:33.220 they never launched

00:18:34.200 the third wave,

00:18:35.120 which attacked

00:18:35.760 the oil refineries

00:18:36.960 at Pearl Harbor.

00:18:38.100 So Japan was trying

00:18:39.120 to expand their empire

00:18:40.500 in the Pacific,

00:18:41.280 while Hitler was trying 0.95

00:18:42.640 to expand his empire

00:18:44.020 in Europe.

00:18:46.480 And they thought...

00:18:47.440 And it wasn't

00:18:47.880 totally unrelated.

00:18:48.880 They'd been talking.

00:18:49.920 There was an agreement.

00:18:50.740 Like, this wasn't,

00:18:52.240 you know,

00:18:52.480 just two separate wars

00:18:53.520 happening at once.

00:18:54.740 No.

00:18:55.160 I mean,

00:18:55.440 they had formed

00:18:56.320 an alliance

00:18:56.880 called the Axis Powers 0.74

00:18:58.040 between Italy,

00:18:59.120 Japan, and Germany.

00:19:00.620 So they were talking

00:19:01.900 about what the situation

00:19:03.960 was in the Pacific.

00:19:05.240 So what they needed

00:19:05.860 to do was eliminate

00:19:06.900 the American Pacific fleet

00:19:08.440 for six months

00:19:09.840 or a year.

00:19:11.160 But they did not figure

00:19:12.100 on the resolve

00:19:13.280 of the United States.

00:19:15.040 The United States

00:19:15.640 wants a fair fight.

00:19:17.540 I mean,

00:19:17.700 that's always how

00:19:18.400 Americans are.

00:19:19.560 They want a fair fight.

00:19:20.680 They don't want

00:19:21.460 to be attacked

00:19:22.300 without notice

00:19:23.680 or be attacked

00:19:24.640 by surprise.

00:19:25.780 And that's the slogan

00:19:27.360 of Remember Pearl Harbor.

00:19:29.340 And that was the rallying

00:19:31.020 cry of World War II.

00:19:32.340 It was Remember Pearl Harbor.

00:19:33.780 We were attacked

00:19:34.560 without notice

00:19:35.280 by the Japanese

00:19:36.160 and the Japanese

00:19:37.040 had their intentions.

00:19:38.680 But that became

00:19:39.720 the rallying cry.

00:19:40.880 And that's why

00:19:41.500 so many millions

00:19:42.360 of Americans

00:19:43.060 signed up

00:19:43.760 for the fight

00:19:44.520 in World War II

00:19:45.280 because it was

00:19:46.420 a sucker blow.

00:19:47.920 And Americans 0.95

00:19:49.180 don't like sucker blows.

00:19:51.680 Maybe this is

00:19:52.620 hindsight being 2020,

00:19:54.260 but it seems so foolish

00:19:55.620 now in retrospect.

00:19:57.400 Like,

00:19:57.560 why would they want

00:19:58.160 to drag us

00:19:59.280 into the war

00:20:00.200 of all powers?

00:20:01.740 It's not like

00:20:02.420 we were not known

00:20:03.760 for our military might.

00:20:04.980 You know,

00:20:05.200 we had just won

00:20:05.760 World War I.

00:20:06.720 Like,

00:20:07.040 why drag

00:20:08.260 the United States

00:20:09.720 into this conflict

00:20:10.860 that we'd been

00:20:11.600 rejecting thus far?

00:20:13.340 It's so funny

00:20:14.220 because,

00:20:14.760 you know,

00:20:16.100 Admiral Yamamoto,

00:20:17.340 who was the

00:20:18.180 key architect

00:20:19.660 of the Battle

00:20:21.100 of Pearl Harbor,

00:20:22.380 the attack

00:20:22.980 at Pearl Harbor

00:20:23.560 and also the Battle

00:20:24.320 of Midway,

00:20:25.420 told the Japanese military,

00:20:27.320 he said,

00:20:27.840 you know,

00:20:28.180 you only have

00:20:30.100 a certain amount

00:20:30.640 of time here

00:20:31.600 to put

00:20:33.400 with the United States

00:20:34.180 at bay.

00:20:35.140 Yamamoto had studied

00:20:36.320 at Harvard.

00:20:37.140 He had been

00:20:37.640 a naval attache

00:20:38.860 in Washington.

00:20:39.880 He had ventured

00:20:40.580 out into the

00:20:41.360 American heartland

00:20:42.360 and seen

00:20:43.420 the industrial power

00:20:44.840 of the United States.

00:20:46.860 So,

00:20:47.180 he basically

00:20:48.100 was against

00:20:49.300 a strike

00:20:49.940 against the United States,

00:20:51.480 but the Japanese military,

00:20:53.820 the Japanese army,

00:20:54.720 was in control

00:20:55.940 of what the decisions

00:20:57.600 would be

00:20:58.180 in World War II.

00:20:59.120 So,

00:20:59.980 you know,

00:21:00.260 Yamamoto at certain points

00:21:01.960 voiced his concern

00:21:03.860 and said,

00:21:04.420 this is not going

00:21:05.260 to work.

00:21:06.020 We're going

00:21:06.420 to awaken

00:21:07.200 a sleeping giant.

00:21:08.880 And he meant

00:21:09.460 by a sleeping giant,

00:21:11.180 he meant

00:21:11.540 American industry.

00:21:13.320 He meant

00:21:13.560 by the ability

00:21:15.580 to convert

00:21:16.480 the Ford plants

00:21:19.080 in Detroit

00:21:19.660 from cars

00:21:20.580 to tanks

00:21:21.300 and airplanes

00:21:22.020 and everything else.

00:21:22.940 He said,

00:21:23.320 we cannot win

00:21:24.360 a war

00:21:25.300 with the United States.

00:21:26.720 But nobody

00:21:27.300 listened to him,

00:21:28.100 especially the army,

00:21:29.260 and there were

00:21:29.700 attempts on his life.

00:21:31.760 And so,

00:21:32.860 you know,

00:21:33.120 Japan did not listen 1.00

00:21:34.400 to the voice

00:21:35.420 of reason.

00:21:36.360 The army

00:21:36.720 was hell-bent

00:21:38.280 on attacking

00:21:40.040 the United States

00:21:41.040 because they felt

00:21:41.820 they were inferior

00:21:42.880 in many ways,

00:21:44.160 inferior as soldiers,

00:21:45.580 inferior as Navy,

00:21:47.100 inferior

00:21:47.500 in militaristic ways.

00:21:51.100 But Yamamoto

00:21:51.840 was the voice

00:21:52.940 of reason,

00:21:53.560 and they did not

00:21:54.260 like that.

00:21:55.420 And they still

00:21:56.040 attacked Pearl Harbor,

00:21:57.000 and they still

00:21:58.060 had Yamamoto

00:21:59.160 plan the attack

00:22:00.080 on Pearl Harbor

00:22:00.820 and plan the attack

00:22:01.760 on Midway.

00:22:02.660 But he was a voice

00:22:03.600 who just said,

00:22:04.780 we cannot win a war.

00:22:06.340 We can only buy time.

00:22:08.020 And how much time

00:22:08.820 we can buy

00:22:09.520 is negotiable.

00:22:11.820 And I think

00:22:12.840 they were looking

00:22:13.480 at some point

00:22:14.220 to say,

00:22:14.720 okay,

00:22:15.080 we're going to buy time.

00:22:16.320 We're going to be able

00:22:16.880 to occupy Guam

00:22:17.980 and the Philippines

00:22:18.580 and those will be

00:22:19.520 our islands.

00:22:20.280 And then we'll settle

00:22:21.280 for peace.

00:22:21.900 But Yamamoto

00:22:23.000 was really

00:22:23.520 the only one

00:22:24.120 who understood

00:22:24.640 the industrial might

00:22:25.640 and the capability

00:22:26.500 of the United States.

00:22:28.860 The element of surprise

00:22:29.880 is still hard

00:22:30.860 to understand

00:22:32.040 given radar

00:22:33.460 and satellite

00:22:34.200 and all the gifts

00:22:34.960 that we have today.

00:22:36.120 But I didn't realize

00:22:38.420 this actually

00:22:39.220 prior to preparing

00:22:40.100 for this interview

00:22:40.660 that there was

00:22:42.500 an alert operator

00:22:43.700 of an Army radar station

00:22:45.500 at 7 o'clock

00:22:46.780 that morning.

00:22:47.280 We got hit

00:22:47.900 at around 8 a.m.

00:22:49.360 but at 7 o'clock

00:22:50.440 that morning

00:22:51.060 who spotted

00:22:52.260 the approaching

00:22:53.340 first wave

00:22:54.180 of the Japanese

00:22:55.640 attack force

00:22:56.780 and sounded the alarm

00:22:58.420 and what happened?

00:23:01.080 Well,

00:23:01.400 the problem was

00:23:02.320 is that radar

00:23:03.220 was so new

00:23:04.000 at that time.

00:23:05.340 What Joe Lockhart

00:23:06.580 and his colleague

00:23:07.580 decided

00:23:08.220 at the Opana

00:23:09.200 radar site

00:23:10.020 on Hawaii

00:23:10.640 was,

00:23:11.740 you know,

00:23:11.840 they reported this

00:23:13.040 to the authorities

00:23:15.260 in Hawaii

00:23:15.960 and they thought,

00:23:17.040 well,

00:23:17.300 this is a

00:23:18.700 crew of B-17 planes

00:23:21.660 coming in from California.

00:23:23.220 Radar was not

00:23:24.160 being utilized

00:23:25.800 that effectively

00:23:26.700 by the United States

00:23:27.740 at that time.

00:23:28.480 So they thought

00:23:28.980 it was a B-17

00:23:29.920 squadron

00:23:31.460 coming in

00:23:32.060 from the West Coast

00:23:33.560 of the United States.

00:23:35.520 And Tyler,

00:23:38.680 the man

00:23:39.080 at Hawaii,

00:23:40.580 said,

00:23:40.760 don't worry about it.

00:23:42.000 Those are famous

00:23:42.640 last words.

00:23:43.480 Don't worry about it.

00:23:44.320 It's just a group

00:23:45.180 of B-17s 0.99

00:23:46.200 coming in from California.

00:23:47.780 And they said,

00:23:48.200 okay,

00:23:48.480 we're going

00:23:48.880 to go for lunch

00:23:49.560 now then.

00:23:50.800 And that's

00:23:51.740 what happened.

00:23:52.860 And so

00:23:53.440 it's almost

00:23:54.400 like 9-11

00:23:56.140 in terms of

00:23:57.080 things are

00:23:57.600 building up

00:23:58.400 and things

00:23:59.760 are presenting

00:24:01.120 themselves

00:24:01.800 and we're

00:24:02.760 saying

00:24:03.540 it's something

00:24:04.460 else.

00:24:04.980 It's not

00:24:05.700 what is

00:24:07.140 actually

00:24:07.660 happening.

00:24:09.060 Radar

00:24:09.240 was so new

00:24:09.820 at the time,

00:24:10.460 Megan,

00:24:10.780 that we didn't

00:24:12.080 trust it enough

00:24:12.960 to say

00:24:14.200 we assumed.

00:24:15.300 Kermit Tyler

00:24:16.000 was a guy,

00:24:16.840 and I hate

00:24:18.020 to single

00:24:18.420 him out,

00:24:19.460 but he was

00:24:20.060 the guy

00:24:20.520 in the famous

00:24:21.100 movie

00:24:21.460 Tora,

00:24:21.880 Tora,

00:24:22.220 Tora,

00:24:22.500 who said,

00:24:22.960 don't worry

00:24:23.360 about it.

00:24:23.920 It's a squadron

00:24:25.340 of B-17s 0.99

00:24:26.180 coming in

00:24:26.580 from California.

00:24:28.000 Oh my goodness.

00:24:28.740 And it wasn't.

00:24:29.520 It was Japanese

00:24:31.080 planes coming

00:24:31.700 in the sink,

00:24:32.240 the Arizona

00:24:32.820 and Oklahoma

00:24:33.340 and everybody

00:24:33.900 else.

00:24:34.820 Yeah,

00:24:35.100 the Arizona

00:24:35.700 took the worst

00:24:36.660 of the damage

00:24:37.300 and the Oklahoma

00:24:39.140 and all 21

00:24:40.180 ships of the

00:24:40.820 U.S. Pacific

00:24:41.300 fleet were

00:24:41.900 sunk or

00:24:43.060 damaged.

00:24:45.040 Aircraft

00:24:45.520 losses,

00:24:46.240 188 destroyed,

00:24:47.500 159 damaged,

00:24:48.780 the majority

00:24:49.160 hit before they

00:24:49.860 had a chance

00:24:50.260 to even take

00:24:50.700 off.

00:24:51.700 And the

00:24:52.200 Japanese

00:24:52.600 success was

00:24:53.600 overwhelming.

00:24:54.860 I mean,

00:24:55.060 it was

00:24:55.420 incredible.

00:24:56.180 Not to compliment,

00:24:59.220 but it was

00:24:59.840 a great success

00:25:00.840 for them.

00:25:01.980 And our guys

00:25:02.780 were completely

00:25:03.400 caught by surprise

00:25:04.380 as documented

00:25:05.120 again in

00:25:05.820 remembering

00:25:06.380 Pearl Harbor.

00:25:08.040 This is a

00:25:08.940 clip from it

00:25:09.940 in which

00:25:10.720 several of the

00:25:11.420 survivors on

00:25:12.060 the USS Arizona

00:25:12.880 describe the

00:25:14.340 explosion that

00:25:15.360 destroyed their

00:25:16.140 ship.

00:25:16.540 It's SOT 6.

00:25:18.920 At nine minutes

00:25:19.700 after eight,

00:25:20.780 one of the

00:25:21.080 bombers came 0.97

00:25:22.000 over the

00:25:22.400 lucky bomb.

00:25:23.720 And then the

00:25:24.300 big bomb

00:25:24.840 hit the number

00:25:26.100 two turret.

00:25:26.920 Dropped it

00:25:27.400 from maybe

00:25:28.100 eight,

00:25:28.500 ten thousand

00:25:28.980 feet.

00:25:29.780 And it

00:25:30.060 went right

00:25:30.460 into a million

00:25:32.440 rounds of

00:25:33.060 ammunition and

00:25:34.120 fuel oil and

00:25:35.720 aviation gasoline.

00:25:38.440 It went in

00:25:38.780 there and

00:25:39.060 exploded.

00:25:39.720 That's what

00:25:40.060 exploded.

00:25:41.080 It blowed

00:25:41.540 the 110 foot

00:25:42.600 of the ship

00:25:43.140 clear off.

00:25:45.320 And everything

00:25:45.760 from the main

00:25:46.740 mess forward

00:25:47.320 was on fire.

00:25:52.940 The bow of

00:25:53.820 the ship

00:25:54.060 came out of

00:25:54.540 the water

00:25:54.900 about 30

00:25:55.900 feet.

00:25:57.520 Blew in

00:25:58.160 the water.

00:26:01.480 Well, the

00:26:01.900 fireball went

00:26:03.680 off and it

00:26:04.320 went about

00:26:04.880 five or six

00:26:05.680 hundred feet

00:26:06.240 in the air

00:26:06.640 and just

00:26:07.060 engulfed us

00:26:07.900 up there in

00:26:08.520 the sky control

00:26:10.000 platform.

00:26:12.540 A couple of

00:26:13.820 things there

00:26:14.320 to pick up

00:26:15.900 on.

00:26:16.140 It wasn't

00:26:16.620 just Pearl

00:26:17.120 Harbor.

00:26:17.760 This hell was

00:26:18.520 unleashed in more

00:26:19.120 places than Pearl

00:26:19.900 Harbor.

00:26:20.180 And you

00:26:21.100 mentioned it

00:26:21.560 before.

00:26:22.700 It was an

00:26:23.560 overwhelming

00:26:23.900 success, but it

00:26:24.620 wasn't a

00:26:24.940 complete success

00:26:25.640 because we did

00:26:26.200 not have our

00:26:27.100 aircraft carriers

00:26:28.060 in Pearl Harbor

00:26:28.700 that day.

00:26:29.320 So can you

00:26:30.160 first explain

00:26:30.700 the vast

00:26:31.560 amount of

00:26:32.500 areas and

00:26:33.120 locations

00:26:33.680 attacked and

00:26:35.000 then talk

00:26:35.600 about why

00:26:36.040 our aircraft

00:26:36.700 carriers were

00:26:37.220 not there?

00:26:38.560 Yeah, I mean,

00:26:38.900 our aircraft

00:26:39.480 carriers were

00:26:40.320 delivering planes

00:26:41.300 to Midway.

00:26:42.860 First of all,

00:26:43.720 the Enterprise

00:26:44.120 was delivering

00:26:44.960 planes to

00:26:45.600 Midway.

00:26:46.020 the Saratoga

00:26:46.880 was undergoing

00:26:47.680 repairs.

00:26:49.280 So the

00:26:49.880 Japanese

00:26:50.400 decided that

00:26:51.900 this based

00:26:53.300 on local

00:26:53.900 intelligence

00:26:54.720 given by

00:26:56.660 spies in

00:26:57.480 Hawaii,

00:26:59.220 that the

00:27:00.420 Pacific fleet

00:27:01.700 was there

00:27:02.280 for the

00:27:02.680 taking.

00:27:03.320 And they

00:27:03.660 were.

00:27:04.100 The destroyers

00:27:04.920 were there

00:27:05.400 and the

00:27:06.120 battleships

00:27:06.640 were there,

00:27:07.280 but the

00:27:07.500 aircraft

00:27:07.900 carriers were

00:27:08.840 either A,

00:27:09.740 delivering

00:27:10.200 planes to

00:27:10.920 Midway or

00:27:11.580 out on

00:27:12.060 other missions

00:27:12.720 or being

00:27:13.940 repaired in

00:27:15.760 Bremerton,

00:27:16.920 Washington or

00:27:17.800 other places.

00:27:18.960 And the

00:27:19.140 Japanese also

00:27:19.780 made a huge

00:27:20.560 mistake in

00:27:21.740 the fact that

00:27:22.220 they did not

00:27:23.020 attack the

00:27:23.900 oil refineries

00:27:25.020 in Pearl

00:27:26.080 Harbor.

00:27:26.600 That would

00:27:26.960 have been

00:27:27.260 the third

00:27:27.860 wave of

00:27:28.980 the Japanese

00:27:29.560 attack.

00:27:30.380 So they

00:27:30.720 missed their

00:27:31.380 opportunity

00:27:32.040 to really

00:27:33.600 inflict a

00:27:34.660 lot of

00:27:34.960 damage on

00:27:36.180 the United

00:27:36.720 States at

00:27:37.340 Pearl Harbor.

00:27:38.640 And I

00:27:38.780 think the

00:27:39.100 Japanese

00:27:39.520 also,

00:27:40.560 Admiral

00:27:41.020 Yamamoto,

00:27:41.720 I go back

00:27:42.140 to him

00:27:42.440 because we

00:27:42.840 have been

00:27:43.180 to

00:27:43.540 Nagaoka,

00:27:44.500 which is

00:27:44.900 his

00:27:45.560 hometown and

00:27:46.380 we've been

00:27:46.840 to places

00:27:47.980 where we've

00:27:48.820 interviewed his

00:27:49.840 grandson.

00:27:51.320 He was the

00:27:52.040 only one who

00:27:52.680 really had a

00:27:53.280 clear understanding

00:27:54.340 of the

00:27:54.920 industrial might

00:27:55.980 of the

00:27:56.320 United States

00:27:57.220 and that

00:27:59.080 you had to

00:27:59.760 knock it all

00:28:00.380 off at once

00:28:01.240 if you wanted

00:28:02.220 to sever the

00:28:03.600 head of the

00:28:04.140 snake.

00:28:05.160 And they

00:28:05.420 accomplished

00:28:06.020 two of the

00:28:06.740 three goals.

00:28:08.520 And that

00:28:09.360 third part of

00:28:10.180 the goal,

00:28:10.780 which is the

00:28:11.300 aircraft carriers

00:28:12.280 and not

00:28:12.860 attacking the

00:28:13.520 oil refineries

00:28:14.540 at Pearl

00:28:15.080 Harbor,

00:28:15.760 was a

00:28:17.200 major,

00:28:17.980 major mistake

00:28:18.900 on the

00:28:20.040 part of the

00:28:20.500 Japanese.

00:28:21.460 And Yamamoto

00:28:22.220 was a

00:28:22.820 realist.

00:28:23.980 And he

00:28:24.400 was also

00:28:24.940 one of those

00:28:25.400 people who

00:28:25.860 said,

00:28:26.180 you know,

00:28:26.360 we have

00:28:26.700 about six

00:28:27.360 months to

00:28:27.880 run rampant

00:28:28.720 in the

00:28:29.160 Pacific before

00:28:30.020 the United

00:28:30.540 States

00:28:30.920 industrial

00:28:31.540 might

00:28:32.000 catches up

00:28:32.940 with us.

00:28:34.240 And so,

00:28:35.680 but the

00:28:36.100 army didn't

00:28:36.600 want to

00:28:36.880 hear that.

00:28:37.480 Tojo and

00:28:38.120 the others

00:28:38.520 didn't want

00:28:39.060 to hear

00:28:39.380 that.

00:28:40.440 But he

00:28:40.860 was a

00:28:41.540 realist.

00:28:42.600 And to

00:28:43.180 hear guys

00:28:43.740 like Don

00:28:44.160 Stratton,

00:28:44.700 who passed

00:28:45.120 away a

00:28:45.600 couple of

00:28:45.880 years ago,

00:28:46.580 and Luke

00:28:46.900 Contor,

00:28:47.420 who's one

00:28:47.980 of only

00:28:48.340 two survivors

00:28:49.860 still alive

00:28:50.780 from the

00:28:51.200 USS Arizona

00:28:52.260 in that

00:28:52.800 piece you

00:28:53.260 just ran,

00:28:54.420 to hear

00:28:55.000 them describe

00:28:55.760 what it

00:28:56.400 was like,

00:28:57.480 to me,

00:28:58.260 it's just

00:28:59.740 incredible.

00:29:00.820 Because they

00:29:01.360 were a witness

00:29:01.880 to history.

00:29:03.260 The worst

00:29:03.680 thing the

00:29:04.120 Japanese could

00:29:04.920 have done

00:29:05.420 was launch

00:29:05.940 a sneak

00:29:06.300 attack.

00:29:07.180 They could

00:29:07.560 have notified

00:29:08.140 us beforehand

00:29:09.040 that we were

00:29:09.800 going to

00:29:10.320 attack.

00:29:10.720 But Americans 0.99

00:29:11.540 don't.

00:29:12.000 Was that

00:29:12.280 done?

00:29:13.220 Was that

00:29:13.540 done?

00:29:13.900 I mean,

00:29:14.120 you know,

00:29:14.620 was that

00:29:15.420 done?

00:29:15.760 Was that

00:29:15.940 how it

00:29:17.000 used to

00:29:17.180 be done?

00:29:17.680 Like an

00:29:17.960 attack is

00:29:18.340 coming?

00:29:19.500 Yeah,

00:29:19.800 I mean,

00:29:20.260 because there

00:29:22.040 are so many

00:29:22.500 issues with

00:29:23.040 the Japanese

00:29:23.540 with transmissions

00:29:24.420 and everything

00:29:24.900 else on

00:29:25.400 December 7th,

00:29:26.180 1941,

00:29:27.060 their goal

00:29:28.160 was to

00:29:28.740 announce to

00:29:29.380 us that

00:29:30.300 they were

00:29:30.640 going to

00:29:31.140 attack Pearl 0.90

00:29:31.780 Harbor.

00:29:32.340 But because

00:29:33.100 of delays

00:29:33.620 in Washington

00:29:34.380 and transcribing

00:29:36.200 documents and

00:29:37.360 telegrams and

00:29:39.220 everything else,

00:29:39.920 it became a

00:29:41.560 surprise attack.

00:29:42.780 And for the

00:29:43.280 record,

00:29:44.080 the number of

00:29:45.040 military personnel

00:29:45.820 killed at

00:29:47.980 Pearl Harbor

00:29:48.900 was 2,335.

00:29:52.400 That actually

00:29:52.980 includes 68

00:29:54.820 civilians, I

00:29:55.540 think.

00:29:56.820 So, yeah,

00:29:57.240 I guess the

00:29:58.060 total is 2,403

00:30:00.200 people dead.

00:30:01.620 I mean,

00:30:02.360 1,177 from

00:30:04.520 the USS Arizona,

00:30:05.740 which is just

00:30:06.300 stunning.

00:30:06.920 If you go out

00:30:08.340 there now,

00:30:08.760 you can see

00:30:09.160 the memorial

00:30:10.160 to the USS

00:30:10.900 Arizona.

00:30:11.500 The other

00:30:11.780 ships, almost

00:30:12.320 all of them

00:30:12.840 were repaired

00:30:13.960 and sent back

00:30:15.060 out into

00:30:15.480 service.

00:30:16.180 The only other

00:30:16.740 two that

00:30:17.220 weren't, besides

00:30:18.060 the Arizona,

00:30:18.680 were just too

00:30:19.280 old and too

00:30:20.000 out of commission

00:30:21.240 to really care

00:30:21.980 about.

00:30:23.320 But the

00:30:24.060 Arizona is the

00:30:24.780 one that took

00:30:25.180 the brunt of

00:30:25.840 it.

00:30:25.980 And I will

00:30:26.260 tell you,

00:30:26.960 a couple years

00:30:27.300 ago, I

00:30:27.540 interviewed Jim

00:30:28.600 Downing, who

00:30:29.140 I saw in

00:30:29.820 your piece,

00:30:31.360 who was such a

00:30:32.180 special man,

00:30:33.740 such a special

00:30:34.560 man.

00:30:34.700 So I flew

00:30:35.140 out and I

00:30:35.640 met him in

00:30:36.040 California with

00:30:36.560 his family.

00:30:37.720 He wasn't on

00:30:38.380 the actual ship

00:30:39.720 when it got

00:30:40.080 hit, but then

00:30:40.600 he ran there

00:30:41.280 and held the

00:30:42.960 bodies of many

00:30:43.800 men who were

00:30:44.260 dying and said

00:30:45.820 prayers to them

00:30:46.460 and continued to

00:30:47.080 do so.

00:30:48.300 We have a

00:30:48.880 soundbite,

00:30:49.300 actually, from

00:30:49.720 Jim on the

00:30:50.360 role of God

00:30:50.960 for him during

00:30:52.380 the attack.

00:30:52.900 I'll play it

00:30:53.200 now.

00:30:53.500 It's SOT

00:30:53.880 12.

00:30:55.660 What role did

00:30:56.580 God play for

00:30:57.360 you that

00:30:58.100 fateful day?

00:30:59.220 I thought I

00:31:00.340 was going to

00:31:00.740 be blown up.

00:31:01.540 And my

00:31:04.160 conversation

00:31:04.860 with God

00:31:05.440 is, I'll

00:31:06.640 be with you

00:31:07.140 in a minute.

00:31:08.940 But a minute

00:31:10.180 went by for

00:31:11.000 about 30

00:31:11.640 minutes and I

00:31:12.500 wasn't taken.

00:31:14.260 But I

00:31:14.620 experienced the

00:31:15.520 greatest peace

00:31:16.500 I've ever had

00:31:17.860 in my life,

00:31:19.180 knowing that

00:31:20.000 God's in

00:31:20.740 charge.

00:31:22.520 He was 104

00:31:23.700 during that

00:31:24.740 interview.

00:31:25.920 And the

00:31:26.300 loveliest thing

00:31:26.940 happened to

00:31:27.420 him.

00:31:28.460 We talked

00:31:28.920 about God,

00:31:29.540 my connection

00:31:30.000 to him,

00:31:30.340 his connection.

00:31:31.760 And Jim

00:31:32.500 wrote me the

00:31:33.440 most thoughtful

00:31:34.040 letter after

00:31:35.060 that interview,

00:31:36.500 thanking me.

00:31:37.120 Of course,

00:31:37.500 it was I who

00:31:38.560 needed to thank

00:31:39.020 him.

00:31:39.620 He wrote me

00:31:40.100 this long letter

00:31:40.580 thanking me and

00:31:41.260 encouraging me to

00:31:42.600 do a couple of

00:31:43.060 things to renew

00:31:43.900 my relationship

00:31:44.560 with my faith

00:31:45.280 and so on.

00:31:45.860 I wrote back

00:31:46.320 to him.

00:31:46.580 And a pen

00:31:46.980 pal relationship

00:31:47.820 developed.

00:31:49.680 He would die

00:31:50.480 not long

00:31:51.120 thereafter in

00:31:51.800 2018.

00:31:53.200 But what a

00:31:53.720 special,

00:31:54.300 special dear

00:31:54.880 man.

00:31:56.560 Jim was in

00:31:58.080 the mail office

00:31:59.120 and the post

00:31:59.680 office on the

00:32:00.500 USS West,

00:32:01.520 West Virginia.

00:32:02.720 So he read a

00:32:04.280 lot of the

00:32:04.740 letters that

00:32:05.560 were sent

00:32:06.560 home.

00:32:07.880 And the West

00:32:08.740 Virginia was

00:32:09.360 attacked on

00:32:10.020 December 7th,

00:32:10.900 1941.

00:32:12.980 And to me,

00:32:14.020 so he got to

00:32:14.860 know personally

00:32:15.580 the stories of

00:32:16.720 the men on

00:32:17.260 that battleship.

00:32:19.380 And there's

00:32:20.460 been a lot

00:32:21.080 written about

00:32:22.220 Jim.

00:32:22.740 And Jim,

00:32:23.240 to me,

00:32:23.580 represents the

00:32:24.340 best of

00:32:25.420 America.

00:32:25.940 America.

00:32:26.760 And,

00:32:27.340 you know,

00:32:29.020 I think you

00:32:29.440 were very

00:32:29.820 fortunate to

00:32:30.680 know somebody

00:32:31.280 like him.

00:32:32.700 And I

00:32:33.160 think if we

00:32:34.480 could somehow

00:32:35.180 get back

00:32:36.800 to the

00:32:40.940 mindset of

00:32:41.740 men like

00:32:42.380 Jim,

00:32:43.720 we'd be such

00:32:44.420 a better

00:32:44.740 country for

00:32:46.000 that.

00:32:47.220 And he was

00:32:48.200 a hero,

00:32:48.640 but he didn't

00:32:49.480 think himself

00:32:50.160 of a hero,

00:32:51.320 as himself

00:32:52.120 as a hero.

00:32:53.260 And he

00:32:54.000 read the

00:32:54.480 letters home

00:32:55.300 and he

00:32:55.780 was kind

00:32:56.280 of connected

00:32:56.700 to everybody

00:32:57.540 on the

00:32:58.300 USS West

00:32:59.180 Virginia.

00:33:00.800 And the

00:33:02.100 Pearl Harbor

00:33:02.980 was such a

00:33:04.360 turning point

00:33:06.080 in the history

00:33:06.620 of this world

00:33:07.540 that he

00:33:09.000 was on

00:33:10.060 that battleship

00:33:10.860 and was

00:33:11.200 reading the

00:33:11.740 personal letters

00:33:12.600 home of the

00:33:13.600 people on

00:33:14.120 that battleship.

00:33:15.140 And to me,

00:33:15.640 he's one of

00:33:16.820 those people

00:33:17.300 I always

00:33:17.740 admired and

00:33:18.900 thought,

00:33:19.540 wow,

00:33:19.820 here's a guy

00:33:20.440 who knew

00:33:20.820 the inner

00:33:21.280 thinking,

00:33:22.120 of the

00:33:22.960 people on

00:33:23.440 the battleship 0.68

00:33:24.180 and how

00:33:24.900 they were

00:33:25.280 scared and

00:33:26.480 how they

00:33:26.860 were looking

00:33:27.320 forward to

00:33:27.860 their own

00:33:28.260 futures of

00:33:29.640 being doctors

00:33:30.660 and lawyers

00:33:31.560 and maybe

00:33:32.340 curing cancer

00:33:33.420 or Alzheimer's

00:33:34.800 or dementia.

00:33:35.600 I mean,

00:33:35.780 they had so

00:33:36.140 many,

00:33:36.700 they had so

00:33:37.160 much potential

00:33:38.080 the men on

00:33:39.360 at West

00:33:39.700 Virginia and

00:33:40.520 Arizona and

00:33:41.680 Oklahoma and

00:33:42.840 Maryland and

00:33:43.640 Nevada and

00:33:44.220 everybody else.

00:33:44.920 I think what

00:33:45.940 could they have

00:33:46.520 done post-war

00:33:47.760 that it would

00:33:48.580 have changed

00:33:49.040 the world?

00:33:50.220 And Jim is

00:33:50.640 one of those

00:33:51.140 guys.

00:33:52.120 That's the

00:33:52.580 thing is

00:33:53.200 there were

00:33:54.900 almost 3,000

00:33:56.560 Jim Downings

00:33:57.180 killed that

00:33:57.700 day.

00:33:58.580 They were all

00:33:59.700 men like that.

00:34:00.600 They were built

00:34:01.040 differently back

00:34:01.720 then.

00:34:02.060 It's like the

00:34:02.480 quality of

00:34:03.300 person that

00:34:03.960 we lost in

00:34:05.240 each one of

00:34:05.860 those guys is

00:34:06.680 just, it's

00:34:07.620 hard to match.

00:34:08.520 It makes you

00:34:09.140 miss them all

00:34:09.680 the more and

00:34:10.080 it makes you

00:34:10.440 all the angrier.

00:34:11.840 Though, by the

00:34:12.400 way, Jim was

00:34:13.440 not angry.

00:34:14.040 Of course, he

00:34:14.480 was full of

00:34:15.300 grace.

00:34:16.080 I did ask him

00:34:16.880 a question.

00:34:17.820 Here's a follow-up

00:34:18.660 between the two

00:34:19.400 of us.

00:34:19.900 This is

00:34:20.160 SOT 13.

00:34:22.380 You seem like

00:34:23.320 you're a happy

00:34:23.720 person.

00:34:24.360 Are you?

00:34:25.280 I am very

00:34:26.300 happy.

00:34:27.120 I'm a realist.

00:34:28.760 I can't do

00:34:29.580 anything about

00:34:30.400 what happened

00:34:31.440 yesterday.

00:34:33.420 I can't do

00:34:34.420 much about

00:34:34.920 what happens

00:34:35.340 tomorrow.

00:34:36.860 Living today

00:34:37.860 is so much

00:34:38.740 fun.

00:34:39.520 So, I live it

00:34:40.540 up every day.

00:34:41.280 I love

00:34:43.220 that.

00:34:44.460 We all

00:34:45.120 need a little

00:34:45.760 more Jim

00:34:46.280 Downing in

00:34:46.820 our lives.

00:34:48.000 He's one of

00:34:48.760 those guys,

00:34:49.320 Megan, who

00:34:49.760 understands that

00:34:51.220 he represents

00:34:52.040 the guys who

00:34:53.020 were buried in

00:34:53.840 cemeteries in

00:34:55.640 Hawaii at the

00:34:56.720 Punchbowl or

00:34:57.600 Normandy or

00:34:58.660 Manila or

00:34:59.600 Holland or

00:35:00.380 Belgium or

00:35:01.560 other places

00:35:02.280 that he

00:35:03.220 survived and

00:35:04.240 was able to

00:35:04.940 carry on with

00:35:05.780 his life, but

00:35:07.240 that he also

00:35:08.040 carries the

00:35:08.860 burden of being

00:35:09.660 a survivor.

00:35:11.280 That's a tough

00:35:12.260 burden for

00:35:13.720 these guys.

00:35:15.060 Why did I

00:35:15.880 survive when

00:35:16.560 the guy on

00:35:17.080 the left of

00:35:17.560 me died and 0.83

00:35:18.260 the guy on

00:35:18.760 the right of

00:35:19.300 me died?

00:35:20.660 What is my

00:35:21.740 mission in

00:35:22.520 life?

00:35:23.060 My mission

00:35:23.620 in life is

00:35:24.480 to carry on

00:35:26.540 to represent

00:35:27.220 the qualities

00:35:28.020 that my

00:35:28.700 buddies who

00:35:29.940 died had.

00:35:33.380 I think a

00:35:34.380 lot of the

00:35:34.780 times, I

00:35:35.600 joke with

00:35:36.220 people, I

00:35:36.800 say, when

00:35:37.420 you're in

00:35:37.820 Normandy and

00:35:38.480 you're jumping

00:35:38.940 into a

00:35:39.380 foxhole,

00:35:40.700 you're not

00:35:41.200 asking if

00:35:42.220 that guy's

00:35:42.680 a Republican

00:35:43.400 or a

00:35:44.100 Democrat.

00:35:44.440 You're just

00:35:45.080 jumping in

00:35:45.540 that foxhole

00:35:46.280 knowing that

00:35:46.900 that guy's

00:35:47.300 an American

00:35:47.900 and that

00:35:48.940 that guy is

00:35:49.580 going to

00:35:49.980 help you

00:35:50.680 survive and

00:35:51.720 you're going

00:35:52.160 to help

00:35:52.660 him survive.

00:35:53.900 So why

00:35:54.760 can't we

00:35:55.360 get back

00:35:56.080 to that

00:35:56.640 time where

00:35:58.660 we're looking

00:35:59.280 at it as

00:36:00.280 America first? 0.84

00:36:02.180 America is

00:36:03.780 not a party,

00:36:05.420 it's an

00:36:06.360 idea, it's

00:36:07.640 an evolution

00:36:08.800 of what

00:36:09.860 the Founding

00:36:10.460 Fathers

00:36:10.900 discussed.

00:36:15.200 The day

00:36:16.080 after Pearl

00:36:16.680 Harbor, on

00:36:18.280 December 8th,

00:36:20.100 1941, the

00:36:21.380 President of

00:36:22.020 the United

00:36:22.340 States, FDR,

00:36:24.160 addressed the

00:36:24.700 nation in a

00:36:25.500 speech that

00:36:26.020 would become

00:36:26.620 known for

00:36:28.140 a century

00:36:29.100 plus.

00:36:30.080 Here's a bit

00:36:30.480 of that.

00:36:30.760 December

00:36:31.880 7th, 1941,

00:36:36.400 a date

00:36:38.120 which will

00:36:38.620 live in

00:36:40.560 infamy.

00:36:42.540 The United

00:36:43.340 States of

00:36:44.020 America was

00:36:45.920 suddenly and

00:36:46.700 deliberately

00:36:47.380 attacked by

00:36:49.560 naval and

00:36:50.200 air forces

00:36:51.020 of the

00:36:52.000 Empire of

00:36:53.220 Japan.

00:36:55.660 I mean,

00:36:56.560 that's some

00:36:56.940 80 years

00:36:57.580 ago and

00:36:58.260 people still

00:36:58.800 know that

00:36:59.180 phrase, a

00:37:00.060 day that

00:37:00.440 will live

00:37:00.880 in infamy.

00:37:02.120 I can only

00:37:02.720 imagine what

00:37:03.780 that did to

00:37:04.680 the United

00:37:05.000 States at

00:37:05.780 the time.

00:37:06.320 His address

00:37:07.160 rousing the

00:37:08.280 same president

00:37:08.880 who'd been

00:37:09.400 with the

00:37:10.280 country and

00:37:10.680 we're not

00:37:10.940 going to get

00:37:11.220 into this.

00:37:11.860 The 88% 0.99

00:37:12.600 saying we're

00:37:13.100 not going to

00:37:13.440 get into

00:37:13.720 this.

00:37:14.260 And boy,

00:37:15.000 as they

00:37:15.540 say, what

00:37:16.300 a difference

00:37:16.700 a day

00:37:16.960 makes.

00:37:18.720 We rallied

00:37:19.400 behind the

00:37:20.340 president as

00:37:21.300 we rallied

00:37:22.060 behind W

00:37:23.000 on September

00:37:25.040 11, 2001.

00:37:26.920 And it just

00:37:27.520 seems as

00:37:28.160 though what I

00:37:28.860 learned the

00:37:29.400 most from

00:37:29.960 World War

00:37:30.460 II is that

00:37:31.400 we're like

00:37:32.460 an old

00:37:32.900 Irish family

00:37:34.620 where there

00:37:35.440 are like

00:37:35.700 seven brothers

00:37:36.500 and all we

00:37:37.140 do is beat

00:37:37.740 up on each

00:37:38.300 other.

00:37:39.020 But if God

00:37:39.480 forbid someone

00:37:40.320 from outside

00:37:41.100 the family

00:37:41.740 beats up on

00:37:42.660 one of the

00:37:43.380 brothers, we

00:37:44.800 all to come

00:37:45.580 together and

00:37:46.460 we respond.

00:37:48.800 And that

00:37:49.620 means it's

00:37:50.820 like, why

00:37:51.560 are we so

00:37:52.180 divided now

00:37:53.460 when we

00:37:54.460 could all

00:37:54.860 just find

00:37:55.520 a medium

00:37:57.020 like Eisenhower

00:37:58.200 talked about

00:37:58.940 as a

00:37:59.300 president and

00:38:00.440 come together

00:38:01.180 and figure

00:38:02.240 out what's

00:38:02.700 best for

00:38:03.260 America,

00:38:04.180 not what's

00:38:05.400 best for

00:38:06.060 the Republican

00:38:06.960 Party or

00:38:08.780 it's best for

00:38:09.680 the Democratic

00:38:11.020 Party or the

00:38:12.460 Independent

00:38:12.900 Party.

00:38:13.580 What is best

00:38:14.840 for America?

00:38:16.120 Why does it

00:38:16.680 take us being

00:38:17.540 attacked to

00:38:18.440 come together

00:38:19.100 as a nation?

00:38:20.020 In Roosevelt's

00:38:21.180 speech, I mean,

00:38:21.640 they detested

00:38:22.940 Roosevelt.

00:38:23.680 The Republicans

00:38:24.280 detested

00:38:25.160 Roosevelt.

00:38:26.040 A lot of

00:38:26.600 the country

00:38:27.040 detested

00:38:28.100 Roosevelt

00:38:28.760 because of

00:38:30.240 the New

00:38:30.580 Deal and

00:38:31.200 because of

00:38:31.620 everything else

00:38:32.320 he was pushing.

00:38:34.120 And a lot

00:38:34.500 of the country

00:38:35.060 despised W.

00:38:36.560 Bush because

00:38:37.260 of what he

00:38:37.780 was pushing.

00:38:38.460 But all

00:38:38.860 of a sudden,

00:38:40.020 because America

00:38:41.880 was attacked,

00:38:43.620 all of a sudden

00:38:44.220 we came together

00:38:45.180 and said,

00:38:45.740 here is our

00:38:46.340 common goal.

00:38:47.960 Our common

00:38:48.580 goal is to

00:38:49.160 do what's

00:38:49.560 best for

00:38:50.160 America.

00:38:50.760 And I

00:38:51.760 always find

00:38:52.160 that fascinating.

00:38:55.280 You know,

00:38:55.500 I have to say

00:38:55.960 though, I feel

00:38:56.400 lucky to

00:38:56.920 remember those

00:38:57.620 times.

00:38:58.160 I feel lucky

00:38:58.780 to be one

00:38:59.380 of the

00:38:59.580 citizens who

00:39:00.140 felt that

00:39:00.760 and remembers

00:39:01.700 that America

00:39:02.940 first feeling.

00:39:03.960 Like, this

00:39:04.240 is, we

00:39:05.220 love our

00:39:05.800 country and

00:39:06.180 we love

00:39:06.520 each other

00:39:06.940 and you

00:39:07.360 mess with

00:39:07.940 the family.

00:39:08.960 You know,

00:39:09.160 you're going

00:39:09.440 to pay.

00:39:10.400 You're going

00:39:10.660 to pay.

00:39:11.260 Well, back

00:39:12.300 to World War

00:39:12.780 II, pay

00:39:13.260 they did.

00:39:14.060 We and

00:39:14.980 Great Britain

00:39:15.660 declared war

00:39:16.420 on Japan.

00:39:18.340 Hitler 0.78

00:39:18.780 decided to

00:39:19.520 join in

00:39:20.120 and declared

00:39:20.680 war on

00:39:21.120 us and

00:39:22.300 it was

00:39:22.740 off to

00:39:23.340 the races.

00:39:24.080 He

00:39:24.480 believed

00:39:25.080 inaccurately

00:39:26.240 that we

00:39:26.760 would be

00:39:27.020 too

00:39:27.180 distracted

00:39:27.560 with the

00:39:27.860 Japanese

00:39:28.260 to fight

00:39:29.780 him.

00:39:30.300 And he,

00:39:30.760 again, unlike

00:39:31.660 the Japanese

00:39:32.580 leader who

00:39:33.020 you mentioned,

00:39:34.040 Hitler 0.78

00:39:34.360 underestimated

00:39:36.200 us in a way

00:39:37.380 that would be

00:39:37.780 profound.

00:39:38.320 He didn't

00:39:38.640 think that we

00:39:39.100 had the

00:39:39.320 resolve.

00:39:39.700 He didn't

00:39:39.860 think we

00:39:40.080 had the

00:39:40.320 military and

00:39:40.800 he didn't

00:39:41.040 think that

00:39:41.440 despite our

00:39:42.080 booming

00:39:42.440 economy, we

00:39:43.500 had the

00:39:43.760 resources to

00:39:44.400 fight on

00:39:45.020 two fronts

00:39:45.440 and he

00:39:46.220 was wrong.

00:39:47.400 He was

00:39:47.540 wrong.

00:39:47.860 Most of

00:39:48.960 these

00:39:49.180 people, the

00:39:49.680 Japanese and

00:39:50.300 Germans, looked

00:39:50.960 at the

00:39:51.220 Americans as

00:39:51.920 soft, that

00:39:53.280 they didn't

00:39:53.660 want war. 0.97

00:39:54.540 They didn't

00:39:54.860 want to fight

00:39:55.520 in a war and

00:39:56.720 that they

00:39:57.020 would not

00:39:57.820 use all of

00:39:59.360 their resources

00:40:00.220 and initiative

00:40:01.080 and everything

00:40:01.560 else to fight

00:40:02.260 in a war.

00:40:03.180 And they

00:40:03.360 were wrong.

00:40:03.880 The Japanese 0.51

00:40:04.320 were wrong.

00:40:05.020 The Germans 0.91

00:40:05.440 were wrong.

00:40:06.820 And they

00:40:07.500 paid the

00:40:07.880 price for

00:40:08.360 that.

00:40:08.600 And so I

00:40:09.820 always look at

00:40:10.380 it as

00:40:10.600 interesting is

00:40:11.420 that they

00:40:12.200 always

00:40:12.420 underestimated

00:40:13.520 the United

00:40:14.100 States and

00:40:14.740 people always

00:40:16.280 underestimate the

00:40:18.040 United States.

00:40:18.960 But Hitler's 0.98

00:40:19.480 two main

00:40:20.460 errors in

00:40:21.920 World War

00:40:22.420 II were

00:40:22.960 declaring war

00:40:25.200 on the

00:40:25.680 Soviet Union

00:40:26.380 and declaring

00:40:26.940 war on the

00:40:27.560 United States.

00:40:30.180 The British

00:40:31.540 were major

00:40:32.160 players, of

00:40:32.920 course, as

00:40:33.340 well, and

00:40:34.580 were in a

00:40:35.360 precarious

00:40:35.780 position for

00:40:36.400 quite some

00:40:36.740 time during

00:40:37.180 the war,

00:40:37.500 not knowing

00:40:38.000 whether they

00:40:38.460 were going

00:40:38.640 to face

00:40:38.960 the same

00:40:39.720 fate as

00:40:40.640 France.

00:40:41.880 Winston

00:40:42.120 Churchill was

00:40:42.820 the prime

00:40:43.180 minister and

00:40:44.340 in probably

00:40:45.860 the best

00:40:46.340 known speech

00:40:47.520 ever, I

00:40:48.720 mean, it's

00:40:48.960 got to be

00:40:49.280 at least

00:40:49.660 one of

00:40:50.820 them, rallied

00:40:53.180 his country

00:40:53.980 to the cause,

00:40:54.780 but also with

00:40:55.620 a note of

00:40:56.000 caution about

00:40:56.880 what the

00:40:58.440 enemy that

00:40:59.280 they faced.

00:41:00.580 Here's

00:41:00.780 Winston

00:41:01.100 Churchill

00:41:01.640 addressing

00:41:02.100 the House

00:41:02.500 of Commons

00:41:03.000 June 4,

00:41:04.360 1940.

00:41:05.700 We will

00:41:06.100 fight in

00:41:06.620 France.

00:41:08.000 We shall

00:41:08.460 fight on

00:41:09.000 the seas

00:41:09.500 and oceans.

00:41:11.280 We shall

00:41:11.720 fight with

00:41:12.780 growing confidence

00:41:13.720 and growing

00:41:14.520 strength in

00:41:15.280 the air.

00:41:17.220 We shall

00:41:17.660 defend our

00:41:18.320 island,

00:41:19.220 whatever the

00:41:19.840 cost may

00:41:20.380 be.

00:41:21.300 We shall

00:41:21.660 fight on

00:41:22.180 the beaches.

00:41:23.560 We shall

00:41:23.880 fight on

00:41:24.400 the landing

00:41:24.860 grounds.

00:41:26.340 We shall

00:41:26.640 fight in

00:41:27.120 the fields

00:41:27.780 and in

00:41:28.860 the streets.

00:41:29.960 We shall

00:41:30.300 fight in

00:41:30.800 the hills.

00:41:32.340 We shall

00:41:32.740 never surrender.

00:41:33.680 And if,

00:41:35.780 which I do

00:41:36.500 not for a

00:41:37.100 moment believe,

00:41:39.000 this island or

00:41:40.120 a large part

00:41:40.920 of it were

00:41:41.840 subjugated and

00:41:42.980 starving, then

00:41:44.660 our empire,

00:41:45.960 beyond the

00:41:46.640 seas, armed

00:41:48.480 and guarded by

00:41:49.560 the British

00:41:50.040 fleet, would

00:41:51.380 carry on the

00:41:52.260 struggle until

00:41:53.760 in God's good

00:41:54.800 time, the

00:41:56.160 new world,

00:41:57.520 with all its

00:41:58.160 power and

00:41:58.800 might, steps

00:41:59.960 forth to the

00:42:00.740 rescue and

00:42:01.840 the liberation

00:42:02.540 of the old

00:42:03.680 world.

00:42:05.380 That was

00:42:06.020 June 4th,

00:42:07.080 1940, to the

00:42:08.040 House of

00:42:08.340 Commons.

00:42:08.860 The thing

00:42:09.240 about Winston

00:42:09.700 Churchill was,

00:42:10.420 I just recently

00:42:10.960 read a biography

00:42:11.540 on him, if

00:42:12.780 there was one

00:42:13.320 thing he was

00:42:13.840 great at, it

00:42:14.380 was wordsmithing.

00:42:15.700 And if you

00:42:16.720 could take that

00:42:17.260 to the next

00:42:17.720 level with

00:42:18.140 Winston Churchill,

00:42:18.940 it was

00:42:19.200 wordsmithing

00:42:19.860 when it came

00:42:20.380 to war, which

00:42:21.180 was his

00:42:21.520 particular area

00:42:22.520 of expertise.

00:42:23.920 It was a

00:42:24.200 skill he'd

00:42:24.620 worked on his

00:42:25.140 entire life.

00:42:27.000 He was built

00:42:27.880 for that

00:42:28.540 moment and he

00:42:30.480 was ready for

00:42:31.140 it when it

00:42:31.520 came.

00:42:31.900 That was before

00:42:32.820 they attacked

00:42:33.300 us at

00:42:33.620 Pearl Harbor.

00:42:34.240 Great Britain

00:42:34.640 was in it.

00:42:35.220 They were

00:42:35.440 dealing with

00:42:35.940 Hitler. 0.57

00:42:36.460 They were

00:42:36.720 dealing with

00:42:37.120 everything and

00:42:37.560 he was the

00:42:38.500 man who got

00:42:39.200 Great Britain

00:42:39.660 through it,

00:42:40.480 notwithstanding

00:42:40.820 the fact that

00:42:41.260 they would

00:42:41.460 throw him out

00:42:41.920 of office as

00:42:42.480 soon as they

00:42:42.880 won the war.

00:42:44.760 There's that

00:42:45.340 classic scene

00:42:46.140 from the

00:42:47.460 King's Speech

00:42:48.140 where they're

00:42:50.560 following the

00:42:51.040 British story

00:42:51.640 during World

00:42:52.180 War II and

00:42:52.960 the King is

00:42:54.620 watching Adolf

00:42:55.560 Hitler speak and 0.56

00:42:57.580 the little girl

00:42:58.620 who is the

00:42:59.540 future Queen of

00:43:00.320 England, Queen

00:43:00.780 Elizabeth, as a

00:43:01.960 little girl, looks

00:43:02.500 at her father and

00:43:03.080 says, what is

00:43:03.620 he saying?

00:43:04.420 What is he

00:43:04.780 saying, Dad?

00:43:05.780 Masses of

00:43:06.260 uniformed men

00:43:06.960 stupefying to

00:43:07.780 the eye and

00:43:08.240 incredible to

00:43:08.860 the imagination

00:43:09.500 have stood in

00:43:10.640 spellbound audience

00:43:11.560 of the Fuhrer.

00:43:12.380 This is a guy with

00:43:38.080 a speech impediment

00:43:38.760 who's observing how

00:43:39.660 effective a

00:43:40.260 communicator Hitler 0.73

00:43:41.080 was.

00:43:42.100 There's a reason

00:43:42.940 so many Germans 1.00

00:43:44.440 followed this

00:43:45.380 lunatic down

00:43:46.940 the incredible

00:43:48.060 murderous hole

00:43:49.660 that they did.

00:43:50.800 Yeah, and we've

00:43:52.140 interviewed German

00:43:53.060 soldiers and

00:43:54.060 those German 0.94

00:43:54.500 soldiers have

00:43:55.200 told us that

00:43:56.440 Hitler delivered 0.99

00:43:57.880 us from the

00:43:58.640 Treaty of Versailles.

00:43:59.860 Our economy

00:44:00.580 was devastated.

00:44:02.300 Our military

00:44:03.080 did not exist.

00:44:04.540 We had no

00:44:05.140 morale.

00:44:05.760 By the time

00:44:07.020 Hitler delivered 0.99

00:44:08.200 his oratory,

00:44:10.040 his ability to

00:44:11.540 motivate us,

00:44:13.660 he had

00:44:14.560 controlled the

00:44:15.180 media.

00:44:16.340 He had

00:44:16.700 controlled everything

00:44:17.700 he needed to

00:44:18.800 control in

00:44:20.160 order to be in

00:44:21.180 charge of that

00:44:21.940 country.

00:44:23.040 So it's

00:44:24.940 almost like an

00:44:25.960 apology when we've

00:44:27.280 interviewed German

00:44:28.200 veterans.

00:44:29.580 And they're not

00:44:30.100 SS.

00:44:30.520 They're not

00:44:31.160 fanatical.

00:44:32.500 They're not

00:44:32.880 the guys on

00:44:33.720 the cusp of

00:44:35.080 the concentration

00:44:36.360 camps and

00:44:37.280 everything else.

00:44:37.960 These are just

00:44:38.580 general German

00:44:40.300 soldiers.

00:44:41.820 They said he

00:44:42.620 motivated us

00:44:43.740 enough to

00:44:45.280 believe in

00:44:46.500 him.

00:44:47.200 His oratory

00:44:48.260 motivated us

00:44:49.720 enough to

00:44:50.340 believe in him.

00:44:51.180 And he also

00:44:52.060 controlled the

00:44:52.860 media at that

00:44:53.780 time.

00:44:54.760 And so the

00:44:55.360 media message

00:44:56.240 was his

00:44:57.020 message.

00:44:58.260 And by the

00:44:59.340 time they

00:44:59.900 discovered,

00:45:00.520 or they

00:45:00.980 found out

00:45:01.480 about the

00:45:01.840 concentration

00:45:02.360 camps, and

00:45:03.640 they found

00:45:04.140 out about

00:45:04.580 the Jews,

00:45:05.560 and they

00:45:05.800 found out

00:45:06.400 about the

00:45:07.420 obsession

00:45:09.280 with controlling

00:45:10.220 more territory,

00:45:11.520 whether it be

00:45:11.900 Czechoslovakia or

00:45:13.220 the Soviet

00:45:13.700 Union, it 0.55

00:45:15.240 was too late.

00:45:16.980 It was too

00:45:17.420 late for them

00:45:17.860 to do

00:45:18.220 anything.

00:45:19.020 There would

00:45:19.360 always be a

00:45:20.200 resistance

00:45:20.740 within the

00:45:22.420 community,

00:45:23.160 but the

00:45:23.900 resistance would

00:45:24.580 never be strong

00:45:25.260 enough to

00:45:25.720 overthrow what

00:45:26.580 had already

00:45:27.320 been done.

00:45:31.520 Let's talk

00:45:32.400 about it,

00:45:32.900 because the

00:45:34.400 numbers are

00:45:35.040 just stunning.

00:45:35.980 June 6,

00:45:36.720 1944, it

00:45:37.700 was a

00:45:37.900 Tuesday.

00:45:38.840 More than

00:45:39.080 156,000

00:45:40.700 American,

00:45:41.480 British, and

00:45:42.040 Canadian

00:45:42.460 troops stormed

00:45:43.980 50 miles of

00:45:44.760 Normandy's

00:45:45.340 fiercely defended

00:45:46.420 beaches in

00:45:47.500 northern France.

00:45:49.020 And if you

00:45:49.540 look back at

00:45:50.420 how the

00:45:50.700 battle was

00:45:52.300 fought with

00:45:53.600 the men

00:45:56.660 running out

00:45:57.380 of the

00:45:57.560 ships onto

00:45:58.340 beaches that

00:45:59.800 were riddled

00:46:00.260 with mines,

00:46:01.440 taking fire

00:46:02.340 from above,

00:46:03.840 you can't

00:46:04.320 help it as

00:46:04.840 a layperson

00:46:05.560 but to feel

00:46:06.320 like they

00:46:06.740 were sacrificed.

00:46:08.700 There was

00:46:08.920 how on earth

00:46:10.280 could we not

00:46:11.540 lose some

00:46:12.380 50% of our

00:46:13.800 forces undergoing

00:46:15.640 that kind of

00:46:16.560 an assault,

00:46:16.960 which we knew

00:46:17.580 was going to

00:46:18.060 happen.

00:46:18.600 We knew it

00:46:19.140 was going to

00:46:19.320 happen, and

00:46:19.580 we had laid

00:46:19.940 traps so they

00:46:20.480 would think

00:46:20.960 that we

00:46:21.220 weren't going

00:46:21.540 to storm

00:46:21.820 Normandy and

00:46:22.320 so on.

00:46:22.620 They fell

00:46:23.620 for our

00:46:23.920 traps, but

00:46:24.360 they were

00:46:24.580 also prepared

00:46:25.160 at Normandy

00:46:25.660 as I

00:46:25.920 understand it.

00:46:27.180 I just

00:46:27.500 wonder, as

00:46:28.440 a historian,

00:46:29.660 when you

00:46:29.840 look at

00:46:30.120 that, did

00:46:30.480 we know

00:46:30.920 the extent

00:46:31.580 of the

00:46:31.800 casualties

00:46:32.180 we were

00:46:32.540 likely to

00:46:33.560 take storming

00:46:34.540 those beaches?

00:46:36.100 We always

00:46:36.480 believed as

00:46:37.100 a country

00:46:37.540 we were

00:46:38.020 going to

00:46:38.480 expect more

00:46:40.520 casualties

00:46:41.200 than we

00:46:41.720 actually attained

00:46:45.040 on that

00:46:45.940 day.

00:46:46.980 The

00:46:47.220 paratroopers,

00:46:48.000 the addition

00:46:48.380 of the

00:46:48.700 paratroopers,

00:46:49.540 the 82nd

00:46:50.060 Airborne and

00:46:50.560 the 101st

00:46:51.220 Airborne,

00:46:51.680 was something

00:46:54.180 that was

00:46:54.600 important to

00:46:55.680 Eisenhower,

00:46:56.780 not so much

00:46:57.640 as the

00:46:58.760 British,

00:46:59.860 but we

00:47:00.940 sustained so

00:47:02.580 much less

00:47:03.640 casualties than

00:47:04.740 we expected

00:47:05.680 that day.

00:47:06.420 Eisenhower had

00:47:07.200 written a note

00:47:08.160 taking total

00:47:09.520 blame for the 0.59

00:47:10.520 failure of

00:47:11.880 D-Day.

00:47:12.660 Can you imagine

00:47:13.320 that one person

00:47:14.300 writing a note

00:47:15.440 saying,

00:47:15.880 I have

00:47:16.500 accepted

00:47:17.200 the failure

00:47:19.360 of the

00:47:19.940 landings

00:47:20.720 on the

00:47:21.240 coast of

00:47:22.540 Normandy.

00:47:24.700 And he

00:47:25.260 did that.

00:47:25.940 He wrote

00:47:26.320 two notes

00:47:27.040 and one

00:47:28.220 of them

00:47:28.600 was because

00:47:29.940 he did not

00:47:30.660 know which

00:47:31.200 way the

00:47:31.620 battle would

00:47:32.560 go.

00:47:33.860 And Normandy

00:47:34.880 was a

00:47:35.380 defining moment

00:47:36.320 in the

00:47:36.780 history of

00:47:37.740 World War

00:47:38.280 II.

00:47:39.140 And all

00:47:39.700 of the

00:47:39.980 plans that

00:47:40.720 were laid

00:47:41.260 out,

00:47:42.380 and we

00:47:43.320 talk about

00:47:44.140 this a lot

00:47:44.780 and it's

00:47:45.440 interesting

00:47:45.840 because we

00:47:46.240 talk about

00:47:46.660 this with

00:47:47.060 corporations

00:47:47.740 as well,

00:47:49.660 big corporation,

00:47:51.320 that, you

00:47:52.340 know, every

00:47:53.680 plan looks

00:47:54.440 great on

00:47:55.140 paper until

00:47:56.500 that first

00:47:57.120 shot is

00:47:58.320 fired.

00:47:59.160 And that

00:47:59.500 is a quote

00:47:59.940 from General

00:48:01.280 Patton.

00:48:02.160 Every plan

00:48:02.960 looks good

00:48:03.580 until the

00:48:04.080 first fire,

00:48:05.800 you know,

00:48:06.360 first grand,

00:48:07.300 M1 grand

00:48:08.100 is fired,

00:48:08.820 and then all

00:48:09.440 plans go to

00:48:10.260 hell.

00:48:11.080 And then

00:48:11.500 it's the

00:48:11.840 initiative of

00:48:12.940 the Americans

00:48:13.560 at that

00:48:14.160 point.

00:48:14.620 And I

00:48:14.780 think it

00:48:14.980 was the

00:48:15.220 initiative of

00:48:15.800 the Americans

00:48:16.280 at that

00:48:16.700 point compared

00:48:17.280 to the

00:48:17.660 Germans that 0.69

00:48:18.760 was the

00:48:19.240 true ultimate

00:48:19.940 success of

00:48:21.080 D-Day in

00:48:22.100 terms of

00:48:22.720 knowing the

00:48:23.460 plans of

00:48:24.180 the divisions

00:48:24.720 around you,

00:48:25.600 the companies

00:48:26.100 around you,

00:48:27.500 knowing the

00:48:28.020 plans of

00:48:28.660 everybody around

00:48:30.160 you.

00:48:30.900 So if

00:48:31.180 something went

00:48:31.720 wrong, you

00:48:32.740 had the

00:48:33.180 training to

00:48:34.060 pick up the

00:48:35.040 rifle and

00:48:36.540 move forward,

00:48:37.580 whereas the

00:48:38.160 Germans were 1.00

00:48:38.760 reliant on

00:48:39.980 Hitler and 0.80

00:48:41.860 von Roodstadt

00:48:42.620 and reliant

00:48:44.200 on Rommel's

00:48:45.200 orders and

00:48:45.880 things like

00:48:46.360 that, it

00:48:47.120 was initiative

00:48:48.080 that won

00:48:49.100 D-Day for

00:48:49.700 the Americans

00:48:50.360 as opposed to

00:48:51.640 what the

00:48:52.040 Germans were 1.00

00:48:52.940 defending.

00:48:54.840 How much

00:48:55.080 prep did we

00:48:55.760 put into

00:48:56.620 that effort

00:48:57.340 before we

00:48:57.780 actually launched

00:48:58.320 the attack?

00:48:58.960 Tons, tons

00:49:00.020 of prep, tons

00:49:00.860 of maps.

00:49:02.560 Everything,

00:49:03.220 again, looked

00:49:04.060 great on

00:49:04.880 paper.

00:49:05.960 And, you

00:49:06.380 know, this is

00:49:06.760 where we're

00:49:07.120 going to land.

00:49:07.720 This is where

00:49:08.140 the 1st

00:49:08.620 infantry is going

00:49:09.360 to land.

00:49:09.800 This is where

00:49:10.260 the 29th

00:49:11.400 infantry is going

00:49:12.060 to land.

00:49:12.460 This is where

00:49:12.880 the 82nd

00:49:13.600 airborne is

00:49:14.180 going to

00:49:14.380 land.

00:49:14.660 This is where

00:49:15.040 the 101st

00:49:15.800 is going

00:49:16.080 to land.

00:49:16.800 This is where

00:49:17.320 the British

00:49:17.720 are going

00:49:18.020 to land.

00:49:18.480 This is where

00:49:18.880 the Canadians

00:49:19.440 are going

00:49:19.780 to land.

00:49:20.200 This is where

00:49:20.660 the French

00:49:21.500 are going

00:49:21.780 to land.

00:49:22.720 Everything

00:49:23.180 went to

00:49:23.700 hell in a

00:49:24.240 handbasket

00:49:24.940 as soon

00:49:25.980 as D-Day

00:49:27.700 began.

00:49:29.180 But the

00:49:29.500 thing is,

00:49:30.340 is that the

00:49:31.060 Americans and

00:49:32.380 the allies

00:49:33.240 were all

00:49:34.640 so connected

00:49:35.700 with the

00:49:36.360 plans of

00:49:37.160 D-Day that

00:49:37.980 they knew

00:49:38.800 that if

00:49:39.680 something

00:49:40.180 failed in

00:49:40.960 this area

00:49:41.660 that we

00:49:42.180 be able

00:49:42.900 to accommodate

00:49:44.000 it in

00:49:44.620 this area.

00:49:45.920 The Germans 0.91

00:49:46.200 also had the

00:49:46.760 disadvantage of

00:49:47.520 Hitler having 0.96

00:49:48.300 decided he would

00:49:48.920 be commander

00:49:49.480 in chief and

00:49:50.160 he was a

00:49:50.460 terrible military

00:49:51.220 commander.

00:49:52.060 He was taking a

00:49:52.800 nap.

00:49:53.200 He was taking a

00:49:54.680 nap.

00:49:54.980 He was sleeping

00:49:55.620 and they were

00:49:56.220 waiting for him

00:49:56.820 to wake up

00:49:57.480 before they

00:49:58.440 waited for him

00:49:59.880 to make the

00:50:00.520 decision whether

00:50:01.280 to move the

00:50:01.940 tanks forward

00:50:02.820 towards the

00:50:03.760 beaches of

00:50:04.260 Normandy and

00:50:04.860 everything else.

00:50:05.580 Whereas the

00:50:06.400 Americans are

00:50:07.240 saying,

00:50:07.740 okay,

00:50:07.900 this isn't

00:50:08.480 working,

00:50:09.740 but the

00:50:10.180 captains and

00:50:11.040 lieutenants and

00:50:12.100 the corporals

00:50:13.280 and the

00:50:15.300 colonels and

00:50:16.300 the privates

00:50:17.040 are taking the

00:50:17.820 initiative.

00:50:18.460 And that's

00:50:18.700 what's so great

00:50:19.300 about America

00:50:20.060 is that we

00:50:21.660 recognize that

00:50:22.700 if something's

00:50:23.280 not working,

00:50:24.820 we take the

00:50:25.540 initiative to

00:50:26.200 make sure it

00:50:26.980 works.

00:50:27.480 We lead.

00:50:27.840 We lead.

00:50:28.700 We lead

00:50:29.180 ourselves.

00:50:30.420 The toughest

00:50:31.780 fighting was

00:50:32.540 said to be on

00:50:32.960 Omaha Beach.

00:50:34.040 First waves of

00:50:34.600 American fighters

00:50:35.240 were cut down

00:50:35.840 in droves by

00:50:37.180 the German

00:50:37.640 machine gun

00:50:38.320 fire as

00:50:39.480 they scrambled

00:50:39.940 across the

00:50:40.580 mine-riddled

00:50:41.600 beach.

00:50:42.720 But U.S.

00:50:43.200 forces persisted

00:50:44.540 all day,

00:50:45.880 pushing forward

00:50:46.460 to a fortified

00:50:47.200 seawall, up

00:50:48.820 steep bluffs to

00:50:50.420 take out the

00:50:50.880 Nazi artillery by

00:50:53.420 nightfall.

00:50:54.420 And they say

00:50:55.700 all told,

00:50:56.320 around 2,400

00:50:57.000 American troops

00:50:57.760 were killed,

00:50:58.460 wounded, or

00:50:58.800 unaccounted for

00:50:59.440 at Omaha

00:51:00.140 Beach.

00:51:01.040 The Canadians

00:51:01.720 were over at

00:51:02.460 Juneau Beach

00:51:03.120 having an

00:51:04.380 equally, if not

00:51:05.120 even tougher

00:51:05.680 time.

00:51:08.220 You have a

00:51:09.840 documentary on

00:51:10.820 D-Day as

00:51:11.720 well, and it

00:51:13.400 has an

00:51:14.020 extraordinary

00:51:14.620 segment of

00:51:16.160 survivors talking

00:51:17.600 about that

00:51:18.020 moment.

00:51:18.220 This moment of

00:51:19.740 storming the

00:51:20.360 beach at

00:51:20.680 Normandy, it's

00:51:21.540 a phrase now

00:51:22.600 that people use

00:51:23.840 to try to

00:51:24.280 describe courage

00:51:25.440 in a few

00:51:26.000 words or less,

00:51:27.160 but you think

00:51:27.960 about having to

00:51:28.960 be one of

00:51:29.880 those guys and

00:51:31.180 actually do it.

00:51:32.860 Understanding,

00:51:33.560 it wasn't a

00:51:34.060 mystery to

00:51:34.480 them, the

00:51:35.020 mines and

00:51:35.740 the machine

00:51:36.080 gun fire

00:51:36.560 that was

00:51:36.880 about to

00:51:37.200 come their

00:51:37.500 way, and

00:51:38.560 here is a

00:51:39.740 couple minutes

00:51:40.280 from Tim's

00:51:41.500 documentary on

00:51:42.380 what that was

00:51:43.220 like.

00:51:43.560 As I was going

00:51:45.860 into the beach, I

00:51:47.560 could hear the

00:51:48.040 bullets hitting on

00:51:48.800 the side of the

00:51:49.440 ship, on the

00:51:50.400 side of my

00:51:50.880 boat, and then

00:51:52.540 that's when I

00:51:53.140 realized, I said,

00:51:54.120 well, this isn't

00:51:54.720 going to be a

00:51:55.240 piece of cake.

00:51:56.300 This is for

00:51:57.060 real.

00:51:57.340 I looked into the

00:52:02.360 well of the

00:52:02.760 boat, and there

00:52:03.520 was 35 soldiers

00:52:04.640 in there, and I

00:52:05.240 don't think there

00:52:05.680 was an atheist

00:52:06.300 in there, because

00:52:07.020 every one of us

00:52:07.840 was making a sign

00:52:09.320 of the cross as

00:52:10.020 we were going

00:52:10.560 in, and I

00:52:14.920 happened to

00:52:15.340 look.

00:52:22.560 I looked to

00:52:23.380 the right, and

00:52:24.760 I seen a boat

00:52:25.520 hit, and then

00:52:28.920 that's when I

00:52:29.600 realized what we

00:52:31.140 were going

00:52:31.600 into.

00:52:32.980 Our job was

00:52:34.100 to roll up

00:52:36.160 these obstacles.

00:52:38.740 They had what

00:52:39.580 they call

00:52:39.960 hedgehogs, and 0.89

00:52:41.840 then they had

00:52:42.260 these telephone

00:52:43.340 poles with a

00:52:44.760 ramp.

00:52:45.340 And on top

00:52:46.340 of the telephone

00:52:47.820 pole was a

00:52:48.440 mine.

00:52:49.280 That was

00:52:49.580 for when

00:52:51.040 the tide came

00:52:51.880 in, the boats

00:52:52.980 would just

00:52:53.320 slide up there

00:52:53.980 and the mine

00:52:55.140 would explode.

00:52:57.120 And our job

00:52:57.920 was to blow

00:52:59.720 up 50-odd

00:53:00.700 gaps so the

00:53:02.760 infantry could

00:53:03.520 land.

00:53:15.340 I carried a

00:53:22.360 rifle, a

00:53:24.420 wet belt with

00:53:25.380 canteen and

00:53:26.660 ammunition and a

00:53:27.560 rifle, and I

00:53:29.260 forgot how many

00:53:29.880 pounds of

00:53:30.620 explosives I had

00:53:32.240 on my back.

00:53:33.900 I believe they

00:53:34.500 called it

00:53:34.980 tertetal.

00:53:35.660 and as I got

00:53:39.620 to the ramp

00:53:40.260 of the small

00:53:41.400 boat that

00:53:41.900 was in to

00:53:43.100 land, just as

00:53:46.520 I jumped into

00:53:47.240 the water, there

00:53:48.360 was this

00:53:48.740 explosion.

00:53:51.780 And while I was

00:53:52.540 underwater, maybe

00:53:53.360 a couple of

00:53:54.440 seconds, someone

00:53:55.520 pulled me out

00:53:56.940 and I couldn't

00:54:01.840 find anything.

00:54:10.820 I couldn't find

00:54:11.880 any of the crew

00:54:12.640 that I was

00:54:13.200 attached to.

00:54:15.400 I found out

00:54:16.120 they were all

00:54:20.120 killed.

00:54:26.940 I was

00:54:27.660 only one

00:54:28.240 left.

00:54:30.360 Oh, wow.

00:54:31.620 American hero, and

00:54:32.800 God bless you,

00:54:33.720 Tim, for

00:54:34.120 interviewing these

00:54:35.160 guys and getting

00:54:36.000 their stories on

00:54:38.260 camera.

00:54:38.980 That was Day of 0.68

00:54:39.600 Days by Tim

00:54:41.420 Gray.

00:54:41.860 You should

00:54:42.220 definitely watch

00:54:42.960 that one, too.

00:54:44.900 They're just

00:54:45.640 humans, you 0.97

00:54:46.380 know?

00:54:46.640 They really, they

00:54:47.780 seem superhuman,

00:54:49.460 but they're just

00:54:50.180 men, and they

00:54:51.220 were young men

00:54:52.700 asked to do the

00:54:53.900 most extraordinary

00:54:54.700 things, and they

00:54:55.780 did it without

00:54:56.620 complaint, and

00:54:57.540 with valor.

00:54:59.480 Ernie Corvesi, who

00:55:00.760 you just heard

00:55:01.520 from, I said,

00:55:02.300 you know, what

00:55:02.620 did you do after

00:55:03.500 the war?

00:55:04.080 He said, I went

00:55:04.660 back to high

00:55:05.260 school.

00:55:06.400 I mean, can you

00:55:06.880 imagine that, going

00:55:08.500 through the fact

00:55:09.500 that you're a naval

00:55:10.340 combat demolition

00:55:11.580 unit guy, like

00:55:12.480 today they're

00:55:13.140 called frogmen or

00:55:14.320 Navy SEALs, and

00:55:16.000 seeing all of your

00:55:16.780 guys killed, and

00:55:18.560 then he went on to

00:55:19.260 the Philippines.

00:55:20.160 I said, what'd

00:55:20.580 you do after World

00:55:21.260 War II?

00:55:21.920 He said, I went

00:55:22.460 back to high

00:55:23.000 school, and I

00:55:23.900 said, you know,

00:55:24.580 when I was in

00:55:25.100 high school, Megan,

00:55:25.980 I would think I

00:55:26.500 was still sucking 0.98

00:55:27.440 my thumb.

00:55:29.000 You know, I

00:55:29.680 looked at that

00:55:30.300 guy, and I'm

00:55:30.780 like, thinking

00:55:31.360 myself, what an

00:55:33.320 incredible American

00:55:34.460 you are, to be

00:55:36.040 able to accomplish

00:55:37.000 that, and then go

00:55:39.480 back to high

00:55:40.140 school and finish

00:55:40.860 high school.

00:55:41.800 And Richard

00:55:42.200 Fazio, the guy

00:55:43.160 behind him who

00:55:44.080 lived the first

00:55:44.760 half hour of

00:55:45.580 saving Private

00:55:46.280 Ryan, and Richard's

00:55:48.420 still alive.

00:55:49.020 Ernie passed away

00:55:49.820 this year,

00:55:50.680 unfortunately.

00:55:52.340 But I look at

00:55:53.920 them, and I

00:55:54.880 talk to young

00:55:56.180 people today who

00:55:57.140 are 17 or 18

00:55:58.400 years old, and I

00:55:59.260 go, you know, this

00:56:00.180 is what you're

00:56:00.640 capable of.

00:56:01.920 I said, whether you

00:56:02.720 know it or not,

00:56:04.280 you're capable of

00:56:05.600 this.

00:56:06.500 You're capable of

00:56:07.680 being the next

00:56:08.440 greatest generation.

00:56:10.680 You know, and they

00:56:12.280 look at me like I'm

00:56:13.180 an alien from

00:56:15.000 lost in space or

00:56:16.160 something like that.

00:56:17.280 And I said, these

00:56:18.220 guys didn't think they

00:56:19.060 were capable of doing

00:56:20.200 that themselves at

00:56:21.600 17 or 18, but they

00:56:23.840 did it.

00:56:24.800 Well, think of the

00:56:25.340 sad obsession now

00:56:26.640 with identity and,

00:56:28.460 you know, skin

00:56:29.720 color and gender

00:56:30.880 and patriarchy.

00:56:33.160 It's like, oh, my

00:56:33.880 God, you could be

00:56:35.040 devoting your energies

00:56:36.240 to something so much

00:56:37.800 bigger than just you

00:56:39.460 and these these

00:56:40.740 immutable

00:56:41.420 characteristics that

00:56:42.520 we've decided to

00:56:43.320 obsess over right now.

00:56:45.100 Think of what you

00:56:45.780 could accomplish if

00:56:47.140 you would take all of

00:56:48.180 that time and energy

00:56:49.620 and devote it to

00:56:51.080 something greater

00:56:51.920 than yourself, if

00:56:53.760 not a war

00:56:54.620 innovation, solve

00:56:57.320 the problem of the

00:56:58.480 closure of those

00:56:59.580 steel mines and the

00:57:00.680 people looking for a

00:57:01.860 new career or

00:57:02.660 identity.

00:57:03.500 Find a way to help

00:57:05.180 America find its 0.60

00:57:06.280 new footing in the

00:57:08.060 age of electronics

00:57:09.380 and the supercomputers

00:57:10.440 and so on.

00:57:10.900 Like, that's what we

00:57:12.080 need all the energies

00:57:12.840 devoted to, not

00:57:13.960 navel gazing,

00:57:16.140 selfies, and

00:57:17.680 hysterical focus on

00:57:19.220 things over which

00:57:19.940 we will never have

00:57:20.820 any control.

00:57:22.640 Yeah, people base

00:57:23.560 their self-worth

00:57:24.600 today on how many

00:57:25.860 likes they get, and

00:57:27.580 that generation did 1.00

00:57:28.660 not.

00:57:29.340 They based their life

00:57:30.260 on coming out of

00:57:31.080 the Depression and

00:57:32.620 surviving the

00:57:33.840 Depression when their

00:57:34.780 parents went from

00:57:36.240 lawyer to selling

00:57:37.620 apples, and they

00:57:38.580 fought World War II

00:57:39.700 as a war, and they

00:57:41.300 fought it as a job,

00:57:42.780 and they came home

00:57:43.960 and they raised their

00:57:44.860 kids on the values

00:57:46.600 that they learned

00:57:47.460 during the war, and

00:57:49.040 the attributes that

00:57:50.660 they brought home,

00:57:51.860 and there's just,

00:57:52.660 there's too much,

00:57:53.860 there's too much

00:57:54.720 that's going by the

00:57:56.100 wayside to make

00:57:57.940 America a great

00:57:59.140 country.

00:58:00.220 There are too many,

00:58:01.240 you know, there's

00:58:01.960 too much divisiveness,

00:58:03.720 and this is what

00:58:04.520 these guys fought

00:58:05.320 about.

00:58:06.680 You know, they

00:58:07.420 fought about, they

00:58:08.880 fought against

00:58:09.520 Mussolini, they

00:58:10.380 fought against

00:58:10.980 Hitler, they fought

00:58:12.400 against all these

00:58:13.180 things that were

00:58:14.240 trying to tear

00:58:15.000 America apart, and

00:58:17.360 I think of when I

00:58:18.940 walk through the

00:58:19.600 cemetery in

00:58:20.700 Normandy, I look at

00:58:21.660 the names from

00:58:22.400 Connecticut and

00:58:23.060 Montana and

00:58:23.880 California and

00:58:25.360 other places, and I

00:58:26.360 said, you know,

00:58:26.800 this kid who was

00:58:28.620 18 or 19 could

00:58:30.840 have cured autism

00:58:32.260 or cancer or

00:58:33.300 dementia or

00:58:34.060 Alzheimer's or

00:58:35.700 all of these things

00:58:36.880 that we're battling

00:58:37.680 today if he had

00:58:38.820 the chance, if he

00:58:39.640 wasn't killed on

00:58:41.400 June 6th or June

00:58:42.700 15th or something

00:58:44.400 like that, and I

00:58:45.780 think to myself,

00:58:46.680 boy, oh boy, you

00:58:47.660 know, what a

00:58:48.160 wasted opportunity

00:58:49.340 that this young

00:58:51.320 man buried in the

00:58:53.480 cemetery under this

00:58:54.620 White Cross or 0.63

00:58:55.580 Star of David

00:58:57.020 could have changed

00:58:58.420 the world, but

00:58:59.320 instead, you know,

00:59:00.320 was killed on

00:59:01.060 June 6th, 1944,

00:59:02.480 and I just think,

00:59:05.760 what if?

00:59:06.880 What if?

00:59:07.940 What would this

00:59:08.620 country be?

00:59:09.980 And I look at

00:59:11.360 that, I've been to

00:59:12.000 cemeteries all over

00:59:13.080 the world in

00:59:13.760 Manila where

00:59:14.900 there are 35,000

00:59:16.660 missing in action

00:59:18.060 buried, you know,

00:59:19.380 on the wall of

00:59:20.120 the missing there

00:59:20.880 or the punch

00:59:21.400 ball in Hawaii

00:59:22.580 or Holland or

00:59:24.380 Belgium, and I

00:59:25.040 said, geez, what

00:59:25.940 is their, what

00:59:27.120 would have been

00:59:27.660 their destiny?

00:59:29.640 And I think we

00:59:30.280 think that today

00:59:31.120 with soldiers who

00:59:32.360 were killed in

00:59:32.820 Afghanistan or

00:59:33.740 Iraq or other 0.77

00:59:35.460 places, their

00:59:36.560 families feel as 0.85

00:59:37.920 though what would

00:59:39.200 have been their

00:59:40.680 destiny?

00:59:41.320 What would they

00:59:42.240 have grown to

00:59:43.100 do?

00:59:44.120 Those poor

00:59:44.860 families, though,

00:59:45.580 have a different,

00:59:46.860 such a different

00:59:47.600 outcome, you know?

00:59:48.840 At least we got to

00:59:50.520 declare victory in

00:59:51.540 World War II, and

00:59:52.360 there was zero doubt

00:59:53.440 about whether, who

00:59:55.220 were the bad guys, who

00:59:56.140 were the good guys, and

00:59:56.900 whether it was worth

00:59:57.680 it.

00:59:58.580 Yeah, we don't know

00:59:59.580 that today, and

01:00:00.480 today these soldiers

01:00:01.460 go through a

01:00:02.240 situation where when

01:00:03.940 they're fighting, they

01:00:04.900 don't know who, I

01:00:06.480 mean, in World War II,

01:00:07.440 the Germans wore 0.98

01:00:08.260 helmets where we could

01:00:09.340 identify them.

01:00:10.440 The Japanese wore 1.00

01:00:11.520 helmets and uniforms

01:00:12.900 where we could

01:00:13.920 identify them.

01:00:15.140 And today in Iraq and

01:00:16.360 Afghanistan and other

01:00:17.460 countries, we don't

01:00:18.620 know if that 12-year-old

01:00:20.420 is the enemy or not.

01:00:23.120 And that adds an

01:00:24.040 entire layer of

01:00:25.420 stress to these men

01:00:26.680 and women who are

01:00:27.340 fighting that I just

01:00:28.800 can't imagine.

01:00:30.180 Yeah.

01:00:31.160 Can't imagine.

01:00:31.940 Well, you were not

01:00:33.820 the only one floored

01:00:35.260 by the sacrifices made

01:00:37.260 by our troops.

01:00:38.020 You had mentioned

01:00:39.320 Rommel, the German 0.99

01:00:41.380 Field Marshal

01:00:42.480 Erwin Rommel.

01:00:43.360 Well, you've got a

01:00:44.780 soundbite from his

01:00:47.380 son, Manfred Rommel,

01:00:49.340 and his dad had left

01:00:51.400 the front lines to

01:00:52.320 attend his wife's

01:00:53.040 50th birthday party

01:00:54.180 on D-Day, and you

01:00:56.720 actually got sound

01:00:57.600 from his son, which

01:00:58.260 is pretty extraordinary.

01:00:59.380 Listen to how he

01:01:00.700 reacted.

01:01:01.440 It's not 21.

01:01:01.860 He was very surprised

01:01:05.240 because he relied on

01:01:08.660 the expert view of

01:01:11.380 the German Kriegsmarine

01:01:13.320 that nobody could land

01:01:16.440 under such weather

01:01:18.200 conditions.

01:01:20.660 It was a very courageous

01:01:22.120 decision of General

01:01:23.440 Eisenhower and a very

01:01:25.380 successful.

01:01:25.920 My father was away

01:01:28.420 from the theater

01:01:31.000 and some others

01:01:33.160 as well.

01:01:34.340 He said,

01:01:35.340 this is

01:01:36.820 very painful

01:01:38.680 that they are

01:01:40.600 landing while

01:01:41.240 I'm not there.

01:01:43.300 The British and

01:01:44.220 Americans were more 0.99

01:01:45.240 courageous than the

01:01:47.080 Germans concerning

01:01:47.940 the better.

01:01:48.920 Put that in a

01:01:49.760 context, it's a little

01:01:50.320 tough to understand

01:01:51.200 for the listening

01:01:52.260 audience, Tim.

01:01:53.140 What was he saying

01:01:54.080 there?

01:01:55.120 Well, his father

01:01:56.180 had gone home

01:01:57.340 to Germany

01:01:58.260 because he did

01:01:59.500 not feel as

01:02:00.260 though that the

01:02:00.940 Allies would be 0.98

01:02:01.860 landing under such

01:02:03.160 weather conditions

01:02:04.520 as were, you

01:02:07.500 know, as were

01:02:08.500 the case on June

01:02:09.740 6, 1944.

01:02:10.880 He believed that

01:02:11.520 the Allies would

01:02:12.260 land in better

01:02:12.960 weather conditions.

01:02:14.100 So Manfred

01:02:14.960 Rommel's father

01:02:17.060 had gone home

01:02:18.100 for his wife

01:02:18.760 Lucy, his

01:02:20.300 wife Lucy's

01:02:21.660 50th birthday

01:02:22.520 and bought her

01:02:23.440 shoes and

01:02:24.000 Paris.

01:02:25.060 So Manfred

01:02:25.580 was home

01:02:26.440 as the

01:02:27.340 13, 14

01:02:28.320 year old

01:02:29.080 who witnessed

01:02:30.440 his father

01:02:31.060 getting the

01:02:31.800 call back

01:02:32.460 in Hurling

01:02:33.020 in Germany

01:02:33.640 that the

01:02:34.680 Allied invasion 0.93

01:02:35.600 had begun

01:02:36.260 in Normandy.

01:02:37.920 And Erwin

01:02:39.140 Rommel's

01:02:39.660 headquarters

01:02:40.140 at Le Roche

01:02:41.040 Guillaume,

01:02:41.880 which is

01:02:42.240 outside of

01:02:42.820 Paris, was

01:02:44.200 unoccupied

01:02:45.480 by Rommel

01:02:46.560 on D-Day.

01:02:47.520 Rommel should 0.96

01:02:48.040 have been there

01:02:48.760 on D-Day

01:02:49.320 to direct

01:02:50.300 the forces,

01:02:51.140 to direct

01:02:51.600 the German

01:02:52.040 forces.

01:02:52.580 And here

01:02:53.560 he is

01:02:53.900 in Germany

01:02:54.500 because he

01:02:55.060 did not

01:02:55.460 think that

01:02:55.880 the Allies

01:02:56.380 would land

01:02:56.940 under such

01:02:57.540 weather conditions,

01:02:58.600 whereas Eisenhower

01:02:59.840 had said,

01:03:01.040 the conditions

01:03:01.540 are marginal,

01:03:02.700 but will go.

01:03:04.940 And so Manfred

01:03:05.840 was home

01:03:06.580 watching his

01:03:07.860 father's reaction,

01:03:09.600 getting the

01:03:10.140 telephone call

01:03:11.120 back in

01:03:12.320 Hurling,

01:03:12.800 Germany,

01:03:13.280 that the Allies

01:03:14.580 had landed

01:03:15.180 in Normandy,

01:03:16.220 and here he is

01:03:16.860 in Germany.

01:03:18.280 And Manfred

01:03:18.760 articulated that.

01:03:21.520 Manfred Rommel

01:03:22.180 was an outstanding

01:03:23.020 human being.

01:03:24.240 He was the

01:03:24.700 mayor of

01:03:25.100 Stuttgart,

01:03:25.620 Germany,

01:03:25.960 for 23 years.

01:03:27.560 He also

01:03:28.080 became very

01:03:28.640 good friends

01:03:29.140 with the

01:03:30.180 family of

01:03:30.680 General Montgomery

01:03:31.460 after the war.

01:03:32.760 And he was a

01:03:33.280 humanitarian,

01:03:34.480 but he was

01:03:34.980 also witness

01:03:35.980 to a

01:03:37.100 momentous time

01:03:38.080 in history

01:03:38.580 when his

01:03:38.980 father got a

01:03:39.540 phone call

01:03:39.960 in Germany

01:03:40.500 that the

01:03:40.980 Allies were

01:03:41.640 landing on

01:03:42.420 D-Day

01:03:42.780 in France.

01:03:44.920 And Manfred

01:03:46.200 was also

01:03:46.720 there when

01:03:47.120 his father

01:03:47.480 was taken

01:03:47.940 away to

01:03:49.260 be forced

01:03:50.460 to commit

01:03:50.820 suicide

01:03:51.520 by Hitler 0.74

01:03:53.440 because of

01:03:55.020 the failures

01:03:55.680 of Normandy

01:03:56.580 and because

01:03:57.360 Rommel had

01:03:59.320 been an

01:03:59.840 outspoken

01:04:00.360 critic of

01:04:01.320 Hitler 0.78

01:04:02.320 during World

01:04:03.020 War II.

01:04:04.280 So Manfred

01:04:04.780 Rommel,

01:04:05.680 who passed

01:04:06.320 away several

01:04:06.800 years ago,

01:04:07.720 gave us this

01:04:08.460 perspective of

01:04:09.500 what it was

01:04:09.920 like to be

01:04:10.760 a 13 or

01:04:11.800 14-year-old

01:04:12.480 in the

01:04:12.740 German Army,

01:04:13.520 but to

01:04:13.820 witness his

01:04:14.540 father's

01:04:15.060 reaction to

01:04:16.320 these

01:04:16.560 momentous

01:04:17.220 events.

01:04:17.860 Extraordinary.

01:04:18.480 And him

01:04:18.720 relaying his

01:04:20.140 father saying

01:04:20.860 the Americans

01:04:21.440 and the

01:04:21.860 Canadians,

01:04:22.540 the Brits,

01:04:22.920 they were

01:04:23.200 just more

01:04:23.640 courageous.

01:04:24.600 That's

01:04:24.860 extraordinary.

01:04:26.340 Your jaw

01:04:26.640 must have

01:04:27.120 dropped when

01:04:27.940 you got that

01:04:28.440 soundbite.

01:04:29.900 Well,

01:04:30.120 it did.

01:04:30.780 It was one

01:04:31.200 of those

01:04:31.540 things where

01:04:32.500 as a

01:04:32.900 filmmaker,

01:04:33.640 you say

01:04:34.380 there are

01:04:35.040 certain

01:04:35.400 people you

01:04:35.980 want to

01:04:36.540 interview who

01:04:37.860 had a first

01:04:38.520 row seat to

01:04:39.440 World War II.

01:04:40.700 And Manfred

01:04:41.100 Rommel was

01:04:41.780 one of those

01:04:42.400 people.

01:04:43.440 And after

01:04:43.980 he passed

01:04:44.520 away,

01:04:45.580 we were

01:04:46.680 very devastated

01:04:47.560 in his

01:04:48.040 passing,

01:04:48.600 but he was

01:04:48.960 a benevolent

01:04:49.700 and he was

01:04:50.200 a kind

01:04:50.900 mayor in

01:04:52.520 Stuttgart,

01:04:53.080 Jimny.

01:04:53.440 But he was

01:04:53.860 also an

01:04:55.200 observer to

01:04:55.900 some of the

01:04:56.300 most momentous

01:04:57.340 events in

01:04:58.420 World War II.

01:05:00.000 And to have

01:05:01.500 him in some

01:05:02.120 of our films

01:05:02.900 was just one

01:05:03.800 of those

01:05:04.100 things where

01:05:04.700 it's just

01:05:05.580 dumb luck

01:05:06.480 that we got

01:05:07.640 him when he

01:05:07.980 was alive.

01:05:08.740 And

01:05:09.520 filmmakers

01:05:10.240 are always

01:05:12.240 dumb luck

01:05:14.000 is always

01:05:14.420 part of

01:05:14.840 being a

01:05:15.200 good

01:05:15.420 filmmaker,

01:05:16.180 whether you're

01:05:16.480 Ken Burns

01:05:17.000 or anybody

01:05:17.980 else.

01:05:18.740 But to

01:05:19.060 have his

01:05:19.500 perspective

01:05:20.060 on that

01:05:22.960 was incredible.

01:05:25.180 And he

01:05:26.180 was firmly

01:05:26.820 in the

01:05:27.240 belief that

01:05:27.880 the Allies

01:05:28.320 would not

01:05:28.860 land in

01:05:29.600 bad weather

01:05:30.220 on June

01:05:30.640 6,

01:05:31.040 1944.

01:05:32.000 And that's

01:05:32.260 exactly what

01:05:32.920 Eisenhower

01:05:33.420 did.

01:05:33.720 Within a

01:05:35.920 year,

01:05:36.620 Hitler would 1.00

01:05:37.060 surrender.

01:05:37.940 The Japanese 0.51

01:05:38.520 would be

01:05:38.820 another story.

01:05:39.940 It would

01:05:40.420 take two

01:05:41.080 atom bombs

01:05:42.120 to make

01:05:43.140 them finally

01:05:43.860 surrender.

01:05:46.020 And I

01:05:48.060 want to

01:05:48.340 get to

01:05:49.040 the USS

01:05:49.640 Missouri,

01:05:50.820 which was

01:05:51.480 the ship

01:05:52.460 on which

01:05:52.820 the surrender

01:05:53.240 papers were

01:05:53.780 signed.

01:05:54.440 And just

01:05:54.780 an aside

01:05:56.180 as to

01:05:57.220 John McCain,

01:05:58.660 Senator John

01:05:59.260 McCain's

01:05:59.900 grandfather,

01:06:01.740 who was

01:06:02.340 on the

01:06:03.040 ship

01:06:03.360 on the

01:06:03.720 ship

01:06:04.160 reluctantly.

01:06:04.860 He had

01:06:05.380 wanted to

01:06:05.760 get back

01:06:06.160 home.

01:06:06.680 He knew

01:06:06.940 they won.

01:06:08.280 He was

01:06:09.240 ready to

01:06:09.640 get back

01:06:10.000 home to

01:06:10.380 his family.

01:06:11.100 And tell

01:06:11.680 us what

01:06:12.480 happened.

01:06:14.180 Well,

01:06:14.780 you know,

01:06:15.040 it was just

01:06:15.380 a situation

01:06:16.080 where we

01:06:16.680 had dropped

01:06:17.080 two bombs

01:06:17.720 on Japan

01:06:18.280 and the

01:06:20.620 Japanese

01:06:21.020 military,

01:06:22.120 the army

01:06:22.540 especially,

01:06:23.360 still did

01:06:24.000 not want

01:06:24.460 to surrender.

01:06:25.140 So we

01:06:25.400 dropped

01:06:25.700 bombs on

01:06:26.220 Hiroshima

01:06:26.720 and Nagasaki

01:06:28.700 and the

01:06:29.140 Japanese

01:06:29.560 army did

01:06:30.480 not want

01:06:31.560 to surrender

01:06:32.020 even after

01:06:32.640 two atomic

01:06:33.280 bombs.

01:06:33.720 which is

01:06:34.800 absolutely

01:06:35.300 nuts.

01:06:36.420 But then

01:06:36.740 the emperor

01:06:38.000 Hirohito

01:06:38.660 decided

01:06:39.760 enough is

01:06:40.860 enough.

01:06:41.340 So when

01:06:41.680 Hirohito

01:06:42.260 decides

01:06:43.280 enough is

01:06:44.120 enough,

01:06:44.460 the Japanese

01:06:44.900 military,

01:06:45.620 the army,

01:06:46.080 decides they

01:06:46.600 want to

01:06:47.560 assassinate

01:06:48.360 Hirohito.

01:06:50.560 So we

01:06:53.140 had planned

01:06:53.700 to invade

01:06:54.960 Japan in

01:06:55.660 November of

01:06:56.340 that year of

01:06:56.920 1945 and the

01:06:57.980 casualties would

01:06:58.780 have been in

01:06:59.280 the millions

01:06:59.740 and Japan

01:07:00.220 probably would

01:07:01.520 have been wiped

01:07:02.220 off the face

01:07:02.900 off the face

01:07:02.920 of the earth.

01:07:04.080 So it

01:07:04.320 goes to

01:07:04.680 show you

01:07:05.500 that when

01:07:06.500 the surrender

01:07:07.020 was officially

01:07:07.860 signed by

01:07:09.880 the Japanese,

01:07:10.760 Hirohito was

01:07:11.540 the emperor

01:07:12.660 and decided

01:07:13.400 enough was

01:07:14.000 enough.

01:07:14.360 The Japanese 0.51

01:07:14.800 military still,

01:07:17.140 after two

01:07:17.600 atomic bombs,

01:07:18.420 wanted to

01:07:18.840 continue the

01:07:19.420 fight.

01:07:20.600 So when

01:07:21.440 we knew

01:07:22.120 at that

01:07:22.580 point,

01:07:23.000 Truman knew

01:07:23.560 at that

01:07:23.960 point that

01:07:24.380 the Japanese

01:07:24.960 were willing

01:07:26.860 to defend

01:07:27.560 their homeland

01:07:28.060 to the

01:07:28.540 last,

01:07:29.620 whether that

01:07:30.160 be children

01:07:30.820 with spears

01:07:31.900 and women

01:07:33.020 and men

01:07:33.900 and everybody

01:07:34.340 else with

01:07:35.020 everything else,

01:07:36.860 he decided

01:07:37.640 we would

01:07:38.120 drop two

01:07:38.540 atomic bombs.

01:07:40.120 And those

01:07:41.560 who served

01:07:42.040 in the Pacific

01:07:42.660 totally agreed.

01:07:44.300 And those

01:07:44.740 who had

01:07:45.000 served in

01:07:45.460 Europe

01:07:45.840 totally agreed.

01:07:47.440 We've never

01:07:48.040 come across

01:07:48.700 a World War

01:07:49.320 II veteran

01:07:49.780 who said

01:07:50.560 that we

01:07:51.500 should not

01:07:52.060 have dropped

01:07:52.640 the atomic

01:07:53.160 bombs on

01:07:53.900 Japan.

01:07:54.740 Now we're

01:07:55.120 looking at

01:07:55.840 this at a

01:07:56.520 20th century

01:07:57.540 lens.

01:07:58.140 We're not

01:07:58.580 looking at

01:07:59.160 this at a

01:07:59.720 21st century

01:08:01.160 lens.

01:08:01.780 Atomic bombs

01:08:02.380 today are

01:08:03.460 devastating.

01:08:04.200 We do not

01:08:04.680 want them.

01:08:05.160 We do not

01:08:05.620 want Russia 0.94

01:08:06.360 to drop

01:08:07.720 an atomic

01:08:08.260 bomb on

01:08:09.080 the Ukraine.

01:08:09.720 We feel

01:08:10.720 as though

01:08:11.140 that would

01:08:11.720 be just,

01:08:12.940 you know.

01:08:13.400 But in

01:08:13.780 1945,

01:08:15.480 in the

01:08:15.880 lens that

01:08:16.620 we're looking

01:08:17.160 at in the

01:08:17.680 21st,

01:08:18.500 in the

01:08:18.800 20th

01:08:19.200 century,

01:08:20.200 that was

01:08:21.100 the appropriate

01:08:21.760 thing to do

01:08:22.740 to save

01:08:23.300 lives.

01:08:24.640 So the

01:08:26.020 surrender in

01:08:26.640 Tokyo Bay,

01:08:27.540 on the

01:08:28.600 USS Missouri,

01:08:29.900 was attended

01:08:30.400 by the

01:08:31.560 Navy and

01:08:32.060 Marines and

01:08:32.720 the Japanese,

01:08:33.560 and they

01:08:33.740 finally decided

01:08:34.440 to surrender.

01:08:35.680 But at

01:08:36.000 that point,

01:08:36.520 the Japanese

01:08:37.020 army still

01:08:37.940 did not

01:08:38.320 want to

01:08:38.720 surrender.

01:08:39.540 So that

01:08:40.020 tells you

01:08:40.460 the fanaticism

01:08:41.460 of what

01:08:42.500 the Americans

01:08:43.180 were going

01:08:43.700 to face

01:08:44.220 or the

01:08:44.520 allies,

01:08:45.500 the Russians,

01:08:46.320 everybody else

01:08:46.880 were going

01:08:47.260 to face if

01:08:47.860 they invaded

01:08:48.380 Japan in

01:08:49.000 1945,

01:08:49.940 November of

01:08:50.480 1945.

01:08:52.080 So Japan 0.97

01:08:52.700 would have

01:08:53.040 been wiped

01:08:53.480 off the face

01:08:54.060 of the

01:08:54.280 earth.

01:08:54.620 We would

01:08:54.860 have suffered

01:08:55.260 another million

01:08:56.020 plus casualties.

01:08:56.920 We'd

01:08:57.380 already

01:08:57.600 printed

01:08:57.960 another

01:08:58.360 million

01:08:58.740 purple

01:08:59.140 hearts

01:08:59.580 in

01:09:00.160 anticipation

01:09:00.600 of the

01:09:01.420 fight in

01:09:01.860 Japan.

01:09:02.840 So Truman

01:09:03.260 decided

01:09:03.840 enough is

01:09:04.400 enough.

01:09:04.780 This world

01:09:05.420 war needs

01:09:06.140 to end.

01:09:07.300 And it

01:09:07.760 eventually

01:09:08.140 did end,

01:09:08.920 but only

01:09:09.280 because Emperor

01:09:10.500 Hirohito

01:09:11.140 decided that

01:09:12.180 enough was

01:09:12.860 enough and

01:09:13.360 that the

01:09:13.660 Japanese

01:09:14.140 were defeated.

01:09:15.840 and even

01:09:17.260 then Japanese 0.93

01:09:18.060 did not

01:09:18.560 apologize

01:09:19.080 and have

01:09:19.660 never

01:09:19.900 apologized

01:09:20.440 for Pearl

01:09:22.120 Harbor or

01:09:23.200 starting World

01:09:24.140 War II in

01:09:24.680 the Pacific.

01:09:25.840 And that

01:09:26.040 has always

01:09:26.320 been a

01:09:26.620 sticking point

01:09:27.160 for the

01:09:27.460 United States

01:09:28.140 that Japan

01:09:28.740 has never

01:09:29.200 apologized

01:09:29.680 for that.

01:09:31.980 And Japan

01:09:32.940 always felt

01:09:33.500 that the war

01:09:34.100 in the Pacific

01:09:34.600 was legitimate

01:09:35.360 and that it

01:09:37.200 was caused

01:09:37.720 by the oil

01:09:38.580 embargo and

01:09:39.740 the embargo

01:09:40.560 of natural

01:09:41.140 resources and

01:09:42.060 that they

01:09:42.300 were forced

01:09:42.880 to do

01:09:43.700 what they

01:09:44.060 did.

01:09:44.760 So Japan 0.97

01:09:45.100 has never

01:09:45.540 officially

01:09:46.100 apologized

01:09:46.820 for Pearl

01:09:47.300 Harbor or

01:09:47.860 starting World

01:09:48.560 War II in

01:09:49.080 the Pacific.

01:09:49.680 And that's

01:09:49.960 always been

01:09:50.300 a little

01:09:50.640 sticking point

01:09:51.540 with Pacific

01:09:52.600 veterans.

01:09:53.300 I know one

01:09:53.700 veteran who

01:09:54.440 was at home

01:09:55.740 one day and

01:09:56.740 Megan, his

01:09:57.400 son came home

01:09:58.420 with a Honda

01:09:59.500 motorcycle and

01:10:01.000 his son was

01:10:01.500 washing his

01:10:02.000 hands in the

01:10:02.600 kitchen sink

01:10:03.120 and looked

01:10:03.440 outside and

01:10:04.040 his dad,

01:10:05.140 who was a

01:10:06.040 survivor of

01:10:06.940 Pearl Harbor

01:10:07.500 at Schofield

01:10:09.100 Barracks,

01:10:09.760 was pouring

01:10:10.340 gasoline on

01:10:11.760 this Honda

01:10:12.160 motorcycle and

01:10:12.920 about ready

01:10:14.020 to light it

01:10:15.140 on fire.

01:10:15.980 And his

01:10:16.140 son came

01:10:16.480 running out

01:10:16.960 and said,

01:10:17.220 what are you

01:10:17.540 doing?

01:10:18.860 And he

01:10:19.480 said, I'm

01:10:20.380 not going to

01:10:21.380 let you

01:10:21.640 drive this

01:10:22.220 Japanese

01:10:23.320 motorcycle.

01:10:25.160 And his

01:10:25.780 son said,

01:10:26.180 why not?

01:10:26.640 And his

01:10:26.960 dad had to

01:10:27.520 explain to

01:10:28.080 him why.

01:10:29.300 And those

01:10:30.460 feelings still

01:10:31.220 linger with

01:10:32.040 veterans of

01:10:32.880 the Pacific

01:10:33.340 War.

01:10:34.320 And I tell

01:10:34.740 people today

01:10:35.480 that the

01:10:36.300 Pacific War and

01:10:37.100 the European

01:10:37.500 War were two 0.96

01:10:38.220 different wars.

01:10:39.480 They were two

01:10:40.200 specific wars.

01:10:41.720 They were

01:10:41.920 totally different

01:10:43.940 wars.

01:10:45.060 The savagery of

01:10:46.060 the Pacific

01:10:46.500 War was no

01:10:47.540 comparison to

01:10:48.460 what was going

01:10:49.100 on in Europe.

01:10:51.440 And the

01:10:52.260 Geneva Convention

01:10:53.080 was not

01:10:53.540 observed by the

01:10:54.240 Japanese.

01:10:55.060 And they

01:10:55.320 treated prisoners

01:10:56.380 as cowards.

01:10:57.360 And the fight

01:10:57.720 in the Pacific,

01:10:58.760 beginning with

01:10:59.280 Guadalcanal and

01:11:00.620 moving on to

01:11:01.240 the other

01:11:01.560 islands, was a

01:11:02.320 totally different

01:11:02.920 war.

01:11:03.780 And the

01:11:04.080 veterans in

01:11:04.560 Europe had

01:11:04.940 such a

01:11:05.260 respect for

01:11:05.940 the veterans

01:11:06.400 who fought in

01:11:06.920 the Pacific

01:11:07.340 because there

01:11:08.020 were no

01:11:08.460 rules in the

01:11:09.780 Pacific War.

01:11:10.660 It was a

01:11:11.020 free-for-all.

01:11:11.720 It was just

01:11:13.420 a total,

01:11:14.900 absolutely

01:11:15.600 bloody free-for-all

01:11:18.000 compared to

01:11:18.640 what was going

01:11:19.260 on in

01:11:20.300 Europe.

01:11:23.980 We've only

01:11:24.800 touched briefly

01:11:25.540 on the

01:11:25.880 Holocaust and

01:11:26.540 what happened

01:11:27.040 there.

01:11:27.980 Hitler's atrocities

01:11:29.020 were discovered

01:11:29.600 in full.

01:11:31.000 He took his

01:11:31.880 own life on

01:11:32.840 April 30,

01:11:33.580 1945, about

01:11:35.740 a week before

01:11:36.880 his country

01:11:37.560 surrendered, as

01:11:38.620 I pointed out.

01:11:39.840 Japan would 0.99

01:11:40.580 come later.

01:11:41.700 The story

01:11:42.080 about the

01:11:42.380 Missouri that

01:11:42.800 I thought was

01:11:43.200 kind of

01:11:43.460 interesting, just

01:11:43.940 because people

01:11:44.460 know the

01:11:44.840 name John

01:11:45.280 McCain, so

01:11:45.840 it's a modern

01:11:47.120 day reference

01:11:47.800 that they can

01:11:48.460 relate to, is

01:11:49.880 his granddad was

01:11:50.720 on the Missouri

01:11:51.260 when the

01:11:52.060 surrender papers

01:11:52.740 were signed.

01:11:54.740 He didn't want

01:11:55.400 to be there.

01:11:55.900 He wanted to

01:11:56.280 go home to

01:11:56.680 his wife.

01:11:57.400 His commanding

01:11:58.860 officer said,

01:11:59.420 you will stay

01:11:59.840 here because

01:12:00.260 you are critical

01:12:00.980 to all of

01:12:01.860 this.

01:12:02.040 We want you

01:12:02.300 to be there.

01:12:03.060 So he

01:12:03.400 stayed.

01:12:04.380 He went

01:12:04.980 home to his

01:12:05.660 wife.

01:12:06.920 And this is,

01:12:07.580 again, John

01:12:07.940 McCain's

01:12:08.300 granddad.

01:12:08.760 And I

01:12:10.800 think it

01:12:11.080 was four

01:12:11.560 days later

01:12:12.200 while celebrating

01:12:13.380 his coming

01:12:14.320 home party

01:12:14.980 with his

01:12:15.420 wife, he

01:12:16.500 dropped dead

01:12:17.060 of a heart

01:12:17.460 attack, a

01:12:18.760 death that

01:12:19.100 was on the

01:12:19.500 front page of

01:12:20.180 the paper.

01:12:20.680 That's how

01:12:20.920 important he

01:12:21.380 was to us.

01:12:22.520 And it

01:12:22.980 explains so

01:12:23.460 much about

01:12:23.780 how John

01:12:24.220 McCain wound

01:12:24.820 up in

01:12:25.120 military service

01:12:25.900 and he,

01:12:26.300 of course,

01:12:27.020 would be

01:12:27.480 tortured and

01:12:28.260 endured terrible

01:12:29.180 things.

01:12:29.540 And just

01:12:30.420 his legacy

01:12:32.180 and his

01:12:33.340 family's

01:12:33.840 legacy of

01:12:34.840 sacrifice for

01:12:35.680 country.

01:12:36.280 It was only,

01:12:36.800 I think,

01:12:37.000 61.

01:12:37.860 It was a

01:12:38.200 young man,

01:12:39.140 but just the

01:12:39.900 stresses of

01:12:40.500 the war would

01:12:41.260 take lives

01:12:41.860 well beyond

01:12:42.540 the end

01:12:43.140 date of

01:12:43.800 the surrender.

01:12:45.580 Yeah, I

01:12:45.760 just had the

01:12:46.240 opportunity about

01:12:47.140 a month ago to

01:12:47.840 visit John

01:12:48.360 McCain's grave

01:12:49.020 at the Naval

01:12:49.760 Academy in

01:12:50.800 Annapolis and

01:12:51.960 also Steve

01:12:53.580 Belichick, who

01:12:54.460 was the father

01:12:55.100 of Bill

01:12:55.400 Belichick, and

01:12:56.900 others at the

01:12:58.060 Naval Academy.

01:12:58.720 And there

01:12:59.380 are others

01:12:59.800 who were

01:13:00.100 buried at

01:13:00.680 Arlington

01:13:01.160 who are in

01:13:03.000 the same

01:13:03.400 boat, just

01:13:05.320 men who

01:13:06.640 served.

01:13:08.080 And our

01:13:08.660 mission as a

01:13:09.360 foundation is

01:13:10.200 that we never

01:13:10.780 forget that

01:13:12.080 generation.

01:13:13.380 And unfortunately,

01:13:14.280 it takes

01:13:14.740 December 7th or

01:13:15.960 September 11th

01:13:17.120 for us to

01:13:17.900 all of a

01:13:18.260 sudden discover

01:13:18.880 the American

01:13:19.480 flag.

01:13:20.540 And I wish

01:13:21.000 it wasn't

01:13:21.400 that way,

01:13:22.540 but history

01:13:23.080 shows us

01:13:24.460 that unfortunately

01:13:25.240 the only times

01:13:26.160 that we come

01:13:26.660 together as a

01:13:27.340 country is

01:13:28.480 during those

01:13:29.220 times we were

01:13:29.740 attacked.

01:13:30.360 But we do

01:13:31.080 have the

01:13:31.580 potential, and

01:13:33.100 I underline

01:13:33.720 that word

01:13:34.260 potential, to

01:13:35.100 come together

01:13:35.680 for causes

01:13:36.400 that can help

01:13:37.140 America as a

01:13:38.900 whole.

01:13:39.540 I would love

01:13:40.300 to think that

01:13:40.880 we'll do it.

01:13:41.520 I mean, the

01:13:41.740 problem is now

01:13:42.620 even hanging

01:13:43.620 the flag is

01:13:44.380 considered a

01:13:44.900 partisan act.

01:13:45.620 I mean, even

01:13:45.980 now, according to

01:13:46.880 the New York

01:13:47.220 Times, if you put

01:13:48.280 the flag out in

01:13:48.860 front of your

01:13:49.160 house, it means

01:13:49.600 you're a

01:13:49.960 Republican, which

01:13:50.660 is absurd.

01:13:51.380 That's absurd.

01:13:52.080 There are still

01:13:52.460 a lot of Democrats

01:13:53.100 who love the

01:13:53.620 flag, but it's

01:13:55.040 being made into a

01:13:57.020 partisan.

01:13:57.320 It is.

01:13:58.520 Can I just

01:13:59.660 spend a minute

01:14:00.200 on this, and

01:14:00.720 I'll wrap it

01:14:01.320 up.

01:14:01.560 But I read a

01:14:02.900 story about how

01:14:04.640 back to Pearl

01:14:05.800 Harbor, the guys

01:14:07.800 who are on the

01:14:08.380 ships who are

01:14:09.500 dying now, who

01:14:10.960 survived and are

01:14:11.700 dying now, if

01:14:12.900 they so desire,

01:14:14.260 they can have

01:14:14.760 their ashes

01:14:15.360 placed on the

01:14:18.020 ships?

01:14:19.180 Yeah.

01:14:19.300 If you were on

01:14:21.360 the USS Arizona

01:14:22.820 and you were

01:14:24.560 on the Arizona

01:14:25.460 on December

01:14:26.160 7th, 1941, you

01:14:28.620 can have your

01:14:29.400 urn brought

01:14:30.020 back to the

01:14:30.640 battleship and

01:14:31.500 interred and

01:14:32.160 turret number

01:14:32.720 four.

01:14:34.440 And that's the

01:14:35.340 only situation.

01:14:37.020 If you were on

01:14:37.860 the Arizona, let's

01:14:38.720 say you spent the

01:14:39.340 night in Honolulu

01:14:40.300 on the night of

01:14:41.040 December 7th, you're

01:14:42.020 not eligible.

01:14:43.120 But if you were

01:14:43.920 on the Arizona on

01:14:45.080 December 7th, 1941,

01:14:46.520 and you would

01:14:48.820 like to go and

01:14:49.620 rejoin your

01:14:51.240 crewmates, the

01:14:53.460 folks at Pearl

01:14:54.280 Harbor and the

01:14:54.900 United States Navy

01:14:55.600 will make that

01:14:56.180 happen.

01:14:56.600 So your urn will

01:14:57.540 be taken by

01:14:58.220 divers down to

01:14:59.800 turret number

01:15:00.300 four and placed

01:15:01.760 among the 42

01:15:03.320 or so urns who

01:15:05.540 have been placed

01:15:07.400 in turret number

01:15:08.020 four since this

01:15:09.120 all started in

01:15:09.980 the early 1980s.

01:15:12.220 If you're a 0.88

01:15:12.980 Pearl Harbor

01:15:13.360 survivor and you

01:15:14.520 want your ashes

01:15:15.280 brought back to

01:15:16.060 Pearl Harbor,

01:15:16.520 they can be

01:15:17.000 spread in the

01:15:17.920 harbor as well

01:15:19.200 or brought back

01:15:20.020 to the USS

01:15:20.680 Utah, which was

01:15:21.680 a battleship 0.82

01:15:22.380 also at Pearl

01:15:23.540 Harbor.

01:15:24.380 It was not an

01:15:25.260 active battleship.

01:15:27.220 But it's

01:15:28.060 interesting because

01:15:28.900 we've attended

01:15:29.580 some of these

01:15:30.240 ceremonies where

01:15:31.280 the sons or

01:15:33.040 daughters or

01:15:33.800 grandchildren of

01:15:35.260 these survivors

01:15:35.940 have had their

01:15:36.700 urns returned

01:15:37.780 to the crew.

01:15:40.680 So there are

01:15:41.560 about 900 plus

01:15:42.960 who are still

01:15:44.220 entombed on the

01:15:45.080 USS Arizona,

01:15:46.140 who never

01:15:46.620 left the

01:15:47.040 battleship after

01:15:47.900 December 7th,

01:15:48.880 1941 of the

01:15:50.200 1177 who

01:15:51.560 died.

01:15:53.360 And at some

01:15:54.500 point in their

01:15:55.060 life, they decide

01:15:56.420 that they want to

01:15:58.140 rejoin their

01:15:58.660 crewmates.

01:16:00.100 And one guy,

01:16:01.360 Raymond Harry,

01:16:02.240 who is from the

01:16:02.920 state of Rhode

01:16:03.400 Island, never

01:16:04.620 talked about the

01:16:06.080 USS Arizona after

01:16:07.940 Pearl Harbor.

01:16:09.820 He never

01:16:10.340 mentioned the

01:16:11.280 fact that he

01:16:12.460 had a strong

01:16:13.380 connection, but

01:16:14.640 on his death

01:16:15.220 bed, he

01:16:15.680 decided that he

01:16:17.400 wanted to

01:16:17.900 rejoin his

01:16:18.540 crewmates.

01:16:19.880 So it was

01:16:20.280 left up to his

01:16:21.020 granddaughter to

01:16:22.280 carry the urn back

01:16:23.520 through New Jersey

01:16:24.720 and Dallas and

01:16:25.980 Honolulu and to

01:16:28.200 have divers at

01:16:29.540 the USS Arizona

01:16:30.720 in a ceremony,

01:16:32.700 take his urn and

01:16:33.920 bring his urn back

01:16:35.000 to turret number

01:16:35.880 four on the

01:16:36.600 Arizona and put it

01:16:37.700 in there with

01:16:38.180 about 42 other

01:16:39.120 urns.

01:16:40.460 And to me,

01:16:41.300 it's probably one

01:16:42.060 of those most

01:16:42.720 amazing things I've

01:16:43.780 ever witnessed is a

01:16:45.040 man who never,

01:16:46.220 ever talked about

01:16:47.240 Pearl Harbor, who 0.54

01:16:48.560 never, ever wanted

01:16:49.520 to go back to

01:16:50.680 visit Pearl Harbor

01:16:51.880 post-World War II,

01:16:53.700 was offered the

01:16:54.480 chance to go back

01:16:55.460 and see the

01:16:56.380 memorial that was

01:16:57.560 built and to

01:16:59.600 see the oil that

01:17:01.340 was leaking from

01:17:02.340 the battleship, to

01:17:03.300 smell the oil that

01:17:04.740 was leaking from

01:17:05.360 the battleship.

01:17:06.040 He never wanted

01:17:06.660 anything to do

01:17:07.340 with it, never

01:17:07.720 wanted to talk

01:17:08.340 about it.

01:17:08.780 But on his

01:17:09.720 deathbed, he

01:17:10.420 decided, I want

01:17:11.240 to rejoin my

01:17:11.920 crewmates.

01:17:13.420 The Navy

01:17:13.720 diver, who is

01:17:15.340 responsible for

01:17:15.940 lowering the

01:17:16.340 remains in, said

01:17:17.820 as follows in

01:17:18.360 one report,

01:17:19.620 quote, it's a

01:17:20.540 large hole, we

01:17:21.540 place the urn

01:17:22.160 through, and

01:17:23.240 then you can

01:17:23.640 kind of feel

01:17:24.720 it release.

01:17:26.180 I tell the

01:17:26.660 family, when I

01:17:27.620 feel that pull,

01:17:29.160 it's the ship

01:17:29.820 accepting back

01:17:30.800 one of its

01:17:31.320 own.

01:17:31.980 Oh, my

01:17:32.960 goodness.

01:17:33.940 I mean, it's

01:17:34.780 to be on the

01:17:35.760 Arizona Memorial

01:17:36.760 when that flag is

01:17:38.140 presented to a

01:17:38.960 granddaughter, and

01:17:40.340 then to watch

01:17:40.980 the divers bring

01:17:42.040 the urn down to

01:17:43.200 turret number four

01:17:44.380 and placed in with

01:17:45.500 the rest of the

01:17:46.100 guys who wanted to

01:17:47.040 go back after.

01:17:48.760 I mean, that to

01:17:49.620 me tells me that

01:17:50.600 the defining moment

01:17:51.740 of their lives

01:17:52.720 happened when they

01:17:53.600 were 17 or 18

01:17:54.820 years old.

01:17:55.940 The defining moment

01:17:56.980 of their life

01:17:57.600 didn't happen when

01:17:58.560 they were 40 or

01:17:59.560 50 or 60 or

01:18:01.140 30.

01:18:01.960 It happened when

01:18:03.000 they were a

01:18:03.600 teenager.

01:18:04.120 It happened when

01:18:05.800 they were 18 or

01:18:06.840 20 years old.

01:18:09.080 And that to me is

01:18:10.740 an incredible thing

01:18:11.540 to have the

01:18:11.980 defining moment of

01:18:12.980 your life happen

01:18:13.940 when you were a

01:18:14.760 teenager and to

01:18:16.060 know that anything

01:18:17.060 else you did in the

01:18:17.980 rest of your life

01:18:18.840 would be insignificant

01:18:19.940 to what happened

01:18:21.860 during your time in

01:18:22.920 World War II.

01:18:23.840 And a lot of these

01:18:24.420 guys took such

01:18:25.900 risks after the

01:18:27.200 war.

01:18:27.580 They started their

01:18:28.280 own businesses.

01:18:29.180 They became cab

01:18:29.960 drivers or plumbers

01:18:31.260 or Jack Taylor

01:18:32.580 founded Enterprise

01:18:33.740 Rent-A-Car or

01:18:35.180 the men who came

01:18:36.140 back founded

01:18:36.680 U-Haul because

01:18:38.460 they had been

01:18:39.080 through the worst

01:18:39.900 of their life.

01:18:40.680 They had been

01:18:40.960 through the ultimate

01:18:41.720 risk in their

01:18:42.840 life that anything

01:18:43.820 else after that

01:18:44.960 was just gravy.

01:18:47.640 And I find that

01:18:48.980 fascinating.

01:18:50.380 They never

01:18:50.960 accept the word

01:18:53.100 hero.

01:18:54.320 Oh no,

01:18:55.080 they'll kick you. 0.97

01:18:55.940 They'll kick you

01:18:56.580 in the knee.

01:18:57.880 They won't allow

01:18:58.720 it.

01:18:58.940 You've documented

01:18:59.620 that as well.

01:19:00.760 And this is one

01:19:01.800 of the sound

01:19:02.160 bites that jumped

01:19:02.700 out at us.

01:19:04.040 So beautiful

01:19:04.880 from, this is

01:19:05.780 again from your

01:19:06.300 second piece on

01:19:08.000 D-Day,

01:19:08.820 Remembered,

01:19:09.600 Sat 22.

01:19:12.300 I'm not the

01:19:13.100 hero.

01:19:13.800 I'm not the

01:19:14.360 hero.

01:19:16.600 I'm just a

01:19:17.340 survivor.

01:19:18.280 The heroes,

01:19:19.020 most of the

01:19:19.540 heroes over there

01:19:20.780 under the white

01:19:21.460 crosses that you

01:19:22.380 all know about.

01:19:23.600 And their

01:19:23.960 mothers and their

01:19:24.800 fathers and their

01:19:25.640 brothers and their

01:19:26.320 sisters and even

01:19:27.300 their children and

01:19:28.100 some of those

01:19:28.560 people.

01:19:29.380 Those are the

01:19:30.060 heroes and the

01:19:30.740 war.

01:19:31.900 We're the

01:19:32.460 survivors now.

01:19:33.780 And I'm glad you

01:19:34.400 feel that way.

01:19:35.420 And I hope you

01:19:36.440 always do because

01:19:37.560 democracy and

01:19:38.600 liberty are too

01:19:41.140 precious.

01:19:41.940 And until I

01:19:43.240 came over here,

01:19:44.320 I didn't realize

01:19:45.480 how precious it

01:19:46.280 was.

01:19:48.200 Yeah.

01:19:48.580 Yeah, that was

01:19:49.240 Chris Heisler.

01:19:50.060 Chris was in the

01:19:50.680 507th Parachute

01:19:52.220 Infantry Regiment.

01:19:53.220 He was landed on

01:19:54.720 D-Day and was

01:19:55.360 taken prisoner on

01:19:56.480 June 7th, 1944.

01:19:58.320 And if you call

01:20:02.380 these men

01:20:03.020 heroes, they

01:20:05.220 will cut you

01:20:05.880 off right away.

01:20:07.340 And they will

01:20:07.840 say the heroes

01:20:08.580 are buried in

01:20:09.340 these cemeteries.

01:20:10.760 And there's that

01:20:12.300 survivor's guilt, I

01:20:13.480 think, that any

01:20:14.040 veteran faces, that

01:20:15.200 why the guy in the

01:20:16.460 left of me was

01:20:17.120 killed and why the

01:20:17.900 guy in the right of

01:20:18.640 me was killed and

01:20:19.980 why I was spared.

01:20:21.700 And that generation 0.96

01:20:22.600 is really in tune

01:20:24.320 with that.

01:20:24.940 And so when I

01:20:27.560 make the mistake

01:20:28.740 every blue moon

01:20:30.160 of saying, you

01:20:30.760 know, hey, you're

01:20:31.280 a real hero, I

01:20:32.660 know, and then I

01:20:33.520 brace for the kick

01:20:34.380 in the knee and

01:20:35.680 I say, these guys

01:20:37.400 are going to beat

01:20:37.880 me up because

01:20:38.620 they're always, to

01:20:39.660 a man or a

01:20:41.160 woman, they're 0.57

01:20:41.560 going to say that

01:20:42.160 the heroes are

01:20:42.940 buried in the

01:20:43.520 American cemeteries.

01:20:44.780 And I say, God,

01:20:45.500 how humble is

01:20:46.320 that?

01:20:47.900 Before we go, I'm

01:20:48.440 going to end it on

01:20:48.980 this.

01:20:50.440 On D-Day, FDR,

01:20:52.740 who was president,

01:20:53.380 he died in

01:20:53.860 office, that's

01:20:54.280 why Truman took

01:20:54.920 over by the time

01:20:55.580 we dropped the

01:20:56.060 bomb, offered

01:20:58.300 remarks to the

01:20:58.900 country, which

01:20:59.360 was aware that

01:21:00.960 this battle was

01:21:01.900 underway and

01:21:02.860 concerned for

01:21:04.520 their loved ones

01:21:05.240 who were over

01:21:05.640 there fighting

01:21:06.100 this treacherous

01:21:07.260 fight.

01:21:08.280 And in part, he

01:21:09.720 offered the

01:21:10.380 following prayer.

01:21:11.540 Listen.

01:21:12.680 Almighty God,

01:21:14.880 our sons,

01:21:16.720 pride of our

01:21:17.600 nation, this

01:21:19.540 day have set

01:21:20.480 upon a mighty

01:21:21.520 endeavor, a

01:21:23.480 struggle to

01:21:24.040 preserve our

01:21:24.860 republic, our

01:21:26.980 religion, and

01:21:28.540 our civilization, and

01:21:31.060 to set free a

01:21:32.440 suffering humanity.

01:21:35.680 Lead them

01:21:36.400 straight and

01:21:37.320 cruel.

01:21:39.500 Give strength to

01:21:40.500 their arms, stoutness

01:21:42.260 to their hearts,

01:21:44.260 steadfastness in

01:21:45.720 their faith.

01:21:46.440 they will need

01:21:49.080 thy blessings.

01:21:50.840 Their road will

01:21:51.840 be long and

01:21:52.960 hard.

01:21:54.980 For the enemy

01:21:55.960 is strong.

01:21:57.180 He may hurl back

01:21:58.220 our forces.

01:22:00.420 Success may not

01:22:01.840 come with

01:22:02.840 rushing speed,

01:22:04.640 but we shall

01:22:05.800 return again

01:22:07.240 and again.

01:22:09.340 And we know

01:22:10.360 that by thy

01:22:11.280 grace and by

01:22:13.220 the righteousness

01:22:13.840 of our

01:22:14.420 cause, our

01:22:16.000 sons will

01:22:17.200 triumph.

01:22:19.120 Wow.

01:22:20.240 Those words

01:22:21.220 from FDR, a

01:22:22.580 mighty endeavor, a

01:22:23.720 struggle to

01:22:24.300 preserve our

01:22:24.880 republic, our

01:22:25.620 religion, and

01:22:26.860 our civilization, and

01:22:28.060 to set free a

01:22:28.880 suffering humanity.

01:22:30.540 Our sons will

01:22:31.660 triumph.

01:22:32.600 And they did.

01:22:33.380 They did triumph.

01:22:34.480 And they have the

01:22:35.440 gratitude of

01:22:36.920 generations after

01:22:38.480 generations here

01:22:39.700 in America and

01:22:40.220 beyond.

01:22:41.000 Tim, thank you

01:22:41.660 so much.

01:22:42.200 It's been a

01:22:42.720 pleasure getting

01:22:43.460 to meet you and

01:22:44.100 getting to watch

01:22:44.940 your work.

01:22:46.120 Keep it up.

01:22:47.000 All the best to

01:22:47.540 you.

01:22:48.280 Thank you, Megan.

01:22:48.980 It's been great to

01:22:49.960 watch your career as

01:22:50.820 well and keep up

01:22:51.560 your great work as

01:22:52.320 well.

01:22:53.320 God bless America.

01:22:55.000 Yes, definitely.

01:22:57.220 From World War II,

01:22:58.760 back in time to

01:22:59.820 World War I.

01:23:00.920 Tomorrow, we go

01:23:02.480 back to the First 0.95

01:23:03.300 World War, the

01:23:04.400 Great War, as it 0.74

01:23:05.440 was known, with a

01:23:06.260 historian.

01:23:07.420 And guess what?

01:23:09.140 Doug Brunt, who

01:23:10.200 is also a

01:23:11.080 historian.

01:23:11.560 Yes, my

01:23:12.280 husband, will

01:23:13.100 join the party

01:23:13.800 when we go to

01:23:15.020 World War I

01:23:15.980 tomorrow.

01:23:19.260 Thanks for

01:23:19.920 listening to the

01:23:20.480 Megan Kelly Show.

01:23:21.500 No BS, no

01:23:22.560 agenda, and no

01:23:23.800 fear.

The Megyn Kelly Show - December 20, 2022

Revisiting World War II： History Week on The Megyn Kelly Show ｜ Ep. 457

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