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Coming up on C-SPAN's Washington Journal this morning, we'll take your calls and comments live.
And then reporter Patricia Keim shares her latest investigation for Military.com on veterans' access to VA mental health care.
And then the CEO of the nonpartisan group Mission Roll Call, Jim Whaley, he talks about his organization's polling of veterans across the country and their top issues.
Washington Journal starts now.
Join the conversation.
Good morning.
It's Monday, November 11th, 2024, Veterans Day across America.
This morning, we bring you a special four-hour Washington Journal ahead of a live replaying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, followed by remarks from President Biden.
That's set to take place at 11 a.m. Eastern today, but right now, we begin by hearing from you.
We want to know what Veterans Day means for you and your family.
Phone lines split this way this morning.
Veterans and their family members, it's 202-748-8000.
For active duty military, it's 202-748-8001.
All others, it's 202-748-8002.
You can also send us a text this morning, that number, 202-748-8003.
If you do, please include your name and where you're from.
Otherwise, catch up with us on social media.
On X, it's at C-SPANWJ on Facebook.
It's facebook.com/slash C-SPAN.
And a very good Monday morning, Happy Veterans Day.
We're asking for your calls this morning.
A special four-hour program.
Go ahead and start calling in now.
We're hoping to talk to some of the 18 million living veterans in this country.
They make up about 6% of the U.S. population.
Some more stats on America's veterans population from the Pew Research Group, noting that about 7.8 million living U.S. veterans, or 43%, served in the Gulf War.
5.6 million living veterans, 30% served during the Vietnam War era.
Around 767,000 veterans served during the Korean conflict, and they make up about 4% of all living veterans.
And now, fewer than 120,000 World War II veterans are alive today.
They make up less than 1% of all living veterans.
As we said, we want to talk to them this morning and to their families and to active duty as well and all Americans on this Veterans Day asking you what Veterans Day means to you.
202-748-8000 for veterans and their families.
202-748-8001 if you're active duty.
202-748-8002 for all others.
We'll go ahead and get started this morning with Trish out of Seattle, Washington, family member of a veteran.
Good morning.
Hi.
Hi, good morning.
Yeah, I wanted to.
My father was a veteran.
He was in World War II.
He was a navigator.
But what I'm calling about today, and I thank everybody, but what I want to focus on today for Veterans Day is for the two female aviators that recently crashed their growlers and were subsequently killed.
One was Lieutenant Commander Lindsay Evans.
She was the Growler Instructor of the Year.
And then Lieutenant Serena Weilman, both were 31 and both were from California.
Just a little bit of their history.
The USA Navy EA Growler carrier, and they were a carrier base off the USS Eisenhower, multiple combat missions in Yamen.
And those are the people that I want to celebrate especially today in light of everything that's happened.
Those women should be honored and acknowledged every day, all day.
They're the best of the best.
And I feel so sorry for their families.
And finally, I'd also like to honor all the women, primarily it's the women that stay home and keep the home fires burning.
And they don't get the recognition that they deserve.
So to all those women, thank you.
And to Attendant Commander Lindsay Evans and Serena Weldman, thank you.
Trish, thanks for the call from Seattle this morning.
Roger, Leewood, Kansas.
Good morning.
I want to second what the lady just said.
This is a very special day for veterans, and it's a very special day for the United States.
And as a former veteran and also a lifetime teacher of the Philadelphia School Districts, I wish to protest that they did not close the schools today to honor our veterans.
How in the world are the children going to learn patriotism if they keep the schools open on Veterans Day?
My gosh, that's just outrageous.
Thank you.
Roger, where'd you serve?
I think we lost Roger John in Portland, Connecticut.
Good morning on that line for veterans.
Yes.
It's a very special day for the events.
Go ahead, John.
Yes, good morning.
Thank you for putting this program on today.
And I just want to wish all my family and friends that served for our country, especially my dad served in the Philippines.
And the short story was he actually met his brother on the other end of an island in the Philippines during World War II.
And both of those men came home.
And it was an amazing story.
And I just.
John, I want to hear more about the story.
How did he meet his brother on the island?
Well, my father was at one end of the island.
He was a sharpshooter.
And his sergeant said, Hey, Salafia, sorry, there's another one at the other ele end of the island.
So the sergeant got a Jeep somehow and got to get two of them together.
And as it turned out, there was one other man from Middletown, Connecticut, my uncle, who were there.
So three men from Middletown, Connecticut were on the same island during World War II in the Philippines and served and came home together.
John, how many members of your family has served in the military?
Oh, I'd say if I was to guess at it, John, 20.
Why is it such a big part of your family's legacy, John?
Just what they wanted to do to serve our country and as proud men and women for our country.
And I've lost some close friends in Vietnam, and I'm glad that our country is strong, and we need more of it today in this climate that we're in.
And I just salute every man and men and woman that are out there right now serving us proudly.
And I just, God bless this country.
Make it strong.
John, what branch did you serve in?
Navy.
John, thanks for the call from Portland, Connecticut.
Ray is in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, also a Navy veteran.
Go ahead.
Yes, thank you for taking my call.
This day is so, so important because of the lessons.
Lessons we must remember, lessons learned, hard lessons about freedom, what it costs for freedom, and standing up and defending our God-given freedoms we have.
I'm a U.S. Navy vet, yes.
I was in the Indian Ocean in 1980 during the Iranian hostage crisis.
And for the entire time I was there, I felt like we were part of the crisis in Iran, and I'm so glad it was resolved.
My grandfather served in World War I, my dad served in World War II.
And we have so many stories that we can share of heroism and sacrifice.
And this day is a day that we can do that.
Ray, what's one of those family stories that you always share?
Well, one story is my grandfather, okay?
He served in World War I.
He was a sergeant.
He was a band master sergeant.
He was in charge of all the music.
He knew John Philip Souza personally.
And one story was during a lull of the fighting, he heard, sorry if I get emotional about this.
It's okay.
But he heard a cry from No Man's Land that, help me, help me.
I'm hurt.
And he knew it was one of our guys.
And my grandfather was a member of the Red Cross, so he had a Red Cross band on.
He said, Okay, I'm going to go get him.
Who's with me?
And another guy grabbed the gurney and went up and went to the reach the service, reached the man.
And even though he my grandfather had a Red Cross Band on, he was still shot at by Germans, and he got hit in the leg twice and in the arm.
But he said, basically, to hell with the pain, I'm getting this guy to safety.
And he made it, and he got a Medal of Valor for that.
And my dad told me that story.
And I'm still thankful, thankful for freedom and those who brave who defended our freedom.
And as a U.S. Navy vet, I'll always stand for freedom and our Constitution.
And I'll always step up for it.
Ray, what was your grandfather's name, if you don't mind sharing?
His name was Harry F. Clark Sr.
And he was a sergeant.
He was a bandmaster sergeant of the 135th Baku regiment in World War I. Gray, thanks for telling us about Harry F. Clark Sr. on this Veterans Day.
Another Harry in Bend, Oregon is next.
Good morning.
Thank you.
Go ahead, sir.
Am I on the air?
Yes, sir.
What a frightening thought.
What does Veterans Day mean to you, Harry?
I'm 77 years old.
I fought for five years in Vietnam for the Marine Corps.
Okay, and back then, okay, I was in the sniper platoon for a while, but then they moved me around a lot.
I was such a good shot that, so I worked on the DMZ, if you know what that was.
Explain what it is, Harry, for folks who don't know.
Okay, well, the DMZ is that line that was drawn between North and South Vietnam.
I was never further than a quarter of a mile from North Vietnam.
And when, okay, anytime an aircraft, I was on an interdiction group.
I was a Marine on the, okay, working out of Cantienne, which was on the border there.
Are you following?
Yes, sir.
Every time an aircraft went down, I was the sniper for the team that would go to rescue the pilots and the other people on the aircraft and then destroy the aircraft.
We're not known very much.
Anyway, the truth of the matter is that everybody in this country sends people out to die, but they don't give a damn about them.
I mean, you look at all the, I mean, you look at all these homeless veterans.
Every time a guy's got a sign with a homeless veteran, okay, sitting on the sidewalk, I did him $100.
I got a boatload of money now.
But I inherited it.
I didn't earn it.
You understand what I'm saying?
Yes, sir.
We're worried about all of these people that have infiltrated our country, but we're not willing to save our veterans.
So, Harry, what are you going to do today on Veterans Day?
Well, I've got a 1955 Corvette and I'm driving in the parade.
In Bend, Oregon?
Yeah.
Harry, thanks for calling in.
Thanks for telling us about your service.
Listen, hold on.
Yes, sir.
You people over there.
This is the first time I ever had the inclination to ever call you.
I thought it might be a waste of time.
Do you follow me?
Sure.
But the bottom line of the whole thing is that you people, okay, and the way you, The way you pose your questions about veterans, okay, I 100% approve of.
Okay, most people don't know what a veteran is or even give a damn, as long as they don't have to go fight.
When I joined the Marine Corps, it was 66.
All the rich kids were going to Canada or going to college because then they couldn't be drafted.
I just one day woke up and I was walking past.
I was going to go get drunk with some friends of mine.
This is 1966.
All right.
It was legal to drink at 18 back then.
And believe it or not, I'm walking past that next door as a Marine Corps recruiter.
All of a sudden, I just had this epiphany sitting down after my third brig and joined the Marine Corps.
The smartest thing I ever did in my entire life.
There wasn't a day you regretted it, Harry?
Excuse me?
There wasn't a day that you ever regretted that decision.
No.
I mean, how could you regret $58,000, 58,000 human beings, Americans, died in Vietnam?
When you hear about this kind of stuff, all of a sudden you realize that it's all wrong.
Something's got to change.
The only thing I could do to make that change was to join the Marine Corps.
However, when I went into the Marine Corps, okay, after boot camp, they sent me to ITR, all right, infantry training where I had to go on the range.
On the first day, I shot a perfect score.
On the second day, two of the instructors shot against me and I beat both of them.
I've been a gunfighter since my father started teaching me how to shoot.
My grandfather died on a submarine during World War II.
My father was shot down over Iwo Jima in World War II.
All right?
He was shot down and the rest of the family had to take care of all of us.
My mom and my older brother and my dad, who was wounded terribly.
And somehow it made me patriotic.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
I do, Harry.
I appreciate you telling us about it.
I hope you have great weather for your parade in Bend, Oregon today, Harry.
Mitzi's next in Arkansas.
That line for veterans.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Thank you for being here for us.
I am a military brat, but I'm also a veteran.
I raised on military bases, which is a wonderful experience, kids.
It's diverse.
It's safe.
It's secure.
Kids kept out of trouble because if you got in trouble, then your father or mother would be called into your commanding officer.
My dad was a 20-year lifer Air Force.
Both his brothers served.
Both of my brothers served.
My youngest brother died while in service.
My uncle served in Vietnam and Korea.
The other uncle served in Korea.
They all made it back okay.
And I just, every young person I know, I urge them to join the military.
Go in and get you a skill or a trade that you can use to feed yourself for the rest of your life.
And besides, what pays for your freedom other than your time and your life?
I don't think there should be mandatory drafts or anything, but I think everybody owes something back to their country for the freedom we have and those that fought and died and were wounded and injured for that freedom.
And I just thank God I was raised on military bases and I can't urge young people enough to get out there, join the military, learn your skills or trade, something that you can have for the rest of your life to feed yourself.
And if it's not the trade or skill you want to spend your life with, use your VA loans to go to school.
It's a wonderful opportunity for people.
And like I say, I think what pays for your freedom other than your time and your life.
And thank you and God bless.
I've been watching C-SPAN since the year Ron Brown, Transportation Secretary, was killed.
And I thank you all for being here and God bless to America.
Mitzi, thanks for the call.
Thanks for being a longtime C-SPAN viewer.
You mentioned joining the military.
Currently, there's about 2 million Americans who are part of the active military.
They're mostly young people.
The breakdown of the branches in which they serve, about 47%, almost half of all active service members are in the Army.
24% of service members are in the Air Force.
19% of service members are enlisted in the Navy.
10% of service members are in the Marine Corps.
And the group Mission Roll Call, one of those veterans groups, took a look at the number of dependents for those who are in the military.
About 1.6 million military dependents, family members who rely on or families that have at least one active duty member in it.
And we're going to talk more about groups like Mission Roll Call and other veterans groups throughout this program.
Spending this first hour, though, this morning, just hearing from you on this question, what does Veterans Day mean to you?
A reminder, it's an extended Washington Journal today.
The president is expected to speak from Arlington National Cemetery at 11 a.m. Eastern.
There is a wreath laying ceremony that will take place before the president's remarks.
The vice president is expected to join him at Arlington for that service.
And we're going to show you that live on C-SPAN.
So we're going to take this program up until that event.
It's scheduled for 11 a.m. Eastern.
So we'll be talking to you for four hours this morning on the Washington Journal.
Plenty of calls, though, always on Veterans Day on Memorial Day on days like this.
This is how we split up our phone lines today, this Veterans Day, 202-748-8000 for veterans and their families.
Active military, 202-748-8001.
All others, 202-748-8002.
And please do send us your texts as well.
We'll look to read and share your stories throughout this extended Washington Journal.
This is Richard out of Minneapolis, that line for veterans.
Good morning, sir.
Good morning.
You know, I'd like to take today and remember the crew of PR-21.
PR-21 got shot down in April of 1969 in the Sea of Japan by North Korea.
And, you know, I think we should have took care of North Korea back then when they didn't have the bomb.
There was a lot of good friends on PR-21.
And may I add one more thing?
I think that President Trump should defend Ukraine as much as we can or as much as Biden has been supporting because there is some of the commentators said Trump might give up Ukraine and might give up Taiwan.
You know, these dictators in these communist countries are just going to push their way and try to rule the world.
So hats off to PR-21 that got shot down in the Sea of Japan.
Lieutenant Commander Overstreet was the pilot.
And one of my friends was Harrigan.
One of your friends was on PR-21?
Oh, yeah, I knew all the crew members there.
And what kind of plane was PR-21?
It was a four-engine, propeller-driven, super-constellation, super connie, they called it.
And we did electronic intelligence in the Sea of Japan, North Korea, and China, Russia, up by Vladivostok.
We always had to stay out 12 miles away from the shore because that was the national international waters when we were out away 12 miles from any country shore.
And then we went to Vietnam and patrolled up by North Korea, or I mean North Vietnam, and helped in the war effort there.
Richard, thanks for telling us about PR-21 and your service.
Thanks for the call this morning.
On the foreign policy challenges facing America today, places where there's been plenty of discussion of what the U.S. presence should be and whether there should be a military presence.
There is this story from the op-ed pages of the Washington Times.
Trump to face a myriad of foreign policy challenges.
Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea threaten the world order is the headline there.
This is the front page of the Wall Street Journal this morning.
Donald Trump seeing deals and deterrence as tactics for a perilous world.
And one more from the pages of the New York Times.
It's the bottom story there.
Trump shouldn't let Putin claim a win in Ukraine, NATO officer says, a senior NATO military official suggesting over the weekend that any peace deal negotiated by President-elect Donald Trump that allows President Vladimir Putin of Russia to claim victory in Ukraine would undermine the interests of the United States.
It's Admiral Rob Bauer, the Dutch chairman of NATO's military committee, saying, if you allow a nation like Russia to win, to come out of this as the victor, then what does it mean for other autocratic states in the world where the U.S. also has interests?
Mr. Trump has said repeatedly that he could end the war in Ukraine in a day.
One settlement outlined by Vice President-elect JD Vance in September echoes what people close to the Kremlin say Mr. Putin wants, allowing Russia to keep the territory it has captured and guaranteeing that NATO will not join, that Ukraine will not join NATO.
A spokesman for Mr. Trump's transitional team said that he was re-elected because the American people, quote, trust him to lead our country and restore peace through strength around the world.
That's from the New York Times today.
Back to your phone calls this morning, asking you, what does Veterans Day mean to you on this Veterans Day?
What are you doing today to observe the holiday?
This is Dave in Auburn, New York, a veteran.
Good morning.
Yeah, good morning, John.
I wasn't going to call today, but I persisted and I got in.
So I did a year in Vietnam, 67 to 68.
I was a draftee.
Didn't even believe in, hadn't even heard of the place before I went.
But anyway, and I've tried to compartmentalize that experience, that longest, shortest year of my life.
There's so much there, but I come away with this.
I owe that.
It was my turn to stand up.
So I went.
And I don't, I regret some of what I had to see, but, and that's such a long story.
I should write a book, but I don't think I got that in me.
But anyway, I'm just sitting here sitting here having a cup of coffee looking at you on the delay.
And I'm glad that people do appreciate our veterans because, and I get calls occasionally, and today I'll get some.
But it's what kind of calls, Dave?
We owe the country.
We owe this country, and you just take your turn, whether right or wrong.
That's what I think.
Dave, what will those calls be like today on Veterans Day?
They'll thank me.
We get a lot of rhetoric.
I attended a meeting here and I'd go to the city council meeting and they get up and they talk about how they appreciate.
You know, I really don't know if they do.
We are appreciated.
Doing things for veterans, I got the real story, man.
I was in a reconnaissance platoon.
I was in the jungle.
That was the real deal.
It wasn't guarding an airstrip somewhere and then coming back home.
And I'm not saying that, Regan, but combat infantry is, that's the guys.
Those are the guys that didn't come back.
I met some of those guys.
I know them.
They're on the wall.
Dave, what could somebody do today to express their appreciation?
What do you think would be something you would want?
Is it one of those calls?
I just got a call from my buddy.
I just get texted over my phone here while I'm waiting.
I would talk to you guys.
But he's going to buy me a roast beef sandwich today.
He's a good guy.
I find it difficult to express.
To share what I did, it's hard to do.
You can't explain it.
You can't.
Can I ask?
Can I ask one more question?
And if you don't want to share, it's fine.
You started by saying the year in Vietnam was the longest, shortest year of your life.
Why was it the longest?
Why was it the shortest?
I remember so much from it.
I don't know.
There's so many unknowns.
You're just there.
And then you get an assignment and you go.
And you don't even have time to think about it.
It's in that long year, my God.
I can remember so much of it.
I mean, personal relationships.
It wasn't all shooting and that.
There was a lot of real human, even across the racial.
I met Vietnamese that I could talk to, get along with.
But I tell you, I tell you, it isn't like a Hollywood movie.
It's different.
It's different.
You can taste it, feel it.
It's in your bones.
It's there forever.
I guess that's all I can say.
Thanks.
Dave, thanks for the call.
Appreciate it.
Earl, writing, California, Vietnam vet.
Good morning, sir.
Hey, God bless C-SPAN.
I'm telling you, I love your coverage of this election.
The only thing I'd like to see is a red map by county instead of by state, because if you did it by county, there'll be no doubt in anybody's mind that this was a mandate.
I'm a volunteer Vietnam veteran.
I volunteered for the Army.
I volunteered for MP school.
I signed up for three years.
I volunteered for a sentry dog handler, and I volunteered for Vietnam.
I spent 10 months in Vietnam.
17, I got out in 71.
Well, right at the end of 71, early 72, actually, to be candid.
I became a sergeant.
I commanded over 100 men and dog teams.
We're one of those people that your last caller was talking about that guarded the base camp.
We guarded the helicopters and the ammo dumps and personnel with the dogs in between the bunkers where other soldiers were doing their sentry work.
It got hairy at times.
We got rocketed continually every month for the whole 10 months.
I remember rockets going over my head.
They said, if you don't hear him, then that's the one that has your name on it.
I'll tell you, when I got, I didn't think about it too much until I got to the end of my 10 months.
About the ninth month, I realized, my God, I might get out of here alive.
And I started, you know, I started imagining that a rocket had my name on it.
You know what I mean?
And so it kind of got freaked out in the last few weeks.
And they actually took me off of the duty and let me just run the club.
We had to build a little club.
I just want to suggest to, I hope somebody from the cabinet of Trump is listening.
We need to give every American two years of service, either volunteer service at home or military service.
And I also think that would work really well with legals.
If President Trump would say first, before we start deporting people, who wants to commit their life for two years or maybe even risk their life for two years?
It's my birthday today, and that makes me a Yankee doodle dandy.
I'm proud to be a, I'm an agent orange vet now.
I was poisoned.
I've had 13, 14 surgeries and procedures, but I don't, I live every day like it's my last.
Earl, how old are you today?
I am 74 today.
I never thought I'd make it every time.
But anyway.
If you could go back and talk to that younger Earl in the last couple weeks of his service in Vietnam, what would you tell him?
God, I don't know.
I think I would tell them what my football coaches used to tell.
You better do your deal.
Do your deal.
Stay in shape.
Get ready.
Because, you know, some of you are going to Vietnam.
And I took that to heart.
And all through all my training, I was like a sniper.
I mean, I was the best shot.
I was the best athlete.
I was the best because, you know, I knew I was going to go to war.
And just the Boy Scouts taught me that.
Be prepared.
I guess that would be my advice.
Be prepared.
Because you never know when your country might need you.
Before you go, Earl, can I ask, you worked with the dogs in Vietnam?
Is there one particular dog you remember?
Yeah.
His name was Powell.
He was my first dog.
I guarded nuclear weapons in Cleveland, Nike bases on Lake Erie with Powell.
He was an excellent dog.
He was a wonderful scent dog.
I mean, he could track you.
Before I went to V, I volunteered for Vietnam out of Cleveland.
Part of it was so cold.
I wanted to get to where it was warmer.
I left Powell with a sheriff's department.
So he had a good home.
They love him.
Carl, thanks for sharing with us this morning out of Reading, California.
Let me go to Michael in Maryland.
Also, that line for veterans.
Good morning.
Hello.
Morning, Michael.
Hey, yeah, I'm a 30-year Navy.
And I just have my biggest complaint is that our veterans, our disabled veterans, they have to rely on charities to get them a home, to give them food, to give them different things that they need.
Our government should pay for them for the rest of their lives.
They give arms, legs.
The ones that were killed, I mean, not much more you can do for them.
But the wounded that lost arms, legs, traumatic brain injuries, they need to be taken care of and not by charities.
They need to be taken care of by our government.
Michael, what's your view of the job that the VA does?
Well, I never really had to do the VA because I retired with 30 years, so I can use private hospitals, which is a benefit that is so important to veterans.
But the VA, I have never been very impressed with them.
Wow.
All the stories that I've heard that they don't provide.
Even people that I've known that were veterans that had to go to the VA, none of them had anything nice to say about them.
Not one thing.
Would it surprise you?
This is again from one of those groups that you're talking about.
It's called Mission Roll Call.
We're going to chat with them later today.
But they surveyed veterans, and one of the questions they asked is, what was the hardest part of your transition from military service?
And the top answer, 30% of them responded with identifying the process of navigating the VA.
That was the hardest part of the transition.
26% said finding a job.
28% pointed to establishing a routine after the military, but 30% saying it was the VA process.
You know, I never really used or interacted with the VA.
But what I did do, the transition from military to civilian life, I was actually impressed with the job that I got right out of the military.
The people were extremely nice.
They were professional.
I couldn't believe how efficient they worked.
What'd you do, Michael?
I ran an emergency center.
I did training for them.
Like emergency responders?
Yes, for chemical spills.
Got it.
And I did explosive ordnance disposal in the military.
Plus, I actually did the same thing that other guy had.
I was a sentry dog handler, and then I went to patrol dog haller and then drug dog handler.
But that was kind of interesting hearing from him because sentry dogs were one of the first dogs.
They had very little control over them, but they were very efficient.
I got the sense that people with dogs remember particular dogs.
Do you remember one, Michael?
Well, yeah, I had one that was, well, I had actually two.
My attack dog was major, and my drug dog was major.
But the one that I really remember was Nemo.
And it was an Air Force dog that was, I think it was at Tonsonud Air Force Base that was attacked.
And when I was going through sentry dog school, he was still alive and he was there.
And he was shot through the face, and I think he was hit in the shoulder.
And they actually, what do you call that?
Taxiderm.
And he's still, I think he's still in Lackland Air Force Base.
But that's the dog I really remember is Nemo because he was very courageous.
Michael, thanks for the call from Maryland.
This is Robert out of Colorado, Trinidad, Colorado.
Good morning.
Hi, John.
How are you?
Doing well, sir.
Good.
I served in the Navy.
I was a Vietnam Air veteran.
That means I wasn't over there.
I didn't, but we trained some spotters off of San Diego submarine spotters that served over in.
But the reason I'm calling is because my dad, he was a bombardier in the Second War.
And he was with General, what was then Colonel Curtis LeMay when he formed the 305th Bomber Group in Salt Lake City back in, I guess it was 42, because he enlisted in January 7th of 42 and got in the service, had to pass the physicals and everything to become a flyboy, and ended up being a bombardier.
He was trained in Burock in California, which is now Edwards Air Force Base.
And then with LeMay, they went across to England in 42 and then flew missions from October 1942 until April 3rd of 43 when he got shot down when they were bombing the Renault plant in Paris that were building tanks for the Germans.
But there were 18 missions he flew on the available Jones flown by a guy by the name of Morris Jones.
And several missions on the Martini and the cocktail kids that made it through the war.
But anyway, on April the 3rd of 43, they had an all-out effort against the Renault plant.
And there was 26 planes, all they had, 26 heavy bombers, B-17s.
And in that pod, or that squadron, I don't know what they call them, but three of the four airplanes were shot down that day.
And it's interesting because most of them died.
There's 18 out of 30 of them that passed away.
My dad was lucky when the two other bombardiers and the other two planes were killed.
There's a navigator that's a good friend he has in prison camp because he got shot down.
He was worried about drowning in the same river because he couldn't swim, so he about tipped the shoot trying to stay out of that.
But anyway, he got in with the French family, and they were supposed to work him back into Spain or Switzerland to get him back to England.
But the French, they turned him over to the Germans because the next morning when he was having breakfast, some limited teams.
Are you on the phone?
Your John?
Yes, sir.
So was he in a prison camp and how long was he in a prison camp?
He was in the prison camp for 30 months.
His billet number is 975.
And he was there.
And there was another guy from Trinidad, Colorado, also in the same camp, which is kind of interesting.
But he was, I think he was a fighter pilot.
But it was, if people want to see what it was like, the good movie to watch is 12 o'clock high, because during the early part of the war, the bombers didn't have escorts.
They had it to the coast, you know, over the channel, maybe.
And then that was it.
Robert kind of on their own.
He got the air metal with three or four clusters, little clusters on it, and he had a purple heart from flak.
But he was really not adversely affected by all that, you know, that happened.
He seemed to have been able to tolerate it.
And I've been in contact with Morris Jones' daughter just recently because there are some groups that try to get together and talk about these things.
Robert, when we did our Coverage from June 6th of this year of the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
A lot was said at the time of the dwindling numbers that were losing so many World War II veterans daily and that we're down to 100,000 living World War II veterans, maybe less in this country right now.
USA Today has a story in today's paper about Robert Bud Sabatte on his 100th birthday party in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.
He served under George Patton, fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
But I wonder your thoughts on what we lose when we lose that population.
I don't know, but those guys were true Americans.
They really were.
And it's interesting about Patton and also veterans, another veteran from World War II.
But Patton, when my dad was liberated, he was installed at Luf 3, but then they moved him back to a campground by the Wehrmark, the Russian, I mean, the German army.
And Patton came in the barracks where he was, and he was taking a shower when that hell happened.
But it was a march.
Patton caught him in the shower?
It was a march from.
Yeah, he had a shower.
The Germans, he got to where he even liked to eat turnips because the Germans, they didn't have that much food and so forth to get to him.
But it's interesting when they marched him back from the Eastern Front because the prison camp style of Luf 3 was by Sagan, Germany, which is now part of Poland in the way they shifted things around after the war.
And he marched him back and he had candy bars and stuff because the great cross packages would come.
They had cigarettes and candy bars and things like that.
And he traded his cigarettes because he didn't smoke for candy bars.
So he had a lot of sugar-type things for energy and so forth.
But when they marched back, it got really cold and it was pretty bad because I guess Timbelow or something like that.
And they're marching west to stay away from the Russians.
And it was an interesting thing.
He was pretty smart because they had him in a large building to spend the night.
But then they would get him up in the morning.
Well, he'd get up the feet, get up early, and then use the latrine because when everybody else got up, it was too crowded.
It was an interesting thing, you know, what took place.
Thanks for telling us about it.
What's his name?
What was his name?
His name was Robert Favik.
And then I want to tell you about another one, too.
There's a 101-year-old veteran that was on D-Day, but D-1, not D plus 2 or something like that.
And he's still alive down in Arizona, the Sierra Vista.
And I asked him, I said, well, what did you do?
He says, well, the door flopped open on the landing craft and I drove the Jeep off.
That's what he did.
And he was in the Battle of the Vulge and so forth.
And he was lucky.
There's lucky guys and there's unlucky guys.
Just like out of those three airplanes that got shot down, there's a crew of 30, four officers and six enlisted men per plane.
And of the 30 people, 13 of them passed away.
They're all families.
Never existed.
I've got several more folks waiting.
Robert, thanks for telling us about him and those experiences.
This is Lynn in Columbia, Maryland.
Thanks for waiting, Lynn.
Our Declaration of Independence refers to these truths we hold to be self-evident.
So I want to remind people this morning of what a self-evident truth is, because some truths are debatable or arguable, but other truths are self-evident.
I know it when I see it.
You know it when you see it.
We both know it when we see it.
I know a controlled demolition when I see one without a doubt.
Do you?
And we're talking about Veterans Day today.
Right.
And anyone who failed to question, anyone who failed to question NORAD on the morning of 9-11.
We'll hold off on the 9-11 conspiracy theories today.
It's Veterans Day.
We want to talk to veterans about their experiences.
This is Neil in Aiken, South Carolina.
Neil, thanks for waiting.
Good morning, John.
I hope that you're well today.
I'd like to let you know that we celebrate Veterans Day all the way back to the Revolutionary War.
I have two great-great-great-grandfathers that served under George Washington during that war.
And they served, one of them was killed, and the other was wounded badly.
And our families have served in the military since the Revolutionary War.
We did miss World War I, but in World War II, my father was a B-7 team crew member, top terrestrial, flight engineer.
He had seven enemy kills when he was flying, shot down on his 17th mission, spent 18 months in a POW camp, Stalag 17B in Krems, Austria.
Going forward to the Korean War, I have two brothers that served during the Korean War, both of them in the Army.
I have a younger brother that served in Vietnam.
He was Marine.
I served in Vietnam.
I was in the Air Force.
I was in Air Force intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance.
What we were doing was surveilling the communications that the North Vietnamese were sending.
We would get their radio signal, go to that signal.
If we wanted to take them out, we'd call in the bombers.
We then would go ahead and continue to communicate because we wanted to track them and see what they were doing.
I have two sons.
I'm sorry.
I have two grandsons that are now in the Marine Corps, a daughter and a grandson.
They both went in together.
They're both serving now.
So our family goes back a long ways.
And I hope that people today will get out and honor our veterans.
There's many of them out there and get out and show your support for them.
Neil, thanks for the call from South Carolina.
18 million living veterans right now.
Neil mentioned his family goes back to the Revolutionary War.
So does Larry's in New Jersey, saying, My five-time great-grandfather fought in the Revolution.
My uncle Ed was in the First World War.
I still have his uniform.
My father was on the carrier Randolph in the Pacific and was hit twice by kamikazes.
Larry says, my heart goes out to anyone that has to serve in war.
A couple other of your text messages this morning.
Scott in California saying, please remember Coast Guard veterans, veterans too.
This is one more from Richard on Facebook.
Veterans Day is a day to stop for a moment and consider the sacrifices the few made for the many.
It also reminds me of the years my family followed my father around the globe for the first 18 years of my existence.
Thanks to Dad for your 30 years of service to this country and to the American people.
Two more.
Justin says, Veterans Day is for someone that wrote a blank check to the people of the United States, payable up to and including their life.
Memorial Day is for those that paid that bill.
And this is Lucy on Facebook saying, it's a day to think about how we can put an end to war because we asked brave men and women to serve and suffer and die for unjust wars, wars that didn't need to happen, but leaders were invested in the machinery of war rather than in diplomacy.
World War II wouldn't fall in the category of unnecessary wars, but every war conflict during my lifetime certainly has been unjust, is what Lucy writes.
Taking your comments this morning as we come up to 8 o'clock at 11 a.m. Eastern today, there's going to be a wreath laying ceremony.
It's at the tomb of the unknown soldier.
That's in Arlington Cemetery.
That's the camera pool shots of where that wreath laying will take place.
It's the president that is expected to participate in that ceremony.
And then a little bit after 11 o'clock, President Biden is expected to give remarks on this Veterans Day.
He's expected to be joined at today's ceremony by Vice President Kamala Harris.
And we will take you there live, let you see it and experience it here on C-SPAN.
Until then, we're going to keep the Washington Journal going.
We're going to take your phone calls.
We've got a few guests lined up for you this morning.
We hope you stay with us until that ceremony begins and beyond that ceremony.
This is Mark in Haines City, Florida.
Good morning.
You're next.
Good morning, sir.
I'm on oxygen, so it's a little hard to talk.
My father was at Pearl Harbor.
He was walking on the ship.
He was credited with the first shot at the Japanese Zeros, and he manned a five-inch five-man gun.
They backed out of Pearl Harbor, fighting their way out.
The captain met him halfway out, and he went to Brisbane to fight as General MacArthur's radio man.
So he fought his way out of Pearl Harbor and he circled the island, sir.
And he went down to meet my brother.
And he fought there after about three years as a radio man E-5.
And fighting there, he was discharged where he had my brother and my sister.
His name was Norman Perry Edison.
And I loved him.
He was the greatest soldier and most, I'm sorry, sailor and hero I've ever had.
I had a brother who served on the many ones, the Constellation, and the Romans off of Vietnam for years.
And I was a, I hunted nuclear submarines, and I can't say much back when I was enlisted in 76, excuse me, 73, 76.
I kept this country.
It was being commissioned, the USS Kincaid DD-965.
We never got commissioned because I got out when I had a son before then.
But I was ready to serve.
I had a top secret clearance.
The captain said one day, would you fire the nuclear weapon?
I said, that's pretty young at 17.
Can I have the day?
And I did.
And the next day, he said, son, if I was called on you to fire the weapon, you can interrupt at any time.
I will.
Will you do it?
I said, yes, sir, I would.
And I was given a top security clearance.
My first class was Lakely.
And my chief was, I don't remember his name now.
Chief Fox, I'm sorry.
I have a pretty much of a photograph memory.
We were protecting the shores off of the Atlantic Pacific until we put up our sonar arrays about 20, 30 miles out so we could listen for nuclear submarines.
Our job was in a passive set and that the ships would run upset.
I can't talk a lot about it.
We had DC-10 Ford turbine engines and variable pitch propeller so we could keep up with the uh the Enterprise.
We were back up to her and uh ready to go.
And we protected and we went to a passive sonar where we learned exactly when a captain, all his maneuvers would do, and we learned how to do it.
It was one of the toughest classes of my life.
I've had some great men in my life like Robbie Toller, who was a Marine out of Vietnam.
I lost him recently.
And I just think Doug was a hero.
He was the ship, so he was on the when the dead, the Japanese planes came in, and he actually saw him a little bit smile, and he took one of them, son of it bitches down.
And that ship was credited for taking down the first one, a destroyer, north of the Arizona and all the battleships.
It was a messy day, and I'll answer any questions from there.
Mark, thanks for telling us about your family and your friends.
That's what we're trying to do today, give folks a chance to talk about what Veterans Day means to them, what they're doing today.
A few more minutes here in this segment, but we're going to be talking about veterans issues all morning long.
So we hope you continue to watch and call in all morning long.
This is Victor out of Texas.
Thanks for waiting.
Yes.
Good morning.
Good morning, sir.
Victor Hugo.
Yeah, Victor Hugo in Texas.
Served in the Air Force 24 years, four years in the military school, and 20 years on active duty, Vietnam, 69, D-Nang, all of I-Corps.
Started my career in Del Rio, Texas.
Learned about my debt license and flew STEM aircraft.
And then they put me into communication and electronics.
Never heard of the word computer, didn't I?
How to spell it.
But then we sent to Vietnam and maintenance responsibility for the first UNIVAC 1050s that were deployed at each base to handle the resistance responsibilities.
Also, had responsibility for all radio and radar and telephone in I-Corps, the northernmost sector of Vietnam, all the way up from the Nang Air Base to Dong Ha, right on the DMZ, an underground base for reboot.
The only thing above ground were my antennas that were full of holes shot in by the Viet Cong.
And I want to wish a happy birthday to that young man who called in about four or five persons ago who served before today.
It's a very distinguished birthday to have one today.
Mine comes up on 7 December.
I'll be 84 on that date.
What was it like growing up being born on December 7th?
What was it like?
Very interesting.
My dad was in the Navy, gone most of the time.
All my uncles were in the Navy, the Marine Corps, and everything.
Had an uncle that served as a naval aide to General Bart Clark.
Did you later became December 7th was it?
What did they think about having you born on December 7th as a Navy family?
Well, it was kind of a feather in my dad's hat that he planned it.
You know, I didn't know.
I was born a year before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, but at that, you know, when I was born, they should have known something was going to happen on that date.
Victor.
And I want to also mention, you know, President Trump, yeah, President Trump has a birthday on 14 June, Flag Day.
So he also has a very distinguished birthday.
You know, not too many people born on these special days.
You know, it's unfortunate that today, 11 November, falls 364 days short in recognizing the veterans.
Even to some degree, the Veterans Administration or whatever they're called today.
You know, you have to prove everything to them.
There are no records in some cases.
In Vietnam, what happened to the record, who knows?
In Berlin, I was stationed in there, also considered a war zone because it was an occupied city.
Four years I spent there, records just disappear.
You can't prove anything.
You know, there's no records as well.
There's no record that didn't happen.
Victor, stick around.
We're going to talk more about the VA and some of the issues that you bring up.
Let me just try to get one more caller in before we head to break.