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Nov. 12, 2025 02:59-03:28 - CSPAN

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Washington Journal John Monsky

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pedro echevarria

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pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		On this Veterans Day, several segments throughout the program taking a look at veterans, one more taking a look at the history of how we recognize veterans.
		John Monski, the historian, creator, writer of American History Unbound.
		He's also behind the PBS American Heart in World War I, a Carnegie Hall tribute.
		Mr. Monski, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
unidentified		Thanks for having me on.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		A little bit about America History Unbound.
		What is it?
		And particularly, how do you take a look at things like veterans issues and how they've served over the years?
unidentified		It's really core to what we do.
		I do a series of productions at Carnegie Hall once a year.
		The current one, which you'll see tonight on PBS, brings you to World War I, but it's really the story of Veterans Day.
		The arc of the story brings you to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the largest battle in American history.
		And out of that comes Armistice Day and Veterans Day.
		And there's these four riveting veterans that you hear about in the story, particularly James Reese Europe, who led the Harlem Hellfighters, Charles Whittlesey, who led a battalion of immigrants from New York City.
		He was from Wisconsin and Massachusetts, surrounded in the Argonne Forest.
		And that wonderful figure, 19-year-old Quentin Roosevelt, who gives his life as an airplane pilot fighting for this country, for freedom, and everything that mattered at this pivotal moment in our history when America became a world power.
		But this, when it comes together and you see all this in Carnegie Hall, we have a 70-piece orchestra, amazing pictures from the National Archives, five Broadway singers.
		I narrate the story humbly because it's such an incredible story of these figures.
		And you see our veterans up close through their stories.
		And along the way, we pick up Harry Truman and Patton and MacArthur.
		They were all there.
		They had to go back and fight the war again in World War II, but they were all there in World War I.
		And this story I call emotional history because we wind into it the music from that period, some of which you've heard like over there, and some of it which you haven't heard, like the music that the soldiers sang in the trenches, I'll never tell them, meaning I'll never be able to talk about the war.
		And there are songs that have been lost to history, but they all come together.
		The highlight of the show, though, is, well, there's a lot of highlight music, but you're going to see Diego Rodriguez, great Broadway star, do God bless America, like a way you've never seen it sung before.
		It's beautiful.
		And then the last thing I would just mention, full tribute to our veterans.
		The end, we come to a long, long trail, and we have this incredible footage that I didn't even know existed of essentially the First Veterans Day, 1921, when they take the unknown soldier from the Capitol Rotunda and march to Arlington Cemetery.
		And you watch that footage, it'll tear your heart out.
		You see the Army, you see the Navy, you see Congress, you see the Supreme Court, but in the middle of it all, you see the Gold Star Mothers.
		And it just, it just rips your heart out to watch that.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		Again, our guest is going to be with us to talk about the special how we memorialize Veterans Day and how we recognize it.
		202-748-8000 for Democrats, 202748-8001 for Republicans, and Independents, 202-748-8002 for those former and active military.
		Call us at 202-748-8003 if you have questions.
		Mr. Monski, of the four soldiers that you highlight, is there something in each of them that kind of drew them together for you?
unidentified		A lot.
		There's historical overlap.
		James Reese Europe, who led the Harlem Hellfighters, is in the trenches.
		And right alongside with them in the Argonne Forest is Charles Whittlesey, and he gets surrounded in the lost battalion.
		And Quentin Roosevelt is right around the corner.
		But there's another through line, and I think this is really important.
		Fitzgerald, F. Scott Fitzgerald, wrote about America, and he said, France was a land, England was a people, but America being the quality of an idea was still harder to utter.
		It was a willingness of the heart.
		And in the story that you're going to see tonight of Charles Whittlesey leading these men surrounded in the Argonne Forest, you feel that willingness of the heart.
		You see the same thing with James Reese Europe as he leads this jazz band, but then is also in the trenches.
		He brings jazz to Europe and then Quentin.
		And there's a wonderful love story in here, too, between Quentin Roosevelt and Flora Payne Whitney.
		And that willingness of the heart comes through all the way.
		And I hope the audiences see this in a bipartisan way because there is this common thread, not just this fight for democracy, but this common thread, I think, in all Americans, whether you're on the left or the right, this willingness to do better and bring better to the world.
		So that's a thread that came through.
		It takes me a couple of years to write these productions, and I focus on the people and their stories, but that thread came out.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		Let's show our folks at home a little bit of this.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		This is an excerpt from tonight's performance, American Heart in World War I, a Carnegie Hall tribute.
unidentified		Over there, send the word, send the word over there.
		The drums run, so prepare.
		The first United States troops arrive in Paris on July 3rd and have a parade on the 4th.
		With thousands of Parisians cheering them on, an American battalion marches to the tomb of Lafayette and declares, Lafayette, we are here.
		Tonight, on this stage, we have two flags carried by the 1st Division, 16th Infantry, 2nd Battalion of the United States Army in Paris.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		Just a little bit from what you'll see tonight.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		Mr. Monski put that in perspective, the song and how it fits into the overall picture.
unidentified		First of all, I'd like to tell you that those flags were framed, but before they were framed, I brought them back to Paris one last time.
		My son and I went to Paris and we found, and it's not easy to find, but in Paris you will find the tomb of Lafayette.
		A lot of the images are the same.
		We found this incredible footage of that parade.
		And there was a flagpole there where Lafayette's grave is.
		And I raised the flag on that pole.
		Very moving.
		And I felt something to be done.
		I don't know how many French laws I broke by putting that flag up, but nobody was paying any attention.
		And we went into the trenches, and you can go to those trenches still.
		You know, at Omaha Beach, we have 10,000 Americans buried.
		The Mews are gone.
		There's 14,000.
		And that cemetery will bring you to your knees as well.
		So all of this is capturing a moment that our veterans did for our country.
		This is when we became a world power.
		But I would emphasize this.
		At the end of World War I, the United States did not take one ounce of territory.
		All it took was leases for nine cemeteries.
		And if you've never been there, watch the film tonight.
		You'll see some incredible pictures of those cemeteries.
		And you'll hear the story of Whittlesey and James Free Shirup and Hunton Roosevelt and what these veterans did over there, as the song describes.
		Great song.
		George M. Cohan wrote it on the way to work.
		He went home and acted it out for his kids with a tin pan on his head and a broom for a gun, scared the heck out of the kids, but it became one of the great songs of the United States history.
		And you're going to hear some other songs that we don't always hear.
		A lot of Irving Berlin.
		I hate to get up in the morning and send a jazz band over there.
		But when you get to the end, when we get to the tomb of the unknown soldier and they do a long, long trail, I think your heart will flutter in memory of our veterans.
		And this piece is really to honor them.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
unidentified		And there's another piece streaming on PBS.org about World War II and the story of Hemingway and World War II and our veterans.
		So together, they're a set.
		But today's, you know, the day, very special day for me.
		My father served in the Air Force.
		My great uncle received a Silver Star in World War I. My father's sort of brother, first cousin, served under Patton.
		And your audience is listening today, they all have family that are connected to service to this country.
		And I hope this piece honors them.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		Many in the audience want to ask you questions as well about it.
		Electa in Indiana, Democrats line, you're on with John Monski.
		Good morning.
		Go ahead.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I want to say that my uncle John was a B-17 pilot, European theater.
		My Uncle Franklin was in the Pacific Theater, captured by the Japanese.
		And my mother was a nurse corps.
		My dad was in the Navy in the Pacific Theater.
		Uncle John didn't make it home.
		Uncle Franklin did make it home.
		So we have, our family has served the United States well.
		And Uncle John and Uncle Franklin were in the Army Air Corps before it was Air Force.
		Thank you for having this program.
		Thank you very much.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		That's Electa in Indiana.
unidentified		Thank you for sharing that.
		And when I go around the country, I do these, what you're seeing tonight is a gorgeous film footage.
		And it has its own special magic.
		But when I go around the country doing this, I've done Jacksonville, New Orleans, I hear from families like yours, and it makes me so proud to be an American.
		I brought something for your viewers.
		Today, it's because it's Veterans Day.
		This is my great uncle's Silver Star, and I thought I'd share that, carry it to honor him on Veterans Day.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		Tell us a little bit about him.
unidentified		Well, when I started to make this production, I didn't want to make it about me or my family, and it's not.
		It's about Whittlesey and James Reesher and Quentin Roosevelt.
		But when I went to a hill in France, where Quentin Roosevelt's plane crashed, it's a muddy hill.
		You slog up through the mud.
		Nobody really goes there anymore, but there's a marker for where he crashed.
		And it's very moving, because I know that Eleanor, that his mother came there right after the war, kneeled down in the mud and said the Lord's Prayer.
		This was where her son died.
		She got there in 1919.
		But as I went down the bottom of the hill, I realized my great uncle was there right around the corner.
		It was as if he found me.
		I wasn't looking for him.
		He was in the 42nd Division, the Rainbow Division, and he took charge on that field.
		And I was standing there with my son, you know, 100 years later, and there I'm standing in that spot.
		I wasn't even looking for it.
		And that was the Work River and the Croix Farm.
		The Americans took incredible losses there.
		And I went back through the papers and looked, and this is in the show, but one of the officers there wrote what that battlefield looked like at the end of the day.
		And he described the blood red sun as it was setting and bathing this field in a rich glow.
		And he said it was like a Remington painting.
		And then he said, pitifully strewn about in attitudes of supplication, some pitched forward, some on their faces, some crumpling to their knees as if trying to rise, some still in repose, as if asleep, lifeless fingers clutching lifeless cigarettes.
		And that said it all.
		That was the battlefield my great uncle saw, saw, saw, and that's why he never talked about the war.
		He saw too much.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		Let's go to Robert.
		Robert is a former military Connecticut.
		You're on with our guests.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Yeah, my name is Robert.
		I served a year and a half in Vietnam as a Marine.
		I have a purple heart.
		My uncle is in the Battle of the Bulls, took a bullet in the helmet.
		My mother said he came home for the war, went upstairs for six months, probably never came out.
		So, I guess, John, what I would like to emphasize is the psychological impact of war on veterans.
		And my other question would be: do you really think our country, especially young people, know what it needs to be a veteran?
		Thank you, Robert.
		I'm glad you asked both those things.
		So, in this production, and I don't want to spoil it for you because, or spoil it's the wrong word, reveal it for you.
		But you're going to follow what happens to exactly to your point on the psychological damage, PTSD, all of these things that we've only come recently to recognize.
		And the story of Charles Whittlesey at the end of this will, I think, resonate with you and your point.
		Charles Whittlesey today would be known as one of our greatest war heroes.
		In fact, he was at the time.
		Fitzgerald modeled Gatsby after him.
		And the great Gatsby, I use that as a way to introduce people to World War I.
		It's woven throughout this production.
		I think, you know, Gatsby is a great love story.
		It's a great jazz story.
		It's also a story based on World War I.
		And you have to know the history of World War I to see that.
		And I think after people watch this show, they'll read Gatsby differently.
		So that was that your point there is incredibly powerful and meaningful.
		And that's part of what is in this production.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		From Queen's New York, Democrats Line, John.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		Hello, you're on with our guest, John Monski.
unidentified		Hi, John.
		I'm a retired history teacher, and World War I is, you know, so many people don't know really a lot about World War I.
		So this could be a good introduction for many of them.
		I'm just wondering, you know, you had a clip with Over There, which was a song I would play to my students and we would discuss.
		But it was also in context of the song called I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier, which was a song, which was the most popular song in America in 1915.
		And then it was overtaken by Over There, which is a very catchy tune, you know, meant by to promote the war.
		George Creel was, you know, the propaganda.
		Do you have anything in the show to show?
		I mean, Michael Kazin's book, The War Against the War, really documents also, there was a lot of opposition to this war.
		And I know it's, you know, Veterans Day and we're thanking our veterans, but do you have any of that involved in this show?
		Okay.
		Look, that's a really important song, and it came back again after the war because people, the devastation and destruction, and many Americans wanted, you know, the war to end all wars.
		And that's an incredibly important song.
		We go right into the war, and a lot of it comes from the soldiers themselves.
		This is Veterans Day, after all.
		So there were songs that a lot of people are completely lost to history that they sang in ironic ways.
		You know, I'll Never Tell Them is one that is really all about I'll never be able to talk about it.
		And that's in the show, what happened, and a whole series of songs along that line, Here Comes a Whiz Bang.
		And these were sung by the soldiers.
		There's one song, very famous, you know, pack up your troubles in your old kit bag, completely ironic, and you know, smile, smile, smile.
		So I think you're right on.
		That's an important undercurrent of this about loss.
		And if we're going to commit ourselves to an action, let's make sure before we put our veterans in harm's way, we know what we're doing.
		But those songs, we tease out these songs of great irony, as well as the more patriotic songs like Over There and Follow On.
		So there they are.
		And I think your point is right on, and you're going to hear some that you haven't heard, and you'll really appreciate.
		We found over 10,000 songs flooding into the National Archives of the Library of Congress, where you got a copyright in 1917.
		We forget there's no TikTok, there's no internet, there's no TV.
		There were pianos in people's homes, and they expressed themselves about what they were thinking and told the world about what they were thinking by writing the sheet music, 10,000 songs, and we mined those to find the heart of America in this production.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		Mr. Bonski, because you take a look at a historical aspect, how do you think the United States has done over the years in remembering Veterans Day?
unidentified		What's changed about how we recognize it?
		Well, it started, look, it came from a lot of people talk about the United States and the government doing this.
		My perspective on the history is it came from us.
		1919, Armistice Day, everybody was out there remembering it.
		And the government came to the people that were remembering it.
		1921, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where we have this footage, and Charles Whittlesey, now a Medal of Honor winner, shows up there.
		Again, I don't want to reveal the whole story of Charles Whittlesey.
		It's incredibly meaningful what happens to him and what happens at that ceremony.
		That's a national holiday.
		We finally become an official national holiday Armistice Day around 38, and then 54 after the Korean War, it becomes Veterans Day.
		So I think we as a people have done a great job.
		And the government followed us with making these national holidays.
		And I'm proud of the fact that the country remembers its veterans and the government follows us along with that.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		Let's hear from Donald.
		Donald joins us from Honolulu, Independent Line.
		Hello.
unidentified		Yes, good morning.
		Thank you for taking my call.
		John, I'm a son of the 442nd Regiment Combat Team, the Audise Japanese soldiers.
		My dad was a tech sergeant 3 3rd Battalion M Company.
		He did the motors.
		He went to World War II.
		He fought in Italy.
		He fought in France, got injured, and he was taking care of German soldiers.
		And then it was a very horrific battle, but he was a lucky one, came back.
		But I was able to go 2002 on a tour with the veterans of the 100th Battalion and 447 Regiment Combat Team.
		Actually, I got the veterans there to talk about their stories better than a book.
		But I just want to let you know that when my dad came back, he started his family.
		I was born and everything.
		And he was at a reunion in 2000.
		And unfortunately, when he was in the parking lot with his friend, he got run over by a fellow veteran and passed away.
		And we forgave the veteran because it was an accident.
		And he's buried in the state cemetery in Kanioya of Hawaii, Honolulu.
		And I always go to his grave and pay tribute to him because it was a different type of war then because they were segregated as a Japanese soldier.
		But thank you for allowing me to speak.
		And I look forward to your documentary today.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		Donald and Hololu.
unidentified		Yeah, and we do pick up on PBS.org, the production Eyes of the World, Italy, as well as France.
		And I really thank you for sharing that because every time I hear another one of these stories, it kind of galvanizes my work as a historian because this is not dry.
		This is emotional history, and all of us share it.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		And I imagine that emotional history helps shape the final product.
unidentified		Absolutely.
		Something different happens when you put an 80-piece orchestra on stage with the singers.
		We don't use a screen drop down over the orchestra.
		There's hundreds of photographs and films that appear on the wall behind the orchestra.
		So it's like the orchestra is sitting on the stage.
		On this production, some of the flags drop from the balcony.
		There's a chorus there.
		It's the only way I feel like we can fully capture the emotion of the moment.
		And I hope your viewers see that.
		It weaves together.
		There are also things that happen, even when we're rehearsing, that drive the emotion.
		The conductor, Ian Weinberger, who conducted Hamilton for 10 years now doing chess on Broadway, we're working on this piece for the World War II production.
		It turns out his grandfather lost his leg in the Hurricane Forest, and we're writing a piece about the Hurricane Forest.
		The same thing with World War I.
		The music that came out through the creative process just became riveting.
		The final, a long, long trail, it just comes together in ways that you wouldn't expect.
		So it is emotional history.
		And even when I'm on stage and it finally comes together, because we have to build this, it's like a Saturn V rocket.
		You've got to build it in pieces.
		And then we finally get it on stage in Carnegie Hall.
		And it's like, wow, is this happening?
		I feel it.
		I feel like I'm right back there in the muse are gone.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		Mr. Monski, we have about a minute or so.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		Tell us a little bit about the platforms where people can find it.
unidentified		So this is all a nonprofit activity.
		It's at PBS.org for the World War II production, the World War I will be on tonight.
		Check your local listings.
		East Coast starting around 8 o'clock.
		I have been totally lifted.
		The reason this is able to be on PBS, it's enormously expensive to put this on in Carnegie Hall and film it.
		But there are people from all over the country that have come out to support us, AmericanHistoryUndown.com.
		And we've been very lucky.
		People like Ken Griffin, who's supported many American history events, and people from friends and family, and people I don't even know.
		And as long as I can, I want to keep telling this story about our veterans, about Veterans Day, and our country, and that theme that matters so much to me, a willingness of the heart.
		And on April 8th, we'll be back at Carnegie Hall with a live production about Neil Armstrong and the landing on the moon.
		So I look forward to more and thank you so much for having me on this show.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		The John Monski of American History Unbound, also the PBS program American Heart and World War I, a Carnegie Hall tribute.
pedro echevarria ▲ ● ▼		Mr. Monski, thanks for your time.
unidentified		Thank you.
		Thanks for having me.
		C-SPAN's Washington Journal, a live forum inviting you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics, and public policy from Washington, D.C. and across the country.
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		And then Ovik Roy, co-founder and chair of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity on healthcare reform and bipartisan solutions for addressing the enhanced ACA subsidies, expiring at the end of the year.
		Also, Adam Jendelson, Democratic strategist and former top aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, discusses shutdown politics and the future of the Democratic Party.

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