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World War II Memorial Dedication on the National Mall
Aired May 29, 2004 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FMR. SENATOR BOB DOLE, INSTRUMENTAL IN RAISING FUNDS: Together in the course of a common threat 60 years ago, so today's Americans united to build this memorial. Small children held their grandfather's hand while dropping pennies in a collection box. Entire families contribute in memory of loved ones who could win every battle except the battle against time. I think of my brother Kenny and my brother's Larry Nelson and Allen Steel, just three among the millions of ghost in navy blue and olive grab we honor with this memorial.
Of course, not every warrior wore a uniform. As it happens today, is the 101st birthday of Bob Hope, the GI's favorite entertainer who did more to boost our morale than anyone next to Betty Grable (ph). And I can already hear Bob, but I was next to Betty Grable, and it's hard to believe but today is also is the 87th birthday of John F. Kennedy, a hero of the south pacific who a generation after the surrender documents were signed aboard the USS Missouri spoke of a new generation of Americans tempered by war that was never less willing to pay any price, to bear any burden, to meet any hardships, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.
And we shall always honor the memory of our great leader and our American hero, General Eisenhower who led us to victory all across the world. [ applause ]
As we meet here today, young Americans are risking their lives in liberty's defense. They are the latest link in a chain of sacrifice older than America itself. After all, if we meet the test of our times, it was because we drew inspiration from those who had gone before, including the giants of history who are enshrined on this mall, from Washington who fathered America with his sword and with an oblib (ph) with his character, from Jefferson who is pen gave eloquent voice to our noblest aspirations, from Lincoln who pressured the union and struck the chains from our countrymen and from Franklin Roosevelt who presided over a global coalition to rescue humanity from those who had put the soul itself in bondage.
Each of these presidents was a soldier of freedom. And if defining an event of the 20th century, their cause became our cause. On distant fields and fathomless oceans, the skies over half the planet and in 10,000 communities on the home front, we did far more than avenge Pearl Harbor. The citizen soldiers who answered liberty's call fought not for territory, but for justice, not for plunder, but to liberate enslaved peoples around the world.
In contending for democracy abroad, we learned painful lessons about our own democracy. For us, the Second World War was in effect a second American revolution. The war invited women into the workforce. It exposed the un justice on African Americans, Hispanics and Japanese Americans and others who demonstrated yet again that war is equal opportunity employer.
What we learned in foreign fields of battle we applied in post- war America. As a result, our democracy, though imperfect is more nearly perfect than in the days of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. That's what makes America forever a work in progress. A land that has never become but is always in the act of becoming. And that's why the armies of democracy have earned a permanent place on this sacred ground.
It is only fitting when this memorial was opened to the public about a month ago the very first visitors were school children. For them, our war is ancient history and those who fought it are slightly ancient themselves. Yet, in the end, they are the ones for whom we built this shrine and to whom we now hand the baton in the unending relay of humidity possibility. Certainly the heroes represented by the 4,000 gold stars on the freedom wall need no monument to commemorate their sacrifice.
They are known to God and to their fellow soldiers who will mourn their passing and until the day of our own. In their names, we dedicate this place of meditation. And it is in their memory that I ask you to stand, if possible, and join me in a moment of silent tribute to remind us all that at sometime in our life, we have or may be called upon to make a sacrifice for our country to preserve liberty and freedom.
(Silence)
DOLE: God bless America.
(Applause)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States.
(Applause)
GEN. P. X. KELLEY, FMR. JOINT CHIEFS: Mr. President, it is my distinct honor on behalf of the American Battle Monuments Commission to present to you and the American people the National World War II Memorial. Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States, our commander in chief, George W. Bush.
(Applause)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: Thank you all very much. I'm honored to join with President Clinton, President Bush, Senator Dole, and other distinguished guests on this day of remembrance and celebration. And General Kelley, here in the company of the generation that won the war, I proudly accept the World War II Memorial on behalf of the people of the United States of America.
Raising up this memorial took skill and vision and patience. Now, the work is done. And it is a fitting tribute, open and expansive, like America grand and enduring like the achievements we honor. The years of World War II were a hard, heroic, and gallant time in the life of our country when it mattered most, an entire generation of Americans showed the finest qualities of our nation and of humanity. On this day in their honor, we will raise the American flag over a monument that will stand as long as America itself.
In the history books, the Second World War can appear as a series of crises. And conflicts, following an inevitable course from Pearl Harbor to the coast of Normandy to the deck of the Missouri. Yet, on the day the war began, and on many hard days that followed, the outcome was far from certain. There was a time in the years before the war when many earnest and educated people believed that democracy was finished. Man who considered themselves learned and civilized came to believe that free institutions must give way to the severe doctrines and stern discipline of a regimented society.
Ideas first whispered in the secret councils of a remote empire or shouted in the beer halls of Munich became mass movements, and those movements became armies. And those armies moved mercilessly forward. And until the world saw Hitler strutting in Paris. And U.S. Navy ships burning in their own port. Across the world, from a hiding place in Holland to prison camps of Lieu San, the captives awaited their liberators. Those liberators would come, but the enterprise would require the commitment and effort of our entire nation.
As World War II began, after a decade of economic depression, the United States was not a rich country. Far from being a great power, we had only the 17th largest army in the world. To fight and win on two fronts, Americans had to work and save and ration and sacrifice as never before. War production plants operated shifts around the clock. Across the country, families planted victory gardens, 20 million of them. Producing 40 percent of the nation's vegetables in backyards and on rooftops.
Two out of every three citizens put money into war bonds. As Colonel Ovita Culp Hobby (ph) said this was a people's war, and everyone was in it. As life change the in America, so did the way that Americans saw our own country and its place in the world. The bombs at Pearl Harbor destroyed the very idea that America could live in isolation from the plots of aggressive powers. The scenes of the concentration camps, the heaps of bodies and ghostly survivors confirmed forever America's calling to oppose the ideologies of death.
As we defended our ideals, we began to see that America is stronger when those ideals are fully implemented. America gained strength because women labored for victory in factory jobs. Cared for the wounded, and wore the uniform themselves. America gained strength because African Americans and Japanese Americans and others fought for their country, which wasn't always fair to them. In time, these contributions became expectations of equality. And the advances for justice in post-war America made us a better country.
With all our flaws, Americans at that time had never been more united. And together, we began and completed the largest single task in our history. The height of conflict, America would have ships on every ocean and armies on five continents. And on the most crucial of days, would move the equivalent of a major city across the English Channel. And all these vast movements of men and armor were directed by one man who could not walk on his own strength. President Roosevelt brought his own advantages to the job.
His resolve was stronger than the will of any dictator. His belief in democracy was absolute. He possessed a daring that kept the enemy guessing. He spoke to Americans with an optimism that lightened their task. And one of the saddest days of the war came just as it was ending when the casualty notice in the morning paper began with the name Franklin D. Roosevelt, commander in chief. Across the years, we still know his voice. And from his words, we know that he understood the character of the American people. Dictators and their generals had dismissed Americans as no match for a master race.
F.D.R. answered them. In one of his radio addresses, he said, we have been described as a nation of weaklings, playboys. Let them tell that to General Macarthur and his men. Let them tell that to the boys in the flying fortresses, let them tell that to the marines. In all, more than 16 million Americans would put on the uniform of the soldier, the sailor, the airman, and the marine. The Coast Guardsman, or the merchant mariner. They came from city streets and prairie towns, from public high schools and West Point.
They were a modest bunch and still are. The ranks were filled with men like Army Private Joe Siccoto (ph), and in heavy fighting in France he saw a good friend killed and charged up a hill, determined to shoot the ones who did it. Private Siccoto (ph) ran straight into enemy fire, killing 12. Wounding two, capturing four, and inspiring his whole unit to take the hill and destroy the enemy.
(Applause)
BUSH: Looking back on it, 55 years later, Joe Siccoto said, I'm not a hero. Nowadays they call what I did road rage. This man's conduct that day gained him the Medal of Honor. One of 464 awarded for actions in World War II. Americans in uniform served bravely, fought fiercely, and kept their honor, even under the worst of conditions. If they were not warriors by nature, all they wanted was to finish the job. And make it home.
One soldier in the 58th Armor Field Artillery was known to have the best-kept rifle in the unit. He told his buddies he had plans for that weapon after the war. He said I want to take it home. Cover it in salt, hang it on the wall in my living room so I can watch it rust. These were the modest sons of a peaceful country and millions of us are very proud to call them dad. They gave the best years of their lives to the greatest mission their country ever accepted.
They faced the most extreme danger, which took some and spared others. For reasons only known to God. And wherever they advanced or touched ground, they are remembered for their goodness and their decency. A polish man recalls being marched through the German countryside in the last weeks of the war when American forces suddenly appeared. He said, our two guards ran away. And this soldier with little blond hair jumps off his tank. You're free, he shouts at us. We started hugging each other. Crying and screaming, God sent angels down to pick us up out of this hell place.
Well, our boys weren't exactly angels. They were flesh and blood with all the limits and fears of flesh and blood. That only makes the achievement more remarkable. The courage they showed in a conflict that claimed more than 400,000 American lives, leaving so many orphans and widows and gold star mothers. The great Ernie Pyle best told the soldier's story. Who shared their lives and died among them. In his book "Here's Your War," he described World War II as many veterans now remember it.
There's a picture he wrote of tired and dirty soldiers who are alive and don't want to die. Of long darkened convoys in the middle of the night, of shocked silent men wandering back down the hill from battle. Of jeeps and petrol dumps and smelly bedding rolls and c rations. And blown bridges and dead mules and hospital tents and shirt collars greasy black from months of wearing. And of laughter too. And anger and wine and lovely flowers and constant cussing. All these it is composed of and of graves and graves and graves.
On this Memorial Day weekend, the graves will be visited and decorated with flowers and flags. Men who step have slowed or thinking of boys they knew when they were boys together. And women who watched the train leave and the year's pass can still see the handsome face of their young sweetheart. America will not forget them either. At this place, at this memorial, we acknowledge a debt of long-standing to an entire generation of Americans, those who died, those who fought and worked and grieved and went on. They saved our country. And thereby saved the liberty of mankind. And now I ask every man and woman who saw and lived World War II, every member of that generation to please rise as you are able and receive the thanks of our great nation. May God bless you.
(Applause)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the presentation of colors and the National Anthem sung by star of the metropolitan and Washington operas, Denise Graves.
DENISE GRAVES: O say can you see by the dawn's early light. What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming. And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air. Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there o say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
(Applause)
GRAVES: While the storm clouds gather, far across the sea. Let us swear our allegiance, to a land that's free. Let us all be grateful, for a land so fair as we raise our voices in a solemn prayer. God bless America land that I love. Stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light from above from the mountains to the prairies to the oceans white with foam. God bless America my home sweet home.
(SINGING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please welcome the Chaplain of the United States Senate, Dr. Barry Black.
BARRY BLACK, U.S. SENATE CHAPLAIN: Let us bow for the benediction. Eternal spirit, your fatefulness endures through all generations. We praise you for the more than 16 million Americans who served and sacrificed during World War II. And for this memorial to their courage. Remind us that true peace is not the absence of war, but the experience of being in your presence. Forgive the selfish desires of our human family that war against the spirit and lead us to violence. As we live on this fragile planet, empower us to plant seeds of peace that will bring a harvest of justice. Make us pure, kind, sensible, and sincere and hasten the day when the prophecy of Isaiah will be fulfilled. We will beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks and study war no more. Now the God of peace be with us all, Amen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My fellow Americans, that concludes the formal dedication of your World War II Memorial. Thank you, thank you, thank you for joining us for this historic event. The memorial will open this evening at 7:00 for visitation, but thank you, and God bless this great country.
ZAHN: And what a stunning ceremony it was, lasting a little over an hour and 20 minutes.
I'm Paula Zahn. I'm joined here by Senator McGovern and Tony Hillerman as we watch this dedication ceremony come to a close. You all may have waited a long time, some 17 years as 175 million was raised to build this.
What's your reaction to how you were feted here today?
GEORGE MCGOVERN (D), FORMER U.S. SENATOR: It's been a perfect week, as far as I'm concerned, and especially this day of dedication. I don't know how it could have been planned more effectively and carried out here today. It will be a day I'll remember the rest of my life.
ZAHN: Tony, it couldn't be any more fitting as we talk here under the strains of "Fanfare for the Common Man" written in 1943 by Aaron Copland. Should we talk about all the men and women gathered here today and their heroic efforts to make this country safe.
TONY HILLERMAN, AUTHOR: I'm thinking, enjoying the sentiment in that closing speech and watching Presidents Bush and President Clinton shaking hands and smiling at one another. And enjoying that, right?
ZAHN: There was a point in the ceremony that the audience could see where the two of them were quite chatty and we were all wondering what they were talking about.
MCGOVERN: You know, it's interesting that this has been a bipartisan effort from beginning to today's activities. I was pleased that President Bush singled out for special praise President Franklin Roosevelt, our commander in chief in World War II, and then the late John Kennedy Who died all too soon. But I thought that was the perfect nonpartisan touch to the program.
ZAHN: It was also too a reference to President Clinton under whose watch the idea for this monument came about.
MCGOVERN: A nice reference to president Clinton. I didn't mean to overlook him, and I was glad to see him on the platform today.
ZAHN: The audience today might be surprised to learn how close you and Senator Dole are when you talk about by partisanship and how those kind of friendships develop even though the two of you could be on completely opposite sides of the aisle.
MCGOVERN: We came together around the issue of feeding hungry kids. I was the chairman of a committee that looked into that, and Senator Dole was the ranking Republican. And we carry out a whole fundamental change in food assistance in America that reached millions of people who heretofore had been overlooked, and now we're working on an international school lunch program.
ZAHN: We're going to head out to Jamie McIntyre, our senior Pentagon correspondent, who's had the pleasure of spending time with veterans here this afternoon.
What has been their reaction to this beautiful ceremony?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Paula, I have to say that there was a moment when those flags started waving during the singing of "God Bless America" first a few, then a real chill went through the crowd. I've been talking to a lot of veterans here today. With me right now is platoon Sergeant Carl Kelker. Sergeant Kelker, you landed on D-Day nine days after the initial invasion. And you had a very sacred duty. You were...
CARL KELKER, U.S. ARMY (RET): I did have a very sacred duty. It was a duty that you took, it with hardness and sadness. We had the unfortunate duty of burying the dead that were buried during the invasion. Establishing cemetery on the bluffs above Omaha Beach.
MCINTYRE: How does it feel to be here today almost 60 years later and experience this.
KELKER: This is the most glorious day in our life. I'm happy that the American people remembered. I'm happy to be here and honored to be here as a World War II veteran. My eternal thanks for all the people who established this beautiful monument for all of the veterans of World War II. My only regret is that we have some people that cannot be here to see it. I know if they could see this monument, they would be appreciative and stick their chest out with pride just like I am to see this. It is a great day for all-Americans.
Also with us is Lieutenant Colonel, retired Samuel Lombardo. I understand you carried the first American across the...
SAMUEL LOMBARDO, LT. COL., U.S. ARMY (RET.): I carried the flag after the battle of the bulge, I got so homesick for a flag to raise our morale up. For 30 days, I didn't see the American flag and you can't believe what it is not to see the stars and stripes for 30 days.
MCINTYRE: How are you feeling today?
LOMBARDO: Emotional. It's a great day for all of us, but mostly for the children so they can come back here and see what America is about and what we did to save the country and the future of America because it's in their hands now. But it was a great day for all of us.
MCINTYRE: We salute you. Thank you.
LOMBARDO: Thank you.
MCINTYRE: Paula, back to you. And that sentiment expressed by a lot of people here. You know, there were 16 million Americans who fought in the war. Fewer than 5 million are still alive today. And of course, thousands of them were here on the mall for their day -- their moment in the sun -- Paula.
ZAHN: It's a wonderful legacy for us all to honor. I guess as I've sat with you two, Senator McGovern, Tony Hillerman, I've been so struck with the way the crowd has reacted to all this great American music. I don't know that I've ever seen a crowd touched in such a deep way as I've seen here this afternoon.
MCGOVERN: We have these marvelous military bands, the navy band, the Marine band, the army bands. They're all great. And when they play those stirring songs, even at my advanced age, I'm ready to get up and march.
ZAHN: There is one thing that particularly struck me about President Bush's speech, and I know it has resonance with the two of you. When he basically said and when referring to your generation, they gave the best part of their lives to the best mission ever accepted by this country. And I know you strongly believe this. You feel that World War II was so different than any war we've fought since then, particularly in how the American public supported your efforts.
MCGOVERN: The choice was so clear. Now, Hitler was a monster, a madman, the same with the dictator that controlled Japan. And what we were really fighting for, I think, was the survival of the western civilization. Not just our own generation, but all the enormous heritage that had come to us. So looking back on it, some 58 years later, I don't have any regret at all about it. There was one thing that happened at the end of the war that might be of interest. We had to fly 35 missions. I finished my 35 missions and two days later the war ended. So I was entitled to go home on two counts, first of all, I finished my missions. But General Twining, the commander in chief of the 15th Air Force, he said I don't want any food, medicine or clothing taken back to the United States. I want pilots who will volunteer to load up those bombers with our food, our medicine, our clothing, and fly it up to the people in Europe. So I volunteered to do that, and for a week we were feeding some of the same people we had been bombing a few days before. It was sort of the beginning of the Marshall Plan I guess.
ZAHN: It was an interesting note in the archbishop's remarks where he talked about you had to go back and rebuild the nations and rebuild the confidence of these nations that were destroyed. I see you nodding in agreement, Tony.
HILLERMAN: In fact, I'd like to -- I didn't know you did that. I want to increases my admiration to you even more. I think the Marshall Plan and what we did after the war is just as important as the war itself.
It's the reason, I think, that we haven't had much trouble with any of our wartime enemies. We helped to rebuild Japan. We helped mightily to rebuild Germany and Italy. And all of those countries have been our friends and allies ever since. We made a mistake after World War I in not doing that. And as a consequence, the combatants in World War I fell into a global economy that simply collapsed. And that's what gave rise to the Hitler people and the dictators who produced World War II. And I'm glad we didn't repeat that mistake.
ZAHN: It's been an honor to sit here next to two American heroes, Tony Hillerman, Senator George Mcgovern. Thank you very much.
We're going to take a short break here, and when we come back, my exclusive interview with a veteran who bailed out of a crashing plane and went on to become a wartime commander in chief. American hero, veteran and former president, George Herbert Walker Bush in an exclusive interview.
Also another veteran who went onto a distinguished life at public service, former Senator Bob Dole.
And then later on, the women who kept American going, veterans all and all of them honored here today. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: And welcome back to a very special coverage this afternoon, one of the many stirring scenes at today's ceremony for the National World War II Memorial. It commemorates the sacrifices of 16 and half million American who's served some 60-years-ago.
Here's part of that ceremony that just concluded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) thousand have made the ultimate sacrifice. When you visit here, you see them commemorated by the 4,000 gold stars in the walls of the memorial, each star representing some 100 deaths. Veterans by the 10s of thousands are here for today ceremony. Yet even though they fill the National Mall, they are only a fraction of those who now remember. Of the roughly 16 million who survived the war, it is estimated only 4 million to 5 million are still alive.
Everyday 1,100 World War II veterans die. And one of those veterans still with us is former President George Herbert Walker Bush. He nearly wasn't so. On September 2nd, 1944, his navy plane was shot down by the Japanese. His two crew mates died. He bailed out and was later rescued by a U.S. Submarine. I spoke with him earlier today just before today's dedication ceremony.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Mr. President, it's good to see you again.
GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much. Nice to be here in this hallowed place.
ZAHN: What does it mean to you to join so many veterans as they honor the service of so many of your comrades today?
BUSH: Well, I think it's very appropriate and fitting. Tom Brokaw wrote a book about the greatest generation and in it, he talked about the heroism of some of the people that fought in the war. And for me, it was, you know, formative time in my life. I was 18 and all of that. But it means a lot about patriotism, about service to country, about a war that was very successful after a agonizing start. And I guess it will be quite emotional, but I don't live in the past anymore, and I don't -- what I find, I hope this doesn't come out insincerely, what I find talking to other veterans, each of us thinks we single-handedly won the war someplace.
My squadron single-handedly won the war in the Pacific. I'm sure Admiral Halsey (ph) would have remembered it that way. Then you talk to some guy that was at (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- and everybody has these wonderful memories but they take on, when you get to be our age, they take on a kind of a broader dimension that may or may not be historically accurate.
ZAHN: And yet, I traveled with you to the South Pacific to do a documentary on your World War II experience. And we went to the exact spot where you were shot down where I poignantly laid wreaths in the water in honor of the two comrades you lost that day. And you talked about how difficult it has been your life to reflect on that chapter of your life -- why?
BUSH: It's true. That chapter was very emotional because my life was spared and the life of two people flying with me for whom I felt and still feel responsible were taken. And so that was a very emotional trip for me. Going out to the Bonnan (ph) Islands in the Pacific. And there, we were reminded of the brutality to the prisoners of war where they were executed and cannibalized. So it all came back, those memories, personal memories. And coming back, as well, was the responsibility I felt for the loss of somebody else's life. And I still feel that way, even though I'm 80 years old and I think I did everything right to spare their lives. In fact, one of them also got out of plane. But yet personal experiences. But transcending that today should be the panorama the breadth of the experience where we, the United States and its allies did in Imperialism in the West and did in facsicm and Nazism in the East. That's big, big stuff.
ZAHN: Will it be bittersweet as you see the memorial for the first time?
BUSH: Well, I'm dying to see. I'm very anxious to see it. And give great credit to Bob Dole and Fred Smith and General Kelly and so many people that were involved in this. And everyone tells me it's very dramatic and very proper, and so I am anxious to see it. But Paula, I don't know, I've kind of closed chapters in my life now, a happy life. And I still am proud to have been one of a jillion kids serving in the war and it shaped my life as I expect most veterans here will tell you, that it shaped theirs. This whole experience of our country coming together on December 7th and -- but I don't -- I can't dwell in the past like some veterans do and like to do. I just can't do it.
ZAHN: What does it mean to this country that you will have been the last president in office who actually served in World War II?
BUSH: Well, it -- I don't know that it really means anything to our country. It means proudly something to me. But I don't think -- I don't think anyone in the country now or in the future will be thinking of George Bush was the last World War II veteran to serve as president of the United States. It would be fine with me if they did. But it's time to move forward, and there are other generations of greatness. You see, I felt the same way about those who fought with honor in Vietnam or Korea, certainly in Desert Storm and today in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think they are worthy of the label "The Greatest Generation" if you define it by patriotism and volunteer service, and that's what these kids are doing. They volunteered to serve. It's a great example. But back then since we do have these modern patriots, willing to fight for their country, it kind of diminishes everybody going back to the days many years ago when we served. It does for me anyway.
ZAHN: You told me as president one of the most difficult things you've had to do was make a decision to send Americans in harm's way.
How did your combat experience inform that decision?
BUSH: If I told you then that it was one of the most difficult, I was misspeaking. It is the most difficult decision, and because there's no committee. There's no laying blame off on somebody else. The responsibility for seeing someone's son and today daughter into harm's way rests on the shoulders of the president. So it is the most difficult decision. In my own case, I think having been in combat was probably a helpful thing, just like having been in business was helpful on economic matters and stuff, because having seen right up close men die, I mean, felt the responsibility for the death of my crewmen, it was very real to me. It wasn't -- there was no glamour about that.
And so I thought hard about it before committing somebody else's son or daughter into harm's way, but I think everybody does whether you've served or not in combat. I think every president feels exactly the same way about that. I know Ronald Reagan did in a small operation down there in Grenada, and I expect the current president feels exactly that way.
ZAHN: I know over the years, you stayed in contact with members of your squadron. What do you think it will be like today when you see potentially hundreds of thousands of veterans of World War II coming together to honor the service?
BUSH: Well, I think it's wonderful. I think you might argue it's long overdue. But for some reason, I don't think it will be quite as emotional for me as it might have been if it had happened you know, 30-years-ago. It's a little less personal now. Most of my squadron members are dead. And so in terms of that kind of personal contact, it might not be as traumatic as it would otherwise have been, but I expect I'll be choking up a time or two out there.
ZAHN: But as the nation reflexes on your service to the country, what is it that you want to resonate with the American public about this generation of Americans, "The Greatest Generation."
BUSH: We did our duty, saluted the flag and said the pledge of allegiance. None of us thought of ourselves as super patriots of anything. But in time of trouble, my generation, you might say, stepped up and honored the United States by our service. And that's what it was all about. And it's still about that. It's still about that.
ZAHN: And yet, so many of your generation are so reluctant to talk about that service.
BUSH: We never did. You know, I never really talked about it. And with the family and stuff. So I don't know. It was just -- I think it was because it was automatic. We were in a world war. The country's came together in a unified way unlike anything thereafter. And it just seem we were doing what we should do. We hadn't been taught to go to fight and train to fly planes or whatever, but it just seemed natural in those days. Now there were some exceptions, there were conscientious objectors and people honored their faith in refusing to fight. But there weren't any great bitterness in that, but for the most part, the country was unified. And that was very important.
ZAHN: Is part of it, you think, that some of the memories are so dark?
I mean, you vividly describe watching pilots get cut in half by accident on the aircraft carrier. Do you think part of the reluctance to talk about it is just the overwhelming darkness?
BUSH: I don't know about other veterans but it was me. I just don't -- don't -- you know, you don't want to come off as some guy bragging about some experience he had or also, if I told you about my experience and you had been in the service, you might feel you needed to tell me about it. And we'd be there all day lying to each other. So it's not too good a deal. But no, I told you, and I think we saw the spot where American flyers were executed and I could have been one of them, and that makes a profound impact on you. But I don't live with it in that sense. I don't -- I don't want to set the clock back. Come on, kids, let me tell you what it was like back in September of 1944. We've never done that in my family, nor have they shown any interest in what I did in September of 1944.
ZAHN: Well, that's a different story.
BUSH: That's another story.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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