| 00:00:10 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
HOUR. >> THANK YOU, CONGRESSMEN. THANK YOU, CONGRESSMAN CLEBURNE. THANK YOU BOTH FOR BEING HERE. THANK YOU ALL, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, FOR JOINING US...
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| 00:00:37 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
HE SAY ABOUT WHATEVER THE TOPIC OF THE DAY WAS, WHAT WOULD HE THINK ABOUT THAT? AND IT'S ALWAYS A TOUGH QUESTION, BECAUSE -- AND AS I'VE JOKED BEFORE,...
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| 00:05:34 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WHAT AM I THINKING? THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET STUCK IN WASHINGTON TOO LONG. YOU KNOW, WE LIVE IN A TIME OF TREMENDOUS CHANGE, AND IT'S AN OPPORTUNITY...
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| 00:12:42 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WAS A GREAT HERO, BECAUSE WHEN SHE WAS 11 YEARS OLD, THE UNION ARMY HAD RAIDED HER FARM AND BURNED ALL THEIR CATTLE AND BARN AND PUT HER IN A CONCENTRATION...
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| 00:15:17 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
SERVE WITH AFRICAN-AMERICAN TROOPS, HE HONORED VETERANS, AND HE WANTED TO INTEGRATE THE ARMED FORCES BECAUSE HE HAD COME TO
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| 00:15:32 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
THE BELIEF THAT THE BLACK VETERANS THAT WERE COMING BACK FROM WORLD WAR II WERE GETTING DISCRIMINATED AGAINST, AS OLIVER SHIELDS WILL TELL YOU WHEN...
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| 00:16:32 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
THAT, I WAS ASSIGNED TO A QUARTER MASTER SEGREGATED UNIT. AND DURING THE SUMMER OF 1944, IT DAWNED ON ME THAT I WASN'T BEING TREATED AS WELL AS WHITE...
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| 00:16:48 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WENT BY A SWIMMING POOL WHERE THE 75th INFANTRY DIVISION HAD, AND IT WAS HOT THAT DAY AND WE ALL WISHED THAT WE COULD GO INTO THAT POOL, BUT THE SIGN...
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| 00:18:44 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
THEY COULD JOIN. 5,000 JOINED, SIGNED UP, BUT THEY ONLY SELECTED 2,500. ONE OF
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| 00:18:51 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
THE CRITERIAS THAT THEY ASKED ME, I CAN REMEMBER JUST AS PLAIN, HOW DO YOU GET ALONG WITH WHITE SOLDIERS? AND OF COURSE, MY ANSWER WAS, ONE OF MY BEST...
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| 00:19:32 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WAS SEGREGATED AT THAT POINT. I WENT ON TO TRAIN FROM MILWAUKEE TO FT. KNOX, KENTUCKY. IT WAS MY FIRST INTRODUCTION TO THE MILITARY AND SEGREGATION....
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| 00:19:50 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
AND WHITES IN THE OTHER GROUP. AND FROM THERE, WE WENT TO SEGREGATED UNITS. AND IT REMAINED THAT WAY UNTIL 1948, OF COURSE. I SERVED IN ALL SEGREGATED...
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| 00:22:06 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
NEEDED THE BODIES, WHEN THEY NEEDED THE MANPOWER, THE COLOR LINE FELL. >>
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| 00:22:12 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
ABSOLUTELY. SO, I GOT ASSIGNED -- I DID GET ASSIGNED THERE AND I FOUND OUT I WAS IN A FULLY INTEGRATED UNIT IN THE FIELD ARTILLERY BATTALION IN KOREA....
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| 00:22:25 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
THE NEW BEGINNING IN TERMS OF THE NEW DEFINITION OF EQUALITY AND INCLUSION IN THE MILITARY UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMAN'S ORDER? >>
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| 00:22:32 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
NO. YOU KNOW, I WAS TREATED AS WELL AS ANYONE ELSE IN THAT UNIT AT THAT TIME. I WAS A 2nd LIEUTENANT. I KNEW WHAT I WAS
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| 00:22:44 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
DOING. THEY RECOGNIZED MY ABILITY AND I BECAME ONE OF THE OFFICERS IN THAT UNIT WITHOUT REGARD TO COLOR. >> INTERESTING THAT THEY
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| 00:22:53 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
ALLOWED YOU INTO THE OFFICERS TRAINING UNIT. >> YEAH. YOU KNOW, AGAIN, THEY WERE JUST LITTLE BIT SHORT. >> WELL, THEY PICKED A GOOD ONE, I THINK WE'LL...
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| 00:23:13 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
THIS MORNING HERE AT THE TRUMAN LIBRARY, YOU COULD GIVE US A SENSE OF HOW WE
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| 00:23:18 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
CAME TO THE MOMENT. WHY WAS IT THAT SOMEBODY ALONG THE LINE IN AMERICAN
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| 00:23:25 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
HISTORY DECIDED, OH, YOU KNOW WHAT, BLACKS SHOULD NOT FIGHT ALONGSIDE WHITES IN DEFENSE OF OUR REPUBLIC? >> WELL, FOR A LONG TIME, BLACKS DID FIGHT...
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| 00:23:55 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
U.S. NAVY, WHERE QUARTERS ARE LIMITED, SPACE IS LIMITED ABOARD SHIP, AND YET, THERE IS THIS REQUIREMENT TO VERY HIGHLY SKILLED INDIVIDUALS -- THE...
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| 00:25:32 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
RULE THAT EXCLUDED BLACKS FROM SUCH SERVICE, WAS THERE? >> NO. IT NEVER HAD TO BE -- WELL, THERE NEVER HAD TO BE ANY SORT OF FORMAL RULE. THERE WERE...
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| 00:25:58 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
CONDITIONS WERE NOT VERY GOOD. INDEED, BETWEEN THE CIVIL WAR AND THE SPANISH/AMERICAN WAR, 30% DESERTION RATE PER YEAR WAS VERY COMMON BECAUSE OF...
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| 00:27:00 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WITH SO MANY HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF THESE NEW ESCORT VESSELS TO FIGHT THE
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| 00:27:07 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
U-BOATS, MEANING MUCH SMALLER SHIPS, MUCH SMALLER CREWS. IT'S VERY HARD TO GET ALL-BLACK CREWS. I MEAN, YOU'VE GOT SPECIALISTS OF CERTAIN TYPES....
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| 00:28:01 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
SOCIAL CHANGE IN A LOT OF AREAS, AND PERHAPS MORE SO IN TERMS OF RACE RELATIONS THAN IN ANYTHING ELSE, IN TWO WAYS. ONE, THERE WAS SUCH A NEED FOR
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| 00:28:17 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
MANPOWER OF ALL SORTS, NOT ONLY IN THE MILITARY, BUT IN INDUSTRY, IN AGRICULTURE, JUST FOR THE WAR EFFORT IN GENERAL, THAT YOU HAVE A FAR GREATER...
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| 00:29:11 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
BEEN FOR A
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| 00:29:13 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
LEADER WITH THE COMPASSION AND THE EXPERIENCE WITH THE SHOCK OF THE WAY IN WHICH SOME OF THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN VETERANS WERE BEING TREATED WHEN THEY RERND...
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| 00:29:50 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
ORDERS AND THIS CRAZY CIVIL RIGHTS PROGRAM, AND ONE OF THE BEST ILLUSTRATIONS OF THAT IS A LETTER, A PRIVATE LETTER THAT ONE OF
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| 00:29:59 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
HIS WORLD WAR I BUDDIES, ERNIE ROBERTS, WROTE TO HIM, SAYING, YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE THE SOUTH UNLESS YOU BACK OFF ON THIS. AND PRESIDENT TRUMAN WROTE...
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| 00:31:00 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
THE BIG LEAP BETWEEN THE TIME OF PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT AND THE TIME OF PRESIDENT TRUMAN? >> WELL, I THINK THAT PROFESSOR HECHLER REALLY HAS KIND OF HIT...
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| 00:31:30 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WAS SOMEWHAT FURTHER DOWN THE LIST. AND IN FACT, OF COURSE, AS MOST PEOPLE KNOW, ELEANOR ROOSEVELT WAS KIND OF THE BIGGEST BUG IN HIS EAR AS FAR AS PUSHING...
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| 00:32:25 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
AS FAR AS TRUMAN DID DID. INTERESTING SIDELINE, I DID A LOT OF WORK FOR THE NUMBER ONE SPEECHWRITER FOR FDR WHO SUBSEQUENTLY WENT TO WORK FOR TRUMAN,...
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| 00:33:23 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WE'RE TALKING HERE FROM A HISTORICAL CONTEXT, WHAT'S GOING ON IN WASHINGTON. YOU'RE OUT THERE IN THE FIELD. YOU'RE ACTUALLY
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| 00:33:30 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WORKING AS A MILITARY MAN AS ALL OF THESE DISCUSSIONS AND CHANGES FROM PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT TO PRESIDENT TRUMAN ARE TAKING PLACE. IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION...
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| 00:33:42 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
HOME AS PEOPLE TALK ABOUT THE EFFORT TO GET PROPER TREATMENT FOR OUR BLACK SOLDIERS? >> NOT ONLY BACK HOME BUT IN EUROPE THEY WERE WONDERING WHY WE...
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| 00:34:12 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
COURSE, SEGREGATION IN THE ARMY IN WORLD WAR II WAS TERRIBLE. WE DIDN'T HAVE THE TOP FACILITIES THAT WHITE TROOPS HAD. I JUST MENTIONED THAT THEY HAD...
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| 00:34:58 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
75th INFANTRY DIVISION. WE GOT LESSER PEOPLE. THEY HAD THE BEST MOVIES OUT. WE HAD SECOND RATE MOVIES OUT. THEY HAD NICE THEATER. WE HAD A SUBSTANDARD...
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| 00:35:19 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
I GOT TO MISSOURI, I HAD PAID MY DUES, BUT YET I COULDN'T SWIM IN THE SWIMMING POOL, SO THE FIRST THING I DID WAS SUE THE CITY. >> THIS IS AFTER YOU...
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| 00:35:51 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
TODAY. >>
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| 00:35:52 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
THIS IS WHAT
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| 00:35:54 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
THE "PITTSBURGH COURIER"
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| 00:35:59 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
REFERRED TO AS THE DOUBLE "V." VICTORY ABROAD AND VICTORY AT HOME. >> THAT'S RIGHT. SO AT 75 I'M STILL FIGHTING FOR CIVIL RIGHTS. >> WELL, WE APPRECIATE...
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| 00:36:16 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
ARE GOING ON. THAT'S RIGHT, A YOUNG MAN, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE ANY HESITATION YOU SAY ABOUT
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| 00:36:25 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
JOINING THE MILITARY. >> NO.
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| 00:36:30 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WELL, ONE, IT WAS OUT OF NECESSITY AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS. IT WAS THE ONLY PLACE I COULD GO AND BE ON MY OWN. THE JOBS WEREN'T THERE AND DIDN'T...
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| 00:36:49 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
FOR ME UNTIL I GOT THERE, AND THEN IT BECAME THE PROBLEM BECAUSE THEN IT WAS SEGREGATED, AND WE DID HAVE SECOND CLASS. >> WHAT ABOUT YOUR EDUCATION? ...
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| 00:37:18 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
KENTUCKY. I THINK IT STOOD
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| 00:37:21 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
OUT FOR ME MOSTLY WAS NOT ONLY THAT ALL OF
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| 00:37:24 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
OUR QUARTERS WERE AT THE BACK OF THE POST, SERVICE CLUBS WERE
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| 00:37:28 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
INFERIOR, THEATERS
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| 00:37:31 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WERE
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| 00:37:32 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
INFERIOR, BUT I NEVER REMEMBER SEEING A BLACK OFFICER ABOVE THE GRADE OF CAPTAIN. THE LEADERSHIP WAS ALWAYS WHITE. THE SENIOR LEADERSHIP WAS ALWAYS...
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| 00:38:01 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
BLACK LEADERSHIP. >> SO IN TERMS OF
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| 00:38:04 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
YOUR SENSE OF MILITARY ORDER AND INCLUSION, YOU HAD A SENSE OF BEING A SECOND CLASS CITIZEN, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. >> THERE WAS NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, NO...
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| 00:38:25 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
COULD NOT -- YOU WERE LIMITED AS TO WHAT YOU COULD DO UNTIL I FINALLY GOT TO OSC
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| 00:38:31 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
AND THEN ASKED FOR THE EXECUTIVE ORDER AND THINGS OPENED UP. THEN IT WAS A DIFFERENT WORLD. NOT REALLY FEARED LAST, BUT SORT OF FEARED LAST. >> YOU...
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| 00:39:03 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
TOO? >> YES. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT
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| 00:39:06 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
I REMEMBER ABOUT
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| 00:39:08 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
PRESIDENT TRUMAN WAS THAT
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| 00:39:11 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
HE MADE A STATEMENT FOR 1964 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT THAT IF A PERSON CAME INTO HIS BUSINESS,
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| 00:39:23 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
A RESTAURANT, THEY WERE WELCOME REGARDLESS OF WHAT RACE THEY WERE, BUT IF THEY WERE SOMEBODY THAT HE DIDN'T LIKE, HE DIDN'T CARE WHETHER THEY WERE...
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| 00:40:26 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WAYS. ONE IS SORT OF WHITE AMERICA WHO IS SUDDENLY NOW CONFRONTED WITH THE BLACK EXPERIENCE, BLACK PRESENCE. IN MANY PLACES WHERE THAT HAD NOT BEEN...
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| 00:40:44 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WAS MORE OF AN ABSTRACTION THAN A DAILY REALITY, AND SUDDENLY IT WAS, AND WHETHER OR NOT THAT WAS -- BROUGHT A CLOSENESS OR MADE RELATIONS WORSE, WHICH...
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| 00:42:05 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
RIGHT. >> WHICH IS WHAT YOU SAY ENCOURAGED PRESIDENT TRUMAN TO ACT. >> ONE OF THE THINGS. OF COURSE, HIS CONSCIENCE
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| 00:42:13 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
DID, TOO, AND THE REAL MAGNITUDE OF WHAT PRESIDENT TRUMAN DID CAN BE APPRECIATED
|
| 00:42:22 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
BY THE FACT
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| 00:42:25 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
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| 00:42:27 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
THAT HE DID THIS WITHOUT THE
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| 00:42:30 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
KIND OF AGITATION AND SIT-INS AND FREEDOM RIOTERS THAT MARTIN LUTHER KING HAD TO BOLSTER HIS ACTIVITIES. HE DID IT BECAUSE IT WAS RIGHT, AND HE DID IT...
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| 00:43:47 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
DOESN'T GET INVOLVED, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE MILITARY BRASS? WHAT ARE THEY SAYING TO PRESIDENT TRUMAN? ARE THEY SUPPORTING THE IDEA OF DESEGREGATING THE...
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| 00:44:01 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF, IMMEDIATELY SAID THE ARMY IS NO PLACE FOR SOCIAL EXPERIMENTS. WELL, HE GOT CALLED ON THE CARPET AND HE APOLOGIZED AND CHANGED HIS...
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| 00:44:18 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
THE
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| 00:44:20 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
QUICKEST TO COMPLY. THE NAVY CAUSED THE MOST TROUBLE. I THINK FORRESTAL WAS ALWAYS AGAINST IT, BUT AFTER ALL THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF WAS THE ONE WHO...
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| 00:45:14 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
SECURITY ABOVE ALL AND MADE A KIND OF UTILITARIAN ARGUMENT, WHICH WAS THAT IF YOU TRY AND INTEGRATE
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| 00:45:24 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
UNITS, YOU ARE GOING TO BE DISRUPTING PERSONAL BONDS AND THE KINDS OF ELEMENTS THAT BUILD UNIT COHESION AND ERIT T CORPS, AND THEREFE, THEHERE WAS VALALUE...
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| 00:46:27 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
THE 1950s. THE SOUTHERN MANIFESTO AND SO ON, BUT AS FAR AS WITHIN THE MILITARY WHAT YOU
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| 00:46:37 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
HAVE IS AGAIN IT KIND OF CUTS BOTH WAYS. THIS DEDICATION TO MISSION ALSO INCLUDES WITHIN IT IN THE AMERICAN MILITARY TRADITION, NOT ALWAYS IN OTHER...
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| 00:47:21 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
OF RESISTANCE THAT HAVE TO DO WITH, WELL, IT'S GOING TO DAMAGE UNIT
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| 00:47:26 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
COHESION. IT'S GOING TO DAMAGE BONDS BETWEEN OUR FIGHTING FORCES. IT'S GOING TO HURT US IN TERMS OF OUR NATIONAL SECURITY MISSION. GOING FORWARD HOW...
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| 00:48:10 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
WAS FROM ATLANTA, GEORGIA, A GRADUATE OF GEORGIA TECH. ABOUT THREE MONTHS AFTER I WAS THERE, WE HAD A SHORT CONVERSATION AND HE SAID TO ME, HE SAYS,...
|
| 00:50:47 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
AND THE SYSTEM IS SUCH THE
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| 00:50:51 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
CREAM
|
| 00:50:52 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
RISES TO THE TOP. THE
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| 00:50:54 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
BEST QUALIFIED ENDS
|
| 00:50:56 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
UP AT THE TOP, PARTICULARLY AFTER THE EXECUTIVE ORDER. I
|
| 00:51:03 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
POINT TO COLIN POWELL. WE GET THERE. >> WELL, WHEN I THINK OF THE ISSUES OF TODAY, I THINK OF WOMEN. I THINK OF GAYS, AND I'M WONDERING IF YOU SEE...
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| 00:51:32 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
IN WORLD WAR II, WHITES WELCOMED OUR HELP. I CAME HOME AND I HAD TO CATCH THE TRAIN AFTER MY LEAVE TO CAMP POLK, LOUISIANA, AND BIG SIGN WELCOME 14th...
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| 00:51:52 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
14th ARMORED DIVISION. SO OUR CAPTAIN SAID YOU CAN HAVE 15 DAYS EXTRA LEAVE, THE BLACKS IN THE 14th ARMORED. SO I WENT TO CALL MY SISTER TO SEND...
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| 00:55:07 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
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| 00:55:10 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO SAY SOMETHING. >> I WANTED TO SAY THAT. YOU KNOW, THE MILITARY SHOULD BE BASED UPON PERFORMANCE, PERFORMANCE, NOTHING TO DO...
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| 00:55:32 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
IT'S THE SAME PROBLEM THAT PRESIDENT TRUMAN RAN INTO, THAT
|
| 00:55:36 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
KENNEDY RAN INTO IS THAT PEOPLE WHO DON'T WANT IT TO HAPPEN CREATE REASONS FOR IT NOT TO HAPPEN. THE SAME EXCUSES ARE BEING USED NOW THAT WERE USED...
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| 00:55:51 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
THAT'S BEEN SUCCESSFUL AND WE KNOW THIS WILL
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| 00:55:53 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
BE SUCCESSFUL ALSO. IF THE ORDER IS GIVEN, LEADERSHIP IS GOING TO STEP UP, SALUTE, SAY YES, SIR, AND CHARGE AHEAD. >> ALL RIGHT. I WANT TO THANK...
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| 00:56:24 |
Unidentified Speaker, -
REMINDER THAT YOU CAN WATCH C-SPAN3 HISTORY EVERY WEEKEND STARTING SATURDAY AT 10:00 A.M. EASTERN. ALSO, IF YOU HAVE COMMENTS OR SUGGESTIONS REGARDING...
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NOTE: The transcript for this program was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.