gravity is working downwards. now you just lay down. now gravity is pointing out of the side of your head. you have the same thoughts. somehow, your brain capacity is not deeply altered by this. you're still in a one g environment. >> we apologize for interrupting our programming and we can return to our program schedule. you look at upcoming programs apple tv c-span2. next, booktv visits missouri for literary site and talk with local office. the american dream is attainable today. later, general federal reserve chairman alan greenspan. they provide a history of capitalism in america.

>> that's a look ahead on booktv c-span2. now we visit independence missouri on our c-span2 the store. >> it's good to be home. independence, missouri. at the center of things for most of us. more than happy to be your. >> will come to independence, missouri. located 10 miles east of kansas city, it has a population of about 117,000. during the 1800s, independence was first running point for some of the major trails heading westward. later it would become the home of president your truman and where he would go on to build his library.

with the help of our comcast cable partners, for the next hour, we learn about the city's history and future its local authors. we begin our special feature with a covered wagon tour of independence. >> while in independence, whitaker tour of the city with the story of ralph goldsmith. trails adventures. >> independence today, you're doing something different we are going a covered wagon tour. what is the significance of the covered wagon? >> this is the original order home. this is what the finest traveled across the nation in. >> this is where it began, right? >> this is where the trails began. we have showing us around today?

what are we going to see? >> we will see actual oregon trail. we explain exactly how james ended up in that jail and how it began between kansas and missouri. >> alright, let's learn about it. >> here we go. across the street there, 59. referring to this building all along here. the most notorious outlaw. they got away with it for almost 16 years. that's really brought james in. he also had a man. that's the man that burnt kansas to the work ground. it's also the location of a very dramatic jailbreak.

on august 11, 1862, we impart the raiders, they were called. the hill and daybreak, broke in that jail and 339 men. those 39 were being jailed in there because they would not sign a loyalty oath to the union. martial law was declared in the state of missouri. you had to sign a loyalty to the unit. later on in the 1880s, as when they held frank in that jail. the jail go or was never locked down. >> that's business right there. >> by the end of the tour, you'll understand why they didn't want that. he we go. you do realize, we cannot do a tour of independence. we're talking about a man,

harry. >> the bus stops here. i show you where it began. it was called clayton. back then, it was the drugstore. harry truman had his very first job here. he opened the start up your on the corner at 6:30 a.m. he made $3 a week. he worked after school and before school all day long on saturday. his father eventually named, quit working there because he was only 14. he was afraid he'd get behind on his schoolwork. he comes this handsome statue appear. to do know some of the local folks think the statue is inappropriate. look at it. he doesn't have his head on. he's only been vice president 32 days when president roosevelt passed away.

he was summoned to the white house. wouldn't go there directly. he took his hat off first. you got to have things first things first. gentlemen don't go without their hats. unit rebuilt in 1933, traveled all over the country in his own car, in his own expense, looking at building. this one is designed after independence hall philadelphia for the declaration of independence. right here is the outstanding. 1827, that's 191 years ago. we do have the papers, records and documents. the man who built this, his name was sam shepard. they cut those trees down right around the square area the

reason those logs are in great condition, those logs are black. that love that. they squared the logs up with an ax that the men built it. the county paid. >> , too? >> his master $1150. sam shepard was a slave. his master cut the money. that is also the same location they bought and sold people. matter of fact, the original trappers and traders in this area wanted to call this blue county. after two little rivers called little blue and big blue. later settlers were in tenness tennessee, they moved up your, they brought their slaves and the plantation mentality with them. aimed at jackson county.

more civil battles, than any other state except for virginia and tennessee. the second battle was in october 1864. general sterling sticking up out of arkansas, he hit lexington, missouri, and get whipped in westford. general price was a two-term, of the state of missouri between for the civil war. that means governor attacking his own state. what put him in his position? his army, marsh out of st. louis, missouri and the jefferson city. they rammed the legislator out of our statehouse. before they could get from the union. when that happened, they declared martial law in the state of missouri. mr. price took control of the

militia and for the confederacy. our legislature went into arkansas to see it from the union. but it was never recognized for officials from another state. here we are, this is the city limits of independence and 8 801845. suppose think it was named after a lady named ruby. it was named after a man named connell ruby. colonel ruby cut this road originally. it worked for the gates for our mail. one of the law was we are sitting on. it's also best.

it is a privately owned home. this is the wagner state. after civil war, they sold this to the whitener family. the city homes from the year they get tours of his home daily. 90% of the original furnishings from the whitener state still in the home. i told you 1845, 1000 wagons. two years ago, two years 1848, 1949, the cold years. the claim there were three square miles around the entire city. nothing but people can't get in. the also claimed there was 80000 of these people headed west during that gold rush alone. one of the largest voluntary mind operations in the history

of man. this is the reason this the city's left it narrow and one way to keep it as historical as possible. >> this is what it would have looked like. >> if we travel down here, noticed the ground on the left side, your higher and higher. the valley up there in middle. it would not but there, it was one on the traffic. >> how much are we talking? >> santa fe here, all three trails went south. as we travel down this road here, i want you to notice, the road is going to start getting lower and lower. they are starting to get higher and higher. the balance we're headed in here, is called a whited -- the ground used to go straight across. the middle here was waddled out. wagons coming through here.

it's the national frontier trail today. you can go through this museum, they prayed on this along the way. want to made it in the ones who first didn't. as we go along here, we go through the trees here, there was green trim on it, that would be the 1879 chicago railroad depot. that is the train station that he stepped off on the governor of missouri from jefferson city to stand trial. when he turned himself into the governor jefferson city after jesse, had already been shot back by the own men. there was a mopped formed there

that wanted to hang james frank. governor, he said rank, you will receive the same trial that the presence sound would receive. the governor himself supported him from jefferson city, that train station further, it's a 1859 jail. the locals through a dinner in his honor here and he was credited of all charges. the all burned the ground if you're daddy fought the regular, he could come back and reclaim his land in one of the four counties. but he paid the taxes on the property to keep it. easily three years worth of taxes. when any one -- they had to

borrow money with high interest rates. then try to put crop in the ground. then you have always call carpet factors. the bankers started bribing bankers to keep them off the land the second time. when frank and jesse were robbing these banks, these people were going yet. but you can't prove they paid a dime of anybody's taxes. you can't prove that they didn't. they did help people pay taxes or whether they didn't, it made no difference whatsoever. they were taken advantage of the people that they thought were taking advantage of them. they considered them robin hood's. they had cardplaying games every night on that gel. >> we seem all of this here, why

do you think it's important to know about the history of this town? >> strange what could happen. good and evil. in the same sense, it's some of the most horrible things that have happened. when you start taking revenge against someone that you feel does something wrong to you, you can get into crazy stuff. >> thank you so much for taking time to show us today. >> i am in the army of the unemployed now. [laughter] i'm here to tell you, she said i have to do that.

i don't know how long it's going to take. after that, i may be hungry. [laughter] >> harry truman returned home to independence, missouri following his terms as president. update when we visited his home to learn how he spent his retirement. >> he came home in 1953 and upon the death of his mother, they purchased this home, one of the things i loved hearing and i'd hear this almost every week from somebody who lives in independence is that you could always tell in those last years where truman were by where the lights were on. to the windows, they could see the silhouettes of mr. and mrs. truman sitting and reading. both of them were fond of

reading. president truman said that's every leader must be a reader. from a very young age, he was never a reader and was up until his passing. the study of north delaware street to truman home and this spot is special to all of us because along this table, harry truman loved to spend his time here in the reading room. one of the last photographs of harry truman was taken behind this table and on this table is one of his favorite books about one of his favorite heroes that the biography of andrew jackson. he wanted his political influences in somebody who he would look to the history books for guidance as to how to be a president of all of the people. this room was very special to both mr. and mrs. truman.

reading and learning were important to all of the germans. when truman was a young man, just about six years old or so, about the time his family moved to independence, he was diagnosed as having a condition known as eyeballs. he received a pair of glasses with a special prescription, he was legally blind. at considerable expense to the family, he received those eyeglasses now having both eyeglass and the expense of the eyeglasses, he said later, change the way of his boyhood. he couldn't play the sports the other boys did. baseball, football and other roughhousing. restricted him with piano and reading. he later claims that the love of books came to him largely because of that increasingly

ability to read. he claimed that he read by the time he left independence, he and his best friend acclaimed by. you're in this room, they were surrounded by the books they loved. it's a neglected a collection of books. everything from a couple of additions of the holy bible to many biographies from everybody from alexander the great, to kennedy. wonderful collection of charles dickens, best truman as the weather's introduced him to the characters that charles dickens created. dickens would hold a special place in harry truman's heart. in the evening hours, mr. and mrs. truman would retreat to this room and they would sit side-by-side, he preferred history and biography. he believed history was but toss by biography. his phrase was, all leaders must

be readers. he would talk to your person, or they would speak to a group of young people visiting the library, he would tell them that. you are the future of this country, we must read and learn our history. mr. truman like history and biography as well but she was a big fan of mysteries and whodunits. after she moved to new york, they would shift back and forth boxes of mysteries. it would talk on the phone every night and i would love to have heard some of the conversations as they talked about the book that they were reading. i think that perhaps inspired margaret truman to become an the capital crime series. on this table, the bottom of this pile is actually a first edition copy of margaret truman's first mystery novel, for her at the white house.

i would love to know how mrs. truman reacted to that book. i think she would be pleased and proud of her daughter as i'm sure president truman would have been as well. >> he once said, all leaders must be readers. coming up, we visit his office and the truman library. they feature his collection of books. this side of the bookshelf, as a lot of the books truman red as a young man, the oldest books we know are these. called great men and famous women. it was a set of four books given to truman when he was ten years old by his parents.

truman also liked to read the classics, a couple of sets here, given decline of the roman empire and then another book given to him, very old books, some of which he read but others, were just received as gifts. he does have a complete william shakespeare here. he read shakespeare mostly as a young man but he read little shakespeare raider in life. the truman library was built in 1957. harry truman spent more than a dozen years here before his health started getting, declining. he spent five -- six days here in his office which is. he was writing letters, doing

correspondence meeting the people so far. he did most of his reading at home. he might takes books from here and take them home and read them. a lot of these books came from where before he was present. a lot of these books are things he read as a young man. before he became president. these books here are clearly books that truman wanted to have around him. so it says a lot of these books say more about him as a person, what he really enjoyed then as president. truman primarily liked biographies, biographies of military and political leaders. one of the most interesting books, parts of the bookshelf the section right here which contains books written by winston churchill. a number of histories, the history, world war ii history.

most of these are autographed. harry truman's first met her at the july 1945. that pretty much hit it off right away. then their relation to churchill was voted out of office while they were there. truman maintained his friendship with churchill. when asked in 1946, if he would invite winston churchill to come into the speech, truman obliged and invited churchill, churchill came and gave his famous speech in full in 1946. they continued their friendship into the in life as well. on the other side of the room, is where truman kept most of his presidential biographies. they start with george

washington and move on to thomas jefferson and james monroe, one of his favorite presence was andrew jackson. so he has several volumes here. james polk, these are pretty much arranged, roughly chronologically. a lot of lincoln biographies as well. he has two sets of these memoirs here. it's a very full collection of presidential biographies. truman as a young man, went up to world war i and served in world war i. during that period, he was very much influenced by wilson. he, many of the policies that he implemented after world war ii, with those we think inspired by a number of the policies that wasn't had tried that failed to get there. example, the united nations was

sort of reflected the nations from the first world war. some people in and admiring way, he also, being from western missouri, the frontier when he was growing up, he also had an affinity for andrew jackson. one of his favorite early presence because he was the president truman that were all the people for the common people. truman also sort of kill that girl in the 20th century. its policies and jackson's policies were certainly much different from each other. truman worked in the office, five -- 60s a week from when the library opened in 1957 until the middle of 1960s. his health started declining then and he didn't continue to come up to the library on daily basis after that. harry truman died the day after

christmas 1972. at that time, this room was left just the way it had been and it remained that way, everything left in the room just as it was except for the papers in his room for the top of the text. everything on the walls, all the books in here, all the furniture in here, the trinkets on the desk, everything else is just the way it was last time truman used the office in 1966. i think what people coming to the library should get out of the visit is the fact that harry truman's former president returned home to his actual previous home, looked at his wife in independence and said, i'm going to make my papers and things accessible to the public. our people to be up to come he here, see the papers and the

gels of the president, one about the american presidency. go home and have a better appreciation for the american system of government. >> this library is not the library, it's a building. the objective it to obtain microfilm reports of all the presidential papers. it will take a while to get that done. this place will be the center, the study of the presidency of the united states. >> presidential library opened in independence, missouri in 1957. we visit the library archives to learn about truman's personal connection with the city. >> the library 1957, harry truman himself donated his papers and other materials to the truman library for their

safe keeping, preservation and use by the public. some of the highlights we have in the collection are harry truman's own license, we are very lucky he wrote so much so we have presidential diaries, graphs, speeches he wrote, letters he wrote to friends and family. associates, before, during and after his presidency, the most landmark documents relating to japan or recognition of israel, two examples of documents we have that continue to impact us. >> we pulled items from the collection to share with you. ...

a fashion matter, wants to cut her hair in the bob which was fashioned in the 1920s. there some back-and-forth between the two. if you want your hair bobbed so badly, go on and get it done. i want you to be happy regardless of what i think about it. i am very sure you'll be just as beautiful with it off and i will not say anything to make you sorry for doing it. this letter really shows the

open communications that you had. harry and bess had a long courtship. they met in second grade in the late 1800s. truman proposed to her at least one time, which she turned down. they came from very different economic backgrounds, social backgrounds. harry truman had a farming background. he had grown up, lived in grandview missouri and have been born, was born south of kansas city. bess was always some independence. she tended to be from a little higher socioeconomic background man harry truman. and so it took some work and real effort, persistence on his part to have bess agree to marry him. it happened in 1919. moving on here i'm going to share with you a very

interesting handwritten note or diary like entry from 1934 which is when harry truman was presiding judge at jackson county. here he writes, tomorrow, , tody rather, it is for a year. i am to make the most momentous announcement of my life. i have come to the place where all men strike to be at my age and i for two weeks ago retirement on a virtual pension in semite or county office was all that was in store for me. he is referring to the announcement is going to make that is running for the united states senate. and harry truman would be elected later that fall in 1934 and then been reelected in 1940, in the u.s. senate. emily was that senate background that help get the attention of president franklin roosevelt and democratic party powers who

eventually persuaded roosevelt to name truman as the vice presidential candidate in 1944. these so-called pickwick papers, written on hotel stationery, truman wrote that these because even though he lived in independence which was near very close to kansas city, he sometimes go off to the pickwick hotel. he found comfortable, quiet setting where he could write and reflect on his career, and the kind dealings he had with the pendergast machine of tom pendergast in the 1930s where truman had some struggles and some thoughts that he was doing, while nothing illegal, things that he didn't quite in his conscious feel they were quite right. so he would take the pen and paper and kind of passion these

things out, kind of help in a therapeutic way. here's some photographs of harry in independence. this winter shows him walking during the presidency. he is accompanied by some secret service agents. this is the wintertime around december 1949 during his second term. the truman home is right here behind this metal gate. this is the truman memorial building just a couple blocks away where truman voted in 1948. and here's a truman walking outside his house walking with, i wait for him to keep fit, stay healthy and for him to maintain his social connections with the neighborhood. we still hear stories about people that saw or met truman, even in passing. even this day, 2018, those kinds of interactions, even if -- made

an impact on people. he tended to be friendly and accessible, usually accompanied by an off-duty police officer, but other than that he would walk alone. when harry truman returned to washington, his neighbors, people that candidate know him for a very long time because he lived there before, so he was greeted as harry and bess truman. and so he fit in as well as a former president possibly could, and he did maintain his social connections with the people that he knew, and moved back into the house that he and bess set up housekeeping in 1919. he was received very well by the neighborhood and could sit back and associate possibly could. he needed a gate around his

property. i don't think that was his preference but he been advised by former president hoover that you need to do this or people will literally peel the site off of the house because they want a presidential memento. he did agree to the building of a gate around, a fence around his house. but he was accessible. there's number of very good stories about people, one man's car broke under the house and the fellow did not to move it in-house. when up and knocked on the door. truman answered, asked the fellow to use his phone and truman agreed to do that. they sat and chatted for a few minutes until the repair guy should do. as thick i was leaving, the guy rent and safety truman, you look like that s.o.b. harry s. truman. obviously didn't care for truman. truman said i am that guy. so i heard another story about a lady, a young woman from germany

and she was new to the area and she was walking in the neighborhood. she was in her early 20s and had a baby, so she had a stroller. and she found herself walking regularly with a very well-dressed man who was very friendly, and aside from a man walking a few feet behind seemed normal and every week. she did not know that was harry truman she was walking with. he and bess did not have secret service until 1963 which was the time john f. kennedy was assassinated. and even then he took up personal phone call from president lyndon johnson to implore the treatments to accept secret service protection. they didn't want it. so other than this off-duty police officer, truman walk alone until about the late 1963, 64 when 64 when secret service

was assigned to the truman's. independence, missouri, was his hometown. from the time that he moved to independence as a six year old boy until his death in 1972, he always regarded independent as his home and he always came back to independence. so harry truman when they create the presidential library wanted that ideally to be in his hometown and that's what he achieved. it's important for collection like is open to the public so that they can see insights into his personality and his character. the papers document all those things. and so do the photos and other collections, so that the collection really gives people a sense of who truman was as a person. >> the national frontier trails museum is dedicated to telling the history of america's most iconic western true. coming up we go inside to learn about their connection to independence, missouri.

>> the museum is amusing and independence, missouri, where we focus on several trails, from the lewis and clark trail all the way to the oregon trail, california, santa fe and the more material. i'll do a small portion of. independence is connected in a right-of-way strip those people those people know some oregon trail that most people played on the computer because we were in outfitting location. people would travel from all over the country and sometimes from all over the world and it would come here to independence what they would get all the supplies they needed and this is just a very convenient location for them to move westward from. here at the library with the national museum we have really interesting collection that encompasses really any subject you can think of about the american west. starting with lewis and clark discovering the american west all the way to the continental, transcontinental railroad and kind of the into that era.

her image anything you want about we left a book on it. how did independence become the jumping off point? we get this question a lot and i think it's just circumstance. there are several areas and missouri that became jumping off point. st. joseph missouri was another popular jumping off point. it's just a independence became more well known. someone said, you're going west. u-visa from? independence which of the first word out of their mouth. you can imagine the city looked very different when it was a popular outfitting spot for what looks like today. these downtown was the place me if you outfitting the trails. with several blacksmith shops, several places you could get horses, really just outfitting. if you needed flour, baking competing to get you out west you would get it here. you can imagine a big passing community downtown. you hear all sorts of languages because you what people traveling the santa fe trail so you are hearing spanish spoken right next the people speaking

english. he might've for all sorts of accents because people traveling from europe to keep your french being spoken. and then you turn around and you would just speak to a friend in your common linkage as well. it should the very big hub of activity. we had some art collection. the mccurdy family came to indepencence and the chance to set up a blacksmith shop here. they were very successful in that business because of the one you to stop by the blacksmith before they could head out on the till. this is a great way to see how people function in indepencence. they would stop at the blacksmith to get all sorts of supplies. on most of these bills horses are mentioned at least once or oxen choose as well. you will see various things, axles, tires for the wagons, all sorts of supplies to get you outfitted for the trail with the various denominations of money being spent. some things as low as a dollar or as some of them went up to almost ten dollars apiece.

they just added quickly of course, anything when your outfitting for big trip, and so this came to a total of $117.78 on this particular day in 1854. fun math, multiplied by 20 and you'll get a better estimate of what we're looking at today. going on the trails was a huge amendment especially came to money. you typically have to sell everything you own in oregon to move west are part of this is because you weren't planning on coming back. you typically sell your farm, your home animals all of your belongings. in some cases you would pass those along to relatives or friends who might appreciate them. when you came to indepencence get to spend most of that money you just gained is getting about coming to food and supplies and then when you finally made it out west you had a bit of a rest. most of these before farmer so that was the day that would pick up but you don't get your first encompasses

income percentage of right in your new home. you must purchase seed to do things on credit and then hopefully if it was a good harvest you could start again your money back. it was a huge commitment and that's what i find really amazing is people were willing to make this huge risk and go west and not knowing what they're going to find. people were traveling thousands of miles on the trails. you'll see people mentioned in the letters and diaries that traveling up to 30 miles a day. what amazes me is that people did that as families. you having little ones that you have to care and you go and you might have your grandparents with you. when they get sick than have to be pulled in the wagon. you can imagine having to come out of the wagon if grandma or someone is sick going into the wagon. about 30 miles a day was pretty average. this belonged to elizabeth charlton, again woman the travel on the oregon trail in 1866. we don't always think about children being on the trail as the families are traveling.

just like any time you're traveling with kids, they get a little bit bored. you can imagine difficult to travel this week days on end without much entertainment. lots of times entertainment, kids would ride on the wagon wheels. not the most safe opportunity, but they would just do a full spent on them that and that's g entertained themselves. it also pick up off the low chips to use for the fire but to use them as frisbees and just make games they could pick you can imagine you'd hear a lot of are we there yet? and i'm bored. we are looking at a passage that she wrote on sunday june 24, 1866. can't this he did buy the big butte. found water up on the side of the mountain. came 30 miles today. we would have to go eight miles further before we found water but with good luck. we haven't had any water since morning. it is cool and pleasant the cv. no mosquitoes to bother buy th.

so challenges going on, there were several. a big part of it is the hardship you faced not realizing how difficult it was going to be. he might've left that trails ship with this great image, i'm going to reach california feingold can reach the promised land and it's going to be just beautiful and easy. vinny on the trails and figure first night in a rainstorm and your weatherproof wagon might actually leak. you are having to struggle for food because you thought you brought enough bacon but in reality you're running low. so may cases where they're just having so little to eat it then get to think about it, if you do have little mouths to feed, you yourself are trying to get all of firewood into hard work, you need to sustain yourself. you are going to deal with all of those, hunger but also illness. people just didn't realize hygiene at the time top and how important it might have been. people got very, very sick on the trail and, of course, you had a limited medicine and ray

linkage of a doctor and your group that could assist if they're able to do so. and then a lot of people actually were pregnant while the traveled the trail. you can imagine the hardships they faced being pregnant and oftentimes giving birth on the trail is a very difficult thing to imagine. and then there were some circumstances just the dangers of wild animals, lots of people think of running into native american tribes and having violence, that was usually very rare but people that big fear of that. it was more the hardship of the unknown was a very big part of that. the trails were popular for several years. we at the museum stop our focus in 1880s because the railroads were so popular at that point. most people are going to be using the railroad rather than a wagon. you'll still see some people in the late 1880s traveling by wagon but unless it was cheaper to go by railroad and much, much quicker. usually just a better option by

the late 1800s. the city of independence when the wagon trains start to stop running to and does change the economy. there's not a need for 15 black shops in one town when you're not outfitting thousands and thousands of wagons in a year. it changes the culture especially of our merchandise and/or local shops. and then the city kind of becomes a typical town in missouri, , not so much a focusn the wagons. it is more focused on the people in the community. when you visit the national frontier trails museum that are so we think to look at and see but i hope that when you walk in to get to know the people that went on the trails better. so often we think that going west, think about the wagons themselves and find a go but we don't really think of people that way and realized that just like us. maybe they don't like walking that far. the hardship that they went through, i think our museum helps to bring to life for people make people understand that this was a huge decision

that was made. i hope it helps bring people to life as well as the wagon story. >> i'm in downtown independence, missouri, were seized and learning about the cities literary scene. we speak with paul edwards on his book, "the mistaken history of the korean war." >> on sunday june 25 comments forces attacked the republic of korea. this attack is made it clear beyond all doubt that the international communist movement is willing to use armed invasion to conquer independent nations. an act of aggression such as this, it creates a very real danger to the security of all free nations. >> harry truman in his memoirs said that the decision to fight in korea was the most difficult decision he ever made. more so than the dropping of the atom bomb. and i suspect that's because he

knew at the time, maybe later on as he grew older, that this was a watershed which changed the nature of the world. among other things it changed the nature of warfare. korea was fought like world war ii, massive armies fighting each other across the hills. but that stopped and turned into an insurgent war, smaller groups of people attacking here and there. and since then of course we have never fought an old-fashioned war. we were always fighting insurgent wars. also introduce the idea that what's important often used to fight a war. it's not important to win it. so when these subjects come back, they come back having fought the war but nobody knew

we fought, and under the belief they lost the war. the army has what they call -- [inaudible] the chaplain comes and praise over you. somebody comes -- [inaudible] the situation is i remember being, the communists were pouring thousands of dollars and hundreds of men into korea to drive america out. we were there to stop them. stop the communists. and i believe that's why we were there although i did not see any evidence we were doing that, or that's what anybody else cared about. instead of coming back to tickertape parades, these troops were brought back one or two at a time. they just meshed into the

society. no effort to recognize them. because we were ashamed. i don't know any other way to say it. the nation was ashamed of what had happened in korea. i was drafted in 1953 towards the end of the war. i got to korea just before the armistice. i was fortunately in the artillery, which is back behind the lines so i don't have a lot of the experiences that so many good men have had. when truman came to power, i thought rather expectedly he came with a very good sense of history and a good sense of the military. he'd been in the military in world war i. and he understood that communism was exploding and the message

that use of course, take a small area and have minimum control and then they would build the party strength, take some more, then takes more. started across the line in 1950 in an attempt to unify korea under the communist control. the south koreans were weak, unprepared they had been occupied by the japanese. america saw this movement as a part of communist effort to turn the cold where from a war of words into a war of guns. they felt the need was to show them that we couldn't do it. and truman managed to get the united nations to agree to this, and he sent troops to protect

the south. once the south have been protected, macarthur and a few others decided to go ahead and finish the job so they moved north into north korea, which upset the chinese and eventually the chinese moved in and joined north korea to push us back. at almost the exact same spot where it began. the demarcation line runs almost parallel to the dividing line between the two countries. nobody won in the land. nobody won any people. nobody won any think they're all it did was decide to stop fighting and, of course, they never had a peace treaty. they are still at war. truman said he wanted to see as many -- he learned politics from the rear of a mule.

he was referring to his earlier days, the stubbornness of the missouri mule. i think he learned, if you lead a horse to water, you can't make it drink. you can take the american people into the containment concepts, but they're not going to put up with it because it was essential for him to initiate what he called guns and butter, which meant the fact that we are buying guns doesn't mean you have less luxury. so however women to pay for this war, we'll put on the credit card. and we are still paying for it. we charged the war to the american people, and so what he learned was how he could try and

keep america a strong, luxurious america and fight during war, korea, and prepare for a dirty war in europe. and, of course, people hated him. he had the lowest rating of a president when he left, but, but i think they think better now. 34,000, a little over a million people died in the war. south korea, about the same number. america 34,000. we had 105,000 wounded. that would fill up a football stadium twice. think about the size of it, the

dimension. anyway, as you can tell i get angry. i still do. the next time you're at a ballgame and they say let's honor the veterans. all the veterans stand up. makes me mad when they do that. where were they when i just cannot end nothing to do? where were they when they decide to send over them without knowing what they were doing? makes me furious. very few, you see very few korean veterans deal with it in the same boisterous manner that the vietnam veterans deal with it. i don't know which is the right way, but it's a different way, very silent. you got world war ii had a lot of reunions with the troops got

together and so forth. they don't do that in korea. they don't wear patches on their civilian clothes. you can't tell a korean veteran from anybody else. and he asked them if they were in world war ii, and korea, and a lot of them were, most of them will tell you they were in world war ii but not in korea. why? because you guys lost. you are brainwashed by the communist and you lost the war. why couldn't this generation be as strong as the wonderful generation, the great generation of world war ii? they thought the world and product armistice. you can't fight this war in korea and win. very strong feelings that way.

i get excited about that because it's, you know, the g.i. bill for the korean war, that was about half of what world war ii was. the best response is deal with it, as they hide it, they forget it. here we are 60 years later, and the problem that we were sent over to do, , unify korea, still hasn't happened. >> eyman down ten independence. up next we speak with author john hagan on his book "the science of near-death experiences." >> there are a lot of misconceptions about near-death experiences. one is that their relatively rare. the studies that we've done in our book and been done in europe show that as many as one in five

people who are resuscitated from almost nine in a medical venue, if they are asked while you are almost dying did anything unusual happened to you you would like to talk about? if you phrase it in a sympathetic manner like that, approximately one in five will say they have a near-death expense. what you don't ask them which is in the united states, it's 2%. near-death experience is our much well-known to non-doctors s and the general public and hollywood and antiquity that we as physicians know. near-death experiences are recorded in the hieroglyphics of ancient egypt 5000 years ago, and paintings depict a near-death experience in the middle ages. hollywood knows about near-death expenses when they show a near-death experience and a cinema, people understand the right to go out in the audience and explain it. it seems everybody knows about

near-death experiences except for doctors and nurses. near-death expenses are not taught about in medical school. in spite of the fact it is a well-known well-designed clinical syndrome that is talked about in europe and other places. just simply is not part of the curriculum and the united states. by and large i would say at this point in time that 90% of physicians consider a near-death experience due to lack of oxygen to the brain and that when patients have them, they should be told not to talk about them. that is absolutely the worst thing that you can do. and it's contrary to our mission as physicians are doing the best for our patients. madison street look at near-death experiences about 1975. -- madison started to look at -- a phd, psychiatrist, he still very much in the forefront of this and in 1975 he described 150 people that had near-death experiences.

his book life after life has sold over 15 million copies. so it outlines the various stages of a near-death experience. doctor moody outlined nine facets. so in the context of the patient that is in pain, suffering, almost at a clinically dead, they suddenly feel no pain. they suddenly feel at ease. sometimes they hear soothing music, and then what they describe is their spirit or their soul leaves a corporal body and usually hovers above the resuscitation scene or the apparently dead body. at that point the person described entering a supernatural realm in which they see a tunnel of light in a universe of darkness. they travel rapidly through this tunnel light to a heavenly place. when you enter the heavenly place they admit by what are called people of the light,

these are often deceased friends, deceased relatives, often parents. they have joyous reunion. and in this heavenly place they meet with the dd, and the dd is often interpreted in the complex of the patient's religious culture. in the presence of this they have life review. and almost instantaneously they understand the meaning of everything you have done in their life, how it is affected people around them for good or for evil. and then they return by one of two mechanisms. either there offered a choice, you can stay in this heavenly place or you can go back. and in that context they choose to go back usually because of loved ones, parents, children, spouses. the other are not given a choice and have basically told it's not your time, you have to go back. so they are returned to earth in

that context, they are changed. we as physicians are dealing with a different person. so was the family, so was the spouse can so the children. this is a life-changing event. and our book addresses how physicians, family should deal with this person because like going through a traumatic event, they are no longer the same person. when people come back from these experiences, the problem is many of them say nothing and that is absolutely the worst thing that can happen. when adults don't talk about this, or did you talk about it and their physicians negate it, tell them it didn't happen, wasn't real, it creates emotional trauma so that the person can have depression. they can have anxiety. and failing to educate the families, you know, for people that have near-death experiences with the patient and family are

not educated on this phenomenon, there's a high incidence of divorce. the studies have shown that children experience near-death experience at the same frequency as adults, but if they are taught, if they are told by the parents, their physicians, their elders this didn't happen, it was a fairytale come don't talk about it, they fall behind their peers significantly. when asked if the child's experience is validated and their parents, their elders, the people they believe in love, accept it, then they flourish and the often developed two to three standard deviations to the right. the reaction of the family, the physicians to the person can determine how this person adjusts the rest of their life. we felt we put together our medical articles in missouri medicine later when we published the book that we should not take

an advocate role. that we should be neutral. and so we made an effort to invite physicians that believe that the near-death experience is entirely fabricated by a brain that is not getting enough oxygen. and the chapter in our book that says exactly that is by doctor kevin olsen. doctor kevin nelson is a well-known, well-respected professor in neurology at the university of kentucky. and in a very long, complex chapter of the book, doctor nelson outlined how he believes that each of the nine faces of a classic near-death experience can be explained by a brain and extremist. the last chapter of the book is by noted neurosurgeon even alexander who was a neurosurgeon

at harvard, and who himself had a near-death experience. and in that chapter he refutes doctor nelsons argument. so that is a disconnect and i don't pretend to know all. i am trying to get the message out to the public and doctors about this as a clinical syndrome, but you can still be a good physician and say i just don't know. but i do not believe as a physician and scientist that we have a valid explanation based on brain hypoxia but how these things occur. i think right now we just don't know. >> you are watching booktv on c-span2, television for serious readers. here's tonight primetime lineup.

>> battle happen tonight on c-span2's booktv, 48 hours of nonfiction authors and books at the weekend, television for serious readers. this weakens full schedule is available on our website, booktv.org. >> over the past 20 years booktv has covered thousands of other events and book festivals. here's a portion of recent program. >> this is august 9, 1974 and

your mother sat in her memoir that this was the saddest day of her life. why do you think that is? why did you set? >> i remember her saying that. i think the two reasons, one level she was very sad as many of us were to see a sitting president, richard nixon, have to resign from office. this was a dark day to our nation, for many reasons. that never happened for. i think at the other level for my mother, she was looking forward to dad retiring, you know? [laughing] >> he promised. >> yeah, he promised. she could kind of see a quieter, a more intimate life, and she felt like this was just wrapping

it up to another level. the good news is that she came to realize that as first lady she was only a little, a few hundred yards from his office. so it was really wonderful to have him so close by. so she actually saw him and they spend more time together in the white house than when he was moving around traveling, speaking in congress. >> and so yes, so that they actually, you know, it had to be overwhelming. >> a little different then. [laughing] >> you go into the oval office and have his family portrait taken, and then your dad goes to work, his first day of work, and they found the goes back to their house in alexandria.

because the nixons had left so suddenly, there was no inauguration, no inaugural balls. the white house was ready for you to move into. so the family goes back to the house while president ford now has a first day in office. or having a little with the neighbors. it's not everyday that becomes president, and then your dad comes in later that evening and betty was polling lasagna out of the oven. [laughing] to remember what she said? >> she said, your president of united states and i'm working in the kitchen. something is wrong with this picture. [laughing] >> there something wrong here, i'm still cooking. i do think she really cooked much after that, did she? >> you can watch this and any of our programs in their entirety @booktv.org. type the author's name in the search bar at the top of the