Span. Org history. A healthy democracy doesnt just look like this. It looks like this, where americans can see democracy at work, when citizens are truly informed, our republic thrives. Get informed, straight from the source, on cspan. Unfiltered, unbiased, word for word, from the nations capitol to wherever you are, because the opinion that matters the most is your own. This is what democracy looks like. Cspan, powered by cable. This is the story of the first infantry division, the red one fighting the war grew from dday, north africa to ve day, germany. All combat pilot is now for this is the story y of the first infantry division, the red one, whose fighting men saw the war through north africa to dday germany. Eight campaigns and three amphibious landings. But, units of the first [ inaudible ] of the revolution. To preserve the union in the civil war. First in combat in world war i, when those units were defined as regular army divisions. Then, in 1941, they came from all walks of life, a new generation of recruits. Boy, do i remember breaking in those first year g. I. Shoes. We learned quickly from the rugged training we got here and overseas. Still, when we left england, we felt pretty good. We had a swell cg, terry allen, a fighting general. We liked him, and he liked us, so the outfit relaxed, had some fun. Still, on a chilly november don off the coast of north africa, out there in the dark, we knew action was close. Everyone tightened up, waiting. I dont know which was colder, the water or the feeling in my when they opened up on us. In three days, oran was hours. Easy. Too easy. We thought we knew what war was like, but jerry taught us differently. With dive bombers, tanks, those dirty av eights. Sometimes you have to work your way through. We learned of the score and started to teach jerry a few things. We rammed our way back down ronalds throat, where we caught up with the panzer division. Then, we swing north. War funnyd all about it. Drenching artillery, hidden mines, walls of machine it was a nightmare war. Hidden mines, walls of machine gun fire. Meanwhile, montgomerys eighth army [ inaudible ]. When we shook hands with his patrols, it was over the corpse of [ inaudible ]. After tunisia, the crazy idea got around that we were going to load on boats for home. We loaded on boats, all right. Which, would leave me with no place like home. This time, the beachhead was rough, but after we broke through, the red one moved fast. We had to stop and slug it out in the mountains all along the way. A pretty mountain town, but after 21, yeah, 21 counterattacks, it looks like this. We won, all right. But, we paid. They sent us back to england. Our new cg, general hubler, put us through the jumps again. They tracked us to another beachhead, but this one, we knew was going to be the biggest show of all. The curtain went up on june 6, 1944. With we were getting some you know, i never think of omaha as a big town in nebraska, not even more. To me, its a beach in normandy. We were getting mortar and machine gun fire like rain, without an umbrella. We came close to being rained out, all right. Someone yelled, get the hell off the beach. We got the hell off. Gear. And to keep it all the time. Its like a chinese puzzle out of hell. We cleanout one field, only to find out the next is loaded with terrorists. We had to keep digging all the time for 88s and mortars. Still, in a weeks time, we dug our way to [ inaudible ], where we waited for the other outfit to come up on our flanks. Not sa big blow up we got a chance to clean up and tell the folks back home how we were doing. It had to be a short note, though. A big blowup was brewing. It came on july 25th, and it was the whole air corps. Then, the infantry pulled the tackle west of town, it opened up a nice big hole, and the first sharks through. Cleared awy roadblocks. And all the time the infantry kept coming along for the final combat engineers dug up mines like bad habits. They cleared away roadblocks, and all the time, the infantry kept coming along for the final kill. They were slugging and slogging, shooting, grab a nap when you could, rations, and a lot of dust. Thats what the schoolbooks call the victorious pursuit, eating dust, even when they put you on [ inaudible ] you ate dust. We sure covered ground. In a month, we drove clear across france. 17,000, and in a three day wrap around, not and kept on up all the way to the third grade we rolled across the belgian border, bag 17,000, and kept skipping them up all the way to the [ inaudible ] line. We crossed it in three days. We drove a claim into hitlers backyard. It looked like the final round was coming up. We did some preparing. Hitler decided to hold out, and make it a symbol of resistance. He gave it a slogan too. You are fighting for the honor of the National Socialist german army, he said. They fought hard too. House to house, for weeks. But, we had a slogan too. No mission too difficult, no sacrifice too great, duty first. The payoff, we cleaned them out, house by house, street by street. Still, on the 21st of october, what was left of it surrendered. But, we hadnt seen the worst yet. [ inaudible ] showed us that. Hu e outfit. But we cleaned out jerry then general landreth paid all this out for our first rest yeah,x that really trimmed down the outfit, but we cleaned out jerry. Then, general landers, our new ct, pulled us out for our first rest in six months. You wouldnt believe it. Even when we got back to belgium, we knew it was too good to last. Now, it didnt. Whether jerry bt drained out, hold the northern shoulder. Mean weather, jerry beating his brains out attacking, and us counterattacking for keeps. After the bulge, we had the rhine river ahead of us. It looked like a big ditch, but the nice armor grabbed the bridge at the margin and we got over fast. After that, we threw oaway the brakes and kept rolling. Right through the belly of germany. Czechoslovakia. And rather well, weakia. When the war was over in may, you know where we were . Czechoslovakia. Yeah. And brother, were we tired. The call the infantry the queen of battle. Dont ask me why. You wouldnt say those guys look pretty, would you . Not pretty, but they are real men. Soldiers who do their job. If you are enjoying American History tv, sign up for our newsletter using the qr code on the screen to receive the weekly schedule of upcoming programs like lectures and history, the presidency, and more. Sign up for the American History tv newsletter today and be sure to watch American History tv every saturday, or anytime online on c span. Org history. Here is a look at some significant moments in history during the month of october. October 28, 1929 is remembered as black monday when the Dow Jones Industrial average continued falling and the stock market crashed, eventually leading to billions of dollars lost. And the great depression. Verdicts in the nuremberg trials were handed down on october 1, 1946. The trials culminated in 19 of the defendants being convicted of charge cluding crimes against humanity. 12 are sentenced to death, three others were acquitted. On october 16, 1962, the cuban missile crisis began when the u. S. Discovered Nuclear Missile sites under construction in cuba. For 13 days, president kennedy and his administration navigated the confrontation with soviet premier crew strapped in the soviet military. After tense negotiations, a diplomatic resolution was reached, and the soviets agreed to dismantle the arsenal in cuba. The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all our. But it is the one most consistent with our character encourage as a nation and our commitments around the world. The cost of freedom is always high, but americans have always paid it. One path we shall never choose, that is the path of surrender or submission. Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right. Not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom. Here in this hemisphere but and we hope around the world, god willing, that goal will be achieved. Thank you, and goodnight. And that is a look at significant moments in october. American history tv has programs available to watch online on all of these topics in our archives, c span. Org history. Weekends on cspan2 or intellectual fees. Every saturday, American History tv documents american stories. And on sundays, book tv brings you the latest in nonfiction books and authors. Funding comes from these television companies, and more, including wow. 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