Transcripts For CSPAN2 Book TV 20140216

Absolutely furious at this perceived slight and wrote that if this light cannot he reasonably explained, the citizens of maryland will take umbrage and their exit from the union will be assured. That was the problem. Maryland was seriously ticked off and lincoln needed maryland. If maryland went confederate washington would be entirely hemmed in by confederate territory and it seems likely the Federal Capital would have to remove itself to philadelphia and new york. The stakes were huge. Anyone else . I have a question. Did mary todd, on the train or the children . Its one of the very interesting things about the story. Was Mary Todd Lincoln on the train . Among the many reasons lincoln was criticized for falling in with pinkertons plan on that night, his family was on the train with him and the thinking was quite reasonably, if you are in so much danger why did you leave your wife and children on the train to face these dangers that you would not . Have them to lunch at the home a prominent citizen of baltimore and then take them to the the train, to the second train that would carry them the rest of the way to washington which would have, might have sidestepped the issue as effectively as pinkertons plan did. So it is quite possible that she wasnt on the train any more than he was. But the perception that lincoln had left his family to face the perils that he himself would not also clung to him like glue. Anyone else . Maam . Yes, a couple quick things, and i apologize if you already addressed this. But, first, what specific thing kicked off for you about this event that made you say i want to spend the time researching exactly what really happened here . And was that process similar to what will happen or is already happening for your next book . How do you decide what youre going to pick more an area to explore many nonfiction . In nonfiction . Well, thank you for that. For me it was as true for me today as it was in lincolns time that all roads lead to baltimore. I have always been interested in the subject. The official answer, and its true, is that when i first got out of grad school, i was working at time life books op the series they had on the series they had called the civil war. And the joke around the office was that it took us longer to do the series than it took us to night the civil war. But it was there that i met some of the characters in this story for the first time including colonel ellsworth, the gallant little colonel who was at lincolns side through the whole journey and later became one of first to fall at the start of the war. And also pinkertons prized operative, timothy webster, who was hanged early in the war as a union spy in richmond. And i had begun to get the scent of it there. Im also a lifelong Sherlock Holmes fan and have written early and often about conan doyle and Sherlock Holmes and in the valley of fear, one of the novels about Sherlock Holmes, there are pinkerton men at the center of it. Its based on the molly mcguires. And we learn that if a pinkerton man is deep in this business, we are all destroyed. Be im honest if im honest, my first exposure to it was in a friends treehouse in cleveland in 1971. There was a stack of comic books that had belonged to one of his uncles. And i actually have it with me. [laughter] and it was called true comics, and it told the story of this plot. And there it is. And it was not a great telling of story [laughter] there was one line, i think it went we need men such as yourself, mr. Pinkerton, now that crime seems to be on the increase. [laughter] but it got the job done. And since the other reading in the treehouse that day involved the girls of the big ten [laughter] i think i made the right choice in terms of what to write, what to write a book about. [laughter] but to answer your question of, you know, how one picks a book topic, strange to say it can be as serendipitous as that, but you have to dig deeply enough to make sure that the bones of the story are there, that its going to support the full telling of a story. And thats the part of it that i love. I like to be up to my neck in the research. Thank you. Anyone else . [inaudible] [laughter] yeah. I have heard say that this book has been nominated both for an edgar award and an agatha award just recently. Whats that . [laughter] im sorry. Yes, it has, and im deeply flatter ored by that, and i thank you flattered by that, and i thank you, and the check is in the mail. Thank you. Laugh if there are no other questions, i thank are there any other questions . Then i thank you for your kind attention, and i will be happy to talk with you, sign your copies and continue on on this joe by night. Thank you snowy night. Thank you for coming. [applause] [inaudible conversations] but lincoln was a security nightmare. I mean, he was an open door president. It went against his instincts to take protective measures which drove his friends and wouldbe with protecters crazy. Like kennedy. Yeah [inaudible] were you going to Say Something . Oh, no. I was just going to open it up to the signing line, but if theres more discussion, please. Yeah, if anybody has a book to be signed, please come on up. [inaudible conversations] for more information visit the authors web site, stashower. Com. Johnnie walker is the code name of an iraqi translator who helped the navy seals root out terrorists in iraq following the insurgency. Johnnie walker accompanied the seals on over a thousand missions and is credited with saving dozens of them. Next, mr. Walkers experiences. This is about an hour. First of all, thank you, everybody, for coming out. We really appreciate the support, and were going to kind of wing it a little bit, were going to keep it easy, and well just take it where it goes, right . A lot of people have been asking where, you know, why did, why how did this book come about, why did you write this book with, and i have to say that the book actually started, in a way ive been working on this book for almost four years now. While i was working on american sniper, which i wrote with chris kyle whos another great, great american, one night chris and i were hanging around in his den, and we were looking at some pictures. The picture came up of some guys who were about to go out on a seal mission, and i noticed that one of them was a lot taller than the other, than the other people in the room and was wearing slightly different uniform. And i said whos that big guy . Chris looks at me and says, well, thats the only iraqi i ever trusted with a gun. [laughter] i was, like, oh, thats pretty interesting, man, tell me about that. So he told me that was the translator they called Johnny Walker, and chris started telling me about some of the missions. I have to say that i write fiction, and the stories that chris was telling me sounded so much more remarkable and more fictional and more thrilling than stories that ive ever come up with that i almost stopped writing novels. We ended up putting johnny in the book, in america sniper. Hes in about a paragraph. We changed his name and his background because we were very worried at the time. Johnny, we thought you were still in iraq. With the book, our book came out, american sniper came out, and chris was actually doing a book signing, i think, in california, ask johnny went out and johnny went out and just showed up. And chris, as chris told the story later on, chris said i called him up i thought he was dead and called him up and made him stand up in front of the room and told everyone truth, that Johnny Walker chris kyle is known as a man who saved a lot of seal lives and a lot of iraqi leaves, and lives, and crust told that crowd and has told me and has told everybody he could that Johnny Walker safed more seals and more americans and more iraqis than chris ever could. It was just a remarkable story, and im not sure if it was the next day, but soon after chris got hold of our publisher, our editor, actually, Peter Hubbard whos really been a big help for us and said, peter, you are doing this book, boy. In this man is really important. And thats kind of where we started. So, johnny, why dont you tell us a little bit you were born in a city in mosul . Correct. Why dont you tell us about that. My first time, i want to thank all of you guys for all of your support, and i apologize for my broken english, but [inaudible] i want to thank matt, that guy, i met him in 2003 in mosul, and this is first time i saw him after all these years. Matt, why dont you stand up. Matts an army veteran, and [applause] puts himself on the line for [inaudible] so tell us about yourself. I born in 1964 in mosul, grew up normal child and played basketball, high jump and all my dreams at that time, i want to live in america one of the days. And unfortunately, got marriage and having kids and wife, and it looked like my dream disappeared. [inaudible] at the beginning, and i didnt have any chance. And it [inaudible] in my heart, this is wrong. I deserve this chance. I am the first one for this job. So anyway, by accident i found work with military police wait, wait, wait, wait a second. Now, wait, see, the problem with dealing with johnny is johnny is just a little bit too, a little too humble. Here is what actually happened. He has been trying to get jobs for quite a while trying to support his family. There were no jobs. At that time the americans were, you know, they were very honored because they had liberated the country. Right. So johnny tried to get a job, didnt get a job. And we go into more detail in the book, but basically, he couldnt get a job, and he was down to he had enough money to buy a pack of cigarettes or his kids lunch. Or a taxi or a taxi to go back. He decided the heck with the taxi, i can walk. The kids can have lunch, and i can have two cigarettes, three cigarettes whatever it was. So he was walking home in mosul, which was not the greatest place, and all of a sudden he comes upon some mps and a discussion with an iraqi. So tell us about that. So we are walking to, like, by accident i walk on this side, and three females, they walk on the right side. And i hear them, they talk bad things about the American Forces this is what i need, i have not enough money to support my kids, and right now im going to end up fighting with military police without anything because part of our tradition i have to to protect our women no matter what. So anyway, im thinking what i should do, so i come up with a plan. I have to go to the military police and ask him, hey, guys, can you let me fix this issue . And they give me this chance, maybe ill try to make those females avoid any issue with the american police, and at the end of the night, earns going to be happy. So, basically, youre a marriage counselor. [inaudible] [laughter] so anyway, when the females start coming up and its nighttime and i look after them and i though them, and i know the background of those females, and it looked like what are you guys doing . So when they look at to me it look like, oh, we are so sorry, we didnt mean to do anything. And i told them, you know what . You have only one option, you have to go right now to your house, or you guys can have something bad with me. So the sergeant when he sees what i did with the female and fixed the issue, he asked me who i was, if i can work with them. I told him, you know what . I would love it, yeah, why not . And at that time one of the boyfriends for the girls, one of the girls, he came to me, and he Start Talking [inaudible] [laughter] johnny just, johnny just asked if we could use a bad word. [laughter] were this be new york. [laughter] so anyway, he came to me and he start giving me hard time and talking bad word about me and my family. It looks like, you know what . Im done with you. So i catch him, and i beat him, his face blood, whatever. [laughter] ribs broken, and the military police tell me, you know what . Stop, just leave him, you work for us now. Of. Just a side note on that story, Sergeant Berg recently had been out of contact with johnny for pretty much since several months after that and just recently because of this book got in touch with johnny again, and thats been one of the great side notes, you know, of this whole process, that lot of the men a lot of the men and women who served with johnny in iraq have been getting in touch with him. And its really a heart warming part of the story. So johnny went to work with the mps as an interpreter, and he made such a great name for himself that when the seals came to mosul in a few months later on, they wanted, theyd already heard of the toughest interpreter in iraq. And they asked for Johnny Walker. And Sergeant Berg was very reluctant to give you up and eventually did. [inaudible] and sergeant [inaudible] so you started working with the seals. And johnny, did you know what seals were at first . No. So the first time when i hear about seals, it was like, what does that mean . I couldnt find it anywhere, and my english at that time [inaudible] [laughter] i had no clue what im dealing with, and it was like what im doing . Be i love america, but those people are scary and different clothes, different camis. And i remember the First Mission i worked with them, like the guy i walked with just like stop, left, right, go. And i dont know finish. [inaudible] i have no review, i have nothing. So it looks like, oh, my gosh, we are under attack. So i start to run away, and the guy who [inaudible] he ran after me and he catch me and he said we just [inaudible] the door. [laughter] now, what you didnt tell them, though, is that on that First Mission johnny, johnny showed up. They told johnny that he was not allowed to have, bring his weapon. But ordinarily in iraq pretty much every male had at least generally an ak, but had some weapon. So, johnny, what did you bring on that First Mission . Knife. Im sorry, and how johnny brought a knife, and how big was that knife . Was it this big or this big . Compared to my phone, this big. [laughter] so it was pretty i heard the story from the original guy, it was more like this big. But johnny started going with the seals. There was one incident really that kind of cemented your relationship with the seals. Do you want to talk about that one where the man was wounded . So one of the missions, you know, im carrying [inaudible] in this environment, and i dont know whats going on. But it looked like i could support my family, so anyway, we went to one of the targets, and we want to take that house as Mission Towards the election next day. So [inaudible] and there is guys they start shooting us. And in that time i have no weapon, i have nothing with me, and i saw one of the guys, i hear got injured in his arm. So it looks like what i should do. And the only thing i knew is i want to save him. So i went, i grab him and [inaudible] but you know what . Its worth it to do something right. So i got him out, and there is [inaudible] i cannot mention his name. He says i want that guy. So from that time they start trusting me, and they start considering me as a brother and part of seal community. Yeah. Actually, the significance there is that there were a lot of people that were interpreters or translators with the American Forces. Often they were kept back behind the lines when there was any sort of combat. Johnny, johnnys being a little bit modest in that story. According to the seals who were there, johnny ran forward as there was gunfire going on. Johnny grabbed him, brought him back, and they were quite impressed at that point. And from that point on, johnny was actually a brother to the seals. Now, i think it can be difficult for people who are not seals to understand what an honor that is. I mean, you can hang out with seals, you can be even, you know, from even another special forces, another special operations guy and not be considered a brother. And johnny, they trusted him with their backs. What does that a, what does that feel like, johnny . I mean, you know, with these americans who you hadnt known . How did you feel towards themsome. I dont know. I feel like they are my family and they do good job to my country, so i will do anything to help them make their mission succeed. Its a huge battle for me to get [inaudible] and everyone who came to me and support me in different ways. So [inaudible] now, johnny started in mosul, but the seals actually had missions across the country. And so, johnny, you traveled quite a bit, right . This is true. You ended up, name some of the places that you were at and where you ended up. We went to most of the iraqi cities and towns, and at the end i end up with in baghdad. In baghdad atta time, thats kind of like at that time, thats kind of like going to miami, you know . Its a really nice place. They love you. Did they . And that time there is like a huge fire fight thats been [inaudible] and extremists shia, and couple men this kind of grow up in that time, ask they cannot do anything by themselves. So they need all the support from seals to, like, protect them. And from there we start, like, targeting bad guys, militia and extremists. Just to explain, in islam as i think a lot of people know though not necessarily everyone, you can make a lot of different divisions. One of the major divisions is between sunni and shia. And the interesting thing, johnny, youre what what are you and whats your wife . So i am sunni, and my wife, she is shia. And one of the days we sit, and it look like i come up with a crazy idea. I want to ask my kids whos going to be sunni and whos going to be shia. So i told my wife, and i dreamed it that night. I thought, hey, can you bring the kids, i want to talk with them. So my kids, they came, ask they showed up in the room, and hey, guys, we are democratic family, and were going to make vote whos going to be sunni, whos going to be shia. So they asked me, daddy, are you shia . No, im sunni. Mom, she said, im sue ya. So all of them raise their hands and say we are shia. [laughter] the interesting thing is that before, not only before the american war, but before the kind of sunni awakening, you lived in mosul, and while there were sunni and shia, mosul happens to be an area where theres more sunni. There wasnt as much, there wasnt religious animosity. There werent people who were shooting at each because they were sunni and shia. Unfortunately, whats the situation now or what was the situation with the americans . So it look like almost the country divide by sunni cities, by shia cities and kurdish places. Basically, now theres a lot of, theres a lot of violence. [inaudible] now, johnnys wife was in baghdad no, im sorry, excuse me. Johnnys wife was in mow is suggest, and mosul, and you were in baghdad, and can you tell us what you didnt actually know what happened. Tell us about that story. So at the beginning after they kill my brother and they start targeting me, so we told everyone we are, i run away to syria or jordan so no one can harm my family. Anyway, they threaten my wife, and they send her, like, letter with bullet thats mean theyre going to kill her. So she add had no option. So next day she took everything, and she moved to baghdad. Wait a second, theres a lot more to that story though. First, first of all, she had, johnnys wife is an incredible woman, and we go into it in more detail in the book, but she was, she was threatened quite a lot and thought that she was going to die at several points. Finally, at that episode when she got the bullet, she decided she just had to go to baghdad because that was where johnny was. To this point, johnnys relatives had been protecting his wife, and she just decides she just had to go. So she packed the kids up, and they went in a van that was kind of a, the equivalent of kind of a mini bus service here. And it took lets say it was four hours. Im kind of rounding things out a little bit, about two hours into the trip they were stopped by some terrorists. And they were, they took them out of the bus, they checked them, and they were basically threatened to kill them. Fortunately, the terrorists were actually not looking for johnnys family, thank god, but they were looking for some other person that they had been assigned to kill. They stayed there for several hours in the desert, or and johnnys wife was holding the kids. They have four kids. And pretty much thinking they were going to die. Until the terrorists apparently called whoever had assigned them to kill these people, you know, kill the person, and thank god the person that said, no, let these, let those people go, thats not your target. They then drove to baghdad and told johnny. You didnt know that story until we were working on the book, right . So johnnys wife was telling me the story, and were sitting in the she and i are sitting in the kitchen, and johnnys over there, and hes listening, he starts going, hmm, interesting. What . What . You see his eyes, like, his eyes become the size of his face over there. It was pretty big with. So this is pretty scary, huh . Yep, yep. Yeah. You know, like for me like my kids and my wife is all my life, and trying to do the right things to them and to my country, but i end up with all this bad things around me, extremists, bad people. So when i hear dan talk with my wife about these kind of details, i freak out. Fortunately, shes fine and the kids are fine. Just make sure of that. But unfortunately, we kind of skipped over a story there where your brother was assassinated. Maybe we should tell that, that story of how your brother came to die, unfortunately. So my brother, he keep like pushing hard to work with, to have any chance to work to support his family. So anyway, i find job with the iraqi army, and only my brother job is transportation the bread to iraqi camp. And one of the day they wait him at the bakery, and they came to him, and i apologize, they are coward. They dont face him, and they just shot him. They are three guys or four guys. They shot him in the face without giving him any chance to defend himself. And that was because they couldnt get you. So we have another story about you and dealing with, tell the opal story. Tell them. No, no, i think thats your story. Why dont you tell that, and ill okay. So one of the days i went to the base, and seals teach me always dont trust anyone outside your team. And always take the bad, bad feeling. You dont be like you feel good, everything is pink and everything is [inaudible] so anyway opal behind me with two guys, the driver has long beard, and the passenger hes about 20 years old. And im thinking, whats going on . That time maybe matt, you know, 2004 there is no big deal of assassination or killing or bomb id or something. So anyway, im thinking what can i do. So i make up in my mind this is what im going to do, im going to take right, and soon they can come close to me and [inaudible] when they pass me, i can push the brake and maybe its going to give me time to confuse them if they have any plan to kill me. So one of guys, he pulled up, and he shot [inaudible] and at that time always i keep my head kind of like the middle between the two windows. So anyway, i stop the car and took my ak and shot both of them. And i finish it because if im not going to do that, theyre gonna chasing me, and theyre gonna kill my family. And then, then what happened . You killed them, you killed them, the crowd started to gather, and then what happened . So people, they start asking me whats going on. I told them those guys, they work with americans, and today start yelling allahu akbar, and all of them say good job, awesome. Johnny was able to escape from that by claiming that the people he killed were actually the people who, you know, that were working with the americans. He went back and made sure that his family was. Now, johnny told me that story, that was one of the first stories that johnny told me, and when he told me that, we had met, we had talked before, but we really met, we went i went out to san diego. Johnny, you know, we had lunch, and its kind of tow when youre starting to tough when youre starting to work on a book and you dont really know the people, and i said, you know, lets just hang out, just chill, you know, what do you like to do . Johnny said, well, i like to take a walk down by the water, by the ocean. Okay, well, take me out there. So we went out to a boardwalk on pero beach, and johnny just started talking. Now, i have to say that chris was a really good friend x if chris asked me to do something, i would absolutely do it. But even if, even if chris hadnt been involved, even if Peter Hubbard hadnt asked me to do it, after walking out on that boardwalk and talking to johnny and just kind of getting a feel for him, i knew i had to write book. Write this book. So i thought what we would do since this is kind of related to book, that wed do a little bit of a reading. And so johnnys going to read the entire book now, right . [laughter] you guys need to tell the truth. No, no, i will read, im going to take my story, what i just said, i took writing the book i took my story which has happened to me and johnnys story about to the opal which i think the color of the car has changed a couple of times, but thats okay. And ill read from the book. Okay. Johnnys just well, well just go with it. My america is your america, and your america is mine. Its a refuge and a dream, a place of freedom and respite, responsibility and wonder. To have arrived here after the journey i took, after the bombs and gunfire and killings, the beheadings and kidnappings, the dangers, after everything that has happened in my life the idea that i am free thousand and the knowledge of now and the knowledge of everything that means fills me with gratitude. I am thankful for every moment and every breath. I am grateful to the seals who risked their lives for my family, grateful for the sacrifices of other servicemen and women, grateful to my neighbors and new friends who have welcomed me to this land of large dreams and open skies. Every day i live a dream, my dream. But unlike most, my dream began amid a nightmare, a murderous war in iraq that destroyed not only the lives of many of my friends and relatives, but of an entire country and culture. That destruction began long before the war i fought in, long before the conflict began. Iraq was a broken country, a place ruled more by fear than law, a place where making a decent living was, for many, an impossible dream. The american war brought hope to the disend franchised iraqis, but disenfranchised iraqis, but soon that hope evaporated replaced by violence and bloodshed. The americans were an excuse but not the cause of that might mare. It tore what had been my country apart, and its effects continue to this day. I am far from that now. Today on a cool morning in san diego i walk out on the pier at Imperial Beach and feel the wind push against my body, tearing at my clothes and sandpapering my face. Its a wonderful feeling. At six in the morning, the beach is nearly always deserted. It is as if i have the edge of the world completely to myself. I wait a little while. The fishermen come and cast their lines into the surf. Someone once told me that fishing is a great act of faith. To fish, one must be incredibly patient, but one must also believe. He waits on the water and the wind, and standing, believing that eventually his persistence will pay off. He dreams of landing a fish. He rehearses for it in his head. He hopes, he waits. That sort of dreaming is familiar to me. That is how i came to america, an immigrant before i even knew i could travel, a citizen in my hopes before the wish could even be spoken, a fisherman. America is a land of immigrants. Every family here has its own unique story of travel, of hardship in many cases, of triumph and sadness. Be of those finish many of those stories are filled with tire tears, a few are marked by blood. My story has both. I have debated how much to say about the war and my role in it. I thought of not telling about these things, but in the end i decided that people should know the real story. I think a lot of people will say that what happened was very savage. Perhaps they will think that i am a savage as well, though in my mind i did what i had to do, and i killed only to survive. Some people, including some of the bravest or warriors america has produced, the seals, call me a hero. Thats not a word that i use to describe myself. I am only a man who did what i thought i needed to do when i felt i had what i felt i had to do. I was a man doing a job when one i was happy to have for it meant i could support my family at a time and a place that was difficult to do so. And for a while at least, a job i thought meant i was changing the country, my country, for the better. People ask how Many Missions i went on, how many times i faced death. I dont know. I went on at least hundreds and more likely thousands of operations with just the seals. Sometimes two or three this a single night. American military units rotated in and out of the country every few months taking a rest back in the states for months and even years. For me, there were no rotations, and the rests were only very short. And in a war zone. Ieds and stray bullets were as much a danger as actual combat or direct action, often more so. But it all seemed like a normal life then. Perhaps thats a measure of wars insanity. If i have courage or fear or even savagery, its because i am human. These things are in all of us. War only brings them out. We are all capable of the worst possible crimes. We can all kill. We can all destroy. These are far easier to do than to build or to help someone live. I have found, to my horror, that it does not take much to become a monster. I didnt always think this way. Maybe like most people, i hope most people hi this way, i thought at one time the world was basically good. I believed and still believe that we can all live together in peace and by working together make our communities and the world a better place. I feel, i know that its better to make and build than to tear down and destroy. I thought all people around me believed that. Little by little i saw that that wasnt truement true. I fought it. I tried to change it. Eventually, i saw only my only course was to escape. But before i was able to call america my home, i had to denounce america. Before i could taste freedom, i had to taste death u. S. Itself. It was late summer of 2004. Id been working for a number of different american organizations, civilian and military, for more than a year. The liberation of iraq had been a glorious moment, a triumph that nearly all of us in mosul shared. When i got my first job as a translator, everyone on my street celebrated me. Way to go, johnny, hay said. Now they said. Now youre made. What a wonderful thing. But many barely a year in barely a year, all of that changed. Things turned murderously bad. My job went from being a thing to be celebrated to a thing to be hidden. Any association with americans was a death sentence. If navy seals loved me helping them, mujahideen terrorists hated me for the same thing. One morning on my way to the seal base, a car pulled up behind me as i approached a Traffic Circle in western mosul. Instinctively, i knew what would happen. As i looked for an escape route, the car drew close, and the man in the passenger seat began firing. I was lucky, the bullets missed. I veered off the road, then gunned the engine and managed to hit oh car as it turned other car as it turned. I jumped out, ak47 in my hands. How many rounds i fired, i have no idea. Both men in the car died. Because of the crash or because of my bullets, ill never know, and it makes no difference. People ran to us. As a crowd gathered, i could feel their hatred. What is it, they demanded, what are you doing . There was only one way to escape. Those people, they worked with the americans, i said. They had to die. Crowd began to cheer, a few pelted the car with rocks. Suddenly, the car was in flames. I quickly made my getaway. It was one of the worst days of my life, the day that i denounced america. But it was also the day that my escape to the United States began. [applause] so were kind of just free forming here, so well take questions from people, i think, and just kind of we can talk about, to some extent, whats going on in iraq now if anyones interested. We will not identify anyone thats no active servicemen will be identified, and were trying to keep some other details just a little on the, the l. Dl. I i wondered if you were afraid now here whether they would come after you . So just to repeat the question for the video, are you afraid, johnny, now that people will come after you . Maybe theyre going to come after me, but they cannot come after my family, and i have all the support from people, so, you know what . Im 50 years old, i dont cower anymore. Was it difficult for you to come to the United States . I mean, the transition . Were you brought by the u. S. Government, or did you have to go through a bunch of hoops to be able to come here . So we have a question about how difficult it was more you to come to the u. S. Which is a great, thats actually a great question. So one of the, my big issue with system is i have to go [inaudible] and stay four or fife five hours to give me payment to my apartment. So i have big argument with the supervise. I told him i dont want you to be kind to me and give me money. I want to work. Let me be, like, work as a forward on the parking lot as a guard on the apartment and make hour, and at the end of the month, i deserve what i get. So this is like making kind of, like, sad about this kind of incorrect system. Yeah. Thats but how you got out of that system, how you got out of iraq, you were helped by the seals. Yes. And thats actually the, thats actually the question were looking about for iraq. When you had been serving in iraq, how you got to the u. S. So one of my friends, his name jack welcome, brother. We work in 2007 baghdad. [inaudible] good to see you, brother. So anyway, in 2005 and 6 most of the team guys, they allowed me in. Hey, johnny, you need to move to the United States. And i want to do that, but if im going to move and everyone move, whos going to stay here and do the right hinge . Thing . After my wife when she came to baghdad and my brother killed and they tried to kill me, they put money on my head, it look like, you know what . My family deserve better chance. And the sales, they do everything the seals, they do everything. I mean, each one of them, he do his part to move me from iraq. We go into that in a little more detail, but we really have to praise and thank the one seal in particular, we call him chief tat in the book who really was a tremendous supporter of johnny and really made, made it happen. There were a lot of people involved; a lawyer and a lot of officers and such. So theres a lot of credit to be spread around, but chief tat who was a master chief, and you know anything about seals, he is one tough s. O. B. , right . When he, when finally everything, he got all the paperwork, he got johnny here, when he finally heard that johnny was home, he was actually on a mission, he started crying. And he is, you know, if you can imagine, a really toughasnails seal guy crying, and hes, not only does he admit that, hes proud of that. So it just goes to show how much the seals really respected you. You mentioned at the beginning you werent allowed to carry a weapon. What was the defining moment when you were allowed to carry a weapon and so just to repeat question, you were not [inaudible] you were not allowed to carry a weapon. At what point were you allowedsome. When i start training iraqi forces, the iraqi forces, they give me weapon. Theres a, the americans have a long list of things that, well, first of all, that the seals or any American Force can and cant do. But as kind of a sidebar to that, they didnt allow, they dont allow interpreters not, you know, to carry weapons. At some point the, well, were talking about seals, but there were other forces. The seals specifically started training iraqi forces, and thatt that point johnny was considered working even though he was working with the seals, he was working also with the iraqis. And under their rules, so he came under their rules, and under their rules he was allowed to carry a weapon. And thats how i know its convoluted. Im not the person that came up with those rules, and thats the rules, and johnny followed them, the seals followed them. They dont like them sometimes, but, you know, an order is an order. Thats what they did. A moment ago you spoke about the difficulty of arranging your departure from iraq to come to america. Im a former middle east Foreign Policy analyst. I know that there were actually many cases of people in afghanistan and in iraq who helped American Forces, some of whom had tremendous they put their lives at risk in ways similar to you. Theres a good i dont know the exact number of these people, but theres a reasonable number of them, and you have a lot of soldiers who were trying to work for these people, interpreters who put their lives on the line, and sometimes there were tremendous difficulties with the american bureaucracy to get these people out of afghanistan, out of iraq to the safety of america. And im wondering is there any type of National Organization rather than taking each of these individuals one by one by one by one, as a larger group because theres a number of them. Maybe theres scores. I dont know the exact number of people who really helped American Forces, and they deserve the help of United States to come to safety. Just to kind of repeat or summarize and repeat the question, johnny was lucky and helped by the seals to come to america, but there are, as our audience member pointed out, theres a lot of iraqis who helped americans afghanistan also. And in afghanistan and have had difficulty coming to america. And that is, actually, one of the Untold Stories, unfortunate Untold Stories that even though Congress Actually passed a law, and johnny actually came to america under that law, saying that, hey, we recognize that these people put their lives on the line for america should now be, you know, helped to satiety and Freedom Safety and freedom if thats what they want. Unfortunately, the implementation of that law has been far less than just to kind of go out and prosthelytize a little bit, the implementation of that law has not been what you would hope. Unfortunately, very few translators specifically or interpreters have come to america under it. And the audience member was pointing out and asking if theres an organization that is helping people that are stuck in afghanistan and iraq. And i dont know of one, and we know that i do know that there are other translators stuck there. And i think that, you know, im not really sure what should be done, but its i know that we have an obligationing to help the people that obligation to help the people that helped us. I think, hopefully, we learned our lesson from vietnam, because i think they had a similar situation there. They did pass a law, but its been very, very difficult for these guys to get the paperwork done. Even in johnnys case, it was hard. I know of two other cases. You may have something. No, thats good. We have other weve, like, knocked you guys dead so [inaudible] hold on, hold on. What was your this is a question for you, actually, and not well, then johnny will take it. [laughter] and hell answer in arabic. Im not quite sure how to ask this in a nonleading way. But as the author of a book thats so intimate to your subject, how do you not be get your own not let your own politics, thinking, philosophies sure. Integrated in it. How much of you seeps into his story . You know, thats a really good question. The question is, you know, since youre the coauthor of this book and other books, obviously, how do you keep yourself from getting in the book . I think that what, i mean, we spent you try to train yourself to become, i mean, my job is not to give my opinions or, you know, my voice. My job is to give johnny his voice and put it into story. When i did american sniper which is a book about a seal sniper from texas, in some ways, in some ways that was a little bit of an easier book because chris was, had a very texan voice, and, you know, he talked a lot. He talks a lot different than i do k. I cant do a texan, as you can tell, i cant do a texan accent. And, you know, for chris it was spending a lot of time with him, with his family. They spent a lot of time with us and just listening and, you know, just trying to become conduit for what he thought. And what he wanted to say. Whether i agreed with it or not, i agreed with a lot but not necessarily everything. I mean, hes a dallas cowboy fan, i mean, give me a break, you know . New york . Jesus. [laughter] baseball, forget about it. When it came to johnny, we had a couple of barriers to overcome. One is the language because, as you can see, i speak perfect arabic [laughter] johnnys english and he doesnt understand, like, half the italian stuff, language, things ill throw at him that are jokes which is probably to his credit. But other thing was trying to replicate his language. And as you can notice from that section would have been impossible. He doesnt speak english. So what we tried to do, what i tried to do was, you know, come up with a language that would be, that would mimic to some extent the arabic that he used which was very formal arabic and, you know, try to get the cadences of that in the story. And, basically, it comes down to spending a lot of time with the guy and, you know, forming a bond, and we just spent, we spent so much time together that his family pretty much hates me now. [laughter] but, you know, the thing ill say with johnny is that, you know, if you spend a lot of time with him, you cant help but like him. Hes johnny. Its johnny. Thank you. And, hopefully we communicate that in the book, and we do, actually, i do talk about that. Theres a whole essay in the back of book about that. All right. Okay, im sorry. Ive got to go with sharon whos, like, talking from the back. You brought it up, but, johnny, tell us about how you got code named Johnny Walker. How dead you get code name im sorry, how did you get code name Johnny Walkersome. You mean Johnnie Walker or code name . Forget about the code name part, Johnny Walker. So i love to drink Johnnie Walker black. [laughter] well, actually, theres more to the story than that. As usual. You see, the other thing i should say is you get one story from johnny, and then you have to ask him the same story 25 times before you get all the details, and then you find the seals who were with him, and you get more, and hes a very modest fellow. But they origin toally were calling you walk aer, i think, and then i think, i think somebody saw you with a drink and said, no, hes not walker, hes Johnny Walker. And johnny, of course, being johnny didnt understand at that a point you didnt really understand the joke, and then you got it. I got it now. You get it now . I got it now. [laughter] [applause] do we have other questions . I realize that a lot of your missions, johnny, were, are still probably classified, but can you explain, like, what the mix was . I mean, was it partly interrogation . Was it partly Community Relations . What were you doing . So what were the, what kind of missions did you go on . So i did all the mission, and my job is i will do everything to make mission successful. They need me to help in questioning, they need me to pull security, they need me to do anything part of this brotherhood. The bulk of the almost all of the missions with the seals, now, he did, he worked with a number of he worked with some government agencies, and he worked also with the mps, we talked about. Also we talk about it in the book some other army services, the rangers, special forces, blah, blah, blah. But the bulk of missions with the seals were missions where you would go to, essentially, make an arrest to use, you know, to use kind of civilian language. And you were going to search out a certain individual who may or may not have been guilty of often was, but, you know, we have to presume, americans being americans, were presuming that theyre innocent. But you go to apprehend people. That was, i would say that was most of the seal missions. You werent doing missions where you were handing out soccer balls. Yeah. And like sometime with the Sniper Mission my job is not only questioning people, no, my job to build bridge between seals and iraqi family because they the iraqi family and we took the house for two days, so i try to make it respectfully and kindly. So soon we had target, i changed my clothes to civilian clothes and gathered money from the team guys and go the market and buy food more that family for that family. And we build a lot of relationship with family. Yeah. Theres one misconception that i think a lot of americans. When we hear Sniper Missions, we think that, you know, the seals are going out to shoot someone. Actually, the Sniper Missions in iraq for the most part, and the missions that johnny was on, were actually overwatch missions where the americans were protecting things like the election so that to make sure that there was not going to be any violence on the street, the seals would, say, go into a house the night before election or two nights before election, they would, and then they would set up outposts, and they would watch the street and make sure that there were no bad guys. Now, of course, to do that you had to take over the hours, and unfortunately because of the nature of war, you couldnt actually just advertise in the newspaper, hey, now wed like to take over a house sometime, anybody have a house in and johnnys job in those cases was to assure the people that, hey, you know, were here, were here for this mission, were here to protect iraqis. Any, you know, were going to take care of your needs, anything that gets damaged well pay more, and we know its a pain in the neck, and, you know, well take care of that. But the seals and johnny would go beyond that. They would, and we talk about in this the book, theyd make them dinner, they went out to get them, you know, some, to go shopping for them, get them fuel. So i know when americans, you know, snipers were thinking, you know, were thinking of the movies and thats actually not whats going on. What are you doing today and what sort of things so from my experience work with seals, i mean, this is not only my job. I mean, this is like a huge project now. Its very important for our troops wherever they are, when they are in an urban situation or present themselves in a certain way so they understand simple customs. Even having tea with someone can have a lot can mean a lot. It doesnt always work right right but lisa vander stand this theory. Do we have other questions . You would you ever consider going back there . The question is johnny have you ever considered going back to iraq . No way, this is my country for good. [applause] johnny loves