Conversation 043-109

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I have Mr. Hope.

There you are.

Yes.

What did you think of those POWs?

Well, did Rosemary Woods give you my message?

Well, she sent me a message and she said Hope called and I thought it was a joke.

No, I said, you know, the highest accolade you will ever receive in your life.

Uh-huh.

We talked about you on the plane.

You must just be beaming all over.

I want to tell you, you certainly deserve all this marvelous treatment.

I must say how you must have felt, though, Bob.

You've gone out there, and sometimes your friends have...

Said, why did you do it?

And the rest of it, boy, weren't you proud?

You just busted your buttons, huh?

I just tell you, you know, I think half the nation cried when Denton came and said, God bless America.

What do you think, huh?

Well, that first guy, when he stepped up... That was Denton, Captain Denton, yeah.

Wasn't it Reisner?

Yeah, Reisner, too.

Well, Reisner was the same.

Yeah, but he stepped up, and he didn't say anything for a couple of seconds, and you thought, what's he going to say?

And when he said...

It's been a privilege to serve our country under the most difficult conditions.

And then he said, God bless the press.

I'm going to cry now.

Well, I think it was one of the greatest things.

You know, I really think, Bob, that in terms of movie makers, and I guess you've got to get an old-timer like Jack Warner to understand this.

This is grist for five good all-American movies.

But these guys went through, you know?

And that they survived.

You know, a couple of interesting things.

I've been over to the Joint Chiefs today.

They told us, this is just between us because we can't say it until after they're all out.

They said on the 26th of December, see, that was the day after Christmas, after we'd given them a little pause.

That day I called more, and I said, now look,

These people haven't responded.

And I said, everything that's to fly is to go over there, and you'd hit every damn thing that's strategic.

They sent 116 B-52s over that day.

These guys, of course, in their prison, they said that day they knew the war had been won.

They said because they were up shouting and clapping and the rest, and they said their captors were all diving for the bomb shelters.

Isn't that wild?

It is.

They all know how it happened.

They said without the bombing, it would never have happened.

And so, you know, the bombing was tough.

You and I know it, but that's the only— You know what you told me in the Rose Garden?

I don't know if you remember.

The day you gave me the gold cutter.

Yeah, yeah.

And you took me in the Rose Garden.

No, this is when you started.

And you said—you started the bombing, and you said, I don't care whether I get a second term.

I'm going to go through with this.

Right.

Do you remember that?

Right.

But anyway, you know, the other thing is that

that all of the people that have stood up, you know, we need heroes, Bob.

The country needs heroes.

You know, it's a curious way.

They got them now, haven't they?

These are heroes, aren't they?

Oh, boy.

And in a way, too, can you imagine if they had come back, if we had simply, as the peaceniks had suggested, gotten them back for a bug-out,

Right, oh.

And you know what?

I was trying to concoct a wire to you just to say bow.

Let me say that.

Bow again and take another deep one.

What I was so pleased with the wire you sent right after the peace announcement, you said, and now the coronation.

And by the way, you remember the driver that I had up in David, and you said, is that for me?

And I said, no, it's got my name on it.

I wanted to give it to you.

I called Rosemary Wood because I was with Conley and Pollard Simon down there, and I said, wouldn't it be great if the police would come down here and play with us on Wednesday?

Then you decided to go back, but I have something for you, see?

It was too damn cold.

It was cold out there this time, wasn't it?

No.

No, but wasn't it great that Palmer won?

Oh, sensation.

The first time, and yeah.

He's a great guy, isn't he?

Yeah, and that was a great... Let me ask you one thing while I've got you on the phone.

Just a moment.

You know the producer, no, the director, John Ford?

Yeah.

He's a great supporter of what we've done in Vietnam.

He's been a great...

He's been sick.

He's 78 years of age and so forth, and somebody suggested that I should give him the...

Medal of Freedom, and I'm going to do it.

But you think that's a nice idea.

And I'm going to do it in California in March.

I have no ideas about it, but if you have some thoughts as to

to what we...

I think we should have a good, nice dinner in L.A., you know, and give it to him, you know, and have all the people that are active in these things.

How does that sound to you?

Oh, gee, you are so thoughtful.

But if you...

When you're talking about you, it's funny, but come in on the plane, I said, what a guy.

You know, that letter you sent to Warren Dorn is one of the nicest things I've ever seen in my life.

You're establishing a record for something great all the time.

I think it's marvelous.

Well, anyway, if you're at the CYO...

I remember meeting them and just say that, well, let me think if I can give you something personal.

These men would have not come back with their heads high unless we had had the support across the country, people who believe deeply in America and who

uh who believed that peace with honor was more important than peace at any price that's they ought to be told that i'll do it anything you feel like you know makes you know after all the business you and i have taken through the years makes you feel pretty good doesn't it oh boy oh it's just a thrill it's just a thrill and the main thing is apart from the part from the personal thing bob

So good for the country.

The country could not lose this war.

We had to win it.

They did for this country.

And it emanates from you, your strength, your strength and how right you were.

And you never saw the NBC press.

I'm going to get it for you because I do want you to run it.

Because I argued with these cats.

And, you know, when I came back this year, I was on January... No, no, no.

Your program?

No, no.

No, I saw your program.

Good God, I saw the whole damn thing.

The NBC press conference, where they said...

I said, if people would only keep quiet...

Congress started to go in.

Oh, yeah.

Remember?

Yeah, yeah.

And I said, you know, we're working on it.

You know, the president is working.

He's got a program.

If they'd only keep quiet.

And this one guy said to me, then you think people shouldn't say anything about it?

I said, no, let them shut up for a while.

You know, the funny thing, you know, in December, many of our friends, they didn't desert us, but they were terribly concerned and some deserted.

If we had not done this and said nothing,

the enemy would never capitulate it.

And they did capitulate, you know.

You had to put it to them.

Remember that time that you and Arnie Palmer and the rest of you all talked about it and the B-25s and the rest?

Finally, we stuck it to them.

And that's what Moore and Abrams, we were all at lunch today.

They spoke of you and what you'd done.

But by golly, we finally did it, and it came out all right.

But everybody, I think if you could talk, Bob, you could talk, Bob, to these people about

Let's be proud, not only the POWs, but proud of the two and a half million guys that served out there, these men that, you know, it was a tough war and the rest.

I'm proud that the United States came out with the flag high and fly.

You know, like, I think that the idea, you know, remember I put the flag up, you know, today.

Mrs. Johnson agreed.

but I think the flag is flying high.

Let's say that, okay?

For some guys that we respect.

For everybody, not just the POWs, for the guys that died, the guys that served, and the United States served a good cause, and everybody in the world.

Our enemies respect us.

Our allies now trust us.

Isn't that so?

Right.

Well, I'm glad I caught you, New York.

I didn't mean to.

I hope I didn't interrupt your show.

All right.

Isn't that great?

Listen, when are you coming out to play?

That's what I want to know.

Look.

Say, come here.

Hugh.

Say hello to Dolores for a second.

Hugh is coming, Rob.

Mr. President.

Hold a minute.

All right.

Hugh is coming in March, and I've got to go out for dinner, and I want you there.

All right.

And at that time, maybe I'll play.

Oh, great.

Dolores there?

Say hello to Dolores.

All right.

Hi.

How are you, Mr. President?

I understand that you got Bob to a Jewish testimonial tonight, right?

Bonds for Israel.

With Cardinal Cook, no less.

That's right.

How are you doing?

Fine, fine.

God, everything is so marvelous and so wonderful.

How do you feel about this POW?

Didn't it bring tears to your eyes?

You know, I'm not—we're all emotional, but I control mine.

But, by God, that really did me in.

You know, the thrilling thing is that I think they're going to bring America back with them.

Do you think so?

Honest to God, I get this.

You know, I feel that when they start making their statements, that it's just wonderful, you know, that we'll have ourselves rid of all these...

When they talk about these peaceniks and so forth that say they want me to give amnesty to the people in Canada and Sweden, if I did, I would say that all these guys were immoral.

I can't do that.

I don't want to be hard on people.

The tributes they've given you... Well, that was undeserved, but they...

Yes, you certainly did, and it's just wonderful.

Well, I was with General Abrams today, and I said, General, I said...

I was very touched by that, but I said, to think that they...

Mrs. Mulligan and the wife of the Mulligan, Mrs. Denton.

I called the three wives and also Reisner, and they spoke about it, and I said,

I said, their husbands had said how brave the president is.

I said, my God, I wasn't brave.

I didn't risk anything.

Yes, you were.

No, no.

But, you know, my point is, these guys, these guys are the bravest men in the world.

And thank God that America produced such men, right?

That's right.

And I'm glad they're here.

We sure need them.

Give Pat my love now.

I will.

And you have a great fun.

We'll be out.

And incidentally, I want that chili dinner one time, you know?

Yeah.

Or spaghetti.

Is it spaghetti?

All right.

We'll see you.

Thank you.

Bye.