1:31:00
back when you're three, four,
five, six years old.
1:31:02
That's when good ol'mom is telling you
to obey the local camp regulations.
1:31:07
In this case, it's the house.
1:31:09
And you start to learn
to respect authority.
1:31:13
And so, finally, lo and behold,
at 20, 22 years old,
1:31:16
you find yourself in service
and maybe take that last and final step,
1:31:20
where you become
quite regimented...
1:31:22
in a military form of discipline.
1:31:25
That stuff isn't worth the paper it's
written on, if the basis isn't there.
1:31:30
You need that cornerstone that goes back
to childhood, and who's teaching you,
1:31:33
but good old moms,
women like yourselves.
1:31:38
It's terrifying. When you're facing
a torture session with a bunch of gooks,
1:31:41
it's gonna be pretty darn miserable.
1:31:43
No doubt about it.
You're scared. You're really petrified.
1:31:45
But at the other side,
you have a bunch of women back there...
1:31:48
telling you, ''You better do something,''
you know?
1:31:51
That's the wrath of God. You don't
want 100 women climbing down your back,
1:31:54
-[Laughter]
- So you figure the gooks aren't so bad.
1:31:57
So you press on.
1:31:59
In many respects,
the destiny of our country,
1:32:02
and more personally,
the destiny of me,
1:32:05
your men,your children...
1:32:08
is in your hands.
1:32:10
If you are proud of the P.O. W.s
and personally of me,
1:32:14
then you should be
proud of yourselves,
1:32:16
because I was
what you made me to be.
1:32:19
As for my own view,
1:32:21
uh, I thought through
as best I could...
1:32:23
the meaning of Southeast Asia
to the United States in the 1950s,
1:32:27
looking backward
and looking forward...
1:32:29
in terms of what I know about
the dynamics of societies and so on.
1:32:33
And on balance--
It is an on-balance judgment--
1:32:36
I came to the judgment that it's
a vital interest to the United States.
1:32:39
I've never had any reason
to change that judgment.
1:32:43
And, uh, therefore, I, uh,
1:32:47
I do believe that what we have done
is generally right,
1:32:52
although I would have preferred
to have seen a different,
1:32:55
more decisive military strategy.
1:32:58
Certainly, to me,