Elmer Estle

Interview with Elmer E. Estle

Interviewed by Elizabeth Grider
Marion High School

Interviewed on May 7, 2003
At the Elmer E. Estle House
Marion, Indiana

EG: Today is Wednesday May 7, 2003, and this is the beginning of an interview with Elmer Estle, at this home at 1612 Saxon Dr. in Marion, Indiana. Mr. Estle is 79 years old, having been born on September 26, 1923. My name is Elizabeth Grider, and I’ll be the interviewer. Mr. Estle is a family friend. Gene, could you state for the recording, what war you were in and what branch of service you served in?

EE: I was in World War II, as an enlistee, and I was in the Air Force: serving in the eighth Air Force in England.

EG: What was your rank?

EE: I reached the rank of Tech Sergeant.

EG: So you enlisted, correct?

EE: Yes.

EG: Where were you living at the time?

EE: I was living at home with my parents.

EG: Where was this at?

EE: On South Adams Street, here in Indiana.

EG: Why did you join?

EE: Everyone my age at the time was either being drafted or enlisted, and I wanted to get in Cadets and become a pilot, but they were full; so I just enlisted in the Air Force unattached.

EG: Do you recall your first days in service?

EE: Oh yes!

EG: Would you like to elaborate on that?

EE: It was funny. We learned very quickly. One of the first things we learned was don’t volunteer for any duties because you tend to get put on digging or pushing a wheel barrel. But it was interesting.

EG: What did it feel like?

EE: Oh we were nineteen year old, bright eyed, and looking to conquer the world, I guess. We wasn’t smart enough to be scared.

EG: Tell me about a few of your boot camp or training experiences.

EE: Well I first went through Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, and from there to Miami Beach, Florida, to basic training. In Miami Beach, Florida we went through Laredo, Texas for Aerial Gunnery School. And from Gunnery School, we went to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for radio operator school. From there to Salt Lake City, away to combat squadron, and we were assigned to B-17’s, took our first phase flight training in Pecos, Texas, and our second and third phase flight training in Alexandria, Louisiana. From there, we flew overseas through the northern route, from Goose Bay, Labrador to Ireland. Then, from there to Mauvington, England, where the 381st bomb group was, and that was the bomb group that I was attached to for my combat.

EG: Do you remember your instructors?

EE: Not by name…not really, no.

EG: How did you get through it?

EE: Well I was shot down and taken prisoner and I was a prisoner of war for the German’s for fourteen months. So I was out of combat… it wasn’t too pleasant but… there was a lot of us there so we got through it.

EG: Got through it together?

EE: Got through it together: that’s right.

EG: What did you feel like when you knew you were going to Europe?

EE: Oh, like everyone that didn’t know what we was getting into, we was looking forward to it. Until we got shot at, why we wasn’t necessarily scared. But once we got shot at, well we realized what the war was all about, I guess.

EG: What was it like getting shot at… the first shot?

EE: Oh… I don’t know, I guess you’re scared of course, but with the training that you did, we learned to live with it. We were so busy firing back at the German aircraft that I guess we didn’t have time to think about it too much.

EG: Where exactly did you go?

EE: Well when I was captured, the German people captured me riding Cologne, Germany. Cologne had been bombed rather heavily during the war and so the people were rather violent; they started to hang me and a couple others on the crew. The army got us away from the civilians and they put us in a factory and held us until they dispersed the crowd. Then, they took us down to a building and interrogated us rather heavily and then we were put in solitary for three days. They did more interrogating during these three days and then after that we were moved around in different spots in Germany. Eventually we ended up in Barth, Germany, which is a town right up on the Baltic Sea right across from Norway and Sweden and that is where we were liberated from the Russian army.

EG: Do you know how to spell that?

EE: B-A-R-T-H: Barth, Germany. We were liberated May the 1st and the war was over May 8th and we were flown out of that prison camp on May 13th. By the way, we were flown out by the same bomb group as we were flying with when we got shot down.

EG: How was it like to get shot down? When you were arriving what was it like?

EE: Well German aircraft was attacking our plane. We got knocked out of formation on the mission that I got shot down on there were 750 heavy bombers sent out on the mission and we got knocked out of formation and was trying to make it back ourselves. And thirteen German fighters hit us right over Cologne and that’s where we got shot down. We bailed out and uh… sure it was scary, everybody was scared I guess. Seven of the ten of us got hit by flack and one of ‘em was dead when he hit the ground, we threw him out of the plane and his shoot opened. I saw four of the rest of the crew, there was a crew of ten, by the way, I saw four of the crew after that and we ended up that two of us was in the same crew together. It was exciting, but a little bit scary too.

EG: Definitely. Did you ever come in contact with any European civilians?

EE: Well, when I landed in the streets of Cologne I certainly did. EG: How did they react to you?

EE: Well, they were very bitter and I’m sure we would’ve been the same way if our cities had been bombed like theirs had. They was ready to hang us. They spit on us and hit us and I got a cut on my face where somebody hit me, I don’t know who it was, of course.

EG: So, the civilians were trying to hang you?

EE: The civilians were trying to… get even with us I guess you could say. And the German soldiers got us away from the mob and got us inside of this factory and dispersed the crowd. EG: So, did you sustain any injuries?

EE: I broke my leg when I landed in the street. And then I got hit in the neck with a piece of shrapnel that fortunately just scratched, just cut a little place on the back of my neck, just enough to bleed. And like I sayed, then I broke my leg when I landed in the street and that was about it.

EG: Did the German soldiers take care of your wounds?

EE: No they gave us, of the four that were with me when we were captured, they gave us some medical supplies. And the navigator was one of the four, and he set my leg and did a good job. After I got out of course, there was X-rays and everything taken. And the medical people in our army, once we were liberated, said that it was a good job and that it wouldn’t be necessary to re-break it and re-set it. And that sayed what? The navigator did a good job. Oh, used to it’d hurt me a little, especially when it would rain, but other than that, it never gave to much of a problem.

EG: So, he was the navigator of the plane?

EE: Of the B-17 that we were flying on, yes.

EG: Did he have any doctor experience?

EE: Not to my knowledge. Just had a little nerve, I guess, and he was forced into the physician.

EG: Were there many casualties in your unit?

EE: Well, the mission that we were on, of the seven hundred or so planes, Forty percent of them never completed the mission because this mission was the first daylight raid that the Air Force puled on Berlin, Germany. And… the German army threw up everything that they had at the planes and they knocked down quite a number of us. And yes there was a lot of casualties, I never did know just quite how many, but we found out later that about Forty percent of the seen hundred planes was shot down.

EG: Tell me about a couple of your other most memorable experiences. Do you have any other ones?

EE: Well, I think that the day that we were captured, the day we were shot down is one, and a big one. And then, I guess that the next big thing: we were liberated by the Russian army that cut the prison camp off from the Germany. And the Germans, being rather scared of the Russians, of the way they would be treated. They left and went to the western front and surrendered to the allies and we were left alone at the prison camp for a few hours before the Russian army got there. And they liberated us and we were there, like I sayed, we were liberated on May first, and pulled out on May the thirteenth, so we were there about twelve days. Under the control of the Russian army, and they saw that we got everything we wanted to eat. They brought a hundred or so cattle and some of the prisoners was able to butcher them. And we had fresh meat for the first time in 14 months. The Russians treated us nice, but they were crazy. I mean they wasn’t a very well disciplined army, but they treated the prisoners good. Then we were flown out as I said, on May the thirteenth.

EG: When they liberated you, did they take you back into their country or did they stay in Germany?

EE: No, when we were liberated, like I sayed by the Russians, and then when the 8th Air Force came in and flew us out, they flew us from there into Reams, France. And then, we was there a for a few days until we got new uniforms and they fed us up a little ‘cause all of us had lost a lot of weight. And then we boarded a ship in La Harte, France and came home…took us six days to get home. And we flew overseas, when we went over and it took us 12 hours to get over and six days to come home, which I always remembered. Then I was in the states for about five months and then I was discharged at the end of November 1945.

EG: Do you want to tell me about any of your other experiences while you were in captivity?

EE: Oh, not really. We took [care of] everyone on camp. And we were always scared of some kind of sickness going around and we tried to keep as clean as possible. We walked around the compound in the evenings for exercise. The YMCA got us some sports equipment and after most our injuries started healing why, we started playing basketball and softball in the camp, the Germans would let us do that. We kinda organized our own recreation. I was with a couple of well known people in prison camp that I made good friends with. One became an umpire in Major League baseball and the another one that I was good friends with played for the University of Kentucky. One went to the Olympics and played on the Indianapolis Olympian professional basketball team. He and I were good friends.

EG: That’s incredible.

EE: But uh… we didn’t get much to eat the 14 months we was in there, but by the same token the Germans wasn’t gettin’ that much to eat either. We’d get one meal a day and it would either be dehydrated soup or boiled potatoes. Then we did get some Red Cross parcels. We’d split that and we would trade something into parcel if it was something we didn’t like we could always find somebody who liked that and trade it into their parcel. There was always five packs of cigarettes in each Red Cross parcel. And, even though some of us didn’t smoke we used to play cards and we’d use the cigarettes for chips to bet in the games we played. The cigarettes would get so dry that you would have to roll the ends of them so the tobacco wouldn’t fall out of ‘em.

Some of the things that we used to do to entertain ourselves: we’d make little boats and then when it would rain there would be little puddles of water and we’d pull the boats through the water like little kids. We kept ourselves entertained. Everyone tried to escape at least one time. As far as I know there were only two people that ever made it that we ever heard got out. But most of the rest of us we’d try to escape and we’d get captured before we got very far. So, that’s about it.

EG: When you tried to escape, how did they react?

EE: Well, they put us in solitary. I was in solitary for about a week. I didn’t even get out of the camp. There was three of us that tried to go. They put us in solitary confinement, [I] believe I was there for seven days. It’s a cell about six by eight feet, nothing on the floor but just a little straw matress. It got pretty boring. Other than that, well that’s about it.

EG: Did they feed you while you were in solitary?

EE: Just the one meal a day. They would slide it through the hole in the door. Like I say it was either dehydrated soup or boiled potatoes. One time we got meat. Later they told us it was dog meat, but we didn’t know it when we ate it. I will say this, when you’re hungry, you’ll eat anything, just about. Most of the time we was hungry. So that’s it.

EG: How many soldiers that went down with you do you remember being with you the whole time?

EE: Of the ten that was on the crew; as I say: one was killed, he was dead when he hit the ground, and then the officers was taken to the officers camp up in Barthe. The enlisted men went the other way, and I was with four of the enlisted men. And of course one got killed and we never did know where the sixth enlisted man was. See there is four officers and six enlisted men on a B-17 crew. We never did know where the sixth enlisted man was, although we did hear that he was alive. And then they moved us around.

First, they moved with us on rail cars and moved us up across Germany and up into East Prussia, and they kept us up there for about three or four months and the Russian army started advancing. And then, they had to move us, so they put us on the hull of a boat and moved us down the Baltic Sea to Steten, Germany. And we were there about four months, and then the Russians was advancing on that area. They moved us out of there. And that’s when they moved us up to Barth and put a bunch of enlisted men in the officer’s camp up there. We spent the last five or six months up there before we was liberated by the Russian army.

EG: Were you awarded any metals or citations?

EE: Yeah, I got the air medal, the purple heart, the good conduct medal; I don’t know why, (chuckles) and I got the European Theater of Operation.

EG: How did you get the Purple Heart?

EE: That was for getting hit in the neck with flack and breaking my leg when I parachuted out.

EG: How did you stay in touch with your family? Were you able to stay in touch with your family?

EE: We were able to write form letters that we were given through the Red Cross. And, also we would receive a form letter from our parents. But most of the time half of it was blocked out or blacked out. Same way that the letters out of the camp we sent home. A lot of the times it [was] basically: Hello. How are ya’? I’m fine. I love you. Bye. and the rest of it would have been blocked out. So, they were all being censored. The ones going out, of course, being censored by the Germans, and the ones that our parents sent to us was censored by the U.S. government before they even let it be mailed. So we didn’t get too much news, just enough to let ‘em know we was alive and that was about it.

EG: Did you have plenty of supplies before you were shot down?

EE: The training was tremendous, and we had the best of everything as far as equipment and artillery that we had on the plane. The B-17, at that time, was the best aircraft in the world. Everything was the best, nothing was second-rate. We had no complaints from that standpoint.

EG: Did you feel any enormous pressure or stress throughout the whole time you were I the war?

EE: Yeah, Yeah. You know, you get a taste of, I guess, of what prison is like, being in a prison camp. Probably about the same way of being in prison although I think there was more uncertainty and distress, I guess you’d say. Oh, there was a couple of times we never thought we’d ever get out, but most of the time we were always optimistic that the war would be over and we’d just go home. But, a couple of times, like I say, for a day or two, why, the Germans treated us pretty rough and we’d thought that maybe the war wasn’t going in our direction and we didn’t think we’d ever get out.

EG: Would you be willing to tell about some of the interrogation?

EE: Oh, there’s really not that much to tell. The main thing that they tried to find out was, they knew the type of aircraft we were flying, they tried to find out where we were stationed in England, and how many aircraft was involved, and things of this nature. We didn’t know this information. I mean sure, we knew what kind of plane we fly and we could of told them where we were stationed, but were instructed to tell only name, rank, and serial number. They always threatened us that if we didn’t give ‘em the information, why we would never see our folks again and you know, different threats of this nature. But we’d been trained very completely along those lines, and we knew what, or at least we thought we knew what they would do. They would threaten us and then after we told them our name, rank, and serial number a number of times, they’d kinda give up and not bother us anymore, as far as interrogation is concerned. Basically, they did that; the uncertainty in it was a little nerve racking. But, things went pretty much like we had been trained to believe that it would go when we were in training. Not too many surprised along those lines.

EG: Did they ever use force?

EE: Not on me personally. The only thing along those lines was just the solitary that we was in. But, some of the Jewish boys that was in there, they did beat them. And… they did treat them worst than they did the other soldiers. If you didn’t create too much problems they didn’t do too much to ya’, they kinda left you alone. Most of the time we had elected us a camp leader, one of our [fellow] prisoners. And when we stood roll call, which we had to do twice a day, if we wanted anything from the Germans our camp leaders would go to the German officers and ask. Whether we got it or not, we’d still ask. And then in most cases, the German command, if they orders for the whole prison camp, they would give it to our elected leader and he in turn would pass it out. We kind of had our own form of government in there. That the Germans most of the time respected, and worked through that format and it worked pretty good.

EG: Did you know German? How did you communicate with the Germans?

EE: Most of the Germans could speak English. Of course, when you’re around as many prisoners as we were, you’re always around some that can speak German. They always had guards walking around through the camp all during the day. They would always try to listen in on our conversations and things of this nature, is fine, to try to find out things. They could speak English. Some of ‘em would pretend they couldn’t. But most of the time they were rather open with us, and we was fortunate enough a couple of times that we bribed a German guard and he would sneak news in for us. That way we’d give him some cigarettes and in turn, he’d bring news in on how the war was going. Course with that and with the new prisoners coming in on a weekly basis, almost, we pretty much kept addressed on how the war was going. I tell you, once we were in the prison camp they pretty much left us alone. I think in the fourteen months that I was in prison camp, there was seven soldiers killed by the German guard. A couple of ‘em went out their head and ran up to the warning wire and started climbing over it, if they would’ve been in their right mind they would’ve knew they couldn’t get out…they were shot. One was shot just for jumping out the window. He was sitting in the window and instead of getting down off the window, and goin’ out the door, he just jumped out the window, and they shot him. I think a total of about seven were shot.

EG: Were there any entertainers that you can remember?

EE: Oh, you had shows of some of the prisoners that were talented. You know, we had put on a couple of shows. There were some that could sing, but really not that much. They used to lock us up pretty early in the afternoon, especially in the wintertime. And then they’d put shutters over the windows, and we didn’t have them to turn the lights off. So we‘d set, and there was always someone who could tell jokes or tell stories or something, which entertained us. One that I always remembered: Cy Reed from Happy, Texas, I think is the best storyteller I ever heard. Every night he’d tell stories and I think he’d kept tellin’ stories until no one was laughin’, then he’d realize was were all asleep, and he’d shut up and go to sleep himself. But, other than that, there wasn’t that much formal showing of any kind. A couple of times they put on a little show. Then the Germans let us stay unlocked on Christmas Eve in 1944. Then we could go between barracks during the night, and that was the only time that they left the doors unlocked.

EG: Did you ever do anything for good luck.

EE: No, not really, just kept my mouth shut and didn’t argue with the Germans if they told me to do something, I guess, was about all. But no, I never carried a rabbit’s foot.

EG: Do you remember anyone who did or had any unusual good luck?

EE: Not really, society was so much different then than it is now. In all the time that I was in prison camp I never knew of anything being stolen or taken by another prisoner. We had no way of locking anything up, like the food that we got through the Red Cross that we didn’t eat immediately. And we didn’t always eat it; we would save it and spread it out over a period of days. I don’t ever remember anything being stolen. I don’t ever remember any of the prisoners getting into a fight with one another, because we knew that we were all in the same boat. There was nothing off color that I ever knew of or heard of in the fourteen months. And that, in this day and age with our society like it is today, is rather unusual. But, I think everyone realized that we were in the same boat and we all had to stick together, and we chose to stick together. And, of course, we didn’t want to give the Germans any reason to state that there was any problems, or that we was going to cause any color within our own ranks.

EG: All had to stick together. Do you recall any particularly humorous or unusual events?

EE: Oh, yeah. I could sit here for hours and tell you [about] that, especially Cy Reed.

EG: How do you spell his name?

EE: C-Y R-E-E-D Cy Reed. And I always remember that General Patton was a favorite of his. And as we’d be walking about the compound… Did you ever see a movie of prison camp with the guard towers all around it?

EG: Yes.

EE: Like in “Hogan’s Hero’s”? Believe me, prison camp wasn’t like “Hogan’s.” But, any we’d be walking around the compound, as I said, and Cy would throw his head back and say, “C’mon blood and Guts”. General Patton, his nickname was blood and guts, and he would do that because he thought he was annoying the German guards that would be up in the tower. And as long as he didn’t make any motion or anything, they wasn’t going to do anything. If he would’ve made a motion or something, why they’d have maybe shot at us. But, that was always funny, everyone always got a kick outa’ that. Then, apparently General Patton gave Diana Shore one of his favorite revolvers that he carried all of the time. And after that, why Cy Reed said he was mad at him for giving one of his guns away to Diana Shore. But, just in a kidding way. That was funny. And then we’d always pull tricks on different ones, short sheet ‘em or something like that. [We did] Nothing that was dangerous.

EG: So, short sheets, was there any other pranks you’d pull?

EE: Oh yeah, this Cy Reed was very goosey. You know, you’d get him in the ribs and he’d say some things. One time we were standing roll call and the Germans would come by and count each barracks. When they would start, we would have to snap to attention. Then they’d count, then they’d tally and see of they agreed. And there’s generally in the barracks about 200 prisoners.

And the one time I was standing in back of Cy Reed, and as they’re standing there, getting ready to tally up, I reached up and hit him in the ribs and said, “Hail Hitler” real close. And he threw up his hand, like a German, and said, “Hail Hitler”. Just automatically, one of the German guards returned the salute. Then everybody laughed and of course, they didn’t think it was funny. They took him out and put him in solitary for three days. There was a lot of horseplay like that.

EG: Do you have any photographs?

EE: No, I’ve got a record sheet that the German’s kept on us, its got my photograph. Where is that, see if that isn’t in the bottom where I keep my socks. You know, that orange sheet that’s folded? [Muffles in the background] That’s the only one that I would have that’s from within the can.

EG: Do you have any other photographs?

EE: Only the ones that we looked at a minute ago.

EG: Who are the people in the photographs, besides yourself?

EE: Who are the other people? The one picture that we saw, one was on my crew, [the one] that was in prison camp with me and the other person was in our Radio Operator school that was a good friend of mine.

EG: What did you think of officers and your other fellow soldiers?

EE: Well, you become very close. And most of the time we were with all enlisted men, until we were moved up to Barth, Germany with the officers. And…once we were moved into the officer’s camp, we respected them as officers and we saluted them just like we did before we were in prison camp. Still a military courtesy was shown to the officers there. And there were some famous pilots in the prison camp up there, that had been shot down; Colonel Francis S. Sobriski, who was well known for years, and Colonel Zimki. Corneal Sobriski and Colonel Zimki both were Aces of the ETO, which was the European Theater of Operations. So we showed them the courtesy that any officer received in the regular military.

EG: Did you keep a diary?

EE: No.

EG: Were you allowed to keep any of your personal belongings?

EE: No.

EG: No?

EE: No.

EG: Do you recall the day that your service ended?

EE: Oh yes. When we were liberated from prison camp and once we got back in the states I went on what’s called R n’ R to Miami Beach, Florida for thirty days. Then they took me to Bear Field, Ft. Wayne, and that’s where I was discharged. That happened in the early part of December 1945.

EG: What did you do on the day you were discharged?

EE: Just got back in the car and came back to Marion, and that was on Thursday, and on Monday I was back to work.

EG: Oh. Really?

EE: I had been working before I went in the service because I knew that when I went in it I couldn’t go to college because of the war. But, then when I got out on Thursday, I went back to work on Monday and I worked there for three months, then quit to go to school. So I didn’t take any time off after I got out.

EG: So, after work, you did go back to school?

EE: Yes.

EG: Where did you work when you came home?

EE: I worked at the Glass Company in Gas City, Indiana.

EG: Where did you go back to school?

EE: Why?

EG: No, where?

EE: Where. I went to Ball State in Muncie [Indiana] for one year and I dropped out of there and I went to Indiana Business College and finished the course there.

EG: Was you education supported by the GI Bill?

EE: Yes.

EG: Did you continue any of the relationships that you started when you were in the service?

EE: No, not really, and I’m sorry of that, especially the crew that I trained with. I should’ve kept in contact with ‘em but you know time passes, and [they] scattered out over the world, I guess. [I] Just failed to keep up with them.

EG: Did you join a Veteran’s Organization?

EE: I belong to the Ex-Prisoners of War as well as the American Legion.

EG: What did you go on to do as a career after the war?

EE: I played a lot of softball around the area. But as far as making a living: I worked at a couple three jobs, but I ended up working for RCA. And I was in management for thirty-three years at RCA, until I retired.

EG: Do you do anything now, after you retirement?

EE: We drive cars for the Cadillac dealership here in Marion [Indiana] a couple days a week, take them to auctions or dealer trades. But, other than that, I enjoy my lovely wife and her company.

EG: Would you mind stating your wife’ s name?

EE: Rosemary Estle.

EG: Did your military experience influence your thinking about war or about the military in general?

EE: Well I’m pro-military, and very proud of it. And I think any young person that doesn’t really know what they want to do and be going to school, such as a profession or something. I think they can do much worse than to join the military and make a career out of it. Not only is it good training, you get a good education, and if you serve your 20 years in the military, you can retire with a nice pension. And there is no place in the world that you can work for 20 years and retire like you can from the military. Plus, I think the military has a tendency to make young people grow up.

EG: When did you get married to you wife?

EE: April the 16, 1951. Fifty-one years ago. All my life, I think.

EG: What kind of activities does your Veteran’s organization have?

EE: They have meetings, the Ex-Prisoners of War. And each year the Veteran’s Administration recognizes all former prisoners of the war. They have a little meeting, and luncheon, and speakers. And then, once a year in Indianapolis, they also recognize prisoners of war there and generally, some ranking military person gives a talk, and some politician, generally. And, that’s about it.

EG: Do you attend those regularly?

EE: Some, not all.

EG: How did your service and your experiences affect your life?

EE: Well, I think it makes me appreciate the country we live in. I think it helped me respect people more. I guess, going in at the age that I did, it helped me grow up rather rapidly. As I say, I’m very pro-military, I don’t like war. I think there is times that it is a necessary evil. But, I believe that if we get in a war, that every citizen should support this country and the ones that don’t support this country ought to get out. Now if that classifies me as a radical, then I guess you’d have to call me a radical. But, I am against war; other than at times when they’re necessary evils.

EG: Did WWII change your perspectives on life? Did you remember what you thought about before you went into the war and after you came out of it, and how it changed your perspective?

EE: Oh, I don’t know. I guess the friendships that I made and the experiences that I went through, I think maybe it highlighted how important life is than it would’ve otherwise. I’m not sure that my life after service was pattered after anything I encountered in the war. I still have lota' memories, mostly good. There is times that I guess I have nightmares because of it. But I don’t think that’s too unusual with a lot of people. But, I think it made me grow up basically. I’d like to think that I would’ve changed otherwise, but I’m don’t know about that.

EG: Is there anything else that you would like to add that we have not covered in this interview?

EE: No, not really, Elizabeth. I appreciate you doing this. I’ve thought at times that I would appreciate someone recording my “story” I guess you would say, for someone to read maybe years on down the war when I’m no longer around. But no, I can’t think of anything else I would add. I was happy to be able to do this with you and I hope that its what you’re looking for. And if you don’t get an ‘A’ on this, then I’m gonna turn you ‘cross my knee, after you get your grade. So, that’s it, Hun.

EG: Well, thank you so much for sharing you recollections with us and with me and with the rest of this country.

EE: You’re quite welcome, you’re quite welcome.