Bob Filner: “I happen to be an historian myself. I have done a lot of work in oral history, and you described it so eloquently. I…”

“I happen to be an historian myself. I have done a lot of work in oral history, and you described it so eloquently. I wish my father, who was in World War II, we could have taped before he died. Just a couple of weeks ago when I was back home, I met with a group of black soldiers who in 1946, 2 years before the Executive order that integrated our armed forces, the black soldiers had been approached by General Eisenhower to say hey, the Battle of the Bulge has taken so many of our infantrymen, who will volunteer to join the infantry, the white infantry? About 5,000 volunteered. To hear their stories, and I referred them. I said get right over to our project; we need to hear that because most of us don't know about that little history, and that is very inspiring to hear what they were able to do. Thank you for your leadership. I think, as you said, it is not only to maintain our own history, but to bridge the gap between generations.”