GWEN IFILL: Senator, for those of us who follow Washington and politics, think we knew all we had to know about you in 1972, yet it turns out this is a brand new story for a lot of people. Why are we just hearing about this, or does it feel that way anyhow?
GEORGE McGOVERN: I've pondered that. I did frequently refer to my war record in World War II, but not in any flamboyant way. I think the average citizen that knew anything about me thought of me as the anti-war candidate. I was the guy who was constantly speaking out against the Vietnam War. I have no regrets about that. What I do regret is that we didn't take advantage of that opportunity to draw the contrast with World War II, which I believed in. I've never had one minute's regret about my involvement as a bomber pilot in that war, and we should have spent more time drawing the contrast with that war and the Vietnam War, which was just as big a mistake as anything this country has ever made.
GWEN IFILL: What was the line you drew in your mind between your, you know, heroic and enthusiastic participation-- volunteering to participate in World War II-- and your dislike, your distaste for Vietnam?
GEORGE McGOVERN: Well, we had no choice in the Second World War. We were up against Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo, three dictators, totalitarian leaders, who were out to destroy western civilization. I never thought there was any choice. We had to stop those people and the military machines behind them, whereas in Vietnam, it was a confusing situation -- I think, basically, a revolutionary war in South Vietnam against an unpopular government. And the hero over there was Ho Chi Minh. He'd thrown the French out, he had resisted the Japanese, he had resisted the Chinese. We undertook an impossible situation in Vietnam.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/july-dec01/wildblue_08-16.html
From the same interview:
STEPHEN AMBROSE: It's both. It is unique and it does stand for the others who were in the army, air forces, in the Second World War. What's unique about George McGovern is how good he was. I interviewed the members of his crew. Every one of them said he always got us back. We just trusted in him. We knew he was going to do it right, and he did. He was courageous, of course, but he had a level head. He could keep that plane level, too. He had a lot of muscles to do that. It was very difficult to keep that plane flying.
= new reply since forum marked as read