Tom Brokaw, David McCullough, and twenty-four Union students gather in the Nott Memorial to talk about World War II. The segment appeared on the NBC “Nightly News” and on the “Today” program.
When Tom Brokaw wanted to talk with some college students about the fiftieth anniversary of VE Day, David McCullough suggested Union.
So, on May l, three anonymous gray vans pulled up to the Nott Memorial and NBC technicians began unloading equipment. Union had been selected as the site of a discussion among Brokaw, the NBC Nightly News anchor; McCullough, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who spoke at the dedication of the Nott Memorial on Founders Day; and two dozen students.
By late that night, the technicians had transformed the inside of the Nott into a television studio. When Brokaw arrived at eleven the next morning, he chatted with the students for a few minutes (“Does anybody want David Letterman's home phone number?” was his opening remark), sat down next to McCullough, and began an
hour-and-a-half conversation about World War II and what it means to the students, their families, and the American way of life.
Shortly after the taping ended, the College's Alumni Office
helped by numerous others on campus-began three days of telephoning to alumni and friends to alert them. The several-minute segment was scheduled for Friday, May 5 – three days before the anniversary of VE Day-barring any change caused by late-breaking news.
Sure enough, toward the end of Friday's broadcast the Nott Memorial came onto the screen, and Brokaw, McCullough, and the students were on. The slightly-expanded version appeared the next morning on the “Today” show.