1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,680 Before we get started with today's Veterans Radio, I want to thank the following for their 2 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:06,040 continuing support of Veterans Radio. 3 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:09,440 Legal Help for Veterans specializing in Veterans Disability Claims. 4 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:16,640 Call Legal Help for Veterans at 800-693-4800 or go to their website, LegalHelpforVeterans.com. 5 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:21,680 The National Veterans Business Development Council, better known as NVBDC, is the nation's 6 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:25,640 leading third party authority for certification of veteran-owned businesses. 7 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:33,520 For more information, you can go to their website, NVBDC.org, or give them a call at 888-378-433. 8 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:37,120 The Charles S. Kettles VA Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 9 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:41,960 For more information, go to va.gov.anarborhealthcare. 10 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:46,640 The National Vietnam Veterans of America never again will one generation of veterans abandon 11 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:47,640 another. 12 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:50,960 For more information, go to their website, vva.org. 13 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:55,800 The Erwin Prescor and American Legion Post-46 and the Charles S. Kettles Vietnam Veterans 14 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:58,840 of America Chapter 310, both of Ann Arbor. 15 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:05,760 Now for today's program. 16 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:16,080 All across America and around the world, this is Veterans Radio. 17 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:23,360 And now, your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry. 18 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:24,600 Welcome to Veterans Radio. 19 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,760 My name is Dale Throneberry and we're going to talk about D-Day today. 20 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:29,920 And what would have happened if D-Day had been a failure? 21 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:31,720 We can't imagine that, right? 22 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:36,640 Okay, so there were 16 million Americans that served during World War II. 23 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,360 There are only 120,000 left. 24 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:43,680 And we're fortunate enough that we had a recording with one back in 2006. 25 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:49,520 His name is Len Lamell and he was on the first day of the invasion of Normandy. 26 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:52,000 And he's going to talk to us about that experience. 27 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:53,560 It's a great story. 28 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:58,640 Secondly, we've got Robert Lundgren and Robert is a historian, writes about the history of 29 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,520 World War II and a number of other things. 30 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,800 And we're just talking about what would have happened if Normandy had been a failure. 31 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:07,200 Can you imagine that? 32 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:12,600 So once you sit back and I think you'll find this program very interesting, hopefully entertaining 33 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:19,880 as we go to listen to the interview that I did with Len Lamell back in 2006. 34 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:25,120 And we're going to be joined here in just a second by Len Lamell, who is a survivor 35 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:26,120 of Normandy. 36 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:32,400 I climbed up the cliffs of Pointe de Hoc, blew up artillery, all kinds of things. 37 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:37,080 And I wanted to just give you a little background on our guest. 38 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:41,920 Len are sometimes better known as Bud, graduated from Point Pleasant High School in 1937. 39 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:45,280 Point Pleasant, New Jersey, which I just mentioned was our Schrader yacht sales. 40 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:49,800 And I have to ask you as we get into our interview, Mr. Lamell, if you know anything about Arnold 41 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:51,040 Avenue and Point Pleasant. 42 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:52,200 Yes, I do. 43 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:53,400 All right. 44 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,560 My grandfather lived on Arnold Avenue and my whole family grew up in Point Pleasant, 45 00:02:57,560 --> 00:02:58,720 Manusquan and Spring Lake. 46 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:00,800 Well, that's where I grew up to. 47 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:01,920 No, that's great. 48 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:02,920 I think it's terrific. 49 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:04,960 I'm going to have to go over to Schrader yacht sales. 50 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:06,960 He said it used to be Johnson's boat yard. 51 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:07,960 Yes, I know. 52 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:08,960 Okay. 53 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:09,960 I'm an old motor. 54 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:10,960 Oh, terrific. 55 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:13,680 I'll have to get Ray in touch with you. 56 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:17,160 Mr. Lamell, I want to welcome you very much to Veterans Radio. 57 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:22,160 And to tell you, I want you to tell us a little bit about your experience on that morning 58 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:23,960 of D-Day in 1944. 59 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:26,440 Now you want me to? 60 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:27,440 Now, yes, your turn. 61 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:29,440 You don't want me to answer any questions. 62 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:31,440 Just tell you about D-Day. 63 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:33,680 We'll have questions as we go along. 64 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:34,680 All right. 65 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:38,240 I'll start off with you started coming in on the boats at the bottom of Pointe de Hoc. 66 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:41,920 We've got a 10-meter-wide beach that really isn't a beach. 67 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:42,920 That's true. 68 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:43,920 Not a beach. 69 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:45,400 Not in the sense of beach sand. 70 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,440 It was stones, round stones, called shingles. 71 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:54,720 But anyway, the so-called beach was very narrow at the foot of Pointe de Hoc, which are cliffs 72 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,840 100 feet tall and straight up. 73 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:00,640 And we landed there D-Day mooring. 74 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:04,520 Supposedly, we're going to be there by 6.30. 75 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,120 But we came off a channel steamer. 76 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:11,720 The channel steamer is a boat with cabins and everything. 77 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:17,720 It goes from England to France and from France to England just across the English Channel. 78 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:22,040 But that was our transport of the rangers. 79 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:28,120 And we were really deluxe that we had rooms to ourselves, a couple of guys to a room. 80 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:32,960 We didn't expect such a tender loving chair, but it was enjoyable. 81 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:38,000 Anyway, it was manned by British Navy men. 82 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:42,000 And they were the coxswans on our landing craft. 83 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,160 And we were supposed to land at 6.30. 84 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:48,680 However, the lead coxswain was lost. 85 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,360 He was heading for the wrong point. 86 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:58,280 There are many points along the Omaha Beach areas about seven miles in width and only 87 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:03,120 one third of it is the Sandy Beach where the troops landed on the Sandy portion. 88 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:09,440 The other two thirds are cliffs all the way up to over 100 feet as you proceed westwardly. 89 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:15,800 So our commanding officer general, or well he wasn't a general then, Colonel Rudder, 90 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:22,080 noticed this fact that we were seemingly headed for the wrong cliffs. 91 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:26,880 So he corrected the coxswain, had him pull to the right and paralleled the cliffs for 92 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:35,200 several miles, till we got up to point to Hock, which was several miles beyond the actual 93 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:39,200 Sandy Beaches of Omaha Beach. 94 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:43,160 And all during that time, the Germans of course are shooting at you, I'm assuming. 95 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:48,360 No, yes, but had we been on time, we'd have caught them in their quarters. 96 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:56,680 This is a big fortress with underground railway, underground tunnels and things, and sleeping 97 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:59,880 quarters and where the German troops lived. 98 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:04,000 But anyway, we would have caught them in their bed, and it would have been much easier, but 99 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:11,880 because we were late by 30, 40 minutes, they were aroused by all the noise and shooting 100 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:15,000 because they didn't expect anybody to come up to the cliffs. 101 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:16,800 They had no defenses against that. 102 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,920 They didn't think I was crazy enough to climb those 100 foot cliffs straight up. 103 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:23,800 So their defenses were aimed in a different direction. 104 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:28,800 But they came out and found that we were there, and so they kept shooting us off the ropes 105 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:33,640 and shooting us down from the cliff tops, rolling boulders down and dropping grenades 106 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,520 on us and doing everything they could to keep us from getting up there. 107 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:39,840 However, we were very fortunate. 108 00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:50,320 We landed with 225 rangers and 180 of us got up the cliff and very quick time and managed 109 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:56,320 to find our way across at the top of the point to where the big guns were supposed to be. 110 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:59,880 And what did you find when you found the supposed big guns? 111 00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:04,120 I didn't find the guns were not where they were supposed to be. 112 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:11,400 They were where our army intelligence said they were in these gigantic encasements. 113 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:16,280 But when we got there, there was telephone poles sticking out of these encasements. 114 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:21,400 We had studied the point to Hawk from aerial photographs, and from the aerial photographs, 115 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:27,400 they looked like the barrel of a gun sticking out of a big halosir or a ghostful gun. 116 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:32,160 But when we got to our gun positions, we had been assigned to destroy them. 117 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:33,960 We found they weren't there. 118 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:38,560 We figured, well, we'll find our way inland because we had other parts of the mission. 119 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:42,960 The second part of the mission was to get out to the coast road that's about a mile 120 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:43,960 inland. 121 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:48,600 It was a coastal road between important sites. 122 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:53,960 We were to put up a roadblock to prevent the Germans from getting through to Utah Beach. 123 00:07:53,960 --> 00:08:01,400 And we then had to destroy all their communications along that highway, which we did. 124 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:09,240 And when we got there, we islanded with 22 men in my LCA, manned by British sailors. 125 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:10,960 The 22 rangers with me. 126 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:16,320 By the time we fought our way through the Germans inland, I only had 12 left when I 127 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:19,960 got to the road a mile inland, approximately. 128 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:26,480 And while there, I told 10 of them, the section sergeants, to create a roadblock there. 129 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:33,360 While I asked one of the staff sergeants, my acting platoon sergeant, see, we were 130 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:35,440 in an acting capacity. 131 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:39,240 I was an acting platoon leader, which is a position of a lieutenant. 132 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:44,360 Jack Kuhn, my staff sergeant, he was acting in the role of a platoon sergeant, which 133 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:46,280 is a tech sergeant. 134 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:53,480 And so the 10 men that I left created a roadblock and took care of their communications, as was 135 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:55,520 the second part of our mission. 136 00:08:55,520 --> 00:09:02,360 While Sergeant Kuhn, Jack Kuhn and I went looking for some evidence of where the guns 137 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:05,920 could probably or might be, we thought we'd hear them. 138 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:07,600 Well, we didn't hear them. 139 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:10,800 So we just had one choice. 140 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:11,800 People think we're heroes. 141 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:16,400 I don't think we were at the right place at the right time. 142 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:23,200 And lucked out, we went down this sunken road between high hedgerows, 9-10 feet high with 143 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:26,320 trees 60 feet high out of the top of them. 144 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:31,960 You could hide a whole column of tanks down this road because in back of those cliffs, 145 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:37,280 the land dips down into the lowlands and flooded areas. 146 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,360 So we leapfrog down that road, guarding each other. 147 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:41,600 There's only two of us. 148 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:45,800 We went beyond two lines of German defenses. 149 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:49,160 It's 8 o'clock before 8 o'clock in the morning. 150 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:55,720 And they didn't dream that there'd be a couple of American soldiers a mile or two inland 151 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:57,360 or whatever it was. 152 00:09:57,360 --> 00:09:59,040 And so they didn't know we were there. 153 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:00,880 Bob, you had a question for our guest. 154 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:02,560 Len, how are you this evening? 155 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:04,240 Fine, thank you. 156 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:08,640 Now when you got to the top and you found that the guns weren't there, you actually 157 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:10,880 had part of your mission accomplished. 158 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:18,640 So to go inland and not just set up a perimeter there, took a bit of initiative. 159 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:24,880 Was that part of your training to take the initiative rather than take a defensive position? 160 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:25,880 We took charge. 161 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,280 Our motto is to be the best of the best. 162 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:29,280 We're all volunteers. 163 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:34,800 But in any event, we went down that road and found the guns. 164 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:39,440 They were very well camouflaged in an apple orchard. 165 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:45,240 And they were at the ready with their ammunition already to be fired. 166 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:47,800 But they weren't being fired for a reason. 167 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:53,400 They weren't getting fire orders back from their observation point out on the clips of 168 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:58,960 Pointe de Hoc, which was surrounded by e-couple of our range of battalion. 169 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:04,320 And they had them bottled up that they couldn't get fire orders back to where Jack Coon and 170 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,240 Sergeant Coon and I were. 171 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:10,640 So about 100 yards from us was 75 Germans. 172 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:15,760 It's now 7.30 quarter to 8 in the morning. 173 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:22,080 And they're all in this field at time of day. 174 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:26,720 They were just getting up and coming in the various states of undress to this meeting 175 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:28,240 they were having. 176 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,200 We were already behind the second line of defense. 177 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:32,960 They didn't know we were there. 178 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:38,400 So while they were busy engaged doing what they had to do, waiting for fire orders and 179 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:44,240 there was no one in the position, I asked Jack to get up on the high hedgerow there with 180 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:51,040 his machine gun and protect me as I would go into that gun position alone by myself 181 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:54,160 and knock out as many guns as I could. 182 00:11:54,160 --> 00:12:00,240 So, you know, having to climb those cliffs, we could only carry one incendiary grenade 183 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:05,920 apiece and we had to travel light so we could muscle ourselves up those cliffs. 184 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:07,240 So he had one. 185 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:11,040 He gave me his thermite grenade and I had one. 186 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:17,520 So I went in and I destroyed a traversing mechanism and elevation mechanisms with the 187 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:18,520 thermite grenades. 188 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:21,600 So two of the guns over five that were there. 189 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:29,280 And I crushed the sites on all of them by wrapping my field jacket around my bottom 190 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:31,880 of my machine gun and smashing them. 191 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:35,720 And none of this could be heard because of the manner in which we were trained to do 192 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:36,720 these things. 193 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:42,720 So then Jack and I decided we would run back just 100 yards to where our roadblock was 194 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:47,760 and get as many grenades as we should carry back to come back and finish off the job. 195 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:51,840 That took about 10 minutes at most. 196 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:56,880 We came back and destroyed the other three so all five were put out of action by 8 a.m. 197 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:00,000 And that's early in the morning. 198 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:05,960 And they contended that we were the, I made the deepest penetration on D-Day morning. 199 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:13,360 We were the first military outfit to accomplish this mission and finish it. 200 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:19,880 And we did it all by 8 o'clock in the morning, which when you put out that kind of coastal 201 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:23,600 gun position is the biggest on the Atlantic coast. 202 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:30,320 They said that we saved thousands and tens of thousands of lives on the beaches and on 203 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:35,480 the ships is 5,000 ships out there moored, you know, with the invading force. 204 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:43,720 And this is why the planners of the invasion were really so keyed up about having some 205 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:50,120 way to ensure and guarantee those guns would be out of position because there were hundreds 206 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:54,720 and hundreds of planes that bombed it. 207 00:13:54,720 --> 00:14:01,080 There were thousands of shells from the two battleships of Texas and the Arkansas. 208 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:05,760 And they all missed the target, none of them destroyed any of the guns. 209 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:08,320 And it wasn't for us. 210 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:12,360 The Rangers getting up those cliffs, finding them and destroying them, put them out of 211 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:13,360 action. 212 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:22,760 They were firing away uncontrollably and killing so many civilians and service people that 213 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:24,080 they said it was in the thousands. 214 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:26,080 So that's why it was so important. 215 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:31,040 But again, I say, we were trained to do these things and be resourceful and think. 216 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:33,560 And we were lucky at the right time. 217 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:34,560 That was your job. 218 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,160 And those guns had a range of what it was, 25,000 meters. 219 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:39,320 I could have taken out all of the ships. 220 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:41,000 Fire 12 miles. 221 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:42,000 I think it's amazing. 222 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:46,200 I should also point out to our listening audience that I don't know. 223 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,200 Do you want to be called Sergeant or Lieutenant or just Mr. 224 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:50,200 Pardon? 225 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,560 Anyway, that you had been wounded on the initial assault. 226 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:56,960 Yes, I was the first one wounded in my company. 227 00:14:56,960 --> 00:14:58,800 And you did all this while you were wounded? 228 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:00,280 I did it all with the wounded. 229 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:01,720 I got a luck out again. 230 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:06,280 I could call a machine gun bullet through my right side where the muscle is. 231 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:07,920 It didn't hit the hip joint. 232 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:08,920 It didn't hit the hip joint. 233 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:09,920 It didn't hit the hip joint. 234 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:10,920 I could handle it. 235 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:18,160 As a result of your knocking out that artillery battery, you and Sergeant Kuhn were received 236 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:19,160 medals for that. 237 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:20,160 Oh, yes. 238 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:23,800 And you got the Distinguished Service Cross and Sergeant Kuhn got the Silver Star. 239 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:24,800 I think that's incredible. 240 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:28,440 Yes, he became Chief of Police at Alton and Pennsylvania. 241 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:30,880 He died here about a year ago. 242 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:35,800 Isn't it amazing when you look back at what you did when you were what, 19, 20 years old? 243 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:37,040 I was 22. 244 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:39,240 He may have been a little enterot. 245 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:42,520 I think that the whole story is just amazing. 246 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:47,960 And I congratulate you and thank you for what you did to our service, to our country and 247 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:49,600 for our country at that time. 248 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:50,600 It happens. 249 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:55,160 By the way, D-Day happens to be my 60th wedding anniversary. 250 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:56,160 That is very true. 251 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:59,520 A veteran veterans radio salute to you and your wife. 252 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:01,520 What is her name? 253 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:02,520 Charlotte. 254 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:03,520 Charlotte. 255 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:05,920 And I understand in reading your biography, we've only got 15 seconds. 256 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:06,920 We're going to take a quick break. 257 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:09,520 I want to end on this, that she climbed Pointe-Hawk also. 258 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:13,520 When we were 40 years old, I was in the power of some legal business. 259 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:17,800 We're talking with Lynn Lamell at the Second Ranger Battalion who was responsible for knocking 260 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:22,920 out the artillery battery that was located on top of Pointe-Hawk, climbing up a hundred 261 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:23,920 foot cliff. 262 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:28,000 Finding the guns weren't there, went down the edge row, found the guns, threw some grenades 263 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:31,840 in there, and melt them down, went back and got more grenades. 264 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:32,960 What were the Germans doing? 265 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:36,040 Were they watching you run around or they just never saw you? 266 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:37,040 No. 267 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:39,280 What were the Germans doing that we saw? 268 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:40,280 Yes. 269 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:46,040 They were gathering together in this field about a hundred yards away. 270 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:51,160 They didn't know there was any American soldiers that close to them. 271 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:54,600 They never dreamed that we were in among them. 272 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:55,600 Couldn't they? 273 00:16:55,600 --> 00:17:02,840 40 or 50 year combat patrol of the Germans passed within 20 feet of Jack and I. 274 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:08,760 There's only two of us, and we hid behind a ditch behind a hedge row. 275 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:14,000 And fortunately for us, they didn't see us to detect us or we'd have been dead. 276 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,440 You have to have a lot of luck. 277 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:17,440 No. 278 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:18,440 I understand. 279 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:23,440 Surviving conflict is always a matter of a lot of luck, but it's just amazing that 280 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:28,440 you took the initiative to not only complete your mission, but to carry it all the way 281 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:33,000 through with a lot of your buddies and commanders and everything falling by the wayside. 282 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:35,640 I think that's just admirable. 283 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:39,760 It's something that American military has a history of doing that, and I think we all 284 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:41,000 should be very proud of that. 285 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:42,520 Oh, well, we're very proud. 286 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:43,720 We're very well trained. 287 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:48,840 And if you're the right place at the right time and you're trying to do something, you 288 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:49,840 do it. 289 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:53,640 Well, I don't mean to gush on here, but I just, I really do admire it. 290 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:57,240 And I wanted to have you back on our program at some point because I'd like to talk to 291 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:02,520 you more about what happened once post D-Day because I know that you were evacuated two 292 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:06,080 days after D-Day to get that minor wound taken care of. 293 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,760 Yeah, I'd try to turn black from gangrene. 294 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:13,240 You're just amazing. 295 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:14,240 It's Glenn Lamelle. 296 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:16,520 I want to thank you very much for being on Veterans Radio. 297 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:18,680 It's a great story and there's much more to it. 298 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:21,920 And we're going to have you back again to talk about this more. 299 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:25,480 Well, Ranger, you're very proud to be on here. 300 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:27,480 And I want to thank you very much, both of you. 301 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:28,480 I will. 302 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:29,480 Thanks, Glenn. 303 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:30,480 Okay. 304 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:31,480 Thank you both very much. 305 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:33,640 And we'll be talking to you again soon. 306 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:34,640 Thank you. 307 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:36,640 Thank you very much. 308 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:37,640 Wow. 309 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:38,640 Wow. 310 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:39,640 Wow. 311 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:47,000 Every once in a while, folks, we run into these incredible guests and Bob found this because 312 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:51,720 we were reading the information on Point the Hawk and we came across Stephen Ambrose's 313 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:57,160 book and he's talking about Glenn Lamelle as being the one man who went up the cliff 314 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:00,120 and blew up these artillery weapons. 315 00:19:00,120 --> 00:19:04,640 And then thanks to the general and to another old friend of ours, Charles Crone. 316 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:06,240 Thank you very much, Charles. 317 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:07,640 We do appreciate your help. 318 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:10,320 We were able to get ahold of them and talk to him personally. 319 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:11,880 I just think that's amazing. 320 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,480 I want a story. 321 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:18,600 And again, if it hadn't been for D-Day and for all those men and our fathers and grandfathers 322 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,920 and so forth that fought in World War II, we wouldn't be here talking about them. 323 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:23,720 And I want to make sure that we make sure that we thank them. 324 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:25,320 It's such an American story, too. 325 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:26,320 It is. 326 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:33,840 I mean, it's an American story, the humility and bravery that and just going, just going 327 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:35,520 on, pressing, pressing on. 328 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:37,880 Taking the initiative is always something that the American military... 329 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:39,400 And you didn't know what was ahead. 330 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:40,400 You didn't know what was ahead. 331 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:41,400 No, because as soon as... 332 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:42,800 Well, everything was wrong. 333 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:46,280 The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in combat given a member of the Armed 334 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:48,080 Forces of the United States. 335 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:52,560 There had been over 3,400 recipients of the nation's highest award. 336 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:54,920 This is one of them. 337 00:19:54,920 --> 00:20:00,080 Private Dale Hansen killed 12 Japanese soldiers in a one-man attack on their positions. 338 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:04,040 Details after this. 339 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,800 If you have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans' Appeals, contact Legal Help 340 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:12,120 for Veterans at 1-800-693-4800. 341 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:16,120 They're experts in handling cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans' Claims. 342 00:20:16,120 --> 00:20:20,000 Their number again, 1-800-693-4800. 343 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:25,240 Hansen unhesitatingly took the initiative during a critical stage of the action and armed 344 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:29,600 with a rocket launcher, crawled to an exposed position where he attacked and destroyed a 345 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:33,480 strategically located hostile pillbox. 346 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:38,600 With his weapon subsequently destroyed by enemy fire, he seized a rifle and continued 347 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:41,200 his one-man assault. 348 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:45,480 Reaching the crest of a ridge, he opened fire on six Japanese and killed four before 349 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:47,880 his rifle jammed. 350 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:52,280 Attacked by the two remaining Japanese, he beat them off with the butt of his rifle and 351 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:54,840 then climbed back to cover. 352 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:59,760 Returning with another weapon and supply of grenades, he fearlessly advanced and destroyed 353 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:04,000 a strong mortar position and annihilated eight more of the enemy. 354 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:07,520 The Medal of Honor series is a production of Veterans' Radio. 355 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:09,840 Military veterans touch everyone's life. 356 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:15,120 I'm guessing right now you're thinking of a veteran, a close friend, relative, maybe 357 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:16,240 it's you. 358 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:20,960 Even the toughest of us sometimes need help but don't know where to turn for support. 359 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:23,520 You don't need special training to help a veteran in your life. 360 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,400 We can all help someone going through a difficult time. 361 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:28,480 Learn how you can be there for veterans. 362 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:35,240 Visit VeteransCrisisLine.net VeteransCrisisLine.net, a message from the U.S. Department of Veterans 363 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:43,120 Affairs. 364 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:47,680 There was an article in the New York Daily News this morning, it talked about Vince Scully 365 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:52,680 and I don't know how many of you are Dodger fans or watch the LA Dodgers or have anything 366 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:53,680 to do with the Dodgers. 367 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:59,320 Vince Scully has been broadcasting for the Dodgers for almost 60 years. 368 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,560 It seems like he was with them in Brooklyn when I was growing up. 369 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:09,320 But yesterday it introduced a couple of stories during the game to remind people about D-Day. 370 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:15,240 One of the stories that he talked about was that if it hadn't been for D-Day and the victory, 371 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:21,120 of course, that the Allied troops had against the Germans in World War II, that they wouldn't 372 00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:25,160 be sitting there in Dodger Stadium watching a baseball game. 373 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:31,280 And I thought about that as I read the article and it just struck me as to how important 374 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:33,440 D-Day really was. 375 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:38,080 And I know that many of you are history buffs out there, but the idea of being a history 376 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:45,000 buff is that I don't know if you were aware of what was going on during World War II around 377 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,880 America on each coast. 378 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:52,320 Did you know that the Japanese had attacked the Aleutian Islands up in Alaska and had 379 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:54,200 captured part of that? 380 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:58,280 Did you know that the submarines were off the coast of New Jersey and North Carolina 381 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:01,280 and Virginia and were trying to smuggle spies aboard? 382 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:08,400 Did you know that the submarines were attacking troopships and resupply ships right after 383 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:12,960 they exited the harbor as soon as they got out about four or five miles out? 384 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:14,720 I didn't know this stuff. 385 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:17,800 And I think it's so important that we know this. 386 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:23,520 And the American people at the time in the 1940s really answered the call. 387 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:27,840 And we're going to be talking more about that with our guest when we bring him on. 388 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:33,480 But I just want you all to remember, if you see one of these elderly gentlemen out there 389 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:37,960 because there's less than a million World War II veterans left and you see him with 390 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:44,960 his World War II hat on, you better go up and thank him because whether you are in 391 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:52,320 banking or you're a techie or you're an investment or you're a computer guy or you're an actor 392 00:23:52,320 --> 00:24:00,840 or actress, whatever it is, if they hadn't done their job on that day, June 6, 1944, 393 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:02,560 we may not be here. 394 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:04,600 We may not be speaking this language either. 395 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:07,320 So just think about that. 396 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:08,320 Okay? 397 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:12,480 The other thing I want to talk to you about just shortly is veterans radio. 398 00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:17,560 We're kind of coming to a point in our career here with veterans radio of making a decision 399 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:23,480 whether we should stay on terrestrial radio, which is commercial radio like our home here 400 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:27,480 at WAM Talk 1600, or do we go straight to the Internet? 401 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:32,800 And we need your input because unfortunately it costs a little money to be on commercial 402 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:33,920 radio. 403 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:38,480 So I'm asking you today to please think about supporting veterans radio if you would. 404 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:43,080 Go to veterans radio, click on, there's a banner ad at the top because we're trying 405 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:44,080 to do a fundraiser. 406 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:49,920 And if you would click on that banner ad at the top and whatever you can do would be 407 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:55,040 greatly appreciated by all of us here at veterans radio because we do want to stay on the air. 408 00:24:55,040 --> 00:25:00,000 We do want to stay the source of all of these great stories that we've been telling you 409 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,240 over the last 12 years. 410 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:03,680 Think about some of them. 411 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:09,800 The men and the women that we've had the privilege of talking to active duty veterans, retired 412 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:14,960 nurses, people at the VA, politicians, all of these things we have been talking about 413 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:17,560 here on veterans radio for you. 414 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:21,040 So if you could help us out, we'll be greatly appreciated. 415 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:22,040 So that's all. 416 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,080 I'm not going to talk about that anymore today. 417 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:28,520 Joining me on a program right now is my guest for today and that's Robert Lundgren. 418 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:33,080 And let me give you a little bio on what he was a captain in a merchant marines with 100 419 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:36,520 gross ton license for the inland waterways of the United States. 420 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:40,840 And he operated passengers ships up the Potomac River in the Chesapeake Bay. 421 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,040 Currently works at the National Institute of Health. 422 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:46,560 His passion however has been history, ships in the Navy. 423 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:50,960 He's written a couple of books which we'll talk about later but he's determined to get 424 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:52,560 the history right. 425 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:54,840 And as are we here on veterans radio. 426 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:57,920 So Bob Lundgren, welcome to veterans radio. 427 00:25:57,920 --> 00:25:59,760 Thank you so much for having me. 428 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:05,680 It's such a privilege I think to have you on the program and is Bob okay? 429 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,280 Oh yes, that's fine. 430 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:09,280 All right. 431 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:15,760 So tell me how you decided to get more involved in the idea of talking about this greatest 432 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:16,760 generation. 433 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:23,360 Well, I'm 52 years old so my parents are all from the World War II generation. 434 00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:30,680 My uncle, Jack Burke, went in on the Six Ways at Omaha Beach and I consider him my hero. 435 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:37,480 My other uncle, he was on William Ewing, was in the merchant marines and he ran the romance 436 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:39,480 convoys to Russia. 437 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:45,360 Both of them had harrowing experiences and they were major influences in my life. 438 00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:52,680 And when I was kind of floundering when I was just a young kid, my aunt Ruth Ewing gave 439 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:57,920 me a book called Incredible Victory by Walter Lord which is on the battle in Midway. 440 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:02,520 It inspired me and I began simply to read books. 441 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:09,760 And the more I read, the more I wanted to know and it basically changed my life because 442 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:16,480 I found the stories of the individual men and the heroism incredibly motivating. 443 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:18,200 It is amazing isn't it? 444 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:22,840 When you get the opportunity to talk to some of these men and women who have been in these 445 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:28,040 historic battles and they are just so calm about it and they are so humble. 446 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:32,800 Well, no, I really didn't do anything and they finally pull the story out of them and 447 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:37,600 it is hair raising and your hair turns white while you are listening to them. 448 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:42,440 But they are just this unusual generation of human beings. 449 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:49,880 Oh yeah, they are so modest and they don't look at themselves as heroes but they are. 450 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:53,080 And that was a war that had to be won. 451 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:57,080 That was not something that they could shrink away from. 452 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:05,080 The governments of Adolf Hitler and Mussolini and the Empire of Japan, the whole world 453 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:09,640 would have been different had they been successful. 454 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:14,920 And we are all very fortunate in the United States that we prevailed. 455 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:15,920 Oh absolutely, absolutely. 456 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:22,400 I mean it wasn't one of these political wars to stop the spread of whatever ism is going 457 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:24,280 on at the current time. 458 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:30,360 I can only imagine, as you said, my father was in World War II also as were all my friends' 459 00:28:30,360 --> 00:28:33,400 fathers, although I didn't realize it at the time because of course our fathers never 460 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,800 talked about what they had done. 461 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:43,640 I have always been amazed at the idea that all of these people volunteered to go to war 462 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:48,400 to preserve what we have got still today. 463 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:52,840 And as I was saying earlier on, I just want everybody to remember that even though these 464 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:58,880 older men and women are starting not to look so good, that we need to thank them because 465 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:04,800 they were 20 years old one time and they did everything in their power to keep America 466 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:06,920 safe and to protect it. 467 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:11,080 And that's why I was trying to point out the idea is that we were being attacked from 468 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:12,080 all sides. 469 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:15,000 It's just that we never hear these stories. 470 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:18,320 It seems like when we go through our history lessons. 471 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:22,240 When I was listening to your introduction, there was actually two German youth both in 472 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:24,000 the Chesapeake Bay. 473 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:25,000 Really? 474 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:26,000 Yes. 475 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:27,000 Wow. 476 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:33,320 They were trying to get to Baltimore Harbor which was a major port. 477 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:37,960 And yes, we found them and thanked them within the Chesapeake Bay. 478 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:44,680 So it was, yes, they were all around us and both on the east and west coast and really 479 00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:47,400 all around the world. 480 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:54,640 And if I might, I don't think many Americans realize that the common soldier was not placed 481 00:29:54,640 --> 00:30:00,560 in a very high honor until after the American Civil War. 482 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:05,760 It was Abraham Lincoln that put the common soldier on such a high pedestal within our 483 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:06,760 society. 484 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:14,080 Soldiers of the war of 1812 or the revolution, once the war was finished, they were relatively 485 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:15,080 forgotten. 486 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:20,960 But it was the Gettysburg Address which altered American society. 487 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:26,120 And of course at Gettysburg, Lincoln was commemorating a national cemetery. 488 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:30,880 I believe it was the first national cemetery in the United States. 489 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:37,680 But this is how the American people can truly honor the World War II generation moving forward. 490 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:43,680 It was in the second half of the Gettysburg Address, he said, in a larger sense, we cannot 491 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:48,040 dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot holler this ground. 492 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:53,160 The brave men living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor 493 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:55,760 power to add or detract. 494 00:30:55,760 --> 00:31:01,200 The world will little note and will long remember what we say here, but it can never forget 495 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:03,000 what they did here. 496 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:09,160 It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who 497 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:13,040 fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. 498 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:19,440 It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from 499 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:26,280 these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last 500 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:32,200 full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died 501 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:38,600 in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that the government 502 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:44,960 of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from this earth. 503 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:52,080 Now the way we can apply that is basically as the World War II generation passes into 504 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:57,520 history, we will no longer be able to talk, but we must read about it. 505 00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:05,360 And it is really, really important for us to teach our children and keep their memories 506 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:06,840 alive. 507 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:12,440 By doing this, you raise them to a status of immortality, for they will be having an 508 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:18,000 impact on future Americans for centuries and they will never leave us. 509 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:23,240 No and that is one of our purposes here at Veterans Radio ever since the beginning of 510 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:27,480 the years we have been trying to tell the actual stories of veterans and active duty 511 00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:33,920 military because we know in many cases that history books have a tendency, sometimes they 512 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:39,840 have a tendency, they do not get the full story because there are how many editors 513 00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:43,760 does a story have to go through before it is finally printed. 514 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:46,920 And so, right, well you know. 515 00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:51,000 I laugh because the editor is not the author's friend. 516 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,000 No, they are not. 517 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:54,000 They are trying to figure out. 518 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:58,520 They always want to put in more and the editor always wants to cut out. 519 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:01,840 I know, they just do not understand sometimes, I guess. 520 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:05,600 They are doing a job, they are trying to get a book published that is going to sell a lot 521 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:11,080 of editions and so forth and all you are trying to do is to get your story of the stories 522 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,280 of the men and women that you know about out there. 523 00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:19,080 And just to remind our audience, just real quickly, I was looking at some statistics 524 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:22,440 here because I did not know exactly where we were going to go today that there were 525 00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:26,440 16 million Americans that served during World War II. 526 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:33,560 Right now there are approximately 855,000 that are left and they are passing away on 527 00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:35,920 average of around 500 a day. 528 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:43,040 So we know this is not going to last forever and even though we wish that they could, you 529 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:45,560 know, it is not going to happen. 530 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:50,680 But wow, what a legacy that they have left though for 70 years. 531 00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:56,120 We have been retelling many of their stories over and over again and we are also finding 532 00:33:56,120 --> 00:34:01,600 that now they are willing to tell their stories more than they were when they were in their 533 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:05,200 30s and 40s, much like other veterans have done. 534 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:13,040 Yes, my uncle Jack was not one to talk about it and we respected that but his specific 535 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:17,720 story now has been lost to history. 536 00:34:17,720 --> 00:34:23,480 And one of the things, as you said in your introduction, if you see a World War II vet, 537 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:29,640 thank it, okay, because there is not much time left for us to actually talk. 538 00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:36,600 If you have a relative who is a World War I vet, have them write their story down because 539 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:42,480 once they pass, if they don't, then that story is also lost to history. 540 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:45,600 And those stories are very, very important. 541 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:48,000 They become our national heritage. 542 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:55,960 We are all just one gigantic family and we share this heritage and we take pride in this 543 00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:57,760 heritage. 544 00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:06,160 And as we learn our heritage, it does shape our political views and unfortunately war 545 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:08,760 is politics through the use of force. 546 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:15,880 And one of the things as kids grow older and receive that privilege of the power of vote, 547 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:23,760 okay, is that they have to shape those political views to hold politicians accountable for 548 00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:27,040 what men and women have sacrificed for. 549 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:29,040 That's what's important. 550 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:30,480 Absolutely, Bob. 551 00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:36,000 I sign all of my letters that I send out for Veterans Radio with a quote from George Washington 552 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:41,200 and it says, the willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, 553 00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:46,480 no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans 554 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:50,920 of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by our nation. 555 00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:51,920 Absolutely. 556 00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:55,160 I mean, it started at the very, very beginning. 557 00:35:55,160 --> 00:36:01,680 If we look at the Revolutionary War soldiers, what were they before they volunteered? 558 00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:05,560 They were farmers and they lived out in the wilderness or they lived in the cities or 559 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:10,160 whatever it was and they were fighting for our cause. 560 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:13,960 And this is the thing that I want our youth to understand. 561 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:17,280 And it sounds like you want to do the same thing. 562 00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:23,320 There are certain values that we attach to being an American, most of us. 563 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:29,360 And we want to make sure that our kids know that those values are, that we're trustworthy, 564 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:31,240 that we're loyal, that we're helpful. 565 00:36:31,240 --> 00:36:33,720 That sounds like a Boy Scout. 566 00:36:33,720 --> 00:36:36,640 But that's very, very true. 567 00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:37,640 It is. 568 00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:38,640 Okay. 569 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:40,640 Democracies fight on moral grounds. 570 00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:41,640 Okay. 571 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:48,200 And this was from the very famous author who wrote his book on war, Klaus Witt. 572 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:51,200 Three people fight for moral values. 573 00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:57,920 And if the moral values aren't justified, then a free people are not going to be in 574 00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:00,040 favor of that war. 575 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:05,120 However, if those moral values are well-defined, they are unstoppable. 576 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:06,120 Okay. 577 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:10,920 In World War II, the moral values were as clear cut. 578 00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:15,360 It was a battle for freedom versus totalitarianism. 579 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:22,720 And the United States was willing to absorb massive casualties for freedom. 580 00:37:22,720 --> 00:37:29,720 And we even today have inherited a much better world than, I can't imagine what the world 581 00:37:29,720 --> 00:37:33,640 would have been like if Adolf Hitler had prevailed. 582 00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:40,280 Or any of those three had prevailed or Stalin had prevailed or any of these dictators would 583 00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:41,280 have prevailed. 584 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:42,280 What would the world be like today? 585 00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:47,800 And we ask people just to sit back and say, okay, you saw what they were doing in order 586 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:49,880 to achieve their goals. 587 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:52,880 Can you imagine what they would have done if they had one? 588 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:54,960 Where would we be now? 589 00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:58,280 You wouldn't be sitting home playing with your Game Boy, that's for sure. 590 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:03,800 And you probably wouldn't be going into a career, whatever career that you wanted to, 591 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:08,080 or you still wouldn't have the ability to just tell your politicians what you think 592 00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:09,080 about them. 593 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:10,080 Absolutely. 594 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:15,040 You would never have freedom of speech, you would never have freedom of religion, you 595 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:18,760 would never have, the Bill of Rights would have been disappeared. 596 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:21,840 Well, I'm sure that thing would have been checked off right away. 597 00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:22,840 Yep. 598 00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:26,200 So let me get back to you. 599 00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:29,640 We're both getting off on tangents here. 600 00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:34,400 For a guess, I was up at the Northville Ward Church last week. 601 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:35,960 They had a patriotic concert. 602 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:42,280 We met probably 20, 25 veterans and each one, I thanked them for their service and they 603 00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:45,840 kept, each one of them would kind of look at me like, what did I do? 604 00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:49,200 And you kind of go, you saved the world. 605 00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:51,360 Don't you realize this? 606 00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:56,440 You saved the civilized world and we are so grateful for what you did. 607 00:38:56,440 --> 00:39:01,440 And we just have to, again, I know we're being redundant here, but just reminding people, 608 00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:06,280 I think these people are do something or put the flags out on Memorial Day or whatever 609 00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:08,720 the service happens to be, help them out. 610 00:39:08,720 --> 00:39:10,480 Let's get back to you. 611 00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:17,240 You mentioned in the promo that I got is that Memorial Day is always a big day. 612 00:39:17,240 --> 00:39:23,240 We put out all of the flags on the grays and everybody's very understanding about veterans 613 00:39:23,240 --> 00:39:25,240 on that particular day. 614 00:39:25,240 --> 00:39:29,480 When we look at D-Day, I don't think that we realize unless we watch the History Channel 615 00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:36,400 24 hours a day like some of us probably do, we don't realize how many people were involved 616 00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:37,400 in D-Day. 617 00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:44,040 I want to, you know, the logistics of D-Day and, you know, these other invasions is just 618 00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:45,560 amazing to me. 619 00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:51,560 The numbers that I'm looking at is, you know, they had 150, some 1000 Allied troops storm 620 00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:53,160 the beaches of Normandy. 621 00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:54,680 Some of them storm the right beaches. 622 00:39:54,680 --> 00:39:58,040 Some of them didn't get to storm the beaches they wanted to because the currents threw 623 00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:01,800 them south or, you know, away from the main beaches. 624 00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:04,640 In fact, that's what I was talking about earlier with Ben Scully. 625 00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:13,040 He said that on D-Day, one of the organizations that a famous, world-famous author was going 626 00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:18,200 to be on the beach, Red Beach at Omaha, and his landing craft were forced to the south 627 00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:19,680 and he landed on the boat. 628 00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:25,000 And in his backpack, he had the first six chapters of his book, Catcher and the Rye, 629 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:26,000 and it was J.D. 630 00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:27,000 Salinger. 631 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:35,600 And, you know, the famous people that we grew up reading about and listening to were there. 632 00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:38,880 And I think that's just amazing. 633 00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:46,480 There were many, I mean, many athletes stopped playing ball and joined up. 634 00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:52,200 Okay, there were actors that stopped acting and joined up. 635 00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:55,960 This was a country that was completely united. 636 00:40:55,960 --> 00:41:01,120 And the only sense that I'd lived through was immediately after 9-1-1 to get a sense 637 00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:04,080 of how united this country became. 638 00:41:04,080 --> 00:41:10,600 I wish the country could always be that united, but it is hard for us really to go back. 639 00:41:10,600 --> 00:41:16,840 That's the closest I can think of how the country really was after Pearl Harbor. 640 00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:21,080 The country united like it's never been united before. 641 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:27,120 And the only thing I can even think of that comes close was the immediate aftermath of 642 00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:29,120 9-1-1. 643 00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:34,200 Well we do have a lot of veterans out there, 400 and some odd thousand that are still around 644 00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:36,880 that do remember Pearl Harbor and answered the call. 645 00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:41,960 I just wanted to talk briefly about something that I mentioned Vince Scully earlier on and 646 00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:44,560 he told a story where he tried to paint this picture. 647 00:41:44,560 --> 00:41:51,120 And I want you to imagine this picture of any of you if you can remember when you were 19 648 00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:53,120 or 20 years old. 649 00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:56,560 And you were approaching the beaches where all the bad guys were, whether they're Nazis 650 00:41:56,560 --> 00:42:00,320 or Japanese or the Italians or whoever it was. 651 00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:05,480 And as you approach the beach, you're 19, 20 years old, you've got 80 pounds of gear on 652 00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:06,720 your back. 653 00:42:06,720 --> 00:42:11,440 The front of the boat goes down and they start shooting at you with machine guns and you 654 00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:15,320 only have one direction to go and that's into the water. 655 00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:20,880 And this is what happened on D-Day at the invasions of the Philippines, the invasion 656 00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:26,080 of Italy, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, all those other things. 657 00:42:26,080 --> 00:42:29,760 And it says that they had to race through the water. 658 00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:37,000 Many of them, they both opened their front flap too soon and many of them drowned. 659 00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:39,840 Many of them were shot as the gate went down. 660 00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:43,960 So just imagine if you were in that situation, how would you react? 661 00:42:43,960 --> 00:42:44,960 What would you do? 662 00:42:44,960 --> 00:42:49,440 Do you understand now why some of these men don't tell their stories? 663 00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:50,680 I certainly do. 664 00:42:50,680 --> 00:42:52,400 I certainly do. 665 00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:56,360 We're here on Veterans Radio talking about this greatest generation and how we can honor 666 00:42:56,360 --> 00:42:57,360 them. 667 00:42:57,360 --> 00:43:03,560 And with our guest, Robert Lundgren, who has written a book about the invasion of the Philippines 668 00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:08,800 and is trying to help us and help everyone out there figure out a way that we can honor 669 00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:10,200 these World War II veterans. 670 00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:12,360 Bob, welcome back to the program. 671 00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:13,920 Thank you. 672 00:43:13,920 --> 00:43:16,560 The biggest thing I really want to say, there's two messages. 673 00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:21,920 Yes, I want to talk about my book, but the biggest message and the most important message 674 00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:28,600 is for parents to, if your kids are already into war gaming and they like to play World 675 00:43:28,600 --> 00:43:35,760 of Tanks or World of Warships, they're already, you have an avenue into World War II history. 676 00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:40,560 And the reason I'm focusing on World War II history is simply because this generation 677 00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:47,080 is soon to leave us and we won't be able to ask them directly anymore. 678 00:43:47,080 --> 00:43:50,440 So the kids fall in love with the P-51 Mustangs. 679 00:43:50,440 --> 00:43:56,960 The kids fall in love with the Sherman Tanks and they play the Yamato versus the Iowa, 680 00:43:56,960 --> 00:44:02,040 but it's more important to get them to know the people that were on board the ships and 681 00:44:02,040 --> 00:44:11,880 in the planes and in the tanks because it is those human stories that they will identify 682 00:44:11,880 --> 00:44:17,960 with later in life, that they will recognize that our privileges and freedoms were not 683 00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:19,480 truly free. 684 00:44:19,480 --> 00:44:27,720 It gives the memorials when you visit our International Cemetery or the Vietnam Memorial or the World 685 00:44:27,720 --> 00:44:36,000 War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., it gives these memorials a true emotional impact, but 686 00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:39,160 only if they learn their heritage. 687 00:44:39,160 --> 00:44:41,680 And I can actually tell you a story. 688 00:44:41,680 --> 00:44:43,200 Can I continue to go? 689 00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:44,200 Sure. 690 00:44:44,200 --> 00:44:45,200 Okay. 691 00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:46,200 Go right ahead. 692 00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:51,200 The U.S.S. Samuel B. Roberts is one of the destroyer escorts in my story. 693 00:44:51,200 --> 00:44:58,400 And Samuel B. Roberts, the man, was a young Marine who was killed on Quartica now, saving 694 00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:00,840 the lives of his fellow Marines. 695 00:45:00,840 --> 00:45:05,960 And basically, the U.S. Navy to honor him named a ship after. 696 00:45:05,960 --> 00:45:11,880 The first destroyer escort, DE-413, was at the naval battle of Samar. 697 00:45:11,880 --> 00:45:16,720 And the group of Japanese battleships came through the central Philippines, surprised 698 00:45:16,720 --> 00:45:25,440 by six aircraft carriers, and the Samuel B. Roberts charged to try to protect those ships. 699 00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:27,800 And she was destroyed in the process. 700 00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:34,960 And then the U.S. Navy in the 1980s commissioned a new frigate, the Samuel B. Roberts. 701 00:45:34,960 --> 00:45:42,640 And her commander, Paul X. Wren, made sure that every man on his ship knew about the 702 00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:44,600 first Samuel B. Roberts. 703 00:45:44,600 --> 00:45:52,720 Well, the nice thing about what he did by teaching the heritage on April 14, 1988, the 704 00:45:52,720 --> 00:45:58,960 new frigate, Samuel B. Roberts, was struck by a mine in the Persian Gulf. 705 00:45:58,960 --> 00:46:04,560 Suddenly these 18- and 19-year-old kids, without any warning, found that their ship was in 706 00:46:04,560 --> 00:46:10,960 the dark, because she lost power, she was on fire, her back was broken, and she was dying. 707 00:46:10,960 --> 00:46:13,520 And these men ran to the battle station. 708 00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:17,800 And as they passed, there was a painting of the original Samuel B. Roberts, the World 709 00:46:17,800 --> 00:46:21,800 War II Samuel B. Roberts, next to the bird. 710 00:46:21,800 --> 00:46:27,560 And Captain Wren noted, he didn't, he just noticed, that as his men ran to their battle 711 00:46:27,560 --> 00:46:31,560 stations, they reached out and touched the paint, okay? 712 00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:37,800 They knew where the bar had been set, and they knew that they were going to answer the call. 713 00:46:37,800 --> 00:46:39,200 And they did exactly that. 714 00:46:39,200 --> 00:46:42,760 They saved their ship, and they didn't lose a man. 715 00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:46,440 It's because they knew where the bar was set to begin with. 716 00:46:46,440 --> 00:46:51,200 And that bar was set by the World War II generation, okay? 717 00:46:51,200 --> 00:46:53,000 And this is his book. 718 00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:56,360 A man, Bradley Peniston, told that story. 719 00:46:56,360 --> 00:46:59,640 And his book is called No Higher Honor. 720 00:46:59,640 --> 00:47:03,200 And that's how you honor the World War II generation. 721 00:47:03,200 --> 00:47:07,040 But the first step is learning about it. 722 00:47:07,040 --> 00:47:13,560 And if we become too apathetic with our history, and don't teach our children, and don't teach 723 00:47:13,560 --> 00:47:17,680 our kids, then history will repeat itself. 724 00:47:17,680 --> 00:47:22,760 Another war will come, and another generation will pay the price for freedom. 725 00:47:22,760 --> 00:47:27,760 Mentioning these sailors on their ship, you know, living up to the reputation. 726 00:47:27,760 --> 00:47:32,960 I flew helicopters in Vietnam, and every once in a while, we would, when you're a pilot, 727 00:47:32,960 --> 00:47:35,360 I think this is all pilots, I don't know if it's just us or not. 728 00:47:35,360 --> 00:47:39,720 You know, you kind of develop this attitude and a little bit of a squagger. 729 00:47:39,720 --> 00:47:44,840 And we were stopped one time by some real live officers, but we're not pilots. 730 00:47:44,840 --> 00:47:47,440 And they wanted to know, why did we act this way? 731 00:47:47,440 --> 00:47:49,600 And we said it's tradition. 732 00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:50,600 It's John Wayne. 733 00:47:50,600 --> 00:47:52,280 It's Hell Fighters of the Pacific. 734 00:47:52,280 --> 00:47:58,760 It's all those pilots that went before us that taught us that we have to feel that, or, you 735 00:47:58,760 --> 00:48:01,120 know, nothing can harm us. 736 00:48:01,120 --> 00:48:03,880 And otherwise, we wouldn't be able to do our job. 737 00:48:03,880 --> 00:48:08,720 And I think that that plays into what you were saying about these sailors. 738 00:48:08,720 --> 00:48:13,120 They knew what preceded them and who these men were that preceded them. 739 00:48:13,120 --> 00:48:18,520 And they had a reputation that they had to uphold and a standard that had been set for 740 00:48:18,520 --> 00:48:19,520 them. 741 00:48:19,520 --> 00:48:20,520 Would you think? 742 00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:21,520 Absolutely. 743 00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:29,360 And Commander Wren went on to go, he didn't anticipate his teaching of heritage would 744 00:48:29,360 --> 00:48:34,400 have that kind of effect on the morale of his troops. 745 00:48:34,400 --> 00:48:39,240 And he suddenly realized, of course, after everybody was safe and he had more time to 746 00:48:39,240 --> 00:48:47,800 reflect how large an impact of simply teaching what the original Samuel B. Roberts did in 747 00:48:47,800 --> 00:48:57,200 her heroic action and what the man did on Guadalcanal and how that was internalized with 748 00:48:57,200 --> 00:48:58,200 the new crew. 749 00:48:58,200 --> 00:48:59,360 Now, these were kids. 750 00:48:59,360 --> 00:49:01,200 They weren't alive during World War II. 751 00:49:01,200 --> 00:49:07,600 They weren't born, you know, they were like, you know, my age and I was born in 1963. 752 00:49:07,600 --> 00:49:10,920 So I was born well after World War II. 753 00:49:10,920 --> 00:49:16,040 And but this is where reading history changed my life. 754 00:49:16,040 --> 00:49:23,320 And it gave me a respect for the veterans and for all men in service that changed my 755 00:49:23,320 --> 00:49:24,320 life. 756 00:49:24,320 --> 00:49:30,800 And I do believe that if you if you notice that your kid is playing World of Tanks, 757 00:49:30,800 --> 00:49:37,680 doesn't, you know, find a good book, a history book that tells the stories of what those 758 00:49:37,680 --> 00:49:39,520 men actually went through. 759 00:49:39,520 --> 00:49:41,400 It will open his eyes. 760 00:49:41,400 --> 00:49:48,800 And it yes, sometimes the subject matter is grizzly, but that's just as important. 761 00:49:48,800 --> 00:49:54,520 Okay, that they understand that it's not a movie. 762 00:49:54,520 --> 00:49:55,520 Right. 763 00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:58,680 And reading is an active process. 764 00:49:58,680 --> 00:50:00,480 Watching a movie is passive. 765 00:50:00,480 --> 00:50:07,800 You'll actually create more emotional imprints on your mind, which is of course going to 766 00:50:07,800 --> 00:50:15,520 then later affect your decision making by reading than by watching a movie or a video. 767 00:50:15,520 --> 00:50:19,240 I totally agree, I think the idea that they realize that some of these men that are being 768 00:50:19,240 --> 00:50:24,600 honored that were killed in combat, they're not going to get up and be in a movie next 769 00:50:24,600 --> 00:50:25,600 week. 770 00:50:25,600 --> 00:50:27,960 They know they're gone forever. 771 00:50:27,960 --> 00:50:30,160 We need to honor them and respect them. 772 00:50:30,160 --> 00:50:36,240 We're talking with Bob Lungry about and I'm going to give him an opportunity to talk about 773 00:50:36,240 --> 00:50:37,240 his book. 774 00:50:37,240 --> 00:50:40,160 We talked about the Atlantic and now we're in the Pacific. 775 00:50:40,160 --> 00:50:43,600 And so tell me, how come people don't know about Samar? 776 00:50:43,600 --> 00:50:50,000 Well, in reality, it may be people have heard of the Battle of Leitek golf. 777 00:50:50,000 --> 00:50:56,360 The Battle of Samar, there are like four major battles in the Battle of Leitek golf and the 778 00:50:56,360 --> 00:51:00,040 Battle of Samar is one of those battles. 779 00:51:00,040 --> 00:51:06,880 The Battle of Leitek golf was really from October 24th through October 26th. 780 00:51:06,880 --> 00:51:12,000 And the battle that occurred off Samar, which is an island in the central Philippines just 781 00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:18,440 north of the island of Leitek, which is where General MacArthur landed his troops to begin 782 00:51:18,440 --> 00:51:21,000 retaking the Philippine Islands. 783 00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:22,000 What? 784 00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:23,000 Okay, yes. 785 00:51:23,000 --> 00:51:28,600 It is actually a famous battle for those who know about naval history. 786 00:51:28,600 --> 00:51:35,000 It is probably one of the most heroic actions that the US Navy ever fought. 787 00:51:35,000 --> 00:51:40,120 A very large section of the Japanese battle fleet was successful at coming through the 788 00:51:40,120 --> 00:51:44,440 central Philippines and coming around into the Philippine Sea. 789 00:51:44,440 --> 00:51:52,440 And it surprised a group of six escort carriers, a little small American task group that was 790 00:51:52,440 --> 00:51:55,280 nicknamed Taffy. 791 00:51:55,280 --> 00:51:58,680 There were three of them and this was Taffy three. 792 00:51:58,680 --> 00:52:01,280 And they were completely outdone. 793 00:52:01,280 --> 00:52:06,560 The story has not been told accurately. 794 00:52:06,560 --> 00:52:13,640 And so for 70 years, people have been given a certain perception of those events. 795 00:52:13,640 --> 00:52:19,600 And as I read through the Japanese primary documentation and the American primary documentation, 796 00:52:19,600 --> 00:52:26,160 what I realized was everything I thought I knew wasn't entirely true. 797 00:52:26,160 --> 00:52:31,920 So this book is actually written more like a research paper because, and it provides 798 00:52:31,920 --> 00:52:40,400 the reader the primary documentation and Commander Evans was a Cherokee Indian. 799 00:52:40,400 --> 00:52:45,680 That's kind of important because Johnson was hit with three 14-inch shells. 800 00:52:45,680 --> 00:52:50,400 I mean three, according to the previous accounts, three 14-inch shells. 801 00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:54,920 So 14-inch shell weighs 1,486 pounds. 802 00:52:54,920 --> 00:52:59,000 In reality, she was hit with three 18-inch shells. 803 00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:02,880 And each 18-inch shell weighs 3,200 pounds. 804 00:53:02,880 --> 00:53:04,560 So it was the equivalent. 805 00:53:04,560 --> 00:53:05,560 Hold on. 806 00:53:05,560 --> 00:53:06,560 Wait a second Bob. 807 00:53:06,560 --> 00:53:09,880 They were hit by a 3,000 pound bomb? 808 00:53:09,880 --> 00:53:10,880 Bullet. 809 00:53:10,880 --> 00:53:11,880 Bullet. 810 00:53:11,880 --> 00:53:12,880 Bullet. 811 00:53:12,880 --> 00:53:13,880 Oh. 812 00:53:13,880 --> 00:53:14,880 Okay. 813 00:53:14,880 --> 00:53:18,680 It is the equivalent of six 14-inch shells. 814 00:53:18,680 --> 00:53:27,280 And the USS Johnson, who's weighed 3,000 tons, was literally thrown onto her side by the 815 00:53:27,280 --> 00:53:35,280 impact and her main mass whipped so hard and so violently that the yard arms snapped and 816 00:53:35,280 --> 00:53:42,520 the master gyro capable of withstanding 2,000 foot pounds of shock was physically cracked 817 00:53:42,520 --> 00:53:43,520 in half. 818 00:53:43,520 --> 00:53:50,160 Her men all suffered concussions as the shock wave ripped through the ship. 819 00:53:50,160 --> 00:53:57,800 The captain, Commander Evans, had his shirt blown off his chest and he lost two fingers. 820 00:53:57,800 --> 00:54:07,960 The ship was literally wrecked from the, luckily, she ran into a rain squall. 821 00:54:07,960 --> 00:54:10,840 And she was making a smokescreen. 822 00:54:10,840 --> 00:54:17,760 And the combination, what Admiral Curita saw on board the Yamato from about 11 miles away, 823 00:54:17,760 --> 00:54:21,000 she saw the Yamato hit the Johnson. 824 00:54:21,000 --> 00:54:27,080 He saw the ship explode and when the smoke cleared, she had disappeared. 825 00:54:27,080 --> 00:54:29,680 And he thought he had sunk her. 826 00:54:29,680 --> 00:54:34,240 But really, the Johnson had just disappeared behind the rain squall. 827 00:54:34,240 --> 00:54:37,640 And that's one, it prolonged her life. 828 00:54:37,640 --> 00:54:41,720 The Johnson would not survive the battle. 829 00:54:41,720 --> 00:54:48,160 But it did prolong her life and Commander Evans would be awarded the Silver Star for 830 00:54:48,160 --> 00:54:49,160 this action. 831 00:54:49,160 --> 00:54:52,720 We've had so many guests on the program that were in the Pacific that would tell these 832 00:54:52,720 --> 00:54:57,880 stories of the ships being, as you just mentioned, knocked all the way on their side. 833 00:54:57,880 --> 00:55:05,920 In fact, one was talking about a typhoon cobra and he was hanging on in the control room, 834 00:55:05,920 --> 00:55:10,680 for lack of a better word, perpendicular, you know, perpendicular to the ship. 835 00:55:10,680 --> 00:55:17,560 The ship was on its side and when it came back upright, it flew him against the, I'm 836 00:55:17,560 --> 00:55:20,240 not an Navy, windshield of the ship. 837 00:55:20,240 --> 00:55:21,240 The barcat. 838 00:55:21,240 --> 00:55:22,720 Yeah, that's the one. 839 00:55:22,720 --> 00:55:29,080 And I'm so amazed at these people that actually even get on these ships and, you know, be 840 00:55:29,080 --> 00:55:33,760 out there in the middle of the ocean and you've got people throwing 3,000 pound bullets at 841 00:55:33,760 --> 00:55:35,400 you. 842 00:55:35,400 --> 00:55:38,400 And how they survived that, I don't know. 843 00:55:38,400 --> 00:55:41,120 I would never go near water again. 844 00:55:41,120 --> 00:55:42,320 I don't think. 845 00:55:42,320 --> 00:55:43,320 I don't. 846 00:55:43,320 --> 00:55:48,920 The sad part about this story is the Americans would lose four ships. 847 00:55:48,920 --> 00:55:52,360 They lost the USS Cowell, the USS Johnson. 848 00:55:52,360 --> 00:55:57,800 The family would be Roberts and the aircraft carrier, Gambier Bay, during the surface battle. 849 00:55:57,800 --> 00:56:05,920 The St. Low would be sunk by a kamikaze aircraft and she went down as well. 850 00:56:05,920 --> 00:56:08,920 Thank you very much for being on Veterans Radio. 851 00:56:08,920 --> 00:56:09,920 Thank you so much. 852 00:56:09,920 --> 00:56:10,920 All right. 853 00:56:10,920 --> 00:56:11,920 Thank you very much. 854 00:56:11,920 --> 00:56:13,120 This is what we do here on Veterans Radio. 855 00:56:13,120 --> 00:56:17,720 We try to tell these stories and pass the information along to you about what our men 856 00:56:17,720 --> 00:56:19,280 and women have done in combat. 857 00:56:19,280 --> 00:56:22,760 Well, now back to World War II and they're disappearing rapidly. 858 00:56:22,760 --> 00:56:27,240 So if you've got a veteran relative that hasn't written down their history or said anything 859 00:56:27,240 --> 00:56:29,840 about it, get the Veterans History Project kit. 860 00:56:29,840 --> 00:56:31,600 You can just order it from the government. 861 00:56:31,600 --> 00:56:34,320 Just put Veterans History Project and you can, all the questions are there. 862 00:56:34,320 --> 00:56:35,640 You can fill it in. 863 00:56:35,640 --> 00:56:39,760 Send it off to Library of Congress and your grandfather or your dad will be there forever. 864 00:56:39,760 --> 00:56:44,400 Also, I'd like to just thank everybody for listening to Veterans Radio. 865 00:56:44,400 --> 00:56:46,960 We always appreciate your listening to us. 866 00:56:46,960 --> 00:57:06,720 So until next week, thank you all very much for listening.