1
00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:20,360
Speaker 1: Lute. If it doesn't work, you're just not using enough.

2
00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:25,840
Speaker 1: You're listening to soft Up Radio Special operations, military news

3
00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:38,280
Speaker 1: and straight talk with the guys in the community. Hey,

4
00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:41,400
Speaker 1: welcome back to another episode of soft Rep Radio. This

5
00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:44,720
Speaker 1: is rad your host, and I have the fortunate pleasure

6
00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,600
Speaker 1: to hang out with Lucky and Kevin Murher of writing

7
00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:50,400
Speaker 1: the book. Go ahead and tell me the name of

8
00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:54,920
Speaker 1: the book. It's Damned Lucky, right right? Damn Hey, Kevin?

9
00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:58,120
Speaker 1: Did I damn? Look, Kevin? Did I see your last name? Right?

10
00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:01,440
Speaker 1: It's Bower with a M, so maur But yeah, it's

11
00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:06,240
Speaker 1: like Joe Maher, the former catcher for the Twins. Perfect.

12
00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,520
Speaker 1: And then, Kevin, you've written books like No Easy Day,

13
00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:12,959
Speaker 1: Damn Lucky, And how long have you been writing like

14
00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,120
Speaker 1: this for? I started covering the military in two thousand

15
00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:19,399
Speaker 1: and three, officially when I moved to Ftaetteville, North Carolina,

16
00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:21,760
Speaker 1: and I covered four Bragg right there. So I got

17
00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:24,200
Speaker 1: there in January two three, and then by March I

18
00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,440
Speaker 1: was in Iraq with the eighty seconds so things story

19
00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:31,080
Speaker 1: of chasing these military stores. Okay, and then you've chased

20
00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:34,560
Speaker 1: down Lucky. You've done one thing that a mester Schmidt

21
00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:37,320
Speaker 1: could not do and that was catch lucky. So you

22
00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:42,760
Speaker 1: caught Lucky to tell his story in a book. Huh,

23
00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:46,720
Speaker 1: so lucky, Welcome to soft Reap Radio. Well, actually the

24
00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:51,680
Speaker 1: connection between us was my phone. Out of the blue.

25
00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:56,400
Speaker 1: Kevin called me and said that he had heard some

26
00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:59,880
Speaker 1: of my stories and I wanted to read my book.

27
00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:03,360
Speaker 1: And I said, well, I don't have a book, never

28
00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:07,600
Speaker 1: had a book. And he said, well, certainly your stories

29
00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:10,760
Speaker 1: should be told, and would you be willing to would

30
00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:15,440
Speaker 1: you consider collaborating on a book with me? And so

31
00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:18,720
Speaker 1: I said, well, I don't know you, and you don't

32
00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:21,919
Speaker 1: know me, and I don't know your writing style. So

33
00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:25,240
Speaker 1: what have you done? And he said, well, he'd written

34
00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:28,520
Speaker 1: ten books and he'd be happy to show me or

35
00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:32,600
Speaker 1: send me copies and and let me see for myself

36
00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:37,280
Speaker 1: if I thought we were compatible to work together to

37
00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,640
Speaker 1: relate what I thought were stories about one of the

38
00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,960
Speaker 1: most note if not the most notorious group in the

39
00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:51,720
Speaker 1: Eighth Air Force, the Bloody Hundreds, that I accidentally became

40
00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:56,760
Speaker 1: a part of, and if he thought that was a

41
00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:00,480
Speaker 1: something that he would like to write about up and

42
00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:04,440
Speaker 1: convey it. Because I was not a writer, I was

43
00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:10,120
Speaker 1: able to fairly well, maybe speak about my experiences, but

44
00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:14,640
Speaker 1: writing them was something else for a narrative people to

45
00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:21,400
Speaker 1: read and to document, because I was certainly intrigued by

46
00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:26,360
Speaker 1: the idea of having something in writing that could be

47
00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:33,320
Speaker 1: referred to historically for future generations, in particularly my grandchildren

48
00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:38,800
Speaker 1: and great grandchildren to read about what my experiences were.

49
00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:46,480
Speaker 1: And unfortunately, just as we reached agreement, COVID happened, and

50
00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:49,480
Speaker 1: so that meant that we would not be able to

51
00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:54,320
Speaker 1: interview each other face to face, but would have to

52
00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:58,560
Speaker 1: do so over the telephone. And this is how we

53
00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:05,320
Speaker 1: set up a almost daily interview session by phone, which

54
00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:08,560
Speaker 1: we conducted for a year and a half or almost

55
00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:16,240
Speaker 1: two years, where I sort of regurgitated the experiences that

56
00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:22,440
Speaker 1: I had World War two with this unlucky group called

57
00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:26,119
Speaker 1: the Bloody one hundred. But I was just dyn lucky

58
00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,919
Speaker 1: to have survived and lived to the bright old age

59
00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,880
Speaker 1: of a hundred. Yeah, and you're still going. So when

60
00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:41,400
Speaker 1: is your birthday? Last month? Happy birthday? March sixth March

61
00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,919
Speaker 1: is a happy birthday? Yes, you're welcome. Yeah. I felt

62
00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:48,440
Speaker 1: like after I read that Q and A that I

63
00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,039
Speaker 1: had to get deeper into the story and the fact

64
00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:53,200
Speaker 1: that there wasn't a book felt like an injustice that

65
00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:55,359
Speaker 1: we had to kind of solve together. So I was

66
00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:57,680
Speaker 1: said about that, and I was Lucky. I mean, you

67
00:04:57,720 --> 00:04:59,760
Speaker 1: don't often get a chance to tell a story like

68
00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,360
Speaker 1: this with a guy like Lucky who's a great storyteller

69
00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:05,400
Speaker 1: and really bring into life. And I think we we

70
00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:07,680
Speaker 1: agreed really quickly that we really wanted to put a

71
00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:10,279
Speaker 1: human face on it. Really was a battle, you know that.

72
00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:12,680
Speaker 1: I don't think people really really understand the human toll

73
00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:16,200
Speaker 1: that it took on us. You know, I do a

74
00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:18,279
Speaker 1: lot of these interviews Lucky and Kevin and I get

75
00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:19,720
Speaker 1: to talk to a lot of people who have been

76
00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,480
Speaker 1: in combat, and there is a toll. There is a

77
00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:25,159
Speaker 1: toll that when you come home that sits with you.

78
00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:28,760
Speaker 1: And I'm just again happy that you're able to grip

79
00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:30,760
Speaker 1: your mind around it, Lucky and and present it in

80
00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,960
Speaker 1: a book with Kevin for us to learn about. And

81
00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:36,960
Speaker 1: another thing I've learned from this this opportunity of interviewing

82
00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:39,400
Speaker 1: you guys and others like yourselves, is I never was

83
00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:41,960
Speaker 1: a big book reader. I just wasn't like I was

84
00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,280
Speaker 1: just like, hey, you know, now I have become that

85
00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:46,760
Speaker 1: learning about the stories and then just wanting to learn

86
00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:49,400
Speaker 1: more about this. So we're definitely gonna be talking about

87
00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:51,599
Speaker 1: Damn Lucky the book that you need to go check

88
00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:53,159
Speaker 1: that out when it drops, and I think it's gonna

89
00:05:53,200 --> 00:06:00,320
Speaker 1: be dropping like after April. In April, right, that's what's happening. Yea, yeah, yeah,

90
00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:01,960
Speaker 1: So let's go straight to the top with the number

91
00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:04,640
Speaker 1: one seller on every list. You know it's going to

92
00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:06,760
Speaker 1: be everywhere. You know, make sure you pick it up

93
00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:10,159
Speaker 1: from a local bookstore who takes the risk to buy

94
00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:12,440
Speaker 1: that book and bring it in and sell it. Okay,

95
00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:14,520
Speaker 1: that mom and pop out there. I want you to

96
00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:16,440
Speaker 1: go buy local books and if you can't get that,

97
00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:19,240
Speaker 1: then just get it wherever you can. Damn Lucky is

98
00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:21,359
Speaker 1: the name of that book, and these two have a

99
00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:24,239
Speaker 1: great story to tell, So Lucky, if you don't mind,

100
00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,800
Speaker 1: would you mind just sharing with me the moment that

101
00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:29,640
Speaker 1: you enlisted in the United States Military and became that

102
00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:35,400
Speaker 1: Lieutenant Well enlisted after Pearl Harbor. I was in college

103
00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:39,960
Speaker 1: at the time, and when Pearl Harbor occurred, I didn't

104
00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,440
Speaker 1: even know where Pearl Harbor was or what it was,

105
00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:49,120
Speaker 1: but I knew that I was highly eligible for military service.

106
00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,480
Speaker 1: And I had been in the military and the R

107
00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:56,360
Speaker 1: O k C and high school and wanted to learn

108
00:06:56,400 --> 00:07:02,160
Speaker 1: to fly. So I immediately volunteer aired and as a consequence,

109
00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:05,520
Speaker 1: was allowed to pick the service that I wanted to

110
00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,960
Speaker 1: serve in the branch of the service. And so I

111
00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:13,200
Speaker 1: applied as an aviation cadet to go to pilot training.

112
00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:18,440
Speaker 1: And that was in February of nineteen forty two. Wow,

113
00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:21,000
Speaker 1: and so you go in nineteen forty two you feel

114
00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:23,680
Speaker 1: the call to serve. Pearl Harbor has just come into

115
00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:27,720
Speaker 1: attack from the Japanese, and You're like, I'm going send

116
00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:30,640
Speaker 1: me pick me. Can I ask before that, were you

117
00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:33,880
Speaker 1: ever like in the Boy Scouts? No, I wasn't a

118
00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,240
Speaker 1: boy Scout. I had aspired to go to West Point

119
00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:42,920
Speaker 1: because of my R O two C experience, and I

120
00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:47,040
Speaker 1: was also I lived in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which was just

121
00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:52,560
Speaker 1: twelve miles from Cavalry base. The Third Cavalry was based

122
00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:57,640
Speaker 1: at Port Oglethorpe, Georgia, and my dad raised horses. So

123
00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:01,760
Speaker 1: in the summertime I would go to Civilian Military Camp

124
00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:06,600
Speaker 1: CMTC and for two weeks I would live on on

125
00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:10,960
Speaker 1: the base and learn to ride Army nags. And care

126
00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:14,200
Speaker 1: for them. And of course I was impressed with the

127
00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:18,640
Speaker 1: fact that young lieutenants coming out of West Point, if

128
00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:24,160
Speaker 1: they could play polo, which was their Sunday afternoon sport,

129
00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:29,080
Speaker 1: as well as fox hunt, that you could be quite

130
00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:34,360
Speaker 1: a hero to the local female population. And so that

131
00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:38,480
Speaker 1: appealed to me, and I thought that I might get

132
00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:43,080
Speaker 1: an appointment to West Point, but then Pearl Harbor intervened

133
00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:47,640
Speaker 1: and that changed things. And of course, rather than going

134
00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:50,560
Speaker 1: into the cavalry, I preferred to go into the Air

135
00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:53,559
Speaker 1: Force right and at the time it was probably U. S.

136
00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:56,600
Speaker 1: Army Air Corps. They hadn't separated to become the United

137
00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,800
Speaker 1: States Air Force today. So you got to wear the

138
00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,160
Speaker 1: hounds and the pinks and the greens they call them.

139
00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:04,640
Speaker 1: And you know Army all the way. So you know,

140
00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:08,400
Speaker 1: as someone who studies that, you know all the different branches.

141
00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:11,400
Speaker 1: What was it that made you want to pick wheels

142
00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:13,640
Speaker 1: up and go drop bombs? I mean, that's the goal,

143
00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:16,120
Speaker 1: that's the job, that's what you're part of. So so

144
00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:18,560
Speaker 1: tell me, you know, you go from joining as a

145
00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:21,960
Speaker 1: young man to now you're in and you're getting stationed

146
00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,760
Speaker 1: to wear well before that, my best friend and I

147
00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,680
Speaker 1: Sully Sullivan from high school wanted to learn to fly,

148
00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:34,559
Speaker 1: and we thought before Pearl Harbor occurred, we knew that

149
00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,560
Speaker 1: the war was raging in Europe and that eventually the

150
00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:42,439
Speaker 1: US would be involved, and as such we would certainly

151
00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:47,120
Speaker 1: be prime candidates to serve because of our age. But

152
00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:52,880
Speaker 1: we both had aspirations of flying fighters and dog fighting

153
00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:57,880
Speaker 1: in the air as being more more glamorous and a

154
00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:01,079
Speaker 1: better way to serve than in the trench is. So

155
00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,360
Speaker 1: we thought what we would what we would do is

156
00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:08,160
Speaker 1: applied to the Royal Canadian Air Force and got our

157
00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:13,640
Speaker 1: applying training there and then once America got involved, while

158
00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:17,480
Speaker 1: we could transfer to the Air Corps and would be

159
00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:22,400
Speaker 1: ahead of everybody else. And so we applied and they

160
00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,800
Speaker 1: welcomed us with both arms. And what they said, because

161
00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:29,400
Speaker 1: you're under age, you have to have permanent consent. And

162
00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:33,040
Speaker 1: so my uh, my best friend was an only child.

163
00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:37,040
Speaker 1: His father had been a World War One veteran and

164
00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:42,600
Speaker 1: died mustard gas poisoning when Sully was just a kid,

165
00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:47,400
Speaker 1: and he never knew his dad. But when he approached

166
00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:49,880
Speaker 1: his mother and told her what he wanted to do,

167
00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:54,360
Speaker 1: and she listened very carefully and said, well, Sully, if

168
00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:57,600
Speaker 1: you really feel that this is what you must do,

169
00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:01,319
Speaker 1: and you have my blessing. So I thought i'd get

170
00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:04,880
Speaker 1: the same result when I went home and approached my

171
00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:08,559
Speaker 1: parents for ballot, and when I told my mother that

172
00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:13,120
Speaker 1: Mrs Sullivan had agreed to let her only son and

173
00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:17,640
Speaker 1: my mother had three sons that were all of serviceable age,

174
00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:21,840
Speaker 1: that she would agree. And she said, well, I hate

175
00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:23,720
Speaker 1: to see you do this, but if you feel like

176
00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,960
Speaker 1: you must, why I would agree. But your dad has

177
00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,360
Speaker 1: to agree. And when he came home from the office

178
00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:34,560
Speaker 1: and he heard what we were about to do, he said,

179
00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:37,720
Speaker 1: you're blithering idiots. You don't have any idea of what

180
00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,320
Speaker 1: you're getting into. It's none of your darned business. So

181
00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:45,760
Speaker 1: you get back in school. So he refused, and Sullen

182
00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:50,560
Speaker 1: went ahead and went to Canada and was trained and

183
00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:55,360
Speaker 1: went through the North African campaign flying spitfires. Then meanwhile,

184
00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:59,440
Speaker 1: of course Pearl Home occurred and I joined up and

185
00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:03,680
Speaker 1: got rained and and ended up with the heavy bomber

186
00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:09,680
Speaker 1: group assigned also to England. I see, and that's where yeah,

187
00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:11,839
Speaker 1: with the eight their force, that's what I was gonna

188
00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:17,240
Speaker 1: piggyback on. So now you're went over stationed in uh

189
00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:20,240
Speaker 1: Elmendorf for England. Where are you at? Where is it?

190
00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:25,360
Speaker 1: I was at Thorpe Abbots, which is where the Bloody

191
00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:30,680
Speaker 1: Hundreds was based, and happened to be on a cruise

192
00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:34,600
Speaker 1: that was the first to finish a tour of twenty

193
00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:38,880
Speaker 1: five missions, which in those days without fight, arrest, court

194
00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:42,840
Speaker 1: and the early days of the war over Europe was

195
00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:47,960
Speaker 1: virtually impossible to achieve. If you actually uh lived through

196
00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:51,400
Speaker 1: your first four missions, you were on bar of time,

197
00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:55,840
Speaker 1: and to do a tour of twenty five it was

198
00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:58,360
Speaker 1: virtually on the heart of You got used to the

199
00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:01,280
Speaker 1: flak coming up at you, and like the flak from

200
00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:03,520
Speaker 1: all of the anti aircraft coming up all the time.

201
00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:07,160
Speaker 1: Never get this to that because you're so defenseless against it.

202
00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:11,400
Speaker 1: There's nothing you can do to protect yourself from that.

203
00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:16,599
Speaker 1: And we were flying unpressurized airplanes at high altitude and

204
00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:22,280
Speaker 1: broad daylight and mass formation and it was suicidal. It

205
00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:24,600
Speaker 1: felt like a big target in the sky. They probably

206
00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:27,600
Speaker 1: were like, just shoot up there, and you're just like

207
00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:31,800
Speaker 1: trying to keep going. How could Yeah, there's a whole

208
00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:36,400
Speaker 1: squadron flying over right. But then on the other hand,

209
00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:39,560
Speaker 1: we were confronted by the loop Offer, which had been

210
00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:44,560
Speaker 1: fighting for four years, and they were professionals. They knew

211
00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:48,319
Speaker 1: what they were doing. They they had fought the Russians

212
00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:51,320
Speaker 1: on the Eastern Front and gone through the Battle of

213
00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:55,040
Speaker 1: Britain against the British, and they were very adept at

214
00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:58,520
Speaker 1: what they were doing. And heck, we were just citizen soldiers.

215
00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:02,360
Speaker 1: We were we were just verry headed college kids, and

216
00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:06,160
Speaker 1: we were well over our depths, and we had no

217
00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:09,360
Speaker 1: idea of what we were getting into. If we had,

218
00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:13,240
Speaker 1: we probably wouldn't have done it. That was Those are

219
00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:19,600
Speaker 1: such uh, the idiot syncrosiss of war. But as you

220
00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:23,200
Speaker 1: probably know only too well, you don't go to war

221
00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:29,160
Speaker 1: and come back the same. Everybody is transformed by being

222
00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:33,440
Speaker 1: shot at and being in a situation where you killed

223
00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:40,440
Speaker 1: or be killed. That does something to you. Yeah, right, no,

224
00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:44,160
Speaker 1: and I can I can imagine the transformation coming home

225
00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,240
Speaker 1: and coming back. So in those days when the war

226
00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:50,120
Speaker 1: was over and the newspapers were out, we came charging

227
00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:52,480
Speaker 1: out into the streets and there's the big photo of

228
00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:56,560
Speaker 1: the sailor kissing the nurse on Time magazine, and you know,

229
00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:59,600
Speaker 1: the ticket parades, and you know, love a soldier higher

230
00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:02,240
Speaker 1: soul your you know, and then it kind of gets

231
00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:06,400
Speaker 1: a little forgotten. So, you know, during the Vietnam War,

232
00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:09,480
Speaker 1: and then you know, even going into like Korea, you know,

233
00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:11,880
Speaker 1: it still gets forgotten to welcome the boys home and

234
00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:14,400
Speaker 1: the girls that went and fought. And you know, then

235
00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:17,000
Speaker 1: you go into Desert Storm, Desert Shield in the nineties

236
00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:19,040
Speaker 1: and even though they say it was a hundred hour war,

237
00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:23,160
Speaker 1: still war, right, still changes you to today's twenty plus

238
00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:28,160
Speaker 1: your war in Afghanistan, you know, where it's still welcome home,

239
00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:32,560
Speaker 1: hire a soldier, bring someone you know into your I

240
00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:35,240
Speaker 1: don't know, your your friendship. Just be kind to one another.

241
00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:37,360
Speaker 1: You know, let's not have to go back to war.

242
00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:40,640
Speaker 1: I guess I just I hear what you're saying. And

243
00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:43,320
Speaker 1: and you were in a serious game, you know. For

244
00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,800
Speaker 1: the world that we live in today, like the democracy

245
00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:50,080
Speaker 1: I sleep comfortably under at night, is because dudes like

246
00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,960
Speaker 1: you went and heard the call and stepped up. And

247
00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:56,680
Speaker 1: I think a little bit probably of that Calvary Scout

248
00:15:56,720 --> 00:15:59,160
Speaker 1: school that you went to seeped into your head before

249
00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:01,800
Speaker 1: you went in. So did get that training kind of

250
00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:04,880
Speaker 1: like you know, a team, just getting being a person

251
00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:07,320
Speaker 1: on that team, right, But you joined the Air Corps

252
00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:11,200
Speaker 1: and then you took some of that cavalry scout mindset

253
00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:13,920
Speaker 1: with you that was implemented and you were able to

254
00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:24,400
Speaker 1: pull through twenty five bombing rates. Damn lucky, damn lucky. Wow.

255
00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:32,200
Speaker 1: So so now you want to look at it philosophically

256
00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:36,840
Speaker 1: or morally or any other way. On the bottom line

257
00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:42,560
Speaker 1: is that the fu survive war, which doesn't prove a thing.

258
00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:47,480
Speaker 1: We've never learned anything from any war. Have we just

259
00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:51,760
Speaker 1: to go still in war? Yes? When I look back

260
00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:56,600
Speaker 1: over my hundred years on this planet, I realized that

261
00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:00,240
Speaker 1: we've been at war my whole life, and we still are.

262
00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:05,720
Speaker 1: What's your thoughts of today's world? It doesn't prove a thing.

263
00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:10,920
Speaker 1: We don't learn anything from war. There are no victors,

264
00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:16,439
Speaker 1: they're only victims. And we're all victims of war and

265
00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:20,119
Speaker 1: we still are. And that's a sad commentary on the

266
00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:26,520
Speaker 1: human condition that we as individual and human beings can't

267
00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:31,720
Speaker 1: reach an accommodation of our ideologies without resorting to earn

268
00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:36,600
Speaker 1: the conflict, which doesn't prove a thing. And if you

269
00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:41,560
Speaker 1: get involved in that, and unfortunately when you look back

270
00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:45,920
Speaker 1: on it, wars are started by old men, but they're

271
00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:51,399
Speaker 1: fought by young men and women. Now that's correct. You

272
00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:57,400
Speaker 1: are correct. For the thee of the civilization is put

273
00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:02,120
Speaker 1: on the battle field just to play cage some autocrat,

274
00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:07,000
Speaker 1: some idiot, some egotists who wants to rule the world

275
00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:12,240
Speaker 1: right and just not have to like that. And the

276
00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:17,240
Speaker 1: country is attacked, then you have to defend yourself. But

277
00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:22,920
Speaker 1: let's kill or be killed, like right now. We obviously

278
00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:26,399
Speaker 1: know that you know, Russia is fighting in Ukraine. And

279
00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:28,480
Speaker 1: I saw a saying the other day that said if

280
00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:32,560
Speaker 1: Russia stops the war, the war would be over. But

281
00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:35,760
Speaker 1: if Ukraine stopped the war, there'd be no more Ukraine.

282
00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,120
Speaker 1: So it's like, you know, what do you say to that? Yeah,

283
00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:40,760
Speaker 1: I just you know, if you believe in your country,

284
00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:42,639
Speaker 1: that's what you're fighting for, right, That's what they're fighting

285
00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:46,880
Speaker 1: for in Ukraine is their sovereign nation to be democracy. Well,

286
00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:51,800
Speaker 1: they had no choice. They were attacked unprovorect correct, living

287
00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:53,199
Speaker 1: a normal life and then all of a sudden, just

288
00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:59,040
Speaker 1: missiles and America was attacked. We were unprovoked at Pearl Harbor. Correct.

289
00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:03,800
Speaker 1: Poke the bears that the excuse for war is another thing.

290
00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:08,040
Speaker 1: There are no excuses for it. It's just a sad

291
00:19:08,119 --> 00:19:12,440
Speaker 1: commentary on the human condition. But war is a reality,

292
00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:18,200
Speaker 1: and it's it's a maturing uh process. Boy, I grew

293
00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:21,919
Speaker 1: up overnight in a heck of a hurry. I was

294
00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:24,800
Speaker 1: just a harry headed college kid going out to war

295
00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:28,360
Speaker 1: to serve my country because it was the patriotic thing

296
00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:32,399
Speaker 1: to do. And in a world war like World War two,

297
00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:38,520
Speaker 1: the entire population is involved, even the little kids, all

298
00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:42,800
Speaker 1: the way up to your grandparents. Everybody was involved, Suvinians

299
00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:46,960
Speaker 1: as well as as those in service and in uniform.

300
00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,159
Speaker 1: And that's one of the things that I still have

301
00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:53,600
Speaker 1: yet to do. One of my remaining missions in life

302
00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:59,720
Speaker 1: is to recognize the civilian population that supported us, that

303
00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:04,160
Speaker 1: reduced to all the war material, kept the home fires burning,

304
00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:09,400
Speaker 1: and they've never been thanked. They've never even been recognized.

305
00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:15,679
Speaker 1: We recognize our losses, our heroes, but what about the

306
00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:20,120
Speaker 1: hometown heroes. We ought to have a day of recognition

307
00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:23,960
Speaker 1: for them. That's one of my remaining missions to see

308
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,760
Speaker 1: that that is a national day of mission. Well, let's

309
00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:30,640
Speaker 1: see if anybody are listening can help make that happen.

310
00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,840
Speaker 1: You know, a national day of recognition we have of course,

311
00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:36,720
Speaker 1: you know the fourth of July and you know Memorial Day,

312
00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:39,439
Speaker 1: but you're right. You know, they brought metal, they brought

313
00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:42,399
Speaker 1: old tires, They brought everything that they could from their

314
00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:47,119
Speaker 1: own homes to the manufacturing facilities to help make you know, armor,

315
00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:51,440
Speaker 1: and you know, supplies and clothing and and everybody from

316
00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:55,199
Speaker 1: you know, uh, sewing at home trying to make you know,

317
00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,480
Speaker 1: quilts and everything to send over to the troops for

318
00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,520
Speaker 1: for warmth. You know, the whole war effort was a

319
00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:04,560
Speaker 1: big deal. Rosie the Riveter, right, she's like taking on

320
00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:11,240
Speaker 1: you know, going ships. Right, But are those people ever recognized?

321
00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:15,760
Speaker 1: Have they ever been thanked? Why not? It's not a

322
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:21,520
Speaker 1: great oversight. I think it's a very sad thing that

323
00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:27,639
Speaker 1: we have never really duly acknowledged the tremendous sacrifices that

324
00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:34,320
Speaker 1: were made by the Subvitian population to support us. Otherwise

325
00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:39,159
Speaker 1: would never have provoild, we wouldn't have won, We couldn't

326
00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:46,760
Speaker 1: have world without their support, unqualified and unstill support and love. Right,

327
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:49,080
Speaker 1: let's not be blind to that. Right, there was a

328
00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:57,600
Speaker 1: love for our soldiers that was like, you know, that's harsh.

329
00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:00,520
Speaker 1: You know, that's a hard world. I mean I'm not

330
00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:03,800
Speaker 1: dealt with that at my own doorstep, you know. So

331
00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:08,040
Speaker 1: for those who have. I thank you for sending your

332
00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:11,480
Speaker 1: only begotten sons and daughters off to fight on the

333
00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:13,720
Speaker 1: behalf of the flag that sits behind me there on

334
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,000
Speaker 1: my mantle. It's you know, that's my father's flag, and

335
00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:19,880
Speaker 1: that flag is the one true flag that I fly.

336
00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:23,440
Speaker 1: So I just want to say like, thank you as well,

337
00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:26,280
Speaker 1: and you're well and Lucky. I'm I'm forty four years old.

338
00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:28,560
Speaker 1: I've got a couple more days to catch up to you,

339
00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:32,760
Speaker 1: but you're welcome from me to you as someone who

340
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:34,800
Speaker 1: sits at home and also supports the guys on the

341
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,960
Speaker 1: front right now, and you know, to my grandfather who

342
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,639
Speaker 1: was a World War Two veteran in the navy, you

343
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:43,800
Speaker 1: know which I didn't understand growing up. I just never

344
00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:46,000
Speaker 1: took it into you know context. I was just a

345
00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:48,800
Speaker 1: little little rad riding around twelve years old on my bicycle,

346
00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:52,960
Speaker 1: and Grandpa was just Grandpa. But today again, after the

347
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,160
Speaker 1: respect I have, after my own service and my own father,

348
00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:59,679
Speaker 1: and you know, learning about stories again, I just said, like,

349
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:01,359
Speaker 1: last night I was thinking what am I going to

350
00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:03,400
Speaker 1: talk to Lucky about? And I sat there, I talked

351
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:05,199
Speaker 1: to my grandpa and I was like, what did I

352
00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:07,879
Speaker 1: not talk to you about you know, my own grandfather.

353
00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:10,240
Speaker 1: I was just like, wow, you know World War two Navy,

354
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:12,520
Speaker 1: his boat was hit. You know, I could have got

355
00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,560
Speaker 1: so many so so thanks for being my pseudo grandpa

356
00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:24,240
Speaker 1: right now, Lucky, Okay, that's quite well, my folks. Is

357
00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:26,680
Speaker 1: a Shawn spoon seditor in chief of software dot Com,

358
00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:28,439
Speaker 1: just here to say thank you for listening to the

359
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:32,080
Speaker 1: SOFTWAREP Radio podcast. We sure appreciate you giving us your time.

360
00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:34,280
Speaker 1: And here's a special offer for you if you're a

361
00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:38,160
Speaker 1: new member off your annual membership to SOFTWAREP just click

362
00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:39,920
Speaker 1: the link at the bottom of the page that brought

363
00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,440
Speaker 1: you to us today. And from all of us here

364
00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:47,600
Speaker 1: at soft rep, thank you for listening. Now, Kevin, when

365
00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:49,800
Speaker 1: you hear these stories coming from Lucky like I am,

366
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:51,520
Speaker 1: does it just make you as a as as just

367
00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:54,800
Speaker 1: emotional and just like kind of upset at the situation

368
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:56,840
Speaker 1: that occurred? Or how do you what were you feeling?

369
00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,199
Speaker 1: You know, I've always been attracted to the store ory

370
00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:02,720
Speaker 1: of the guy who's asked to do the work, and

371
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:06,080
Speaker 1: so to me, I'm sort of It was fascinating for

372
00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:08,159
Speaker 1: me to sit down with Lucky and talk to him because,

373
00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:10,880
Speaker 1: like I said, he's a great storyteller, but we also

374
00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:13,800
Speaker 1: get a chance to learn. It's easy to write stories

375
00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:16,680
Speaker 1: about generals who are moving pieces in big, big MUSCLEI moment.

376
00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:18,560
Speaker 1: It's harder to be the guy and the kid's gotta

377
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:19,800
Speaker 1: kick the door in, or the guy that's got a

378
00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:22,560
Speaker 1: climb into that cockpit knowing he's on borrowed time. And

379
00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:25,000
Speaker 1: to me, that's what attracted me the most is to

380
00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:27,760
Speaker 1: really put a humanity to this and too. And I

381
00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:29,800
Speaker 1: think we've taken the World War two vetter and it

382
00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:32,240
Speaker 1: made him, you know, the greatest generation, and we put

383
00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:34,400
Speaker 1: him a bit on a pedestal, and I think sometimes

384
00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:37,240
Speaker 1: that takes a little bit of the humanity out of it.

385
00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:39,000
Speaker 1: And so we're really Lucky, And I talked a lot

386
00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:42,080
Speaker 1: about let's not glossess over, let's not make this like

387
00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:44,920
Speaker 1: a you know, a movie. Let's really show you the

388
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:47,639
Speaker 1: toll that it took. And I think that some of

389
00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:49,800
Speaker 1: the best parts of the book are are his relationship

390
00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:52,359
Speaker 1: with Sully, and his story was Sully. But I also

391
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:55,399
Speaker 1: think how honest and the courage it took Lucky to

392
00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:58,000
Speaker 1: talk about the impact the war had, and that end

393
00:24:58,040 --> 00:24:59,600
Speaker 1: of the book, I think, you know, it was a

394
00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:02,080
Speaker 1: really farcist, but also I think it shows that you,

395
00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:04,040
Speaker 1: as Lucky I said before, you know, you just don't

396
00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:06,280
Speaker 1: come back the same and there is an echo when

397
00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:08,280
Speaker 1: there is a trauma to it that that has to

398
00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,280
Speaker 1: be overcome on a daily basis. It is And Lucky,

399
00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:13,119
Speaker 1: can I ask you something when you got out of

400
00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:16,000
Speaker 1: the military, was there like a support group like the

401
00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:19,320
Speaker 1: Veterans Administration that you could go and talk to and

402
00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:22,200
Speaker 1: like you know, confide. Was there like therapy or anything

403
00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:25,280
Speaker 1: that you needed to deal with? You know? Obviously putting

404
00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:27,000
Speaker 1: it on a book kind of gets it off your

405
00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:30,440
Speaker 1: chest and talking through the stories, all right. I didn't

406
00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:35,160
Speaker 1: talk about it anybody for fifty years, and it wasn't

407
00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:39,919
Speaker 1: until I finally was invited to address a group about

408
00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:45,680
Speaker 1: World War Two that began thinking about it and speaking

409
00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:49,879
Speaker 1: about it. It occurred to me and my wife of

410
00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:53,639
Speaker 1: seventy one year's bless her heart, that's a good success

411
00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:59,760
Speaker 1: that I had an obligation really to tell my stories

412
00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:04,440
Speaker 1: because of the sacrifices that were made by my generation,

413
00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:10,160
Speaker 1: so that the freedoms that people knew and I enjoyed

414
00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:15,120
Speaker 1: the day could be realized. We hadn't done what we

415
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:18,000
Speaker 1: did when we did it, and how we did it

416
00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:23,560
Speaker 1: and prevailed, you'd be speaking German or Front or Japanese today.

417
00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:28,560
Speaker 1: I agree, and I say that right if if what

418
00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:30,560
Speaker 1: I like to say is if our boy Scouts didn't

419
00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:32,679
Speaker 1: beat the Germans boy Scouts. That's why I kind of

420
00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:34,560
Speaker 1: bring up boy Scouts, because you got the boy Scouts

421
00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:36,480
Speaker 1: and then like the Hitler youth, and they were both

422
00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:39,159
Speaker 1: kind of created the same same and then by the

423
00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:41,200
Speaker 1: time the war kicked off, they were fighting each other.

424
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:43,960
Speaker 1: And so really you had these six seventeen year old

425
00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:47,919
Speaker 1: men who were just done creating tents and fires and

426
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,840
Speaker 1: camping now fighting each other. And so I like to

427
00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:53,760
Speaker 1: always say that our boy Scouts kicked their boy Scouts,

428
00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:57,600
Speaker 1: But okay, World War two is proof of that. So

429
00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:00,439
Speaker 1: that's also kind of like that calf scout, you know,

430
00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:03,120
Speaker 1: where you were going into like you know, for two

431
00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:05,080
Speaker 1: weeks at a time, you'd go into a unit and

432
00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:07,159
Speaker 1: they'd be like, oh, hey, what's up, thirteen year old?

433
00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:08,880
Speaker 1: What you doing polling around here? And You're like, Hi,

434
00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:12,359
Speaker 1: I'm just right here. How do I pack my ruck?

435
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:14,400
Speaker 1: How do I put my belt on? Like you guys,

436
00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:16,760
Speaker 1: how do I start walking and talk? And so I

437
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:19,560
Speaker 1: think that what I'm getting at is today's generation and

438
00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:23,600
Speaker 1: tomorrow's generation could use a little baseball, a little sportsmanship,

439
00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:27,000
Speaker 1: a little you know, team effort outside of you know,

440
00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:29,400
Speaker 1: I get that the videos are here and the xboxes

441
00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:31,280
Speaker 1: in the video games, but I think that maybe some

442
00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:36,320
Speaker 1: outside time in a team sport, football, lacrosse, hockey, you know, skateboarding,

443
00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:39,119
Speaker 1: whatever it is, to just get them ready and a

444
00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:42,760
Speaker 1: little keep them tough, because, like you said, you raised horses. Okay,

445
00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:48,320
Speaker 1: that's a tough job. You're hardened raising horses. Yep, yep. Well,

446
00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:54,159
Speaker 1: there certainly are other pursuits than aren't conflict. Yes, there

447
00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:58,919
Speaker 1: are far more productive, far more rewarding, and certainly we

448
00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:02,280
Speaker 1: ought to be engaged in and direct our energies towards

449
00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:07,119
Speaker 1: rather than this useless a bit of devastating countries and

450
00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:15,719
Speaker 1: killing people. That's amazing. Yeah, it's just that's a result. Now,

451
00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,800
Speaker 1: Is there talks of this story turning into something more

452
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,199
Speaker 1: damn lucky going on to do anything else? Is there

453
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,600
Speaker 1: anything that you might have to say about it, Kevin?

454
00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:26,840
Speaker 1: Is it just going to stay into a novel form

455
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,400
Speaker 1: as of now? It's a book. It Dove tells really

456
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,719
Speaker 1: well with Tom Hanks and Spielberg's upcoming series that they

457
00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:34,720
Speaker 1: did in the Hunted Bomb group, The Masters of the Air,

458
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:37,160
Speaker 1: and that'll be out I think of what a year

459
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:39,200
Speaker 1: or two from now, And I do believe that the

460
00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:43,880
Speaker 1: mission that we highlight, the October mission over Bremen, is

461
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:46,360
Speaker 1: part of that series. And it wouldn't surprise me if

462
00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:48,560
Speaker 1: you get a chance to see a lucky a lucky

463
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:50,560
Speaker 1: luckuld do in that series, which I think will be

464
00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:52,840
Speaker 1: very exciting. But other than that, not at not at

465
00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:55,000
Speaker 1: this point. But you know, really all our effort was

466
00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:57,120
Speaker 1: to create the book that we're gonna We're gonna have

467
00:28:57,160 --> 00:28:59,840
Speaker 1: everybody in their hands, hopefully you know this Tuesday coming up,

468
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:02,880
Speaker 1: give people a chance to really kind of walk in

469
00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:04,920
Speaker 1: Lucky shoes and go with them on some of these

470
00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:07,400
Speaker 1: missions and really understand sort of the sacrifice that he

471
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:10,560
Speaker 1: and his his squadron mates made on a daily basis,

472
00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:14,560
Speaker 1: right because uh, Lucky, I've seen some movies. I don't

473
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:16,040
Speaker 1: know if it's a movie that which one it is,

474
00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:18,520
Speaker 1: but they would talk about the flak that would come

475
00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:20,720
Speaker 1: up and just explode all around them, and maybe it

476
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:23,840
Speaker 1: was documentary and they talked about the Golden Baby, right

477
00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:26,480
Speaker 1: like where there's a golden flash. Was that something that

478
00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:30,040
Speaker 1: you guys talked about within your twenty five runs, you know,

479
00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:33,239
Speaker 1: within the squadron, was there a golden baby conversation like,

480
00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,480
Speaker 1: hey Bill, don't watch watch out for the Golden Baby today?

481
00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,760
Speaker 1: Is that how it kind of went down or what not? Really,

482
00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:44,440
Speaker 1: we were so focused and bent on worrying about whether

483
00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:46,720
Speaker 1: the next target was going to be or what it

484
00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:49,280
Speaker 1: was going to be, whether it be the big b

485
00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:54,400
Speaker 1: Berlinton and broad Daylight, or whether it would be the

486
00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:58,920
Speaker 1: sub pens and stanlazare are m a one over nine

487
00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:02,680
Speaker 1: factories are or what it would be that when during

488
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:08,440
Speaker 1: our time off between missions, we seldom ever compared notes

489
00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:12,000
Speaker 1: as to what it was like, because if you were

490
00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:15,600
Speaker 1: on the mission, you knew what it was like and

491
00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:19,720
Speaker 1: what had happened to you, did not perhaps happen to

492
00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:22,680
Speaker 1: the guy next to you or on your wing or

493
00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:26,640
Speaker 1: flying in the wave behind you that buried so widely

494
00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:31,000
Speaker 1: just within one mission that we didn't talk about it.

495
00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:36,720
Speaker 1: We lived it, and the nightmares that resulted, of course,

496
00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:42,160
Speaker 1: were a personal thing, as an individual thing, as Kevin

497
00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:45,840
Speaker 1: has referred to, psycling yourself up to get back in

498
00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:51,520
Speaker 1: that airplane, again the next day. Was a horrific responsibility,

499
00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,840
Speaker 1: and it was something that was only you could do,

500
00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:58,160
Speaker 1: and you had to do it because that's what you

501
00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:02,400
Speaker 1: were ordered to do. Some guys couldn't do it. Some

502
00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,040
Speaker 1: guys got to the point where they said, hey, they're

503
00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:07,720
Speaker 1: out to kill me. I ain't doing that no more.

504
00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:10,520
Speaker 1: You can hold my wings, you can send me to

505
00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:13,600
Speaker 1: the infantry or do whatever you have to do. But

506
00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:17,440
Speaker 1: we had some guys that just flat quick, and you

507
00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:21,880
Speaker 1: couldn't allow those to be to remain around because they

508
00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:25,200
Speaker 1: would demoralize the rest of the of the outfit, so

509
00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:28,920
Speaker 1: you had to remove them from the scene immediately. The

510
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:34,960
Speaker 1: British called that lack of moral fiber and they punished them,

511
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:39,000
Speaker 1: but we called it flat happy. They probably, yeah, right,

512
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,560
Speaker 1: flat yeah, because they got to combat fatigue, and we

513
00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:46,480
Speaker 1: had a different name for it. It's all the same thing. Yeah,

514
00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:50,920
Speaker 1: it's just too much of it, just just absolutely I

515
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:54,920
Speaker 1: couldn't cope with it, and it overwhelmed them and they

516
00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:59,560
Speaker 1: threw in the towel. Yeah, right right, because the human

517
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:04,800
Speaker 1: mental psyche was broken. I think these are men that

518
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:07,440
Speaker 1: you went through training with probably and had flown missions with,

519
00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:10,760
Speaker 1: who said I've had enough and just hit the wall. Yeah.

520
00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:15,680
Speaker 1: Oh wow, so wow, you're amazing. Lucky damn lucky is

521
00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:18,840
Speaker 1: what it is. Okay, because bottom line, but I had

522
00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:21,200
Speaker 1: a guard you and Angel that was sitting on my shoulder,

523
00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:24,520
Speaker 1: or wouldn't be here talking with you. Yeah, because seventy

524
00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:29,160
Speaker 1: one years later, she's still around her, she's your wife passed. Yes,

525
00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:34,640
Speaker 1: Oh well she's a good comp she's in good company, sir,

526
00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:40,880
Speaker 1: I assure you, Yes, it was the greatest thing that happened.

527
00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:45,120
Speaker 1: She was the luckiest thing that happened. Yes, I love

528
00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:46,800
Speaker 1: the seventy one years. I've been with my wife for

529
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:49,200
Speaker 1: twenty two. So I just looked at you and I

530
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:51,960
Speaker 1: want to accomplish that. Okay, that's my goal. I promise

531
00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:54,520
Speaker 1: everything in this life I do is to chase that goal.

532
00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:58,080
Speaker 1: Right there, Boss, I mean it. Okay, I'll be nice.

533
00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:04,000
Speaker 1: I'll be nice to her. Jan I love you. That's

534
00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:07,520
Speaker 1: the regular advice that I can perhaps in Part two

535
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:12,120
Speaker 1: younger generations as live every day you do your fullest.

536
00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:17,040
Speaker 1: It might be your last. That's awesome, Okay, perfect to look.

537
00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:18,920
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna take any more your time. I know

538
00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:21,120
Speaker 1: you're super busy. I know you've got other things to

539
00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:23,600
Speaker 1: talk about and other people on your book tour. So

540
00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:26,320
Speaker 1: I'm really truly grateful. I really mean it. With the

541
00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:29,640
Speaker 1: most positive stoked vibes I can send to you, Lucky

542
00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:34,080
Speaker 1: and Kevin. No easy day, Damn Lucky Kevin, it's really

543
00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:36,360
Speaker 1: I know who you are. You're awesome, and you just

544
00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:39,120
Speaker 1: keep doing what you're doing with writing. And we're gonna

545
00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:42,120
Speaker 1: put in on soft rep dot com. Will put in there,

546
00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:44,200
Speaker 1: you know, all of the links to hit up where

547
00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:46,479
Speaker 1: they can find the book and buy it, and make

548
00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:48,520
Speaker 1: sure you leave a review about the book when you

549
00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:50,640
Speaker 1: do buy it, right, leave a review, say hey, you

550
00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:53,240
Speaker 1: know there should be a comma here. There always should

551
00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:56,640
Speaker 1: be a comma somewhere. Look, definitely leave a review. Definitely

552
00:33:56,720 --> 00:33:58,760
Speaker 1: let us know what you think. But also don't forget.

553
00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:00,480
Speaker 1: Every time you buy a book here, it gets just

554
00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:03,360
Speaker 1: one step closer to get in that that memorial that

555
00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,440
Speaker 1: Lucky's talking about. The proceeds of the book, the majority

556
00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:08,280
Speaker 1: of them are going back to the Hunter Bomb Group

557
00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:11,560
Speaker 1: Foundation so that Lucky can complete this last mission. So

558
00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:14,360
Speaker 1: you know, if you're buying the book, hopefully you know

559
00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:16,960
Speaker 1: you're gonna get a compelling, an amazing story. You're gonna

560
00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:18,560
Speaker 1: get a chance to go to war with a guy

561
00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:21,000
Speaker 1: like Lucky. Lucky do who's gonna tell you exactly what

562
00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:23,880
Speaker 1: it means that you know how and what that toll is.

563
00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:27,280
Speaker 1: But I think you're also contributing to building a monument

564
00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:29,640
Speaker 1: that I think Lucky is articulated very well in this

565
00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:33,120
Speaker 1: that desperately needs to be built. And you know what,

566
00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:35,719
Speaker 1: what we did as a nation to win World War

567
00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:37,960
Speaker 1: two is as important as what Lucky did. And I

568
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:41,279
Speaker 1: think looking into the future, you know, people say we'll

569
00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:43,359
Speaker 1: never be united again, we've got too many, too many

570
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:45,560
Speaker 1: difference as well, We've done it once and we could

571
00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:48,600
Speaker 1: do it again. And I think Lucky is a personifies that,

572
00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:50,960
Speaker 1: and I think his his desire for this final mission.

573
00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:53,719
Speaker 1: It's a worthy goal. So go get the book, enjoy it,

574
00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:56,240
Speaker 1: leave us a note and let us know, well, said

575
00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:59,840
Speaker 1: Kevin Lucky, you're the conduit of piece right now. K

576
00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:03,680
Speaker 1: We're gonna try. Hopefully this goes everywhere and people hear

577
00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:07,520
Speaker 1: these words of just you know, go home and stop

578
00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:12,839
Speaker 1: fighting each other. Thanker Rad, You're very welcome. Lucky, You're

579
00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:15,040
Speaker 1: a pleasure. Thanks for being in my life, Grandpa, I

580
00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:22,319
Speaker 1: appreciate it, and Kevin again, thank you so much. Yes,

581
00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:32,759
Speaker 1: and uh yeah, you're very welcome. You've been listening to

582
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:34,120
Speaker 1: self red Lydia