WEBVTT - Irregular Joe

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of

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<v Speaker 1>iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild.

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<v Speaker 2>Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history

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<v Speaker 2>is an open book, all of these amazing tales are

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<v Speaker 2>right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.

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<v Speaker 2>Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. On December tenth of

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen fifty four, a rocket powered sled was set up

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<v Speaker 2>on an Air Force base in New Mexico. Over one

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<v Speaker 2>thousand feet of rail were laid out in front of it,

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<v Speaker 2>and on the seat of the sled a man had

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<v Speaker 2>been strapped in. He wasn't wearing a helmet or a goggles,

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<v Speaker 2>and he was about to do something that no man

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<v Speaker 2>had ever attempted before. When the rocket ignited, it propelled

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<v Speaker 2>the sled forward at six hundred and thirty two miles

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<v Speaker 2>per hour. When it came to a halt, the rider dismounted.

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<v Speaker 2>He was bruised and in pain, but unhurt. He experienced

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<v Speaker 2>pressure equivalent to forty times the Earth's gravity, and he

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<v Speaker 2>walked away fine. His name was Colonel John Stapp, But

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<v Speaker 2>when he walked away from his stunt, it was with

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<v Speaker 2>the title the fastest man in the world. The goal

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<v Speaker 2>of these experiments was to determine how g forces interact

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<v Speaker 2>with the human body at extreme speeds. Several years earlier,

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<v Speaker 2>John Stapp had volunteered to be the test subject for

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<v Speaker 2>these experiments because he did not want anyone else's death

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<v Speaker 2>on his hands if something went wrong. Stapp's career, which

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<v Speaker 2>spanned from the nineteen forties all the way into the

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen seventies, is certainly a wild ride, not unlike many

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<v Speaker 2>of the test flights that he took during his rocketry experiments.

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<v Speaker 2>Born in Brazil, he originally studied to be a musician

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<v Speaker 2>before tragedy sent his life spiraling in a different direction.

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<v Speaker 2>At the age of eighteen, he lost a cousin to

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<v Speaker 2>a senseless house fire, and less than a year later,

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<v Speaker 2>his girlfriend was killed in a car accident. From then on,

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<v Speaker 2>it seemed he dedicated his life to medicine and science,

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<v Speaker 2>a combination that would make his career and ultimately make

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<v Speaker 2>all of us much safer. After getting several degrees, including

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<v Speaker 2>a medical degree and a degree in biophysics, he wound

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<v Speaker 2>up in the Air Force, ultimately getting assigned to their

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<v Speaker 2>Air Development Center, where his experiments with acceleration began. His

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<v Speaker 2>first acceleration test was in nineteen forty seven, and he

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<v Speaker 2>continued writing rocket sleds for over a decade. The data

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<v Speaker 2>gathered during those tests was crucial to aerospace safety as

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<v Speaker 2>well as the development of new rocketry. He set a

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<v Speaker 2>personal goal for himself of one thousand miles per hour,

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<v Speaker 2>which he never quite reached. The fastest he ever got

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<v Speaker 2>was nine hundred and ninety five miles per hour, after

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<v Speaker 2>which the Air Force requested that he retire from testing

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<v Speaker 2>as he was nearing middle age.

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<v Speaker 1>That didn't keep him from innovation, though. While serving in Dayton, Ohio,

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<v Speaker 1>he read a statistic that more Air Force officers die

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<v Speaker 1>in car accidents than in plane crashes. Afterward, he began

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<v Speaker 1>to advocate for safer standards in automobiles, and this advocacy

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<v Speaker 1>would lead directly to the invention of the seat belt.

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<v Speaker 1>And yet, even though he's had a singular impact on

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<v Speaker 1>modern society, he isn't quite a household name. He's credited

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<v Speaker 1>with coining Stapp's Law, an adage from his testing years.

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<v Speaker 1>The saying goes, the universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any

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<v Speaker 1>human accomplishment an incredible miracle. But that's not the most

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<v Speaker 1>famous aphorism to come out of his career. No, that

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<v Speaker 1>honor goes to a saying coined during one of his

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<v Speaker 1>earlier rocket sled rides. During a nineteen forty nine experiment,

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<v Speaker 1>a colleague named Captain Edward A. Murphy designed to harness

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<v Speaker 1>rigged with sensors to measure John Stapp's reaction to those

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<v Speaker 1>g forces. After the test, the team checked the sensors

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<v Speaker 1>and to their surprise, the data all read zero. It

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<v Speaker 1>turned out the censors had been installed backwards. Captain Murphy said,

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<v Speaker 1>in frustration, if there are two or more ways to

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<v Speaker 1>do something and one of those results in catastrophe, then

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<v Speaker 1>someone will do it that way. A simplified version of

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<v Speaker 1>this was relayed to the press by John Stapp. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>anything that can go wrong will go wrong, which you

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<v Speaker 1>have probably heard before because it's known as Murphy's law.

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<v Speaker 1>Amid the chaos and uncertainty of war, a single message

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<v Speaker 1>can mean the difference between survival and catastrophe. That was

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<v Speaker 1>a lesson learned the hard way by the British fifty

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<v Speaker 1>sixth Infantry Division in October of nineteen forty three, as

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<v Speaker 1>the Allied forces swept through German occupied Italy at the

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<v Speaker 1>height of World War two. This division of soldiers was

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<v Speaker 1>sent to the small villag of Calvivekia in central Italy.

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<v Speaker 1>The sparse, ancient hamlet had been mostly abandoned for centuries,

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<v Speaker 1>but during the war, its decayed stone buildings had been

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<v Speaker 1>taken over by German troops who were using it as

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<v Speaker 1>a defensive stronghold. The goal for the British was to

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<v Speaker 1>draw out the German forces and liberate the area's few

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<v Speaker 1>residents from Nazi occupation, but that was easier said than done.

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<v Speaker 1>The British troops spent days bombarding the village with bullets

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<v Speaker 1>and artillery, but the Germans refused to withdraw. On the

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<v Speaker 1>morning of October eighteenth, the British sent a request to

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<v Speaker 1>the Royal Air Force for support, but around midday, right

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<v Speaker 1>before the air raid that they had requested was scheduled

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<v Speaker 1>to begin, the commander of the battalion on the ground

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<v Speaker 1>got tired of waiting. He conferred with his lieutenants and

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<v Speaker 1>they decided to make one last effort to try and

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<v Speaker 1>take the village themselves. All at once, the troops stormed

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<v Speaker 1>the village and the show of force was successful, they

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<v Speaker 1>sent the Germans fleeing into the hillside. But as the

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<v Speaker 1>commander walked through the smoky streets of the abandoned village,

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<v Speaker 1>observing his soldiers as they checked empty buildings and cleared

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<v Speaker 1>land mines, he realized that his success had created a

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<v Speaker 1>new problem. You see, they had already requested air support

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<v Speaker 1>from the Air Force, and that air raid was scheduled

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<v Speaker 1>to begin in just an hour. If it went off

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<v Speaker 1>as planned, the British troops currently occupying the village would

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<v Speaker 1>be bombed by their own men. The commander hurried to

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<v Speaker 1>the radio and tried to send a message to call

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<v Speaker 1>off the attack, but he couldn't get through the radio

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<v Speaker 1>signal was too staticky. He knew that there was only

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<v Speaker 1>one other way to get the message to the airfield

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<v Speaker 1>in time, so he summoned one of his most capable

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<v Speaker 1>pilots in the brigade, a soldier they had nicknamed Gi Joe.

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<v Speaker 1>The commander scribbled down a short message on a piece

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<v Speaker 1>of paper, rolled it up, and gave it to Gi Joe.

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<v Speaker 1>Moments later, Joe took off, sailing into the smoke filled sky.

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<v Speaker 1>He flew an impressive twenty miles in twenty minutes, and

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<v Speaker 1>as he approached the airfield, the bombers on the runway

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<v Speaker 1>were already getting ready to take off for that raid.

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<v Speaker 1>Gi Joe made a quick landing, and at the very

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<v Speaker 1>last possible second, he delivered the message to the commander.

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<v Speaker 1>The commander unrolled the piece of paper, read it, and

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<v Speaker 1>rushed onto the runway, signaling for the pilots to call

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<v Speaker 1>off the attack. Gi Joe's last minute message saved the

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<v Speaker 1>lives of at least one hundred soldiers in calvi Vekya.

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<v Speaker 1>Three years later, he was awarded the Dicken Medal for

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<v Speaker 1>his actions, which is the equivalent of the Medal of

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<v Speaker 1>Honor for animals. Because you see, Gi Joe wasn't just

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<v Speaker 1>any old war hero, he was also a pigeon. I

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<v Speaker 1>hope you enjoyed today's guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities.

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<v Speaker 1>This show was created by me Aaron Manke in partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with iHeart Podcasts, researched and written by the Grim and

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<v Speaker 1>Mild team, and produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about

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<v Speaker 1>the show and the people who make it over at

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<v Speaker 1>Grimandmild dot com slash Curiosities. You'll also find a link

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<v Speaker 1>to the Official Cabinet of Curiosity's hardcover book avail in

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<v Speaker 1>bookstores and online, as well as ebook and audiobook, and

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<v Speaker 1>if you're looking for an ad free option, consider joining

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<v Speaker 1>up over at patreon dot com. Slash Grimandmild, and until

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<v Speaker 1>next time, stay curious.