WEBVTT - We Live Through History Without Even Realizing It

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<v Speaker 1>This is our American stories, and we tell stories about

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<v Speaker 1>everything here on this show and our favorite types of

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<v Speaker 1>stories in the end, well they come from our listeners,

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<v Speaker 1>and this next story comes from one of our listeners,

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<v Speaker 1>Richard Munions. Today he tells us two stories on living

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<v Speaker 1>in history from the perspective of those who experienced it

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<v Speaker 1>and didn't even know it at the time. He has

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<v Speaker 1>our own Monty Montgomery with the story.

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<v Speaker 2>Punctuality is an important virtue to a lot of people,

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<v Speaker 2>but for Richard Muniez, it was his senior year history

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<v Speaker 2>teacher that changed his outlook on life by skipping out

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<v Speaker 2>on the dates and class.

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<v Speaker 3>When I was in the twelfth grade, I had a

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<v Speaker 3>history teacher with my name of Bill Mayhem. Now Bill

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<v Speaker 3>was a heck of a lot older than I was

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<v Speaker 3>at the time, and he had kind of a unique

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<v Speaker 3>approach to history. He felt that dates weren't important. In fact,

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<v Speaker 3>he also felt that dates is what turned people off

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<v Speaker 3>about history. You know, you had well Columbus came here

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<v Speaker 3>in fourteen ninety two and stuff like that, But what

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<v Speaker 3>was learned of history to him, most of it was boredom.

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<v Speaker 3>They couldn't see the relation that what happened yesterday, how

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<v Speaker 3>it impacts us today. If certain things happened happened, we

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<v Speaker 3>probably wouldn't be here today. But history is also a

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<v Speaker 3>lot more than about dates and about great people. It's

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<v Speaker 3>about little people. It's about the stories that are told,

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<v Speaker 3>stories that are usually forgotten within the generation or two.

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<v Speaker 3>For example, about Columbus coming to the America's important event. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>without it, like I said, most of us probably wouldn't

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<v Speaker 3>be here. However, what story you're told by the sailors

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<v Speaker 3>who went with Columbus, What stories we're told by the

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<v Speaker 3>Native Americans that meant them, what actually happened? We have

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<v Speaker 3>those events in our head. We have these events that

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<v Speaker 3>history gave us, but in most cases they're kind of

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<v Speaker 3>bare bone. Well, I've been lucky enough to have met

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<v Speaker 3>a lot of people who were at pivotal moments in history,

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<v Speaker 3>or they are events that history has kind of glossed over.

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<v Speaker 3>I've been in a few of those myself, and it's

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<v Speaker 3>very rare that you ever see the big picture. You're

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<v Speaker 3>part of it, and all of a sudden there are

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<v Speaker 3>you know, you've gone through it and stuff like that,

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<v Speaker 3>and afterwards you're telling the story about what happened, and

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<v Speaker 3>a lot of times you have no real understanding of

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<v Speaker 3>what you went through. For instance, I was in the

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<v Speaker 3>Gulf War. I was in two of the biggest battles

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<v Speaker 3>of the Gulf War. And it wasn't until years later

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<v Speaker 3>I even learned that they had names, and I wound

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<v Speaker 3>up talking of people, and I've discovered that their stories

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<v Speaker 3>were at pivotal moments. For instance, there's a man by

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<v Speaker 3>name of Levi Martinez. He was the Battle of the Bulge.

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<v Speaker 3>I remember when he told me this story. I was

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<v Speaker 3>getting ready to leave for basic training. Levi was my

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<v Speaker 3>father in law at the time, and I'd asked him

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<v Speaker 3>if he would give me something that belonged to him

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<v Speaker 3>that I could take with me kind of, I say,

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<v Speaker 3>I guess you might say it's a good luck charm,

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<v Speaker 3>whatever the case may be. Well, he gave me his

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<v Speaker 3>army ribbons and sitting right smack in the middle of

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<v Speaker 3>this is a bronze star. And I asked him, I said,

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<v Speaker 3>why did you receive this was? What was the story

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<v Speaker 3>behind receiving your bronze star? And he showed me the citation.

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<v Speaker 3>The citation it was usual military stuff. You're using fire

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<v Speaker 3>and maneuver. Private Levi Martinez was able to close upon

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<v Speaker 3>and capture a German machine gun. Nest Okay, that's pretty

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<v Speaker 3>cool stuff. Then he told me his version of the story.

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<v Speaker 3>This story happened like this. He was in Germany fighting

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<v Speaker 3>with Patton's army, and they had been advancing and whatnot,

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<v Speaker 3>and it was getting cold, Christmas was coming in. Winter

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<v Speaker 3>was here, and they were kind of slowing things down

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<v Speaker 3>a little bit. However, he also got worded at this

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<v Speaker 3>time that his mother had passed away, and that it

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<v Speaker 3>was he wanted desperately to go home and at least

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<v Speaker 3>see the family. Well that wasn't about to happen, after all,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, here they are in the middle of a war.

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<v Speaker 3>He was seriously needed right where he was. So what

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<v Speaker 3>wound up happening was this. They received orders to turn

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<v Speaker 3>nine degrees and start walking. He called this the long Walk.

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<v Speaker 3>And they walked and they walked and they walked, and

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<v Speaker 3>they was storming on him. It was cold, and they

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<v Speaker 3>just kept going. They knew that the Germans had attacked,

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<v Speaker 3>and that this was a desperate situation, that they had

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<v Speaker 3>the hundred first Airborne and several other units just you know,

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<v Speaker 3>literally pinned down. It wasn't good for us. They they

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<v Speaker 3>had to get up there and take care of things.

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<v Speaker 3>But again, he wasn't really concentrating on the war at

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<v Speaker 3>the time. He wanted to go home and be with

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<v Speaker 3>his with his people. That for all you know, his

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<v Speaker 3>heart was breaking over there, and here he is unable

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<v Speaker 3>to even express his grief. I remember him telling me

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<v Speaker 3>that as they were walking one day, all of a sudden,

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<v Speaker 3>a guy shoves him out, shoves him and throws him

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<v Speaker 3>into a snowdrift. And he gets up and asks what

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<v Speaker 3>the heck that was about, And the guy said, you

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<v Speaker 3>almost walked into the walk into the path of the

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<v Speaker 3>tank there. He already fallen asleep while he was walking,

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<v Speaker 3>and if this guy hadn't shoved him, they'd probably fallen

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<v Speaker 3>under the treads of the tank and then ran over.

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<v Speaker 3>Then they started getting up into the area around baths

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<v Speaker 3>Stone and whatnot. The Germans had seized this one small

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<v Speaker 3>town that established a machine gun nest outside of the community,

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<v Speaker 3>and this machine gun nests opened up on him and

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<v Speaker 3>his people and just firing away from having Pitten down

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<v Speaker 3>pretty good. Well in the middle of all this, he's

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<v Speaker 3>thinking about his mother and all he wants to do

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<v Speaker 3>is stand up and go home. Well, finally he said,

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<v Speaker 3>heck with this, I'm going to go and I'm going

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<v Speaker 3>home one way or the other. So he stands up

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<v Speaker 3>and he starts approaching the machine gun nest. There's no

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<v Speaker 3>fire maneuver to this, there's no running over from one

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<v Speaker 3>point of cover to another. And while firing at firing

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<v Speaker 3>at the enemy, he had just a nice little casual

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<v Speaker 3>stroll right up to the machine gun nest and they're

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<v Speaker 3>shooting at him. His people are yelling at him to

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<v Speaker 3>get down. He just walking. He wants to go home,

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<v Speaker 3>and he's going to go home one way or the other.

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<v Speaker 3>Eventually he winds up on the crest the machine gun nests,

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<v Speaker 3>looking down the seriously astonished Germans. And while he's up there,

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<v Speaker 3>he decides, well, well i'm here, I might as well

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<v Speaker 3>do something about it, points his rifle at him, and

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<v Speaker 3>they surrendered. And that's the story how he got his

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<v Speaker 3>bronze star. That's what history is about. It's about people

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<v Speaker 3>involved in extraordinary things, extraordinary events, and not realizing it.

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<v Speaker 3>An example from my own personal history happened during the

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<v Speaker 3>Gulf War. Now, this is doesn't involve a battle, doesn't

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<v Speaker 3>involve lighting up an enemy tank and fired on it

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<v Speaker 3>or anything like that. No, this involves almost the aftermath.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean the war was over to extends of purposes

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<v Speaker 3>with beaten the iraqis Now, what we were doing is

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<v Speaker 3>we were getting ready to go home. I was a

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<v Speaker 3>military policeman at the time, and what a military police

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<v Speaker 3>do is they are responsible for movement. We move the

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<v Speaker 3>division and part of our job was to perform the

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<v Speaker 3>route recon from Iraq through Kuwait and back to Saudi

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<v Speaker 3>Arabia's And we were excited about this. I mean we've

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<v Speaker 3>been over there for about six months and this meant

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<v Speaker 3>we were one step closer to going back home. I

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<v Speaker 3>mean it was great, we've made it through the war.

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<v Speaker 3>Now here's the problem. The war might be over, the

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<v Speaker 3>weapons of war are still out there and they're still

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<v Speaker 3>very much alive. Despite the ceasefire. You could still get

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<v Speaker 3>yourself hurt or killed out there. So what we did

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<v Speaker 3>was my platoon we were told to go back and

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<v Speaker 3>perform as route recon. So we're going down high highways

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<v Speaker 3>seventy and ahead of us we saw a bus and

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<v Speaker 3>on the back window was a placard that had a

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<v Speaker 3>British flight printed on it with the Brits. Now it

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<v Speaker 3>pulled over and a bunch of guys started getting out.

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<v Speaker 3>It's obviously, you know, on the road bathroom break. We're

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<v Speaker 3>about fifty yards away from when all of a sudden

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<v Speaker 3>we heard cow boom and there's this burst of dust

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<v Speaker 3>up and several of the British guys wanted to falling over,

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<v Speaker 3>fallen back. Oh, we knew what had happened right away.

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<v Speaker 3>What had happened. We had pulled over and walked right

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<v Speaker 3>into a minefield that was on the side of the road. Now,

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<v Speaker 3>our first instincts is human beings, says, oh my god,

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<v Speaker 3>we see people in trouble. We're police officers. We have

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<v Speaker 3>three people with us who are trained as medics. Why

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<v Speaker 3>not pull over and help them? Our allies, fellow human

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<v Speaker 3>beings on top of that, were hurt. We were in

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<v Speaker 3>a position to help them. That's what we're going to do. Well,

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<v Speaker 3>as we're starting to pull over, all of a sudden,

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<v Speaker 3>this one British guy comes around to think. He's waving

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<v Speaker 3>ass and yelling ass not to stop, to keep going,

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<v Speaker 3>and that's why lieutenant yelled, we have medics with us,

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<v Speaker 3>and he said, so do we. It's too dangerous here.

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<v Speaker 3>We'll tree our own wounded, keep moving. So we wound

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<v Speaker 3>up going past to this day. I don't know what

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<v Speaker 3>happened he's been. I don't know if they any of

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<v Speaker 3>them were killed. I don't know if any of them

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<v Speaker 3>were just injured and have recovered from their injuries. Again,

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<v Speaker 3>it's history. You get your little teeny tiny segment of it,

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<v Speaker 3>and you don't know what happened next.

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<v Speaker 1>Richard mune As his story two of them, two soldiers'

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<v Speaker 1>stories here on our American Stories