1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcomed Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I 2 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. During times of war, those who refused to 7 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:42,200 Speaker 1: fight often turn to activism to voice their opposition. Although 8 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: every war has seen demonstrations against armed conflict, Vietnam comes 9 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: to mind for many as one of the most divisive 10 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:51,280 Speaker 1: wars in modern history, and much of the opposition came 11 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: as a result of the draft. The Draft Lottery was 12 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: a system used in nineteen sixty nine that conscripted young 13 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: American men into fighting overseas. Tests were held across the country. 14 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: Draft cards were torn up and burned, and many of 15 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: the fighting age fled to places like Canada to avoid 16 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: having to enlist. But that wasn't the first time people 17 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:12,399 Speaker 1: were forced to fight a war against their will. That 18 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 1: happened in World War Two as well, and those facing 19 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: tough choices decided to fight back in surprising and explosive ways. 20 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: It all started with a plane, a B seventeen F 21 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: bomber named the tond Leo. The tond Leo's ten man crew, 22 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: including pilot Bond Fox and navigator Elmer Benny Benderner, were 23 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:34,399 Speaker 1: a ragtag group of fighters in charge of an aircraft 24 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,400 Speaker 1: often referred to as a flying coffin. It was a 25 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 1: massive plane manufactured by Boeing. However, its design was inherently flawed. 26 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,400 Speaker 1: The B seventeen F was tail heavy, made even more 27 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: so once the bombs, ammunition, and the crew were all 28 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: loaded on board. With its center of gravity shifted towards 29 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: the back of the plane, it became slow and difficult 30 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: to maneuver. Benny and the rest of the crew understood 31 00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: what they were getting into. The Odds of surviving in 32 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: a bomb murdering World War two were roughly thirty, but 33 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: that didn't stop them from carrying out their missions as 34 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: ordered and facing down German fighters in the process. But 35 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:11,079 Speaker 1: tid Leo didn't fly all twenty five missions it was 36 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: meant to. It was shot down before it could be 37 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 1: retired from service, though all of its crew did survive. 38 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: But the story of this particular Beast seventeen isn't about 39 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: how capable it was but about how lucky it was. Now, 40 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: you might say that a plane that went down during 41 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: battle couldn't have been that lucky, after all, it was big, heavy, 42 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: and not very effective in a dog fight. But ask 43 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:34,519 Speaker 1: Benny the navigator, and he'll tell you a much different story. 44 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 1: It was during one particular raid when Tan de Leo's 45 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: crew realized just how lucky they were. They had been 46 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: airborne for some time when they started taking fire from 47 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: Nazi anti aircraft guns, which were firing twenty millimeter shells 48 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:51,079 Speaker 1: at them. One after another. The shells hit the plane miraculously, 49 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: though they didn't explode on impact. When Time de Leo landed, 50 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: the crew examined the fuselage and were shocked at the 51 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: site the eleven unexploded twenty millimeter shells had been lodged 52 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: into the wing gas tank. The shells were carefully extracted 53 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: and sent to the armors to be diffused. But Benny 54 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,400 Speaker 1: wanted to know more. Why hadn't the shells exploded when 55 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: they hit the plane. Well, they had been manufactured by 56 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:20,639 Speaker 1: forced laborers. Hitler and the Nazis didn't just kill and 57 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: imprison people. They often put them to work growing food, 58 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:28,160 Speaker 1: building engines, and making munitions. These workers were literally held 59 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: at gunpoint, forced to help their enemies or die. There 60 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: was little they could do to rebel, but several laborers 61 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: building anti aircraft shells had figured out a unique way 62 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: to fight back. When military personnel opened up the shells 63 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: that had been removed from the gas tank, they didn't 64 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:49,600 Speaker 1: find any explosive materials. Almost every shell was empty save 65 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: for one. Within its hollow metal frame was a note 66 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: left by the person who had assembled it. The worker 67 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: had been checked and had written a message for whomever 68 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: would find it. Translated, it said, this is all we 69 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: can do for you now. Eventually, though, tando Leo's luck 70 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: would run out and it's thirty four thousand pound hall 71 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 1: would be claimed by the English Channel once and for all. 72 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: But thanks to the rebellious spirit of several forced laborers, 73 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: Benny Fox and the rest of the crew live to 74 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:34,919 Speaker 1: fly another day. World War two brought out some of 75 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: the best and worst in humanity. Individual acts of bravery 76 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:42,039 Speaker 1: clashed with the overwhelming death and dread of mass warfare, 77 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: but in the end, the individual stories of heroism are 78 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,599 Speaker 1: rather remarkable. For example, it takes a special kind of 79 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: bravery to charge up Normandy beach face first an enemy gunfire. 80 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: It takes a similar kind of bravery to jump out 81 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,239 Speaker 1: of a plane with a parachute knowing the enemy forces 82 00:04:57,240 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 1: will be firing at you. And that kind of bravery 83 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 1: is also found in someone who risks their own life 84 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: to save hundreds of others. This is the kind of 85 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: bravery that was found in the heart of First Sergeant 86 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: Leonard A. Funk, Jr. A recipient of numerous awards and honors. 87 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: Funk did some incredible things during World War Two, which 88 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:19,600 Speaker 1: distinguished him as one of the bravest Americans in enemy territory. 89 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:22,599 Speaker 1: But there's one particular episode that really shows us what 90 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: kind of human Funk was. We already know that he 91 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: was brave, selfless, and more, but this this was something else, 92 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: like a series of scenes cut out of an action 93 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: film that the audience immediately questions for being unrealistic. Surely 94 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: that kind of thing couldn't happen, but it did because 95 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:45,560 Speaker 1: of Sergeant Funk. It happened on January nine. Funk and 96 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:49,039 Speaker 1: his small company of men were stationed just outside of Holtzheim, Germany, 97 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: where they had spent the winter. Their goal was to 98 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 1: take the town, but their forces were running thin. Rather 99 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: than hunker down and wait for what may never come, 100 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: Funk decided to continue his mission. Without enough infant treatment 101 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,920 Speaker 1: to keep advancing forward, Funk recruited a platoon of clerks 102 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: and speed trained them into a fighting force that he 103 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:10,799 Speaker 1: took fifteen miles through artillery fire and driving snowstorms towards 104 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,359 Speaker 1: their objective. There they cleared out fifteen houses without losing 105 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 1: a single unit, and captured eighty German soldiers in the process. 106 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: They had taken the town, but the battle wasn't over 107 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,920 Speaker 1: for Funk. Those eighty prisoners managed to dupe their captors 108 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:27,880 Speaker 1: and connect with a German patrol. They waited for their 109 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,599 Speaker 1: chance to strike, and it came quickly. Funk, after doing 110 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:34,159 Speaker 1: the rounds to insure the safety of a town, came 111 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:37,040 Speaker 1: to check on the prisoners, but rather than find reassurance, 112 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:40,719 Speaker 1: he found a German pistol poking into his stomach. With 113 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: little more than a handful of soldiers nearby and the 114 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: rest of his company sweeping up the town, Funk was 115 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 1: up against the odds in a big way. The Nazis 116 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: had him dead to rights and he had nowhere left 117 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: to turn. So when the Germans ordered him and his 118 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: men to drop their weapons. Funk pretended to comply. He 119 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:00,599 Speaker 1: unslung his submachine gun from his shoulder, all while the 120 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: cogs in his head were turning. But that's as far 121 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:06,160 Speaker 1: as Funk's compliance would go. With his machine guns still 122 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,040 Speaker 1: in hand, and in true Allied fashion, he laughed in 123 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: the Nazi faces before unloading his gun into the German 124 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: officer and his company. While he fired, Funk shouted through 125 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: the commotion for his men to take the Germans weapons. 126 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: Within minutes, twenty one German soldiers lay dead, many more 127 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:25,040 Speaker 1: were injured, and the rest had been recaptured. And you 128 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 1: can bet Funk was smiling as he realized what he 129 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: and his men had just done. They had completely overturned 130 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: the odds, recapturing a company larger than their own, and 131 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: halted any hopes the Germans had of upsetting American plans 132 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: in the area, and all it took was a little 133 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: trickery and a whole lot of bravery. Funk returned to 134 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: America after the war to receive his awards, and he 135 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: has since been immortalized with his own stretch of highway 136 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: in Pennsylvania. And you can bet that all the men 137 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 1: that served with him will never forget just how brave 138 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: their sergeant was that day and his funky dose of courage. 139 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 140 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 141 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 142 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership 143 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 144 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 145 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 146 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:32,240 Speaker 1: World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.