WEBVTT - T. MARTIN BENNETT: "Wounded Tiger" 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:08.399 Can you believe we've passed Christmas and soon it will 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:12.719 be the New Year? How did that happen? It seems 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:16.360 like I just finished up doing the Thanksgiving dinner dishes 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:21.959 and bam, it was Christmas. I vaguely remember some frenzied shopping, 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:26.960 some kids Christmas concerts, a few basketball games, and then 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:30.080 wrapping and cooking in between. But the last month it's 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:33.280 all a bit of a blur. I do love the holidays, though, 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:36.560 yes they're busy, and yes there are moments I feel 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:40.720 more than a little bit frantic. But the Holidays are 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:44.640 also filled with magic and wonder and grace and hope, 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:48.960 the Nativity scene, the Baby and a Manger. I still 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:52.159 look forward to this season year after magical year. I 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:56.560 still believe in the promise of that babe in the manger, 0:00:57.240 --> 0:00:59.120 and I will never give up on the dream of 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:03.640 peace on earth, goodwill towards men. Neither will my guest 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:07.839 on the podcast today, let me read you the bio 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:11.119 on our guests that was sent to me. Okay, from 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:14.679 a young age, T Martin Bennett could be found running 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:18.640 from his mother in department stores and often to the unknown. 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:22.280 This would mark the beginning of many highs and lows, 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:26.600 and eventually lead T. Martin to journey around the world 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:32.560 to write his non fiction novel Wounded Tiger. Along the way, 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:37.120 T Martin attended then dropped out of college, co founded 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:42.120 a company that gross twenty million per year, which received 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:45.800 the presidential award of Entrepreneur of the Year from the 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:51.640 Small Business Administration, became the vice president of a successful nonprofit, 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:56.840 trained inmates in federal prison, and lived in poverty on 0:01:56.920 --> 0:02:01.520 a friend's couch to research this book. T Martin Bennett 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:04.639 has five wonderful kids and has never lost the joy 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:08.000 in his life or his life in God. Martin believes 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:10.280 that there is a plan and purpose for each of us, 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:14.160 and when you find it, you run with it. Wounded 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:19.400 Tiger is the compelling true story of Mintsu Fuchinda, the 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:23.360 Japanese pilot who led the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:27.080 and World War Two. Its author, T Martin Binnett is 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:31.200 with us today to share more about the story, recently 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:35.400 reprinted in its third edition, and how he came about 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:39.480 writing it. I think this conversation is a fantastic way 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:44.360 to wrap up Season five of Love Someone. Wounded Tiger is, 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:49.520 after all, an almost unbelievable story of hope that is 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:54.639 ultimately about how love overcomes hate. We will dig right 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:57.560 in with T Martin Bennett right after I share a 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:01.280 short story of nonfiction with you, the story of one 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:06.000 of today's podcast sponsors. As we welcome in the new year, 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:09.040 I hope you plan on spending much of it connecting 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:12.600 with friends and loved ones. There's no better way to 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.600 do it, if you ask me, than over a cup 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:21.040 of Constant Comment tea from Bigelow Tea. I recently toured 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:25.400 the Bigelow headquarters and was treated to a tea tasting 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:30.399 lesson given by third generation president and CEO of Bigelow, 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:36.119 T Cindy Bigelow. It was an amazing experience. I witnessed 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:40.600 their state of the art blending and packaging operations and 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:45.520 met their state of the heart employees. The Bigelow family 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:49.640 has been blending tea for over eighty years, with top 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:53.880 quality ingredients and a lot of love. My fave is 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:57.960 Constant Comment, but with over one hundred and fifty varieties, 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:01.160 they have a blend to suit every palette, for every 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:05.760 season and every occasion. Maybe you're more of an Earl 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:10.160 gray or lemon ginger Drinker. You'll have to go to 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:14.800 Bigelot dot com and see all their many blends. Start 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:18.760 your winter mornings with a steaming mug of Bigelot. You 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:21.520 can find it at your favorite store and at bigelot 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:24.880 dot com. Right now they have some brand new blends 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:29.000 ready to share with you. Dee Martin Bennett, Welcome to 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:32.640 our final edition of Love Someone for the year twenty 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:36.680 twenty three. We are going out with a roar, a 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:40.719 Wounded Tiger roar for our podcast season five this year, 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:44.479 which I think is fortuitous. I think it's appropriate that 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:48.400 we're talking to an author of a book about bitterness 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:52.520 and what compels somebody to do heinous things in war, 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:57.040 given where we're at in the world today and how 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:01.840 much we need God and love and peace on earth, 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:05.080 goodwill towards men. So we're going to talk about the 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:07.839 story of Wounded Tiger, But first I want to find 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:12.280 out t Martin Bennett, how you found yourself to telling 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:15.039 this story, how you found your way to be the 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.360 voice to bring the story of Wounded Tiger to life. 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:20.400 Delilah, thanks for having me on your show. It's a 0:05:20.400 --> 0:05:22.520 great question. Before I answer, I just want to say 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:25.120 thank you for your show. I remember years in the 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:30.039 past being really kind of distraught about my life situation 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:32.760 and hearing your show and how you interview people about 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:36.480 their songs, why they like them. You just were very 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.840 personable and I really really appreciate it immensely. So when 0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:42.400 we started this campaign, I said, listen, I want to 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:45.000 get on Deliah. I said, well, she's pretty difficult to do. 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:46.640 So when we got this, I thought, man, I'm really 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:48.760 really happy because I really really do like your show. 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:50.920 I think you make a positive impact on the world, 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:51.760 and I appreciate it. 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:56.520 Thank you, Thank you. We need we need positivity right now. 0:05:57.240 --> 0:06:00.360 It seems like I can't listen to most media because 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:06.920 it is so divisive and so agenda driven. And here 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:09.960 on the Delilah Show and on Love, someone got we 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:13.600 have no My only agenda is to share love and 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:15.320 be light in a very dark world. 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:18.000 Yeah, that's beautiful and that's good connection. So in a 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:20.960 world today where there's fighting in war and killing and 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:23.159 death and which has been going on since the dawn 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:26.480 of the history of mankind, Wounded Tiger is a story 0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:30.080 of hatred turned to love and war turned to peace, 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:32.799 and how the leader of the attack on Pearl Harbor 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:37.000 who despised Americans, how his heart changed and his life changed. 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:40.320 And also a guy named Jake Deschazer who was on 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:45.400 a bombing run against the Japanese. He became a prisoner 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:49.640 of war, was in solitary confinement for forty months, tortured, debt, 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:53.599 thrived in solitary confinement, eating the worst of the worst food, 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:56.440 sick on the point of death. And he said in 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:59.960 his own words, he was crazy with hatred toward the Japanese. 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:02.000 So here we have two people who hate it and 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:05.279 despise each other at the highest levels possible, and were 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:09.039 actively killing people of the other nation. And yet this 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:13.559 story as it develops, their lives turn around one hundred percent. 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:17.920 So when people see wars and killing in death, nobody 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:20.880 has any solutions. There are no solutions, at least that 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:23.200 doesn't look like it. So what Wounded Tiger is, it's 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:26.040 not telling you what to do. It's a demonstration of 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:28.600 what happened in their lives. And for that reason, it's 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:31.280 very positive and very encouraging. There is hope. 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:34.480 And how did you find your way to the story. 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:38.640 I read your bio. I wouldn't imagine somebody with your 0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:43.360 bio would would take it upon themselves to delve into 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:48.800 and literally you wrapped yourself up in the cloak of 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:54.880 this this heartbreaking story from the war, and wore it 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:57.440 until you wore it out, until you came out on 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:00.080 the other side and telling the story. How did did 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:01.440 you find? How did that happen? 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:05.080 Well? First of all, I love history. I love true stories. 0:08:05.200 --> 0:08:07.640 When I was in grade school, I read biographies. I 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:12.760 love true stories, documentaries, movies, whatever, fast forward. I worked 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:15.360 for years on a screenplay on the life of John Newton, 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:17.960 who wrote the song Amazing Grace. He was a slave 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:20.960 trader in the seventeen hundreds. His life story is absolutely 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:24.440 mind boggling. He almost died on like twenty five occasions. 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:27.040 And so I finished that. I'm extremely committed to doing 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:28.760 that as a film. I met with a producer three 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:31.280 months ago, and we're going to do this. But what 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:34.080 happened with this story of Wounded Tiger and the life 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:37.920 of Mitsuo Fuchia is that I came across a used 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:41.480 book from a defunct publisher about this guy's life and Delilah. 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:43.600 I have a pretty good working knowledge of World War 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:46.280 two in the Pacific War, and I know a lot 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:49.240 of redemption stories. I never heard anything about this guy's life, 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:53.240 so I have very low expectations. But as I started 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:54.600 studying his life. 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:56.600 Okay, wait, back up, back up, back up, back up, 0:08:56.679 --> 0:09:01.640 because I'm seeing in my mind's eye you stumbling upon 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:06.200 this book right like did a light go off and 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:09.040 angels sing and say you must read this? Or were 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:12.240 you just like whoa funky old dusty books? 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:14.760 Because I'm curious about them and with his story, I 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:17.400 was just curious about his story. But once I started 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:21.480 getting into it, to be extremely honest, Elilah, I remember 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:23.240 exactly where I was sitting. I was sitting in a 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:25.360 folding chair in a barn and a stable that is 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:27.600 my daughter was riding horses. I could smell the hay, 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:31.040 hear the sparrows chirping. And as I'm studying this book, 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:33.280 I said, God, are you telling me to do this 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:37.880 as a movie because this would be a absolutely epic, compelling, 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:42.240 cinematic story. I mean, this is just has everything to 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:44.880 make a great film. So as I started praying that 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:46.680 before I could finish it, I really sense the Lord 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:49.120 said Martin, get it done, just do it, And I thought, 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:51.600 oh wow, this is going to be difficult because I 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:53.880 don't know a lot about Japanese history. I don't know 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:56.800 the Japanese side. So we all know the Pearl Harbor attack, 0:09:56.800 --> 0:10:00.079 and we know that the Allied troops we want in 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:01.960 the war, but we don't really know what was going 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:04.880 on in Japan, what motivated them. So that's how I 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:07.360 came into the story, and once I had that sense 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:09.760 of a mandate to get it done, rolled up my 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:13.080 sleeves and I spent three years reading thousands and thousands 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:17.120 of pages of primary source documents, secondary source documents, meeting 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:20.480 with experts, meeting with family members, corresponding, doing everything I 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:23.120 could to figure out what this story was all about. 0:10:23.559 --> 0:10:26.680 And a funny thing in doing this, Jalilah, is that 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:30.679 I would dig through piles of dirt, so to speak, 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:34.120 information that's useless, and then you come across these gold nuggets. 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:36.640 So you've got to be kidding me. You have got 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:39.040 to be kidding me. So there's many things in this 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:43.680 story that are, however you want to call it, providential, circumstantial, supernatural. 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:46.240 They're like, how in the world did this happen? And 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:48.959 that's one of the things that's really fun about this story. 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:51.719 It also has a very very positive ending in a 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:53.760 story where there's a lot of death and killing and 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:56.400 torture and you're thinking, how can this ever end? Well? 0:10:56.760 --> 0:10:57.320 But it does? 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:00.200 Anna are we going to get to know how it 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:02.080 does in this interview or are we going to just 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:05.400 dangle that little I mean, I know because I read 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:09.520 I read all the synopsis of it. But I kind 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:12.400 of think our listeners need to get the book or 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:13.240 wait for the movie. 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:16.680 But well, my job is to set up the story, 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:19.120 but not to spoil the story. Nobody wants to spoiler 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:21.040 if they're going to read the book or watch the movies. 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:25.120 So there are three plot lines in this story. Mitsu 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:28.360 Puchita was handpicked by Amil Yamamoto to lead the Pearl 0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:31.000 Harbor attack and the Midway attack. He was all over 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:33.240 the war in all the key places, and he was 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:36.840 driven by selfish ambition and by national ambition. He wanted 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:39.120 to be a rock star in the military. I mean, 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:41.680 that's that's a cool position where everybody thinks you're cool. 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:47.320 And according to you, he hated hated us like. 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:51.040 He despised America. And when he bombed Pearl Harvard, he 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:53.480 considered the happiest day of his life. He thought Americans 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:56.320 were arrogant and he didn't want to have anything to 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:59.320 do with him. So that's that's only half of the story. 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:01.520 That's about fifty percent of the story. Then thirty percent 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.280 of his goy named Jake Deschaser. He's an American who 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:06.120 couldn't get a job. Tried a bunch of different things 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:09.200 and nothing worked out. So he joined the Army. Not uncommon, 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:12.120 he ended up volunteering for the US Army Air Corps, 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:14.680 which was the precursor of the Air Force. And after 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:17.080 the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, well, he was just like 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:20.800 every red blooded American, I turned me loose, I'm going 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:23.839 to help kill Japanese. I just want revenge. So he 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:27.240 volunteered on a mission to bomb Japan that was the 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:30.640 Doolotle Rate in April nineteen forty two, but his plane 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:33.360 ran out of fuel. He bails out over occupied China. 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:36.160 He becomes a prisoner war and it's actual, I mean, 0:12:36.200 --> 0:12:40.840 it just was hell on earth. Torture, deprivation, his buddy's 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:44.000 getting shot, another guy dying from exposure. It was hell 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:46.520 on Earth. And he realized that. In his own words, 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:49.760 he said he was crazy with hatred and he didn't 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:51.640 want to live that way, and he remembered his mom. 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:53.240 So this is really a shout out to all the 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:55.920 moms are out there. You don't realize how powerful a 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:58.600 position you're in until you see the impact on your 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:01.199 son our daughters when they're in a place where they 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:04.120 need hope and they remember their mother. And that's what 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:06.320 happened with Jake Deschazer. He knew she was a good 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:08.839 and godly woman, and they started seeking God and then 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:13.080 supernatural things started happening. They're really quite unbelievable and very encouraging. 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:15.839 So that's the two plot lines. Then the third plot 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:19.480 line are the Covel family. There are teachers who are 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:23.320 highly educated in the Chicago area. They traveled to Japan, 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:25.960 they had their kids there. They loved the Japanese people. 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:28.439 They did missions work. They helped the poorest of the poor. 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:32.520 But when the country was ramping up for war, it 0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:35.000 was not a welcome place for Americans. So they fled 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:36.840 to the Philippines, where they got a job teaching at 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:39.199 a university, and they sent their kids back to the 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:41.960 United States. So that's the setup of these three plot lines. 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:44.960 They really had nothing to do with each other. But slowly, 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:47.440 one click at a time, they start getting closer and 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:49.920 closer to each other. And the key part of the 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:53.240 entire story of Wounded Tiger is a young lady named 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:56.640 Peggy Covel. She was the fulcrum of change and she 0:13:56.800 --> 0:13:59.280 was thousands of miles away from him. And how this 0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:03.319 happens and why it happens is like odds were millions 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:05.160 to one that this would happen. If this were a 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:07.440 fictional story, Deliah, it would not be any good because 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:10.520 people say, Martin, that's just too far out. But it's 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:13.040 a true story. It really did happen, and that's part 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:15.320 of what makes it really really exciting and compelling. 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:18.640 I can't wait. I can't wait for it to be 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:19.520 on the big screen. 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:23.400 Well, I am working towards that. I wrote the screenplay first, 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:25.640 then I novelized a book for him. A couple of 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:29.480 years ago, I was contacted by Gabe Bidella, the producer 0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:31.800 of Hacksaw Ridge. She said, what's going on with the movie. 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:35.120 I told him that I received offers, but they were 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:37.800 all secular and they want a full creative control. And 0:14:37.840 --> 0:14:40.560 the last thing I wanted was, you know, Jesus turning 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:42.720 into higher power, sex scenes and all that kind of stuff. 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:45.080 I thought, I can't do that, so it's a deal breaker. 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:47.160 I needed to be able to protect the integrity of 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:48.840 the story. I'm not doing it for the money. I 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:51.600 turned out a lot of money to just protect the story. 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:53.480 So he said, Martin, get the book to the top 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:55.520 of the charts. That's when the investors will come to you. 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:58.240 So we have an investor. We're doing a national campaign. 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:02.400 But as a footnote to all this, about two months ago, 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:04.920 six weeks ago, and attorney contacted me. He said, Martin, 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:07.200 I'm very close friends with a billionaire. I think you 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:08.880 would like to come in on this project. Please send 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:11.760 me an executive summary. So I expect that that will 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:14.320 happen one hundred percent and people will get to see 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:16.520 it on the big screen. This is not about bonds, 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:19.440 planes and ships. It's a character driven story. The majority 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:21.720 of the readers are females, and a lot of people 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:24.120 are not religious in any way, shape or form. And 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.400 they've told me with tears in their eyes, Wow, amazing. Story. 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:28.280 Really hit me hard. 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:31.640 All because you found an old book. Yeah, I mean 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:34.920 out of Red Book, and. 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:37.160 That's by another guy. Recently, he said, Martin how is 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:40.040 it the world doesn't know this story? That's a good question. 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:42.960 I think this is the greatest story of all of 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:45.760 World War two. I've had many people tell me it 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:47.840 was the best story they'd ever read in their life. 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:49.640 If you go to Amazon right now and look at 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:52.280 Wonda Tiger, one of the reviews says, this might be 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:55.200 the most extraordinary story I've ever read in my life, 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:58.040 and other similar reviews like that. So I'm not saying 0:15:58.040 --> 0:15:59.800 I'm a good writer. I'm saying this is a me 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:03.280 true story. I did my best to do justice to 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:03.800 the story. 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:12.760 And this is the third publication. I understand there's pictures 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:16.080 in here that have never been never been published before. 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:17.280 How did you find them? 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:21.160 Right? So I self published the first two editions and 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:25.160 this one has over three hundred photos, images, maps, letters. 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:27.520 That really brings to life that these are real people. 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:30.160 And when people read the book, they just tell me, Martin, 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:32.720 I felt like I was there while these things were happening. 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:35.560 So that's what I wanted. I wanted a very immersive, 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:38.800 engaging experience. Another thing I did with this book, Delia, 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:41.760 that's very unusual is although it's a true story, I 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:44.440 did not write it in the format of nonfiction. I 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:47.320 wrote it in the format of fiction because fiction is dynamic, 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:50.400 but it's a true story. This is what Truman Capoti 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:52.960 did for the book in Cold Blood, It's what Michael 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:55.720 Chera did for the book Gettysburg, And that's what I 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:58.320 felt was the best format for this book. It reads 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:01.080 like a novel because it is a novel, but it's 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:02.960 true amazing. 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:07.040 So basically, what you're saying is your true gift is 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:08.600 the gift of storytelling. 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:10.080 Yeah. I believe so. 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:13.440 And unlike me, you stick to the facts. 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:15.480 Well, I mean I. 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:18.879 Never let the facts get in the way of a 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:21.720 good story, not on purpose. It's not like I'm a 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:24.400 purposeful liar. I just can't remember anything anymore. 0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:27.480 Well, believe me, I cannot remember everything either. I do 0:17:27.560 --> 0:17:29.479 not have photographic memory. I had to look things up 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:31.239 over and over and over to make sure these things 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:33.240 are right. Because the last thing I wanted was somebody say, Martin, 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:35.199 what are you saying this for? That never happened. I 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:38.879 couldn't have that happen. So we checked, rechecked, triple checked 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:41.159 so many of these things. One thing that happened was 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:45.520 Puchita was in Hiroshima as in a big conference where 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:50.760 they're preparing to defend the Japan from the onslaught of 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:53.720 the American invasion, which they believe was imminent. So while 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:55.960 he's at this meeting in Hiroshima, he gets a phone 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:58.199 call to go to another airbase. They said that we 0:17:58.320 --> 0:17:59.920 want to talk to you now, we need you now. 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:04.400 He leaves. The next day the bombas dropped on Hiroshima. 0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:08.800 His hotel is vaporized, ninety thousand people killed. The next 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:11.679 day he comes back to Hiroshima on a search party 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:14.000 to find out what happened, what kind of bomb it was, 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:17.520 and he spent three days walking around in radioactive rubble. 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:20.320 A month later, almost everybody on a search party is 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:23.320 dying of radiation sickness, but nothing happened to him, and 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:25.919 he started thinking, why am I not dead? What is 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:28.480 happening in my life? And that's when he started coming 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:31.240 across the story of Jake Dechezer and Peggy Kovell, and 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:34.400 these plotlines come together, and what Peggy did, without giving 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:36.920 away the story, is even though her parents are being 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:40.879 mistreated by the Japanese in the Philippines, she looked for 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:44.840 a way to love her enemies and she volunteered ultimately 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:50.040 at a pow hospital in Utah where she was waiting 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:55.440 on Japanese soldiers who were injured amputees mostly, and they 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:59.000 described her as an angel who just did nothing but 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:01.120 good things for her and they want to know, why 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:04.160 are you treating us so nicely? They thought maybe someone 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:06.800 in Japan had done something really wonderful for her. When 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:09.479 she found out that her parents had been persecuted by 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:12.960 the Japanese, they were horrified. And this story got back 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:15.840 to Fuchiita, and he asked the guy who told him, 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:19.720 why wouldn't she take revenge? Why would you love your enemies? 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:22.600 That doesn't make any sense to me. And later he 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:25.879 asked the question where does this love come from? He 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:28.760 wasn't seeking God, he wasn't seeking religion. He was just 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:31.320 seeking what's true. And that's really what led to the 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:33.520 change of his life, which is quite beautiful. If you 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:35.480 seek the truth and you're going to live according to it, 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:38.159 your life will change. And that's what happened to Fucheta, 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:40.440 and that's what will happen to you as well. 0:19:40.600 --> 0:19:45.440 Amen. Amen. T Martin Bennett, the author of the fascinating 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:50.240 book Wounded Tiger, has been spending time here with us today. 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:53.919 We haven't covered everything I want to ask him just yet, 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:56.480 but I want to pause our conversation for a moment 0:19:56.840 --> 0:20:00.840 to tell you about another podcast sponsor. I'm go'dably grateful 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:05.480 for Where would I be without my Laura Geller beauty 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:11.480 products lost. That's where the spackled primer makes my skin 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:15.160 look and feel so fresh. It's the first and sometimes 0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:18.320 the only thing I put on my face in the morning. 0:20:18.880 --> 0:20:24.720 Laura's new Italian Marble Artistry collection is so fabulous. 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Thank you for saying yes, saying yes. 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:34.439 I cannot tell you how many times I've had a 0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:36.240 thought in my mind I should do this, I should 0:21:36.320 --> 0:21:39.000 do that, but then life gets in the way, you know, 0:21:39.160 --> 0:21:43.480 and kids and responsibilities and my job and stuff like that. 0:21:43.920 --> 0:21:46.919