1 00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:06,200 Speaker 1: On this episode of News World, I have just come 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:11,920 Speaker 1: across an interesting new book entitled The Rifle. Combat Stories 3 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: from America's last World War Two Veterans told through an 4 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: M one Grand by Andrew Biggio. The book began when 5 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:25,239 Speaker 1: Andrew brought a nineteen forty five M one Grand rifle 6 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: and handed it to his neighbor World War Two veteran 7 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:33,839 Speaker 1: corporal Joseph Drago, unlocking memories Drago had kept on spoken 8 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 1: for fifty years. On the spur of the moment, Biggio 9 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:42,200 Speaker 1: asked Drego to sign the rifle, and his signature began 10 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: Andrew's mission to find as many World War Two veterans 11 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: as he could, get their signashes on the rifle and 12 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: document their stories. For two years, he traveled across the 13 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: country to interview America's last living World War Two veterans. 14 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: Thousands from our greatest generation, locked their memories away, never 15 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: sharing what they had endured with family and friends, taking 16 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: their stories to the grave. So how did this young 17 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: marine get them to talk? By putting on nineteen forty 18 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: five grand in their hands and watching as their eyes 19 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: lit up with memories triggered by holding the women that 20 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 1: have been with them every step of the water. I'm 21 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: really pleased to welcome my guest US marine and author 22 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:37,759 Speaker 1: Andrew Biggio. Congratulations on the way you have been received 23 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: with your book at Amazon and elsewhere, and I think 24 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:44,319 Speaker 1: it's a great beginning for you for a career of 25 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: really helping the country understand itself. Why only start, though, 26 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: before we get to the veterans with you, because you're 27 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: also a veteran, and I'm curious what triggered your interest 28 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: in veterans. First, thank you for that intro. That was amazing, 29 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: and I don't get a lot of intros like that. 30 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: My love and desire to be a veteran and just 31 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:11,080 Speaker 1: to like really worship America's veterans started at a young age. 32 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: I don't know what it was. I was just really 33 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: captivated by the veterans who used to sell the poppies 34 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: out in front of the supermarkets and raise money for 35 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: the disabled veterans of America and so on and so forth. 36 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: And when I was in eighth grade, nine eleven half 37 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: and I thought I was going to miss the whole show. 38 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 1: And two thousand and six, I actually just had my 39 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: fifteen year anniversary of the day I landed at Paris Island, 40 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: South Carolina six six h six, So six six six 41 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: I landed at Paris Island, and it definitely was a 42 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: form of hell for an eighteen year old kid who's 43 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: never left home before, and it started there. I was 44 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: a Marine infantrymen. I did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. 45 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: Came home completely unscathed, and a lot of veterans didn't. 46 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: A lot of men and women that I met, you know, 47 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: healing up at Walter Reed Hospital from the amputations and wounds. 48 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:04,520 Speaker 1: I learned the most I ever did in the Marine 49 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 1: Corps compared to any education I've ever had, master's degree, 50 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 1: bachelor's degree, working in all sorts of kinds of fields 51 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: and the Marine Corps was the best education I've ever had. 52 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,400 Speaker 1: So it was a great experience. But what ended up 53 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 1: sparking this journey to hunt down America's last World War 54 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: two veterans, in a way, was how do I live 55 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:27,320 Speaker 1: a successful life after the military. I have to go 56 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: back for one second, if you don't mind, and ask you. 57 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: I'm an Army bred, So why did you join the 58 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: Marines and not the Army? I don't know. I think 59 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: it was just the uniforms nothing more than that. You know, 60 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 1: of course that other Marines were tough and hard. But 61 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: it's funny now because now I've done so much research 62 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: and looking into it, and I've met so many of 63 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: these paratroopers who jumped into a combat zone. And I 64 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: wonder if I had done this journey before the military, 65 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: if I would have made a different choice. But the 66 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: Marines was something man, very very great branch, very professional. 67 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: Oh no, look, I have the greatest respect for the 68 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: Marine Corps, and I think it does an amazing job 69 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: of taking young men and profoundly impacting their character and 70 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: giving them a sense of you know, somebody said one 71 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: time that you serve in the army, you are a Marine, 72 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 1: and that it just affects you that deeply. So you 73 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: come back home and you had been named for your 74 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: grandfather's brother who who was killed in World War Two? 75 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:36,280 Speaker 1: How did all of that come together to give you 76 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 1: some sense of reaching across the generations and being concerned 77 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 1: about stories of a time before you were born. So 78 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: I completed the six years in the military and I 79 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:50,719 Speaker 1: have to drive by my house and right next to 80 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:54,119 Speaker 1: my house is Andrew Biggio Square. It's a memorial sign, 81 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: not dedicated to me, but dedicated to my grandfather's brother, 82 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 1: who was only nineteen years old when he was killed 83 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:03,720 Speaker 1: in World War Two. So to see his name up 84 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: there on that sign was in a way just sad 85 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: and haunting for me, because I would say to myself, 86 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:11,039 Speaker 1: you know what happened to him that didn't happen to 87 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,279 Speaker 1: me while I survived, and not that Andrew Biggio. And 88 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: I remember my grandmother telling me she kept his letters 89 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: he wrote home before he was killed in combat. So 90 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:24,479 Speaker 1: one day I went under the bed and started reading 91 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:27,600 Speaker 1: the letters that she kept in a shoe box from 92 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: him before he was killed. And the first letter I 93 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:34,680 Speaker 1: read was how much he enjoyed right behind me here 94 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: the M one Grand rifle. And the M one was 95 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:39,919 Speaker 1: the standard rifle of that time. It was the rifle 96 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 1: that was issued to every private in the Army of 97 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 1: the Marines, and it was a new type of weapon. 98 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,280 Speaker 1: It was semi automatic compared to our adversaries that we 99 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:52,800 Speaker 1: were fighting, and General Patton called it the weapon that 100 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: won the war. And you know, this letter that he 101 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 1: wrote just made me want to go out and guy 102 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:00,920 Speaker 1: an M one Grand. I wanted to connect to this 103 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: long last relative I wanted to feel what he felt whole, 104 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: but he held and I went out and bought a 105 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:08,840 Speaker 1: numb one. I want to say. I was satisfied for 106 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:11,920 Speaker 1: all of two hours holding it. And then it came 107 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 1: time to you know, now, what what do I do 108 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:15,839 Speaker 1: with this weapon? I bought it. I spent a couple 109 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: of thousand on it, you know, or whatever. It was 110 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: fifteen hundred bucks. And what's next? You know. I showed 111 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:24,080 Speaker 1: some family members. They just looked at it, like, wow, 112 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 1: that's a gun, you know, And I'm like, no, this 113 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 1: is what Uncle Andy had. You know, this is a 114 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:30,799 Speaker 1: piece of history. And I don't think they were getting 115 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:33,080 Speaker 1: it much. So I had a light bulb kind of 116 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: come over my head and I said, wait a second. 117 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:38,600 Speaker 1: My neighbor, he fought in the Battle of Okinawa. I'm 118 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: gonna go bring him this rifle. See what he says. Joe, 119 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:44,240 Speaker 1: who you mentioned earlier, I believe at the age this 120 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: was back in twenty sixteen, I think he was about 121 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,600 Speaker 1: ninety one. Then I rang the doorbell and Joe is 122 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: now pretty much bound to a recliner. He can't move, 123 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:56,159 Speaker 1: very frail, very weak in his age. And I said, hey, Joe, 124 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 1: do you remember this. And I put the rifle into 125 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: his hands, and a burst of energy like I'd never 126 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 1: seen a ninety year old due before. Just he raises 127 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: the rifle, puts it in his shoulder. He starts waving 128 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 1: it around. It swings by my face. Practically I'm ducking 129 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:13,800 Speaker 1: out of the way, and he's smiling from ear to ear, 130 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 1: slapping the rifle into his palms, and he starts talking 131 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: about the Battle of Okinawa. And I just sit there 132 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: for over two hours. I press record on my phone 133 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: and I sit there and I listened to everything I 134 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: didn't know about this man. And I remember by the 135 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 1: time he was done talking about the Battle of Okinawa 136 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 1: and his age and his health, he could barely keep 137 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 1: his head up. And I said, oh, you know, this 138 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: is really a race against time hearing these stories. I said, Joe, 139 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: sign your name on my rifle. I always want to 140 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: remember this. He didn't want to at first. He's like, 141 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: this is such a beautiful firearm, why would you want 142 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: me to mark it up? I said, please, just signed. 143 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: I always want to remember this. He signed his name, 144 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: Corporal Joe Drago six Marine Division, Okinawa. I left his house. 145 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: I'm on his front porch looking down at his name, 146 00:07:57,400 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: and I said, I am going to collect as many 147 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 1: signatures possible on this rifle. And here I am how 148 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:27,040 Speaker 1: did you find the people to sign the rifle? Every 149 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 1: Body and soul I met is different. Honestly, After I 150 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 1: looked at his name, I said, Wow, I just got 151 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 1: a taste of the Pacific. Let's get a European theater 152 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 1: veteran on there. The year's twenty sixteen the VA at 153 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:43,680 Speaker 1: the time, so there was less than four hundred thousand 154 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,960 Speaker 1: veterans left of the one sixteen million World War two veterans. 155 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:50,080 Speaker 1: They're not just walking around anymore. They're not at the 156 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: diners anymore, they're not in the Bengal halls anymore. So 157 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:55,880 Speaker 1: I started doing some research. You know, I'll tell you 158 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: how I met. The second veteran was. He was ninety 159 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 1: seven year old John mccauliffe. He was the president of 160 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: the Battle of the Bulge Association here in Massachusetts. Now 161 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:10,959 Speaker 1: the chapter had since dissolved, nobody could make meetings anymore, 162 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: but he, as the president, was still alive in his 163 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:19,079 Speaker 1: project building apartment on the fourteenth floor, living there alone. 164 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 1: And here am I with a rifle coming into this 165 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: apartment complex. Originally that was built for low income veterans 166 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: returning home from the nineteen forties. But now is of 167 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:31,679 Speaker 1: course just a different array of people and low income 168 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:34,760 Speaker 1: housing and new immigrants. And here's this little old World 169 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 1: War Two veteran who this structure was originally built for, 170 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 1: in this fish bowl of the city, of this apartment complex, 171 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 1: and I just thought that was unique. And inside of 172 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:48,240 Speaker 1: his apartment he had meeting minutes and notes from the 173 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 1: Battle of the Bulge meetings association from the floor to 174 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 1: the ceiling, and he signs my rifle and then gives 175 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: me the names of numbers of men he believes are 176 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:01,200 Speaker 1: still alive from the Battle of the Bulge. So I 177 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:03,520 Speaker 1: remember he signed my rifle, and I remember leaving with 178 00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: all these notes and all these new leads, and I'm 179 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 1: walking out the door. And John never had any kids, 180 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: his wife had passed away like ten years. And Harry 181 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: is giving me a Nazi dagger that he brought home, 182 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: giving me his uniform, and it was just like he 183 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:17,400 Speaker 1: was almost waiting for me his whole life, waiting for 184 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:21,560 Speaker 1: who to give this too. And it sparked from there, 185 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: and some of the men I found from reading after 186 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:28,360 Speaker 1: Action reports who earned Silver Stars, or were wounded or captured. 187 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:31,680 Speaker 1: I'm reading their seventy five year old after action reports 188 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:34,679 Speaker 1: where their names are mentioned in the documents. And then 189 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:36,240 Speaker 1: I looked them up in the white pages, or I 190 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:37,760 Speaker 1: looked them up in the yellow pages, or I see 191 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:41,440 Speaker 1: if there's an obituary, and I tracked down their phone number. Luckily, 192 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: I'm a police Officer's my full time job, and so 193 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: detective skills are pretty good. I'm trying to find anybody 194 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 1: who's still alive. Did you begin then to try to 195 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 1: get a balance between Pacific and Atlantic? And we moved 196 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:58,400 Speaker 1: back and forth. Absolutely, I wanted to represent the whole 197 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:00,480 Speaker 1: war on the rifles. So here I him. Now I'm 198 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: twenty signatures deep. Oh wait a second, I don't have 199 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 1: anybody from the Army Air Corps. Let's get a B 200 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:09,120 Speaker 1: seventeen tailgunner on there. Let's get a BAT twenty nine 201 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 1: bomber on there. Hey, I don't have anyone that funding Burma. 202 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 1: That's a little unknown place. No. Let me get one 203 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:18,600 Speaker 1: of Merrill's Maraudas on here. Okay, Now, I didn't have 204 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:21,800 Speaker 1: anybody that was first wave Omaha Beach. Let's get that guy. 205 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:24,960 Speaker 1: Let's do this getting into this journey. You know, a 206 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:27,560 Speaker 1: lot of authors were very fortunate they started writing about 207 00:11:27,559 --> 00:11:30,319 Speaker 1: World War Two back in the sixties, seventies, eighties, while 208 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:32,080 Speaker 1: a lot of these guys were still alive. Here I 209 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:34,360 Speaker 1: am chasing ghosts. I have to go to every corner 210 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:36,920 Speaker 1: of the country to meet the veteran I want to 211 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 1: meet because of how few their World War two generation 212 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,120 Speaker 1: is now. So how are you funding this? I did 213 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:46,640 Speaker 1: it out in my own pocket. Every nickel spent. I 214 00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:48,440 Speaker 1: did it in my own pocket because it was the 215 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 1: most therapeutic thing I ever did, was to sit in 216 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:53,240 Speaker 1: front of these men who went through hell, lived long, 217 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:57,400 Speaker 1: successful lives after combat, had families, had a career. We're 218 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:01,680 Speaker 1: able to be police officers for thirty years, fireman, doctors, teachers, lawyers. 219 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 1: They taught me so much. They didn't just teach me 220 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:06,080 Speaker 1: on how to be a good veteran, but like how 221 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:07,600 Speaker 1: to be a good father or a good husband. I 222 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:10,679 Speaker 1: saw towns and cities in this country I never thought 223 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: I would see before, going to the Navajo Nation in Arizona, 224 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:16,200 Speaker 1: going up to the Mohawk tribe to meet a Mohawk 225 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:19,600 Speaker 1: co talker on the Canadian New York border, you know 226 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: parts of Virginia and West Virginia I never thought i'd 227 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 1: see before. To meet Medal of Honor recipients, it was phenomenal. 228 00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: I'll never forget it. If you're trying to explain it 229 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: to young people today, what's your biggest takeaway from meeting 230 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:38,280 Speaker 1: all of these veterans. There's two takeaways. One would be 231 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: the veteran takeaway. One would be the civilian takeaway. The 232 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: veteran takeaway was that they were no different than me 233 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 1: and the other young men and women who raised their 234 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 1: hand after nine to eleven to want to serve. We 235 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:54,520 Speaker 1: did it to be them. We've been living in the 236 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:57,720 Speaker 1: shadows of the Greatest Generation and we view them as gods. 237 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: We really do. On what they did, jumping into normand 238 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: raising the flag on Ewojima, surviving as a prisoner of 239 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:07,200 Speaker 1: war with no food. You know, this is why a 240 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 1: lot of today's kids we had the uniform, because they 241 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 1: watched saving Private Ryan. They watched a band of brothers. 242 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:15,199 Speaker 1: And when I got to hear from these men, they 243 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:20,200 Speaker 1: were ordinary men thrown in an extraordinary time. And you know, 244 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 1: Joe Drago helped me understand that a little bit better 245 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 1: because they used brute force, I mean complete brute force 246 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:29,960 Speaker 1: to win that Battle of Okinawa. You know, things that 247 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:33,880 Speaker 1: would be considered war crimes today weren't back then. Guys 248 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: got away with a lot of stuff in order to 249 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:40,160 Speaker 1: kill a very radical enemy. And he made me really 250 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:43,360 Speaker 1: feel comfortable that I wasn't like inferior compared to a 251 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: war War two veterans. He thought it was a joke 252 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 1: that marines actually got in trouble for urinating on dead 253 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:53,360 Speaker 1: Taliban like twenty ten. He said, that's nothing compared to 254 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 1: what we used to do. And you know, this is 255 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:58,400 Speaker 1: the greatest generation talking to me here, and so I 256 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 1: just think it was such an eye open, you know, 257 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 1: for a young veteran to open this book and see 258 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 1: that they're just as good and just as great for 259 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:07,839 Speaker 1: what they've done for our country. I think that's a 260 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:10,920 Speaker 1: good takeaway on the veteran side of it. And now 261 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:13,839 Speaker 1: the book has sort of become famous. Do you get 262 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:17,520 Speaker 1: a really strong reaction from veterans groups? You know, I 263 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:19,800 Speaker 1: said to myself going into this, You asked me if 264 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:22,760 Speaker 1: I was satisfied with the numbers and being number one 265 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:24,840 Speaker 1: in veteran's history and in the top five of the 266 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 1: world War two books and the numbers were great, but 267 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 1: what kept me up at night was the approval of 268 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 1: the veterans, right the actual veterans I wrote about. Are 269 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 1: they okay with it? Sure? I sent them all a 270 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:39,680 Speaker 1: copy of their chapter as they approved it, you know, 271 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 1: But I had a panic that are they gonna be 272 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:44,800 Speaker 1: okay with the way I talked about the Battle of 273 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: Saipan and what they did in the Battle of Saipan? 274 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:50,080 Speaker 1: Are they gonna be okay? What I talked about them 275 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 1: eating cow dung as a prisoner of war with the 276 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: Germans to survive And when I got their head nods 277 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:00,760 Speaker 1: emails from World War two veteran and saying, Andy, your 278 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: book is a treasure and you couldn't have told my 279 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: story on site pans surviving the largest Japanese bunzeite charge 280 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 1: of World War Two. That felt amazing. Then came the 281 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:13,800 Speaker 1: messages from Korean War in Vietnam veterans. Great book. I 282 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 1: finished it in a night. Then came the messages from 283 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 1: my fellow Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, guys who have been 284 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:23,720 Speaker 1: blown up by ID shot saying I couldn't put it down. 285 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:26,040 Speaker 1: I cried, good job, thank you. I mean, that's all 286 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 1: I could ask for. That is all I could ask for. 287 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:30,760 Speaker 1: The numbers are great, but hearing those messages from the 288 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 1: veterans are even better. Do you have a new project 289 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:37,680 Speaker 1: in mind? You know, the policing, as you know, this 290 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:40,960 Speaker 1: whole year has been absolutely insane. So this was such 291 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: a good escape from the day job. I'm looking forward 292 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:46,840 Speaker 1: to getting my head totally back into the police force. 293 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:51,720 Speaker 1: But my next project regarding veterans, I think I'm really 294 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 1: going to focus on writing Iraq Afghanistan veterans. I think 295 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: I really want to be that guy who I'm the 296 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:01,800 Speaker 1: go to for my generation of veterans. I've been helping 297 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 1: them already for about ten or eleven years with my 298 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: motorcycle charity run in Boston, helping severely wounded veterans redo 299 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:10,640 Speaker 1: their apartments, buy them brand new cars, pay off their debt, 300 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:12,600 Speaker 1: that kind of thing. I don't collect a salary from that. 301 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: I love it because you know, IEDs didn't discriminate, and 302 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:18,240 Speaker 1: it didn't matter how good you are. If you stepped 303 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:20,000 Speaker 1: in the wrong place or drove in the wrong place, 304 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 1: you could have been named for life. So those kids 305 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 1: of my inspiration as well. So I hope to write 306 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:29,360 Speaker 1: about the recovery, recuperation, survival of America's wounded from Iraq 307 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:32,200 Speaker 1: and Afghanistan. Maybe in the future. You're doing such great 308 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:35,560 Speaker 1: charitable work, Andy, how can people help you? People can 309 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: help me, Honestly, the first step is going on Amazon 310 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:42,760 Speaker 1: purchasing the rifle. You'll find it that all goes to 311 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 1: help me run my charity called Boston's Wounded Veterans. That's great. Well, 312 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:51,640 Speaker 1: I think what you're doing is a terrific service, and 313 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:53,920 Speaker 1: I think there are many people who are going to 314 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 1: charish your book and who are going to look forward 315 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:58,920 Speaker 1: to your next project. I want to thank you, and 316 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:00,760 Speaker 1: I think the way it all of the way it 317 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: became sort of self starting, and then you just followed 318 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:06,879 Speaker 1: it down the road where it led you as a great, 319 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:09,879 Speaker 1: great story. I'm very grateful to you as a veteran, 320 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: and I'm very grateful to you as a citizen and 321 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 1: a patriot for taking time out of your life to 322 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:18,760 Speaker 1: share with the American people some stories they really do 323 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: need to know about how their country survived and how 324 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:25,680 Speaker 1: we became the most amazing country of the world. Andy. 325 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:28,840 Speaker 1: I just I'm very honored to know you. I'm very 326 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:31,200 Speaker 1: proud of the work you're doing and I look forward 327 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:33,800 Speaker 1: to your future books. Thank you, sir, thanks for having 328 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:38,879 Speaker 1: me on the podcast. I appreciate it. Thank you to 329 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,960 Speaker 1: my guest Andrew Biggio. You can get a link to 330 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:46,119 Speaker 1: order his new book The Rifle, Combat Stories from America's 331 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:49,520 Speaker 1: Last World War two veterans told through an M one 332 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 1: ground and our show page at newtsworld dot com. Newts 333 00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 1: World is produced by Ginglish Sweet sixty and iHeart meeting. 334 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:03,320 Speaker 1: Our executive producer is Debbie Myers. Our producer is Gornsey Sloan, 335 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 1: and our researcher is Rachel Peterson. The all work for 336 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,320 Speaker 1: the show was created by Steve Pepper. Special thanks to 337 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:14,240 Speaker 1: the team at Gingwish three sixty. If you've been enjoying 338 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: news World, I hope you'll go to Apple Podcasts and 339 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,159 Speaker 1: both rate us with five stars and give us a 340 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:25,000 Speaker 1: review so others can learn what it's all about. Right now, 341 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:28,160 Speaker 1: listeners of news World can sign up for my three 342 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:33,800 Speaker 1: free weekly columns at Gingwish three sixty dot com slash newsletter. 343 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 1: I'm new Gangwish. This is news World.