1 00:00:15,356 --> 00:00:24,356 Speaker 1: Pushkin. A woman walked down a street in Lower Manhattan. 2 00:00:24,756 --> 00:00:27,036 Speaker 1: A group of boys and men followed her. It was 3 00:00:27,116 --> 00:00:31,836 Speaker 1: early June eighteen sixty six. The crowd was rowdy, jeering, pushing, 4 00:00:32,196 --> 00:00:34,516 Speaker 1: trying to get a clearer view of this person who 5 00:00:34,596 --> 00:00:39,596 Speaker 1: had been called a thing, a monstrosity. The woman was small, 6 00:00:39,636 --> 00:00:43,156 Speaker 1: barely five feet. She had dark hair and a round face, 7 00:00:43,436 --> 00:00:48,836 Speaker 1: porcelain skin. Her shoulders were back, her eyes unafraid, she 8 00:00:48,956 --> 00:00:52,676 Speaker 1: kept walking. The crowd of hecklers grew bigger. They hurled 9 00:00:52,716 --> 00:00:56,236 Speaker 1: insults and threatened to throw worse. Finally, a policeman was 10 00:00:56,236 --> 00:01:00,516 Speaker 1: called to disperse the mob. Instead, he arrested the woman. 11 00:01:00,996 --> 00:01:03,596 Speaker 1: He grabbed her roughly by the arm and marched her 12 00:01:03,636 --> 00:01:07,436 Speaker 1: to the station house. Her crime was a crime against 13 00:01:07,476 --> 00:01:12,036 Speaker 1: the community. She was ware barring pants, and that, in 14 00:01:12,076 --> 00:01:15,076 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty six was enough to cause a ride of 15 00:01:15,156 --> 00:01:18,236 Speaker 1: outrage and horror in New York City, of all places. 16 00:01:19,436 --> 00:01:22,076 Speaker 1: But there was something else she was wearing too. Pinned 17 00:01:22,116 --> 00:01:25,556 Speaker 1: to her chest, just above her heart was the Medal 18 00:01:25,596 --> 00:01:31,236 Speaker 1: of Honor. H I'm Malcolm Gladwell, and this is Medal 19 00:01:31,236 --> 00:01:34,356 Speaker 1: of Honor. Stories of courage. The Medal of Honor is 20 00:01:34,396 --> 00:01:38,196 Speaker 1: the highest military decoration in the United States, awarded for 21 00:01:38,396 --> 00:01:41,996 Speaker 1: gallantry and bravery in combat at the risk of life, 22 00:01:42,276 --> 00:01:45,796 Speaker 1: above and beyond the call of duty. Each candidate must 23 00:01:45,836 --> 00:01:48,276 Speaker 1: be approved all the way up the chain of command, 24 00:01:48,516 --> 00:01:52,036 Speaker 1: from the supervisory officer in the field to the White House. 25 00:01:52,996 --> 00:01:55,996 Speaker 1: This show is about those heroes, what they did, what 26 00:01:56,036 --> 00:01:58,756 Speaker 1: it meant, and what their stories tell us about the 27 00:01:58,836 --> 00:02:03,196 Speaker 1: nature of courage and sacrifice. Today you're going to meet 28 00:02:03,396 --> 00:02:07,236 Speaker 1: doctor Mary Walker, the first and so far the only 29 00:02:07,316 --> 00:02:10,116 Speaker 1: woman to have been awarded the Medal of Honor. She 30 00:02:10,196 --> 00:02:13,116 Speaker 1: worked as a surgeon during the Civil War, saving the 31 00:02:13,156 --> 00:02:16,476 Speaker 1: lives of Union soldiers. She was there at the famous 32 00:02:16,476 --> 00:02:21,756 Speaker 1: battles of Fredericksburg, Chickamauga, and Gettysburg. She crossed into dangerous 33 00:02:21,876 --> 00:02:25,436 Speaker 1: enemy territory to take care of civilians in need. She 34 00:02:25,556 --> 00:02:29,196 Speaker 1: was a prison of war and all her life Mary 35 00:02:29,236 --> 00:02:33,476 Speaker 1: fought for equal rights, not just for women, for everyone. 36 00:02:33,716 --> 00:02:37,076 Speaker 1: She saw the potential for extraordinary social reform at a 37 00:02:37,116 --> 00:02:40,716 Speaker 1: time when everyone else was just pointing and laughing at 38 00:02:40,716 --> 00:02:44,916 Speaker 1: her pants. Mary Walker's story is about the power of 39 00:02:44,956 --> 00:02:48,236 Speaker 1: a moral compass. We all have one, of course, but 40 00:02:48,396 --> 00:02:51,236 Speaker 1: some people have a compass that holds a little faster. 41 00:02:51,836 --> 00:02:54,636 Speaker 1: They follow it more faithfully, even when it sets them 42 00:02:54,636 --> 00:02:58,476 Speaker 1: on a path that's rocky and lonely and filled with hazards. 43 00:02:59,716 --> 00:03:10,476 Speaker 1: Mary Walker was one of those. Mary was born in 44 00:03:10,516 --> 00:03:14,076 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty two in Oswego, New York, the fifth daughter 45 00:03:14,316 --> 00:03:18,036 Speaker 1: of two free thinking farmers. Back then, that part of 46 00:03:18,116 --> 00:03:21,716 Speaker 1: upstate New York was a hotbed of progressive ideas. It 47 00:03:21,836 --> 00:03:25,476 Speaker 1: was the center of the abolitionist movement. The first Women's 48 00:03:25,556 --> 00:03:29,076 Speaker 1: Rights Convention was held in nearby Seneca Falls when Mary 49 00:03:29,156 --> 00:03:32,276 Speaker 1: was sixteen. All of the avant garde trends of the 50 00:03:32,316 --> 00:03:37,076 Speaker 1: nineteenth century were right there. Utopian socialism, the temperance movement, 51 00:03:37,396 --> 00:03:42,956 Speaker 1: spiritualism and seances, vegetarianism. If it was radical, it was 52 00:03:43,036 --> 00:03:46,836 Speaker 1: in the air, and Mary was breathing it in. Belief 53 00:03:46,876 --> 00:03:50,796 Speaker 1: in equality was table stakes in the Walker house. People 54 00:03:50,836 --> 00:03:54,436 Speaker 1: fleeing slavery would come to the Walker family's white framed 55 00:03:54,476 --> 00:03:57,156 Speaker 1: farm house in the middle of the night. It was 56 00:03:57,236 --> 00:04:00,236 Speaker 1: a stop on the underground railroad, the network used by 57 00:04:00,316 --> 00:04:03,996 Speaker 1: enslaved people running to freedom in the Northern States in Canada. 58 00:04:04,796 --> 00:04:07,676 Speaker 1: Early on, her parents taught her how important it was 59 00:04:07,756 --> 00:04:11,796 Speaker 1: to fight for justice. Mary and her sisters were educated 60 00:04:11,836 --> 00:04:15,236 Speaker 1: well into their teens very rare in those days, and 61 00:04:15,276 --> 00:04:17,156 Speaker 1: when young Mary announced that she was going to be 62 00:04:17,196 --> 00:04:20,436 Speaker 1: a doctor, her parents were all for it, even though 63 00:04:20,676 --> 00:04:24,676 Speaker 1: there were no women doctors at the time. The first 64 00:04:24,756 --> 00:04:28,036 Speaker 1: woman doctor in the US wouldn't graduate from medical school 65 00:04:28,116 --> 00:04:31,716 Speaker 1: until years later, eighteen forty nine. Just a year earlier, 66 00:04:31,956 --> 00:04:34,756 Speaker 1: a prominent doctor, the leading expert at the time in 67 00:04:34,836 --> 00:04:38,436 Speaker 1: women's medicine and obstetrics, and a man, of course, had 68 00:04:38,436 --> 00:04:41,636 Speaker 1: announced that a woman quote has a head almost too 69 00:04:41,636 --> 00:04:45,236 Speaker 1: small for the intellect, but just large enough for love. 70 00:04:46,596 --> 00:04:49,116 Speaker 1: But Mary found a new medical college that was co ed. 71 00:04:49,556 --> 00:04:52,516 Speaker 1: She started when she was twenty one. There she met 72 00:04:52,516 --> 00:04:54,756 Speaker 1: a man who was also studying to become a doctor. 73 00:04:55,116 --> 00:04:58,276 Speaker 1: They fell in love and got married. You don't really 74 00:04:58,316 --> 00:05:00,796 Speaker 1: need to know about her husband, truth be told, he's 75 00:05:00,836 --> 00:05:03,476 Speaker 1: the least interesting part of Mary's story, but you do 76 00:05:03,596 --> 00:05:06,996 Speaker 1: need to know about the wedding. It was remarkable for 77 00:05:07,076 --> 00:05:12,716 Speaker 1: three reasons. First, Mary insisted on striking obey from the 78 00:05:12,796 --> 00:05:17,436 Speaker 1: vows common now but unheard of then. Second, she didn't 79 00:05:17,476 --> 00:05:20,676 Speaker 1: take her husband's name. And third, and take note of 80 00:05:20,716 --> 00:05:23,436 Speaker 1: this one because it's going to be a theme, she 81 00:05:23,516 --> 00:05:30,156 Speaker 1: wore pants instead of a wedding gown pants. You're going 82 00:05:30,196 --> 00:05:32,356 Speaker 1: to hear about one of the truly extraordinary women of 83 00:05:32,356 --> 00:05:36,196 Speaker 1: the late nineteenth century whose feats of bravery were remarkable. 84 00:05:36,596 --> 00:05:40,076 Speaker 1: But it's all going to keep coming back to the pants. 85 00:05:40,636 --> 00:05:43,876 Speaker 1: Mary didn't believe in the corsets and heavy layered skirts 86 00:05:44,076 --> 00:05:47,676 Speaker 1: that ladies were expected to wear. They were just uncomfortable. 87 00:05:47,716 --> 00:05:51,636 Speaker 1: She said they were unhealthy. She was an unwavering supporter 88 00:05:51,916 --> 00:05:56,916 Speaker 1: of something called the reform dress, an uncorseted calf length 89 00:05:56,996 --> 00:06:02,196 Speaker 1: dress worn over a sensible pair of trousers. Mary saw 90 00:06:02,196 --> 00:06:06,036 Speaker 1: the reform dress as practical. The rest of the world 91 00:06:06,436 --> 00:06:09,836 Speaker 1: saw it as completely ridiculous. I'm going to have my 92 00:06:09,916 --> 00:06:14,236 Speaker 1: co conspirator on this podcast, Meredith Rollins, read Mary's words. 93 00:06:14,636 --> 00:06:17,636 Speaker 1: It's not just because she wrote this episode. It's because 94 00:06:18,236 --> 00:06:19,516 Speaker 1: she's kind of very obsessed. 95 00:06:20,396 --> 00:06:23,476 Speaker 2: My studies in anatomy taught me the heinousness of the 96 00:06:23,516 --> 00:06:26,676 Speaker 2: crime against nature committed by the women who wore the 97 00:06:26,716 --> 00:06:31,076 Speaker 2: barbarous corseted dress. But the fools of men are repulsed 98 00:06:31,076 --> 00:06:34,316 Speaker 2: by the reform dress because they think it's wearer must 99 00:06:34,356 --> 00:06:35,956 Speaker 2: be a strong minded woman. 100 00:06:36,836 --> 00:06:39,836 Speaker 1: Strong minded is an understatement when it comes to Mary. 101 00:06:40,276 --> 00:06:43,676 Speaker 1: She didn't just wear pants. She shouted their benefits from 102 00:06:43,676 --> 00:06:47,556 Speaker 1: the rooftops. She wrote articles and went on lecture tours. 103 00:06:47,876 --> 00:06:51,556 Speaker 1: When Mary believed in something, she went in hard. It 104 00:06:51,636 --> 00:06:52,556 Speaker 1: was just who she was. 105 00:06:53,236 --> 00:06:55,756 Speaker 2: I was naturally timid as a girl, but had to 106 00:06:55,796 --> 00:06:59,956 Speaker 2: overcome this through strong convictions of duty. I have felt 107 00:06:59,956 --> 00:07:02,596 Speaker 2: that I must do what I believed was right, regardless 108 00:07:02,636 --> 00:07:06,036 Speaker 2: of consequences. I do not deserve credit for standing up 109 00:07:06,076 --> 00:07:10,636 Speaker 2: to my principles, for I could not do a wives. 110 00:07:12,196 --> 00:07:15,956 Speaker 1: Mary and her husband opened a medical practice together, but 111 00:07:16,116 --> 00:07:19,556 Speaker 1: patients didn't seem to be interested in a trouser clad 112 00:07:19,596 --> 00:07:23,676 Speaker 1: woman doctor. Her husband, it turns out, wasn't interested either. 113 00:07:24,156 --> 00:07:28,956 Speaker 1: They got divorced. No marriage, no patience. So in eighteen 114 00:07:29,036 --> 00:07:32,196 Speaker 1: sixty one, at the age of twenty eight, Mary lit 115 00:07:32,236 --> 00:07:35,116 Speaker 1: out for Washington, d C. She was a die hard 116 00:07:35,196 --> 00:07:39,236 Speaker 1: abolitionist and a patriot. The Civil War had just begun 117 00:07:39,356 --> 00:07:43,956 Speaker 1: and wounded soldiers poured into the capital. Mary wanted to help. 118 00:07:44,596 --> 00:07:46,596 Speaker 1: She made up her mind that she would join the 119 00:07:46,596 --> 00:07:50,436 Speaker 1: federal army as a surgeon. It didn't matter that the 120 00:07:50,556 --> 00:07:53,556 Speaker 1: army had no interest in hiring a woman doctor. Why 121 00:07:53,556 --> 00:07:56,756 Speaker 1: would that small detail matter to Mary? When she got 122 00:07:56,796 --> 00:07:59,876 Speaker 1: to d C. Mary appealed directly to the Secretary of 123 00:07:59,956 --> 00:08:04,396 Speaker 1: War and asked for a military commission. When he refused, 124 00:08:04,756 --> 00:08:08,436 Speaker 1: she offered her services for free at a local hospital. 125 00:08:08,836 --> 00:08:10,356 Speaker 1: Then she wrote home to her. 126 00:08:10,196 --> 00:08:13,676 Speaker 2: Family, I suppose you all expected me to go to war, 127 00:08:13,836 --> 00:08:16,396 Speaker 2: and I thought it would be too cruel to disappoint you. 128 00:08:17,196 --> 00:08:38,156 Speaker 1: Mary did not disappoint We'll be right back. It was 129 00:08:38,236 --> 00:08:42,276 Speaker 1: December of eighteen sixty two. More than two hundred thousand 130 00:08:42,316 --> 00:08:46,956 Speaker 1: soldiers were fighting over Fredericksburg, Virginia, a sleepy river town 131 00:08:47,236 --> 00:08:51,596 Speaker 1: located midway between d C And Richmond. The Confederate forces 132 00:08:51,796 --> 00:08:55,276 Speaker 1: were holding an impenetrable line with rifle and artillery fire. 133 00:08:55,956 --> 00:08:59,676 Speaker 1: As the Union soldiers advanced, wave after wave of them 134 00:09:00,156 --> 00:09:03,996 Speaker 1: just got shot down. By the end, twelve thousand to 135 00:09:04,116 --> 00:09:07,236 Speaker 1: five hundred men from the Union Army of the Potomac 136 00:09:07,396 --> 00:09:11,596 Speaker 1: were dead or dying on the battlefield. Those who could 137 00:09:11,636 --> 00:09:15,556 Speaker 1: be saved were brought to Lacey House, a plantation owner's 138 00:09:15,596 --> 00:09:20,396 Speaker 1: mansion turned makeshift hospital, and there was Mary right in 139 00:09:20,436 --> 00:09:23,756 Speaker 1: the middle of it, working by lamplight to save the wounded. 140 00:09:24,156 --> 00:09:28,076 Speaker 1: She tended teenage soldiers as they underwent brutal and often 141 00:09:28,196 --> 00:09:32,036 Speaker 1: lethal amputations. Doctors of the time believed it was better 142 00:09:32,156 --> 00:09:35,876 Speaker 1: and more expedient to saw off a damaged limb instead 143 00:09:35,876 --> 00:09:39,196 Speaker 1: of trying to save it. Mary disagreed, but she wasn't 144 00:09:39,196 --> 00:09:42,716 Speaker 1: in charge. She didn't have her military commission. She was 145 00:09:42,756 --> 00:09:47,156 Speaker 1: still a volunteer. The poet Walt Whitman was at Fredericksburg 146 00:09:47,516 --> 00:09:51,236 Speaker 1: searching for his younger brother George. He described the carnage 147 00:09:51,276 --> 00:09:55,236 Speaker 1: this way, a heap of feet, legs, arms, and human 148 00:09:55,396 --> 00:10:00,996 Speaker 1: fragments cut bloody, black and blue, swelled and sickening. He 149 00:10:01,036 --> 00:10:03,596 Speaker 1: wrote about the dead bodies lined up in the garden, 150 00:10:04,116 --> 00:10:08,956 Speaker 1: each covered with its own woolen blanket. The nurse cl 151 00:10:09,156 --> 00:10:11,876 Speaker 1: Raah Barton, who had later found the American Red Cross, 152 00:10:12,236 --> 00:10:16,236 Speaker 1: was there too. While Mary was naturally wearing pants, Clara, 153 00:10:16,516 --> 00:10:20,316 Speaker 1: like all the other women, wore long skirts. She wrote later, 154 00:10:20,996 --> 00:10:23,356 Speaker 1: I wrung the blood from the bottom of my clothing 155 00:10:23,676 --> 00:10:27,436 Speaker 1: before I could step for the weight about my feet. 156 00:10:29,036 --> 00:10:32,796 Speaker 1: Mary darted from one patient to another, trying desperately to 157 00:10:32,836 --> 00:10:36,756 Speaker 1: stave off infection and disease. This was before antiseptics were 158 00:10:36,756 --> 00:10:40,636 Speaker 1: widely used, and surgeons would wipe their bloody instruments on 159 00:10:40,756 --> 00:10:44,276 Speaker 1: their aprons and move on to the next man. The 160 00:10:44,316 --> 00:10:48,636 Speaker 1: new York Tribune described her this way. Dressed in male habliments, 161 00:10:48,796 --> 00:10:51,716 Speaker 1: she carries herself amid the camp with a jaunty air 162 00:10:51,756 --> 00:10:55,996 Speaker 1: of dignity, well calculated to receive the sincere respect of 163 00:10:56,036 --> 00:10:59,476 Speaker 1: the soldiers. She can amputate a limb with the skill 164 00:10:59,556 --> 00:11:03,036 Speaker 1: of an old surgeon, and administer medicine equally as well. 165 00:11:03,796 --> 00:11:06,996 Speaker 1: Strange to say that, although she has frequently applied for 166 00:11:07,076 --> 00:11:10,036 Speaker 1: a permanent position in the medical court or she has 167 00:11:10,116 --> 00:11:14,836 Speaker 1: never been formally assigned to any particular duty. It would 168 00:11:14,836 --> 00:11:18,956 Speaker 1: take another three years for that to change. In February 169 00:11:19,036 --> 00:11:22,076 Speaker 1: of eighteen sixty four, Mary made her way to Georgia. 170 00:11:22,716 --> 00:11:26,116 Speaker 1: She was going to join the fifty second Ohio Volunteers 171 00:11:26,116 --> 00:11:29,556 Speaker 1: in Gordon's Mills on the muddy banks of the Chickamauga River. 172 00:11:30,076 --> 00:11:36,316 Speaker 1: Her title contract Civilian assistant Surgeon. It still wasn't an 173 00:11:36,356 --> 00:11:39,516 Speaker 1: official military commission, but it was the best rank she 174 00:11:39,516 --> 00:11:43,476 Speaker 1: could get, and she was finally getting paid like any 175 00:11:43,476 --> 00:11:47,556 Speaker 1: other soldier. Also, for the first time, she was allowed 176 00:11:47,556 --> 00:11:51,116 Speaker 1: to wear the uniform of a military surgeon. Mary was 177 00:11:51,156 --> 00:11:54,276 Speaker 1: the only woman doctor on either side of the conflict, 178 00:11:54,676 --> 00:11:58,996 Speaker 1: so her outfit was appropriately unique. A long dress like 179 00:11:59,076 --> 00:12:06,276 Speaker 1: jacket with the official surgeons green sash and pants. By now, 180 00:12:06,316 --> 00:12:08,436 Speaker 1: she had grown her hair as long as she could, 181 00:12:08,676 --> 00:12:11,996 Speaker 1: so that everybody would know she was a woman. The 182 00:12:12,036 --> 00:12:13,916 Speaker 1: men in charge saw the fact that she was a 183 00:12:13,956 --> 00:12:16,796 Speaker 1: woman as a bad thing. Mary saw it as the 184 00:12:16,836 --> 00:12:19,596 Speaker 1: complete opposite, a fantastic bonus. 185 00:12:20,356 --> 00:12:22,596 Speaker 2: My education has cost me as much as that of 186 00:12:22,636 --> 00:12:26,116 Speaker 2: my learned brothers has cost them. I have had far 187 00:12:26,196 --> 00:12:29,516 Speaker 2: greater difficulties to overcome, and if any difference is to 188 00:12:29,556 --> 00:12:31,716 Speaker 2: be made, it ought to be in favor of the 189 00:12:31,756 --> 00:12:32,596 Speaker 2: female physician. 190 00:12:33,716 --> 00:12:37,516 Speaker 1: Mary was always her own biggest cheerleader, and just as 191 00:12:37,556 --> 00:12:40,476 Speaker 1: she had learned back home in Oswego, she was always 192 00:12:40,636 --> 00:12:45,636 Speaker 1: keenly attuned to suffering and injustice around her. The fifty 193 00:12:45,636 --> 00:12:49,916 Speaker 1: second Ohio Volunteers were stationed very close to Confederate health territory, 194 00:12:50,276 --> 00:12:53,876 Speaker 1: so skirmishes with the enemy were common. But as Mary 195 00:12:54,036 --> 00:12:57,036 Speaker 1: rode out from camp each day to tend to the troops, 196 00:12:57,396 --> 00:13:00,516 Speaker 1: she couldn't ignore the fact that Union soldiers weren't the 197 00:13:00,556 --> 00:13:04,556 Speaker 1: only ones suffering. Southern civilians had been ravaged by the 198 00:13:04,596 --> 00:13:08,436 Speaker 1: war too, and they had no medical care. Their doctors 199 00:13:08,636 --> 00:13:14,236 Speaker 1: had been rafted into the war long ago. Despite her 200 00:13:14,276 --> 00:13:18,436 Speaker 1: disgust for the rebel ideological cause. Mary asked her commanding 201 00:13:18,476 --> 00:13:21,556 Speaker 1: officer for permission to help the local settlements. 202 00:13:22,116 --> 00:13:25,116 Speaker 2: Both armies had been upon the ground, but the Confederate 203 00:13:25,236 --> 00:13:29,276 Speaker 2: Army had been all through there, pressing every man into service, 204 00:13:29,796 --> 00:13:32,716 Speaker 2: even those that were too young. And it left the women, 205 00:13:32,756 --> 00:13:36,996 Speaker 2: as they said, to root, hog or die. I cannot 206 00:13:37,036 --> 00:13:39,476 Speaker 2: tell you how sincerely I pitied those people. 207 00:13:40,996 --> 00:13:44,636 Speaker 1: She spent whatever spare time she had helping children and widows, 208 00:13:44,996 --> 00:13:49,476 Speaker 1: treating typhoid and pulling teeth and delivering babies. Because she 209 00:13:49,596 --> 00:13:52,956 Speaker 1: was often traveling alone, she kept two revolvers hidden in 210 00:13:53,036 --> 00:13:57,876 Speaker 1: her saddlebags. But Mary was Mary, so she had to 211 00:13:57,916 --> 00:14:01,036 Speaker 1: add an extra layer of complication to whatever she was doing. 212 00:14:01,756 --> 00:14:05,516 Speaker 1: She wasn't just helping the civilians. She was working as 213 00:14:05,556 --> 00:14:11,796 Speaker 1: a spy William Tacumsas Sherman, who was preparing to march 214 00:14:11,876 --> 00:14:16,076 Speaker 1: on Atlanta. And while Mary was out doctoring, she was 215 00:14:16,116 --> 00:14:20,596 Speaker 1: gathering information, listening to gossip, watching for movements in the 216 00:14:20,636 --> 00:14:25,156 Speaker 1: communities she was serving. Later, the Judge Advocate General would 217 00:14:25,156 --> 00:14:29,396 Speaker 1: write that Mary quote gained information that led General Sherman 218 00:14:29,876 --> 00:14:34,316 Speaker 1: to so modify his strategic operations as to save himself 219 00:14:34,516 --> 00:14:38,836 Speaker 1: from a serious reverse and obtained success or defeat before 220 00:14:38,916 --> 00:14:42,596 Speaker 1: seemed to be inevitable. This is the other way that 221 00:14:42,676 --> 00:14:46,236 Speaker 1: being a woman doctor was uniquely useful to Mary. She 222 00:14:46,356 --> 00:14:49,596 Speaker 1: was in the perfect disguise a woman doctor. He was 223 00:14:49,636 --> 00:14:53,996 Speaker 1: simply too insane to take seriously. But soon enough her 224 00:14:54,076 --> 00:14:57,596 Speaker 1: luck ran out. She was captured and arrested outside of 225 00:14:57,676 --> 00:15:02,156 Speaker 1: Union lines. In April eighteen sixty four. The Confederates sent 226 00:15:02,196 --> 00:15:05,196 Speaker 1: her to prison in Richmond, Virginia. It was called and 227 00:15:05,276 --> 00:15:11,396 Speaker 1: I Love this Castle Thunder. A captain witnessed Mary's arrival 228 00:15:11,436 --> 00:15:14,916 Speaker 1: in Richmond and wrote, we were all amused and disgusted 229 00:15:14,956 --> 00:15:18,156 Speaker 1: too at the sight of a thing that nothing but 230 00:15:18,196 --> 00:15:22,556 Speaker 1: the debased and depraved Yankee nation could produce, a female doctor. 231 00:15:23,596 --> 00:15:27,716 Speaker 1: Castle Thunder was situated in a former tobacco warehouse, a 232 00:15:27,796 --> 00:15:31,196 Speaker 1: hulking three story brick building with bars on the windows. 233 00:15:31,796 --> 00:15:37,396 Speaker 1: It was a notorious place, overcrowded and filthy. Disease was rampant. Mary, 234 00:15:37,676 --> 00:15:41,476 Speaker 1: like all of the inmates, quickly became malnourished, slowly starving 235 00:15:41,476 --> 00:15:44,836 Speaker 1: to death because true to form, she was giving her 236 00:15:44,836 --> 00:15:46,756 Speaker 1: food away to people who needed it more. 237 00:15:47,556 --> 00:15:51,636 Speaker 2: The peas were always wormy, the rice was musty or 238 00:15:51,676 --> 00:15:56,716 Speaker 2: contained vermin, the bacon in several instances, was so rotten 239 00:15:56,996 --> 00:16:00,036 Speaker 2: that its odor was unendurable to me after it was served. 240 00:16:00,596 --> 00:16:03,196 Speaker 2: But it was never so bad that I always found 241 00:16:03,316 --> 00:16:05,356 Speaker 2: someone who would gladly accept my ration. 242 00:16:06,676 --> 00:16:09,756 Speaker 1: The theme of this whole story has been how indomitable 243 00:16:09,796 --> 00:16:13,076 Speaker 1: Mary was, but this is the part that nearly broke her. 244 00:16:13,716 --> 00:16:16,396 Speaker 1: The prison guards kept gas lamps burning day and night, 245 00:16:16,756 --> 00:16:20,316 Speaker 1: which let off toxic smoke, and Mary's eyes got infected. 246 00:16:20,956 --> 00:16:24,236 Speaker 1: She tried to keep her spirits up, writing jolly letters home, 247 00:16:24,516 --> 00:16:27,756 Speaker 1: promising her parents that she would soon be exchanged for 248 00:16:27,876 --> 00:16:32,156 Speaker 1: a Confederate prisoner and return to safety. She was, as 249 00:16:32,156 --> 00:16:36,956 Speaker 1: ever optimistic, but that prisoner exchange took longer than Mary 250 00:16:36,996 --> 00:16:40,676 Speaker 1: had hoped. Her release was delayed over and over again. 251 00:16:41,236 --> 00:16:46,436 Speaker 1: She slowly grew weaker, her eyesight got worse. It might 252 00:16:46,476 --> 00:16:49,476 Speaker 1: have occurred to a less confident person that the army 253 00:16:49,676 --> 00:16:52,476 Speaker 1: that never really wanted her wouldn't be fighting very hard 254 00:16:52,476 --> 00:16:56,556 Speaker 1: to get her back, but Mary never saw herself that way. 255 00:16:57,676 --> 00:17:02,756 Speaker 1: Her compass held even when things were at their worst. 256 00:17:03,436 --> 00:17:05,756 Speaker 1: She believed she had so much to offer the world 257 00:17:06,076 --> 00:17:08,876 Speaker 1: that she would never be forgotten or ignored. 258 00:17:10,156 --> 00:17:19,716 Speaker 2: As she put it, I will always be as somebody. 259 00:17:17,436 --> 00:17:29,076 Speaker 1: More on Mary. After a quick break. Seven months into 260 00:17:29,076 --> 00:17:34,276 Speaker 1: his presidency, Andrew Johnson was facing a truly annoying problem. 261 00:17:34,556 --> 00:17:37,796 Speaker 1: There was this woman. She had spent years in Washington, 262 00:17:37,876 --> 00:17:41,396 Speaker 1: d c. And the capital in those years operated like 263 00:17:41,436 --> 00:17:45,796 Speaker 1: a small town. This lady knew everyone, the late President 264 00:17:45,836 --> 00:17:50,156 Speaker 1: Lincoln and the future President Grant, Frederick Douglas, and Susan B. Anthony. 265 00:17:50,596 --> 00:17:53,996 Speaker 1: She was like a pine size zelig in pants. We're 266 00:17:54,036 --> 00:17:57,356 Speaker 1: talking about Mary, but she figured that out already. It 267 00:17:57,396 --> 00:18:00,076 Speaker 1: was November of eighteen sixty five. The war was over, 268 00:18:00,396 --> 00:18:03,036 Speaker 1: and Mary was determined to get the government to acknowledge 269 00:18:03,036 --> 00:18:06,676 Speaker 1: the work that she'd done. By God, she wanted her commission. 270 00:18:07,196 --> 00:18:10,316 Speaker 1: She started a letter writing campaign. She showed up at 271 00:18:10,316 --> 00:18:13,316 Speaker 1: people's offices. She was no longer working as a surgeon. 272 00:18:13,636 --> 00:18:16,836 Speaker 1: After about five months at Castle Thunder, the Confederate prison, 273 00:18:17,156 --> 00:18:20,676 Speaker 1: her eyesight was permanently damaged, so she had plenty of 274 00:18:20,716 --> 00:18:25,756 Speaker 1: time for her other great passion, pestering the government. She 275 00:18:25,876 --> 00:18:30,276 Speaker 1: believed that women, not just herself, but all women, deserve 276 00:18:30,436 --> 00:18:33,076 Speaker 1: credit and payment for their war efforts. 277 00:18:33,876 --> 00:18:38,076 Speaker 2: Not until this cruel war has ceased and peace shall 278 00:18:38,116 --> 00:18:41,876 Speaker 2: again be ours at a dozen histories be written containing 279 00:18:42,156 --> 00:18:46,236 Speaker 2: all the facts and events. Not I say, until then 280 00:18:46,796 --> 00:18:51,836 Speaker 2: shall the world know how much women have done. 281 00:18:52,516 --> 00:18:55,236 Speaker 1: President Johnson must have been desperate for Mary to leave 282 00:18:55,276 --> 00:18:58,516 Speaker 1: him alone. He convened a group of officials to figure 283 00:18:58,516 --> 00:19:00,716 Speaker 1: out what to do about her, and they came up 284 00:19:00,756 --> 00:19:04,236 Speaker 1: with an answer, the Medal of Honor. Let me give 285 00:19:04,236 --> 00:19:07,036 Speaker 1: this a little context. The Medal of Honor had only 286 00:19:07,076 --> 00:19:10,556 Speaker 1: been created four years earlier away for the federal military 287 00:19:10,836 --> 00:19:15,076 Speaker 1: to incentivize new troops to sign up. In this early incarnation, 288 00:19:15,436 --> 00:19:18,836 Speaker 1: the medal wasn't just awarded to the most extraordinary heroes 289 00:19:19,036 --> 00:19:22,876 Speaker 1: as it is today. It was the only military award 290 00:19:22,916 --> 00:19:26,116 Speaker 1: at the time, so it went to pretty much everyone 291 00:19:26,316 --> 00:19:30,676 Speaker 1: who did something special. One thousand, five hundred and twenty 292 00:19:30,716 --> 00:19:33,636 Speaker 1: two people got the Medal of Honor for their service 293 00:19:33,756 --> 00:19:36,996 Speaker 1: in a civil war. To put that into perspective, that's 294 00:19:37,036 --> 00:19:40,596 Speaker 1: almost half of the medals ever awarded to this day. 295 00:19:41,596 --> 00:19:46,876 Speaker 1: What Mary really wanted was that retroactive military commission, because 296 00:19:46,916 --> 00:19:50,116 Speaker 1: it would have meant a pension, plus she saw commission 297 00:19:50,316 --> 00:19:53,716 Speaker 1: as a useful wedge. It might open the door so 298 00:19:53,756 --> 00:19:57,956 Speaker 1: that other women could join the military. But while Mary 299 00:19:57,996 --> 00:20:01,116 Speaker 1: saw a commission as a useful wedge, to the military 300 00:20:01,116 --> 00:20:05,836 Speaker 1: brass it was a slippery slope straight to chaos. Imagine 301 00:20:05,876 --> 00:20:08,836 Speaker 1: thousands of Mary's just telling you what they think, wearing 302 00:20:08,876 --> 00:20:13,796 Speaker 1: pale terrifying. So instead they gave her the Medal of Honor. 303 00:20:14,356 --> 00:20:18,156 Speaker 1: The Judge Advocate General wrote to President Johnson saying, this 304 00:20:18,356 --> 00:20:20,436 Speaker 1: really was the way to go, and there was no 305 00:20:20,556 --> 00:20:25,476 Speaker 1: danger of a slippery slope because Mary's quote sacrifices her 306 00:20:25,516 --> 00:20:29,956 Speaker 1: fearless energy under circumstances of peril, her endurance of hardship 307 00:20:30,316 --> 00:20:33,236 Speaker 1: and imprisonment at the hands of the enemy, and especially 308 00:20:33,756 --> 00:20:38,676 Speaker 1: her active patriotism and eminent loyalty end of quote were 309 00:20:38,756 --> 00:20:42,156 Speaker 1: so singular that giving her the Medal of Honor wouldn't 310 00:20:42,156 --> 00:20:45,836 Speaker 1: set a precedent. He believed it was simply impossible for 311 00:20:45,916 --> 00:20:50,716 Speaker 1: it to ever happen. Again. That certainly proved to be prescient. 312 00:20:51,476 --> 00:20:54,116 Speaker 1: She is still the only woman to have been awarded 313 00:20:54,116 --> 00:20:57,676 Speaker 1: the Medal of Honor. Mary was delighted by the medal. 314 00:20:57,916 --> 00:21:00,356 Speaker 1: The men in charge believed she would now go away, 315 00:21:01,116 --> 00:21:04,836 Speaker 1: But we know Mary, she wasn't going to go away. Instead, 316 00:21:05,196 --> 00:21:08,476 Speaker 1: she used the medal to give herself an even bigger platform, 317 00:21:09,156 --> 00:21:11,476 Speaker 1: a way to keep talking about the things that mattered 318 00:21:11,516 --> 00:21:16,276 Speaker 1: to her, and that she believed should matter to everyone. 319 00:21:16,436 --> 00:21:20,316 Speaker 2: It is literally impossible for one with any force of 320 00:21:20,436 --> 00:21:24,756 Speaker 2: character and humanity to remain in the background when convinced 321 00:21:24,796 --> 00:21:27,876 Speaker 2: by knowledge and reason that their mission is one that 322 00:21:27,916 --> 00:21:29,796 Speaker 2: will result in great good. 323 00:21:30,796 --> 00:21:33,636 Speaker 1: Here's the thing. She wasn't just working as a surgeon 324 00:21:33,796 --> 00:21:37,316 Speaker 1: during the war. She had all these charitable side hustles. 325 00:21:37,956 --> 00:21:40,796 Speaker 1: She had worked as an advocate for the disabled and 326 00:21:40,876 --> 00:21:44,516 Speaker 1: for soldiers who'd been unfairly accused of deserting. She had 327 00:21:44,556 --> 00:21:48,676 Speaker 1: founded the Women's Relief Organization, which gave housing to wives 328 00:21:48,676 --> 00:21:52,796 Speaker 1: and mothers of wounded Union army men. She was constantly 329 00:21:52,956 --> 00:21:56,876 Speaker 1: advocating for social change, and now with the Medal of 330 00:21:56,876 --> 00:22:00,716 Speaker 1: Honor pinned to her chest, Mary took her advocacy on 331 00:22:00,916 --> 00:22:05,116 Speaker 1: tour as usual. The topics she picked were decades ahead 332 00:22:05,116 --> 00:22:11,396 Speaker 1: of her time. She lectured on universal suffrage, indigenous people's rights, 333 00:22:11,756 --> 00:22:14,996 Speaker 1: the health risks of tobacco. She was the first woman 334 00:22:15,036 --> 00:22:17,476 Speaker 1: to give an address from the Speaker of the House's 335 00:22:17,556 --> 00:22:21,996 Speaker 1: desk uninvited. Of course, she ran for office even when 336 00:22:21,996 --> 00:22:27,716 Speaker 1: she couldn't vote. Then, in January eighteen seventy two, all 337 00:22:27,756 --> 00:22:31,876 Speaker 1: of her fighting scored an actual victory on Mary's behalf. 338 00:22:32,476 --> 00:22:37,516 Speaker 1: United States Congressman Benjamin Butler, a former Union general, introduced 339 00:22:37,516 --> 00:22:40,476 Speaker 1: a bill to the House that would benefit quote all 340 00:22:40,556 --> 00:22:43,156 Speaker 1: the women who labored for the sick and wounded during 341 00:22:43,196 --> 00:22:47,476 Speaker 1: the late war. It passed, the women would be granted 342 00:22:47,676 --> 00:22:51,276 Speaker 1: twenty dollars monthly pensions roughly four hundred and sixty six 343 00:22:51,316 --> 00:22:55,236 Speaker 1: dollars today, only slightly lower than the pension paid to 344 00:22:55,356 --> 00:22:58,916 Speaker 1: male soldiers who had been wounded in the war. It 345 00:22:58,956 --> 00:23:04,076 Speaker 1: was Mary's biggest triumph, and yet all the newspapers wanted 346 00:23:04,116 --> 00:23:09,236 Speaker 1: to talk about was her pants. They reported breathlessly when 347 00:23:09,236 --> 00:23:11,836 Speaker 1: she was met with those jeering crowds and police in 348 00:23:11,876 --> 00:23:15,316 Speaker 1: New York. The exact same thing happened in New Orleans 349 00:23:16,116 --> 00:23:20,076 Speaker 1: once she was robbed at gunpoint, and one columnist noted, 350 00:23:20,596 --> 00:23:23,476 Speaker 1: if she will persist in dressing like a man, she 351 00:23:23,596 --> 00:23:27,116 Speaker 1: must expect to be mistaken for a man and sometimes 352 00:23:27,196 --> 00:23:31,236 Speaker 1: enjoy the inalienable right of being robbed like any other man. 353 00:23:32,636 --> 00:23:36,676 Speaker 1: Mary and this must have gotten tedious for her, corrected 354 00:23:36,716 --> 00:23:39,116 Speaker 1: them over and over. 355 00:23:39,996 --> 00:23:43,916 Speaker 2: I do not wear men's clothes. I wear my own clothes. 356 00:23:44,596 --> 00:23:46,036 Speaker 1: But it took its toll. 357 00:23:46,316 --> 00:23:50,396 Speaker 2: Every jeer has cut me to the quick. Many times 358 00:23:50,436 --> 00:23:53,036 Speaker 2: have I gone to my room and wept after being 359 00:23:53,116 --> 00:23:57,916 Speaker 2: publicly derided. No one knows or will ever know, what 360 00:23:58,036 --> 00:24:00,436 Speaker 2: it has cost me to live up to my principles, 361 00:24:00,716 --> 00:24:04,516 Speaker 2: to be consistent with my convictions. But I have done it, 362 00:24:04,996 --> 00:24:06,676 Speaker 2: and I am not sorry for. 363 00:24:06,596 --> 00:24:12,316 Speaker 1: It, Which brings us back to theme Mary's moral compass. 364 00:24:12,716 --> 00:24:16,236 Speaker 1: And how does a compass work? North is north, East 365 00:24:16,316 --> 00:24:19,996 Speaker 1: is east, west is west, south is south. It doesn't 366 00:24:19,996 --> 00:24:22,596 Speaker 1: have a gauge for what, say, the weather's like, or 367 00:24:22,676 --> 00:24:24,956 Speaker 1: tell you if there's been a landslide and you can't 368 00:24:24,996 --> 00:24:28,436 Speaker 1: actually go do north anymore because of a giant rock pile. 369 00:24:29,236 --> 00:24:32,716 Speaker 1: Mary's moral compass was a little like that. It didn't 370 00:24:32,796 --> 00:24:36,236 Speaker 1: really check for ground conditions. Let me give you an example. 371 00:24:37,076 --> 00:24:40,236 Speaker 1: In eighteen seventy three, Mary decided she wanted a job 372 00:24:40,476 --> 00:24:43,916 Speaker 1: in the US Treasury. She'd heard they were hiring women, 373 00:24:44,476 --> 00:24:48,556 Speaker 1: so she marched herself into the Executive Mansion, the precursor 374 00:24:48,676 --> 00:24:52,236 Speaker 1: of the White House, where President Ulysses S. Grant lived. 375 00:24:52,636 --> 00:24:56,716 Speaker 1: I mean, can you imagine this today? It's bananas. She 376 00:24:56,796 --> 00:24:59,636 Speaker 1: set up camp in the east room and vowed to 377 00:24:59,676 --> 00:25:03,356 Speaker 1: stay until she got a position at the Treasury. Grant 378 00:25:03,396 --> 00:25:07,476 Speaker 1: capitulated with two conditions, one that she never occupied the 379 00:25:07,556 --> 00:25:11,156 Speaker 1: executive mansion again, and the other that she wear traditional 380 00:25:11,156 --> 00:25:14,996 Speaker 1: women's clothing to work. Maybe Mary said she would do that. 381 00:25:15,156 --> 00:25:18,276 Speaker 1: It seems unlikely, but she took the job, and she 382 00:25:18,316 --> 00:25:22,476 Speaker 1: showed up for her first day at the Treasury wearing pants. 383 00:25:22,796 --> 00:25:24,836 Speaker 1: They didn't let her in the building. She came back 384 00:25:24,876 --> 00:25:28,276 Speaker 1: the following day still in pants. They turned her away again. 385 00:25:28,716 --> 00:25:33,196 Speaker 1: This went on for more than a year. And that's 386 00:25:33,236 --> 00:25:36,996 Speaker 1: what you don't get for standing by your unshakable moral convictions, 387 00:25:37,516 --> 00:25:40,276 Speaker 1: the chance to be one of the first history making 388 00:25:40,316 --> 00:25:44,876 Speaker 1: women in the Treasure department. The pants got in the way. 389 00:25:46,476 --> 00:25:49,836 Speaker 1: Mary spent the following decades advocating for the causes that 390 00:25:49,876 --> 00:25:53,076 Speaker 1: were dear to her heart. She traveled the country and 391 00:25:53,116 --> 00:25:56,316 Speaker 1: the world on the lecture circuit, but upstate New York 392 00:25:56,396 --> 00:25:59,956 Speaker 1: always called her home. She bought her parents farm house 393 00:26:00,276 --> 00:26:04,076 Speaker 1: and settled near her siblings, none of whom, it's worth noting, 394 00:26:04,436 --> 00:26:06,956 Speaker 1: had ever caught the activism bug in the way that 395 00:26:06,996 --> 00:26:10,116 Speaker 1: Mary did. In her family, as in the rest of 396 00:26:10,156 --> 00:26:14,996 Speaker 1: her life, she stood out. Over the years, Mary's reform 397 00:26:15,076 --> 00:26:19,316 Speaker 1: dress evolved into a dapper suit coat, trousers, and a 398 00:26:19,356 --> 00:26:22,796 Speaker 1: silk top hat. She was arrested for wearing pants one 399 00:26:22,876 --> 00:26:26,876 Speaker 1: final time in nineteen thirteen, when she was eighty and 400 00:26:26,956 --> 00:26:31,356 Speaker 1: walking with a cane, and then around the time the 401 00:26:31,436 --> 00:26:34,716 Speaker 1: United States entered World War One, Mary then eighty four, 402 00:26:35,276 --> 00:26:38,756 Speaker 1: received a letter in the mail. It informed her that 403 00:26:38,796 --> 00:26:41,156 Speaker 1: she was one of nine hundred and eleven Medal of 404 00:26:41,156 --> 00:26:46,596 Speaker 1: Honor recipients whose medal was being revoked. They called it 405 00:26:46,676 --> 00:26:51,276 Speaker 1: the Great Purge of nineteen seventeen. Congress had imposed a 406 00:26:51,276 --> 00:26:56,276 Speaker 1: new standard for military decorations and applied it retroactively. The 407 00:26:56,276 --> 00:26:58,796 Speaker 1: Medal of Honor would be the highest in a pyramid 408 00:26:58,836 --> 00:27:02,716 Speaker 1: of awards requiring gallantry beyond the call of duty and 409 00:27:02,916 --> 00:27:05,676 Speaker 1: at the risk of life and limb. It would only 410 00:27:05,716 --> 00:27:08,956 Speaker 1: be given to an officer or enlisted person, which at 411 00:27:08,956 --> 00:27:12,676 Speaker 1: that point meant it was only for men. A special 412 00:27:12,716 --> 00:27:17,116 Speaker 1: board made up of five retired Army generals was assigned 413 00:27:17,116 --> 00:27:19,476 Speaker 1: to review each of the Medals of Honor that had 414 00:27:19,516 --> 00:27:23,356 Speaker 1: been awarded up to that point. Mary's medal didn't make 415 00:27:23,396 --> 00:27:27,676 Speaker 1: the cut. It was supposedly because she was never a 416 00:27:27,676 --> 00:27:31,756 Speaker 1: commissioned officer, but other male civilian doctors didn't have their 417 00:27:31,796 --> 00:27:35,916 Speaker 1: medals taken away. It wasn't about Mary's lack of commission. 418 00:27:36,716 --> 00:27:40,476 Speaker 1: It was because of her sex. Mary was ordered to 419 00:27:40,516 --> 00:27:43,476 Speaker 1: return her medal to the War Department. To wear it 420 00:27:43,636 --> 00:27:48,156 Speaker 1: or publicly display it would be a misdemeanor. That was 421 00:27:48,196 --> 00:27:52,316 Speaker 1: a decree she had no intention of following. She never 422 00:27:52,676 --> 00:27:55,876 Speaker 1: sent her medal back, she never took it off. She 423 00:27:56,036 --> 00:27:58,956 Speaker 1: wore it until nineteen nineteen when she died where she 424 00:27:59,076 --> 00:28:01,516 Speaker 1: was born, in a place where she learned to care 425 00:28:01,636 --> 00:28:07,996 Speaker 1: so deeply about humanity asweg of New York. After Mary's death, 426 00:28:08,516 --> 00:28:12,356 Speaker 1: her good friend and fellow doctor Bertha Van Houton wrote this, 427 00:28:13,276 --> 00:28:17,036 Speaker 1: Doctor Mary's life should remind us that when people do 428 00:28:17,036 --> 00:28:19,916 Speaker 1: not think as we do, do not dress as we do, 429 00:28:19,996 --> 00:28:22,196 Speaker 1: and do not live as we do, that they are 430 00:28:22,196 --> 00:28:25,236 Speaker 1: more likely to be a half century ahead of their time, 431 00:28:25,596 --> 00:28:29,476 Speaker 1: and that we should have for them, not ridicule, but reverence. 432 00:28:33,156 --> 00:28:38,116 Speaker 1: We talk a lot about originals, risk takers, independent thinkers, visionaries. 433 00:28:38,596 --> 00:28:42,796 Speaker 1: In America. We celebrate those people, particularly if they're successful. 434 00:28:43,556 --> 00:28:49,036 Speaker 1: Doctor Mary Walker was incontrovertibly and original. But there's a 435 00:28:49,036 --> 00:28:52,156 Speaker 1: downside to being on the vanguard. You have to have 436 00:28:52,196 --> 00:28:55,596 Speaker 1: a high tolerance for discomfort. 437 00:28:55,636 --> 00:29:00,636 Speaker 2: All people are not heroes. In all things, Women as 438 00:29:00,676 --> 00:29:03,596 Speaker 2: well as men who can endure to be misunderstood for 439 00:29:03,636 --> 00:29:05,796 Speaker 2: a great length of time are few. 440 00:29:05,876 --> 00:29:11,796 Speaker 1: Indeed, eventually mar her metal back in nineteen seventy seven, 441 00:29:12,276 --> 00:29:16,036 Speaker 1: she had predicted it. She was uncannily on the right 442 00:29:16,116 --> 00:29:19,196 Speaker 1: side of history on most issues, including herself. 443 00:29:20,036 --> 00:29:22,796 Speaker 2: I have got to die before people will know who 444 00:29:22,876 --> 00:29:25,596 Speaker 2: I am and what I've done. It is a great 445 00:29:25,676 --> 00:29:28,076 Speaker 2: shame that people who lead reforms in this world are 446 00:29:28,076 --> 00:29:31,876 Speaker 2: not appreciated until after they're dead. Then the world pays 447 00:29:31,916 --> 00:29:34,996 Speaker 2: its tribute by piling rocks over the grave of the reformer. 448 00:29:35,916 --> 00:29:38,076 Speaker 2: I would be thankful if people would treat me decently 449 00:29:38,196 --> 00:29:41,476 Speaker 2: now instead of erecting great piles of stone over me 450 00:29:41,516 --> 00:29:44,996 Speaker 2: after I'm dead. But then that's human nature. 451 00:29:46,356 --> 00:29:50,636 Speaker 1: An unshakable moral compass comes with a price. It did 452 00:29:50,676 --> 00:29:53,636 Speaker 1: for Mary. And I'm not talking about the eggs thrown 453 00:29:53,676 --> 00:29:56,796 Speaker 1: at her on the street, the heckling mobs. I'm not 454 00:29:56,876 --> 00:30:00,556 Speaker 1: even really talking about the lack of recognition. I'm talking 455 00:30:00,556 --> 00:30:04,596 Speaker 1: about her instinctive decision to stick to her compass no 456 00:30:04,676 --> 00:30:08,396 Speaker 1: matter where it led her, even when it actively worked 457 00:30:08,396 --> 00:30:13,556 Speaker 1: against her bead interests. She just couldn't help herself. She 458 00:30:13,756 --> 00:30:18,036 Speaker 1: had to do what was right. In essence, she had 459 00:30:18,076 --> 00:30:21,756 Speaker 1: to wear those pants. Here's what I think those five 460 00:30:21,836 --> 00:30:25,796 Speaker 1: generals during the Great Purge of nineteen seventeen missed something 461 00:30:25,876 --> 00:30:29,236 Speaker 1: crucial about the Medal of Honor. It isn't the risk 462 00:30:29,276 --> 00:30:32,516 Speaker 1: of life and limb that sets Medal of Honor recipients apart. 463 00:30:33,276 --> 00:30:37,036 Speaker 1: It's knowing what's right and then doing it, no matter 464 00:30:37,116 --> 00:30:41,996 Speaker 1: the cost. By that measure, Doctor Mary Walker is as 465 00:30:42,036 --> 00:30:56,716 Speaker 1: deserving as it gets. Medal of Honor Stories of Courage 466 00:30:57,116 --> 00:31:00,316 Speaker 1: is written by Meredith Rollins and produced by Meredith Rollins, 467 00:31:00,476 --> 00:31:04,676 Speaker 1: Constanza Gallardo, and Izzy Carter. The show is edited by 468 00:31:04,676 --> 00:31:08,956 Speaker 1: Ben daph Haffrey, Sound design and additional music by Jake Gorski, 469 00:31:09,476 --> 00:31:13,796 Speaker 1: recording engineering by Nita Lawrence, fact checking by Arthur Gombert's 470 00:31:14,276 --> 00:31:17,676 Speaker 1: Original music by Eric Phillips. And If you want to 471 00:31:17,756 --> 00:31:20,556 Speaker 1: learn more about our Medal of Honor recipients, follow us 472 00:31:20,596 --> 00:31:24,196 Speaker 1: on Instagram and Twitter. We'll be sharing photos and videos 473 00:31:24,196 --> 00:31:27,236 Speaker 1: of the heroes featured on this show. We'd also love 474 00:31:27,316 --> 00:31:29,836 Speaker 1: to hear from you dm us with a story about 475 00:31:29,836 --> 00:31:32,756 Speaker 1: a courageous veteran in your life. If you don't know 476 00:31:32,836 --> 00:31:35,396 Speaker 1: a veteran, we would love to hear a story of 477 00:31:35,476 --> 00:31:39,636 Speaker 1: how courage was contagious in your own life. You can 478 00:31:39,636 --> 00:31:44,876 Speaker 1: find us at Pushkinbods. I'm your host, Malcolm Glamwell