1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:04,480 Speaker 1: Hey everyone, We've put together a survey for listeners of 2 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: Medal of Honor and we want to hear from you. 3 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:09,240 Speaker 1: Tell us what you love about the show, what we 4 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: can improve on, or stories you think we've missed. We're 5 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 1: committed to making this show even better and you can 6 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:19,960 Speaker 1: help to take the survey. Visit bit dot lee slash 7 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: MH survey. That's bit dot l y slash MH survey. 8 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 1: The link is also in our show notes below. 9 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:41,479 Speaker 2: Pushkin. 10 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 1: The men of the gunboat USS Marblehead woke up to 11 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:54,080 Speaker 1: the sound of cannon fire. It was blasting across the bow, 12 00:00:54,880 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: splintering the wood of their ship. It was early Christmas morning, 13 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty three. The Marblehead was a Union Navy vessel 14 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: patrolling the slow moving Stono River in South Carolina, just 15 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: south of Charleston. The ship worked its way past the 16 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:21,399 Speaker 1: tidal marshlands, past rice plantations and tiny towns, scanning for 17 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: rebel activity. The men on the ship had no idea 18 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: that Confederate forces were hiding waiting. They had secretly placed 19 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 1: guns in. 20 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:33,400 Speaker 2: The forest near the shore. 21 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:39,680 Speaker 1: Now those guns were pointed right at the Marblehead, firing 22 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: their artillery, blowing holes in the ship and the ship's men. 23 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: The Union sailors ran up from their cabins below decks, 24 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: some of them still in their night shirts. They sprinted 25 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: to their battle stations. In their midst was a young 26 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: man named Robert Blake. He raced back and forth to 27 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 1: the hold of the ship, bringing boxes of gunpowder to 28 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 1: one of the main guns. The Marblehead's rifles boomed and shook, 29 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: sending fire to shore. The rebel forces returned fire. Sailors 30 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: fell wounded to. 31 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:21,640 Speaker 2: The ship's deck. It was a bloody scene. 32 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: More than anyone aboard, Robert knew that they had to 33 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: keep the Confederate forces at bay, not just to save 34 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: their ship, but because Robert understood something else. If he 35 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: was captured, some of those Confederate soldiers might recognize him 36 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: an enslaved man who had escaped from a plantation not 37 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 1: that far away, the kind of man those Confederates hated 38 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:53,359 Speaker 1: most of all. 39 00:02:57,639 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 2: I'm Jr. 40 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: Martinez, and this is Medal of Honor Stories of Courage. 41 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in 42 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: the United States, awarded for gallantry and bravery and combat 43 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: at the risk of life, above and beyond the call 44 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:14,799 Speaker 1: of duty. 45 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:17,440 Speaker 2: Each candidate must be approved. 46 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:19,360 Speaker 1: All the way up the chain of command, from the 47 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:23,079 Speaker 1: supervisory officer in the field to the White House. This 48 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: show is about those heroes, what they did, what it meant, 49 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: and what their stories tell us about the nature of 50 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:36,680 Speaker 1: courage and sacrifice. Today we'll explore the story of Robert Blake, 51 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: the first Black sailor to receive the Medal of Honor. 52 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 2: Blake served in. 53 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: A cool and brave manner, according to his commanding officer, 54 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,600 Speaker 1: but that doesn't make him an anomaly on that ship 55 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: or any other Union vessel. He was one of many 56 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: black sailors to serve honorably during the Civil War. They 57 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:03,160 Speaker 1: were forced that helped change the trajectory of the whole conflict, 58 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 1: But they are also a group that we know very 59 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: little about. 60 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 2: At a time that was. 61 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: Dangerous for any formally enslaved person in the South, these 62 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: black sailors took on even more risk, and they did 63 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,559 Speaker 1: it to fight for a country they believe could be better. 64 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:28,040 Speaker 1: Would be better not just for them, but for everyone 65 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:47,680 Speaker 1: who came after. I'm gonna preface this episode by saying 66 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:51,960 Speaker 1: we don't know all that much about Robert Blake, which 67 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:57,919 Speaker 1: means two things. First, there's a little speculation involved, a 68 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,799 Speaker 1: bit more than we usually have in an E episode. Second, 69 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,719 Speaker 1: it's kind of like a detective story. So we found 70 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:11,119 Speaker 1: a detective. We'll meet him in a bit. Let's start 71 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 1: with what we know for sure. Robert Blake was enslaved 72 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: at the Oak Grove plantation in South Carolina. It was 73 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: located on the South Santee River, just six or seven 74 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:23,919 Speaker 1: miles from the Atlantic coast. 75 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:26,839 Speaker 2: Oak Grove was actually one of three. 76 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: Plantations owned by a man named Arthur Middleton Blake. He 77 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: came from a long line of plantation owners. His family 78 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:38,479 Speaker 1: had been enslaving people for more than one hundred years. 79 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: The name Oak Grove I make it seem like some 80 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: idellic setting, but the reality was very different. There were 81 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:56,720 Speaker 1: deadly mosquito born illnesses like malaria and yellow fever, poisonous snakes, alligators. 82 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: But if the environment was inhospitable, the work was even 83 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:08,840 Speaker 1: worse because these were rice plantations and cultivating rice was backbreaking, 84 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: dangerous work. It was done by hundreds of enslaved people 85 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:21,200 Speaker 1: of African descent, toiling without a break day after brutal day. 86 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:27,160 Speaker 1: And that's where our hero Robert Blake was born, And 87 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: to add to the confusion, he wasn't the only Robert 88 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:34,599 Speaker 1: Blake who lived at Oak Grove. Many enslaved people born 89 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: there were given the last name Blake. It was a 90 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: way to show who their slaveholder was. Our Robert Blake, 91 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,520 Speaker 1: the Medal of Honor recipient, was most likely born around 92 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: eighteen forty. The fact that he made it through childhood 93 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 1: was a miracle. On rice plantations, more than half of 94 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: black children did not survive to age fifteen. Like other 95 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: enslaved children, he wouldn't have had any kind of formal education. 96 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:11,200 Speaker 1: Enslaved children were often separated from their parents. Maybe this 97 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: was true of Robert. It's impossible to know, but what 98 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 1: is pretty certain is that as soon as he was 99 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: able to work, he would have been out in the 100 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 1: rice fields, digging and planting and harvesting from sun up 101 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 1: to sundown. And then, in eighteen sixty one, shots were 102 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: fired just forty miles away at Fort Sumter, and the 103 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 1: Civil War began. For Robert and the rest of the 104 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,680 Speaker 1: residents of Oak Grove, the world they knew was about 105 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: to massively change. For one thing, Arthur Middleton Blake, the 106 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 1: owner of Oak Grove, fled the United States. He left 107 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:02,640 Speaker 1: for England a week after Fort sumterfell in April of 108 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty one. The next key thing that happened. The 109 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: Union decided to set up a blockade to keep trade 110 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: ships from entering or leaving the Confederate States. This had 111 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: two purposes, to prevent the rebels from getting supplies like ammunition, 112 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: and to keep them from trade with Europe, cutting off 113 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 1: their source of income. But while the Union wanted to 114 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 1: create a blockade, the Confederates were equally set on breaking it. 115 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: Rebel blockade runners would find holes in the Union naval lines, 116 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: then they would zip through them in small boats loaded 117 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:47,439 Speaker 1: with goods for waiting European ships. So the Union Navy 118 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: set up bases in Confederate territory to stop those blockade runners. 119 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: In South Carolina, they went to Port Royal, close to Charleston, 120 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:01,240 Speaker 1: an area that they called the Low Country. It had 121 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 1: a ton of plantations, including Arthur Blake's. Now you have 122 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:11,520 Speaker 1: to imagine that the enslaved people on Blake's plantation knew 123 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:16,600 Speaker 1: something big was up. The war was suddenly so close. 124 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,199 Speaker 1: They must have looked at the unionships on the horizon 125 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:23,200 Speaker 1: and thought, is our world about to change. 126 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 2: Do we dare to hope. 127 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: Most of the local plantation owners fled to England like 128 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 1: Arthur did, or further inland where it was safer, which 129 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: makes you wonder did those owners really think that the 130 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 1: people that enslaved would just stay there, keep tending to 131 00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:49,600 Speaker 1: the rice, wait patiently for the war to end, and 132 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: they're enslavers to return. Okay, brief history refresher here. There's 133 00:09:56,679 --> 00:10:01,200 Speaker 1: something called the Fugitive Slave Act. It meant anyone, even 134 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 1: Union soldiers, were ordered by law to return escaped enslave 135 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:10,800 Speaker 1: people to their owners. And in the earliest days of 136 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: the war, Union soldiers in the South followed that law 137 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 1: and returned runaway slaves. But then something sort of incredible happened. 138 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:26,079 Speaker 1: A Union general in Virginia decided, I'm not playing by 139 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:31,319 Speaker 1: that rule anymore. He refused to return three escaped enslave 140 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:36,560 Speaker 1: men to their Confederate slaveholder. He figured that a Virginia 141 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:40,160 Speaker 1: had seceded from the Union, so federal laws like the 142 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: Fugitive Slave Act no longer applied, and b just like 143 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:49,320 Speaker 1: anything else the Union army might seize from the enemy, 144 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:54,200 Speaker 1: those escaped slaves were contraband, so there was no point 145 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:58,280 Speaker 1: in slaveholders asking for them back. The Union army would 146 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:03,520 Speaker 1: hang on to them and give them freedom. Thanks word 147 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:09,760 Speaker 1: traveled fast. Soon enslaved people across the South were escaping 148 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: and joining Union troops wherever they could find them. This 149 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 1: generated a ton of good press and goodwill in the North. 150 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: Pretty soon the whole point of the conflict began to change. 151 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 1: It became a war to free the slaves, which brings 152 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 1: us back to Oak Grove Plantation. By June of eighteen 153 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:36,240 Speaker 1: sixty two, it had become a posting for a regiment 154 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:39,840 Speaker 1: of Confederate soldiers. Since it was on the Santee River, 155 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:43,760 Speaker 1: it was a perfect spot for blockade runners to sneak 156 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: their cargo past the Union naval fleet. Naturally, the Navy 157 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 1: wanted to stop this kind of activity, so they had 158 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:56,479 Speaker 1: ships from the base at Port Royal patrolling the coastline 159 00:11:56,559 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: and rivers, and on June twenty fifth. 160 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:02,600 Speaker 2: Three Union ships steam past Oak Grove. 161 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,640 Speaker 1: The Confederate troops were heading but they couldn't help themselves. 162 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:12,160 Speaker 1: They fired on the last ship and the convoy. There 163 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:15,760 Speaker 1: were marines on those Union ships, and you know marines, 164 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:19,920 Speaker 1: they were very happy to get off the boats and 165 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:24,520 Speaker 1: bring the fight to land. As the Union ships returned fire, 166 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:28,600 Speaker 1: a group of sixty marines and sailors got into rowboats 167 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:32,480 Speaker 1: and came ashore. They raced to a Confederate battery, a 168 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:35,760 Speaker 1: gun position in the woods, but when they got there 169 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: it had been deserted. The rebels shooters had fled. Then 170 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:45,199 Speaker 1: the Union troops went to the plantation itself. They discovered 171 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 1: a cache of weapons and proof that the spot had 172 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:52,560 Speaker 1: been used by blockade runners, so they burned the house, 173 00:12:53,559 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: the mill, and a reported one hundred thousand bushels of rice. 174 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:02,760 Speaker 1: The enslaved people of Oak Grove watched the fire burn 175 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:06,959 Speaker 1: Arthur Blake's property. They saw the Union men in their 176 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:12,600 Speaker 1: sharp navy blue uniforms, and they realized now is the 177 00:13:12,679 --> 00:13:18,040 Speaker 1: time to escape. So four hundred of them, pretty much 178 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:23,200 Speaker 1: everyone enslaved at Oak Grove grab what they could. They 179 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:27,720 Speaker 1: raced to the Union ships, and in their midst was 180 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 1: a young man named Robert Blake. As I mentioned earlier, 181 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 1: we know so little about Robert Blake that we needed 182 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:47,199 Speaker 1: the help of a detective. 183 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:49,360 Speaker 2: He's Joseph P. 184 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:55,199 Speaker 1: Ready, Professor emeritus at Howard University. He is the expert 185 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:58,440 Speaker 1: on the experiences of black men in the Navy, during 186 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 1: the Civil War. And yet even he thinks Robert Blake 187 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:05,800 Speaker 1: is a mystery. There's so much we don't know. 188 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 3: We don't know he was married and if she had 189 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 3: any children. I'm what have you. 190 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:14,440 Speaker 1: Here's what we can tell you about Robert Blake. He 191 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:17,720 Speaker 1: stood five feet five and had a dark complexion. 192 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:19,800 Speaker 2: What we're not so. 193 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:24,400 Speaker 1: Sure about his exact age, but Professor Reidy checked the 194 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 1: records on this. 195 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 3: Now when her shows up on a muster roll, he's 196 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 3: listed as age twenty two. That seems to be the 197 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 3: sensible age that he was. 198 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 1: So Robert, along with hundreds of other enslaved people, left 199 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:42,000 Speaker 1: Oak Grove as the plantation burned. They got on one 200 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 1: of those three Union ships. They were taken to a 201 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 1: refugee camp near the naval base in Port Royal. It 202 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:54,280 Speaker 1: was called North Island. Refugee camps for escaped slaves had 203 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:58,520 Speaker 1: popped up everywhere the Union troops were. They were nicknamed 204 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:03,360 Speaker 1: contraband camps. They were away for communities to stay together, 205 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: to take care of one another, raise crops, and get jobs, 206 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:14,840 Speaker 1: paid jobs, probably for the first time ever. Of course, 207 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:18,840 Speaker 1: the contraband camps were still deep in Confederate territory, so 208 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 1: they weren't really safe. In July of eighteen sixty two, 209 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:28,920 Speaker 1: Union commanders learned that five hundred rebels were preparing to 210 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:34,240 Speaker 1: attack North Island quote with the intention of destroying the contrabands, 211 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: which number seven hundred men, women and children. But it 212 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: was far far better than life on implantation, and it 213 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:48,560 Speaker 1: showed people that the Navy and the Union wasn't just 214 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: a way to escape slavery. It was the basis for 215 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 1: a whole new life and a whole new cause. 216 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 3: It didn't take long to realize that, especially on coast 217 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 3: the or along the river banks, that US naval vessel 218 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:08,440 Speaker 3: potentially were a place of refuge, and that presented an 219 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 3: opportunity for them to say, we will do whatever we 220 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:15,080 Speaker 3: can to help defeat the slaveholder's rebellion. 221 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:19,320 Speaker 1: In the meantime, the Navy looked at the men in 222 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: the contraband camps and thought we would love their help. 223 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:29,440 Speaker 3: One of the officials and Lincoln's administration realized that African 224 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:35,200 Speaker 3: Americans were fleeing slavery and seeking the refuge upon naval vessel. 225 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 3: They realized here was a source of manpower that they 226 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:40,080 Speaker 3: could put the good use. 227 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 1: So they started recruiting them to join. This wasn't an 228 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:50,120 Speaker 1: entirely surprising turn of events for Starters. The Navy had 229 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 1: long allowed black men to enlist, and they weren't even 230 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 1: segregated like they were in the Army back then. They 231 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: couldn't be because of the cramp orders on the ships. 232 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:06,639 Speaker 1: At first, their numbers were small, like five percent, but 233 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 1: as the war heated up, so did enlistments. By the 234 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:15,919 Speaker 1: summer of eighteen sixty two, when we meet Robert, it 235 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 1: was more like fifteen percent. In fact, more than eighteen 236 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:24,199 Speaker 1: thousand black men served in the Union Navy during the 237 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 1: Civil War. Many came from up North and had always 238 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:31,840 Speaker 1: been free. They were allowed to work their way up 239 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:37,919 Speaker 1: the ranks, from boy the lowest to signal quartermaster. But 240 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:42,479 Speaker 1: the newer conscripts, the formerly enslaved ones, were given a 241 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:50,880 Speaker 1: new designation, not boy, but contraband. Unfortunately, these new sailors 242 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:54,399 Speaker 1: were treated as if they were less intelligent and even 243 00:17:54,840 --> 00:18:00,440 Speaker 1: less strong. They were weak, the reasoning went, because they'd 244 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:05,320 Speaker 1: been worked almost to death on the plantations. But that 245 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 1: was by no means true. One Union commander said, quote, 246 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:15,879 Speaker 1: they fought energetically, bravely, none more so they felt that 247 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:19,439 Speaker 1: they were working on the deliverance of their own race. 248 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:24,679 Speaker 1: Giving black men the chance to fight for the Union 249 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 1: felt like a path towards civil rights. The famous statesman 250 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:32,760 Speaker 1: Frederick Douglass wrote quote, Let the black man get an 251 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:36,359 Speaker 1: eagle on his button and a musket on his shoulders, 252 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,200 Speaker 1: and bullets in his pockets, and there is no power 253 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: on earth or under the earth that can deny that 254 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:49,480 Speaker 1: he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States. 255 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 1: We've seen this so many times before in this series, 256 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:59,639 Speaker 1: from Mary Walker to Macario Gottacia, people seeing their military 257 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,879 Speaker 1: survey as a way to become more fully part of 258 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:08,760 Speaker 1: America with all of its rates, from voting to citizenship 259 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:10,600 Speaker 1: to freedom itself. 260 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:13,400 Speaker 2: The Union Navy used. 261 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 1: That pitch as they walked through the Contraband camp in 262 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:16,359 Speaker 1: North Island. 263 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:21,280 Speaker 3: Military and naval recruiters were suggested to the men, you 264 00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 3: must wipe for your freedom. That's the way you're going 265 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:26,080 Speaker 3: to secure it. You're going to help the UITs defeat 266 00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:29,159 Speaker 3: the Confederacy, and then of course of doing that, you 267 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 3: will free yourselves and you will free your pamia. 268 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:37,399 Speaker 1: On July third, the Navy asked for sixty volunteers to 269 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: go to Port Royal for duty on the USS Vermont. 270 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:45,920 Speaker 1: Robert was one of them. Almost all of the enlisted 271 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 1: men on the Vermont had African ancestry, and they had 272 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: originally come from plantations up and down the coast. They 273 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 1: worked as laborers because the Vermont wasn't a warship. It 274 00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 1: was a supply station, a warehouse for all the things 275 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:07,160 Speaker 1: as sailor would need, clothing, ammunition, or letters from home. 276 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:11,280 Speaker 1: It was also the entry point for men just joining 277 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:14,919 Speaker 1: the naval service. That's where Robert would have been trained. 278 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:19,520 Speaker 1: It had another benefit to it kept him close to 279 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:22,320 Speaker 1: his community. 280 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 3: The people who escaped from the Blade plantation with them, 281 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:29,080 Speaker 3: whom he would have considered a family of thought. If 282 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:31,840 Speaker 3: they were nearby when he was stationed on the Vermont, 283 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 3: the possibility of interacting with them could have meant that 284 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:39,119 Speaker 3: he and other men could have maintained that sense of 285 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 3: community even while they were enabled servants. 286 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,880 Speaker 1: And in a world that had been so hard and 287 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: so painful, you can imagine how much that community might 288 00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:53,879 Speaker 1: mean to Robert. So he worked on the USS Vermont, 289 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 1: most likely as a longshoreman, hauling supplies onto the ship. 290 00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:04,359 Speaker 1: Not glamour, of course, but a solid pain job that 291 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:07,879 Speaker 1: only lasted about two months. Then he was assigned to 292 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:13,960 Speaker 1: a gunship, the USS Marblehead. There he would be fighting 293 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:37,240 Speaker 1: for his liberty and his life. Just around daybreak on 294 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:41,840 Speaker 1: December twenty fifth, eighteen sixty three, the sound of cannon 295 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:47,119 Speaker 1: fire burst through the quiet South Carolina morning. Shot after 296 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 1: shot came from shore, catching everyone on the crew by 297 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 1: total surprise. The Captain Richard W. Mei came running up 298 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:02,960 Speaker 1: from his cabin. He was only twenty six, a skinny 299 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:07,960 Speaker 1: guy with big, sad eyes and a wispy handlebar mustache. 300 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:09,240 Speaker 2: Mead was still. 301 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:12,720 Speaker 1: Wearing his night shirt and slippers, gripping his sword in 302 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: one hand and his revolver in the other. The Marblehead 303 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:20,240 Speaker 1: was on duty in the Stono River. It was part 304 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:24,880 Speaker 1: of the blockade protecting troops who were working nearby, and 305 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:32,879 Speaker 1: it was completely unprepared for battle. For one thing, the 306 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:37,120 Speaker 1: crew was shorthanded down to seventy men from the usual 307 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:42,359 Speaker 1: one hundred, and the ship was partly disabled. One of 308 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:46,440 Speaker 1: the boilers was being repaired, and the crew had been 309 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:49,360 Speaker 1: getting ready to wash down the deck, so they had 310 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:55,159 Speaker 1: pointed their largest gun inward towards the middle of the ship, 311 00:22:55,920 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 1: not out towards the enemy. The shots kept coming from shore. 312 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:05,439 Speaker 1: The Confederates had hidden cannons behind some earthworks in the woods. 313 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:09,840 Speaker 1: They had been planning this attack for a while. The 314 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:13,360 Speaker 1: goal was to disable the Marblehead and capture its men, 315 00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:18,240 Speaker 1: that included the roughly one hundred and fifty Union troops 316 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:23,520 Speaker 1: stationed nearby. Captain Mead shouted for his men to assume 317 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:27,919 Speaker 1: battle stations, and Robert Blake went to work. He was 318 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:32,240 Speaker 1: a powder man, sometimes called the powder boy. His job 319 00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:35,719 Speaker 1: was to carry gunpowder from the powder magazine to the 320 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 1: guns on the deck. The magazine was tucked away and 321 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:44,840 Speaker 1: designed to avoid explosions or fires by keeping the gun 322 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:50,520 Speaker 1: powder safe. So powder men were usually young, small and fast. 323 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:54,120 Speaker 1: They had to be able to squeeze between the tight 324 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:57,760 Speaker 1: spots on the ship where the powder was kept. Mead 325 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 1: ordered the Marblehead to quickly move clars closer to the 326 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:05,200 Speaker 1: shore and to the Confederates. That way, the ship would 327 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 1: be harder to hit. Then he ordered the Marblehead's guns 328 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:15,560 Speaker 1: to be fired. As the sailors got ready, blast kept 329 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 1: coming from shore. Steel and wood fragments splintered across the deck. 330 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 1: In the first fifteen minutes, three Union sailors had been killed, 331 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:32,239 Speaker 1: several more were wounded. Mead later wrote that quote the 332 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:38,520 Speaker 1: decks were slippery with blood. Robert was the powder man 333 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:42,400 Speaker 1: for a twenty pounder rifle. It looked like a cannon, 334 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:45,399 Speaker 1: and it was located at the front of the ship, 335 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:51,399 Speaker 1: out in the open, totally unprotected from enemy fire. He 336 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:54,560 Speaker 1: would have been running back and forth from the powder 337 00:24:54,640 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 1: magazine to the rifle, up and down, over and over, 338 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:07,879 Speaker 1: exposed to fire every time he reached the deck. Robert 339 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,640 Speaker 1: had been on that boat since September. He knew, of course, 340 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:14,960 Speaker 1: that he would face danger, and he was ready. 341 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 3: It was not yet we're fighting for the freedom of 342 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:25,320 Speaker 3: enslaved South Carolinian or all enslaved people throughout the country. No, 343 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:29,280 Speaker 3: it was literally their family and their homes and people 344 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:31,800 Speaker 3: that they knew and they loved, and they hoped to 345 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:33,400 Speaker 3: spend their reck with their lives. 346 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:38,480 Speaker 1: With That love and commitment must have been an engine 347 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:43,199 Speaker 1: for his courage. But there was something else sparking that 348 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: bravery as well, a knowledge of what waited for him 349 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:52,680 Speaker 1: if they failed, if he was captured. Being a prisoner 350 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:56,199 Speaker 1: during the Civil War was horrific. The death rate of 351 00:25:56,240 --> 00:26:01,520 Speaker 1: POW's was as high as thirty percent, but the fate 352 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:06,280 Speaker 1: of men like Robert who were formerly enslaved fighting for 353 00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:12,639 Speaker 1: the Union was much much worse. The battle went on, 354 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,239 Speaker 1: a sailor was cut into by a round from the 355 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:24,280 Speaker 1: Confederate cannon. The men must have been screaming, screaming orders, 356 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:30,040 Speaker 1: screaming from the pain, but according to later reports, Robert 357 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:30,840 Speaker 1: kept us cool. 358 00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:36,240 Speaker 3: He was fulfilling years at Zion duty under extremely stressful 359 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:40,440 Speaker 3: and dangerous circumstances, and he was able to keep doing 360 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:44,640 Speaker 3: it at a rather extraordinary pace throughout the engagement. 361 00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:50,440 Speaker 1: Years later, me described quote the excellent manner in which 362 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 1: he served his gun, his coolness, intrepidity, and high spirits, 363 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,280 Speaker 1: and the merry laugh with which he cheered his comrades 364 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:03,479 Speaker 1: under this severe and galling fire of the enemy. 365 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:05,720 Speaker 2: He seemed wholly insensible to fear. 366 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 1: He would cut jokes with his comrades as he passed 367 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,720 Speaker 1: along to the magazine with his box under his arm. 368 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:16,840 Speaker 1: He showed a marked degree of intelligence and forethought. During 369 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:21,560 Speaker 1: the hottest part of the fight. The battle went on 370 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:25,880 Speaker 1: for an hour and a half. Robert's gun fired seventy 371 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:30,040 Speaker 1: two times, a super high number when you consider how 372 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,680 Speaker 1: much work it took to fire a gun back then. 373 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:37,760 Speaker 1: But his energy didn't flag, and by eight am the 374 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:42,640 Speaker 1: skirmish was over. The men of the Marblehead were victorious. 375 00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:47,560 Speaker 1: Three days after the battle, Mead went ashore with his 376 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,919 Speaker 1: men and took the rebels guns. It was the first 377 00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:56,119 Speaker 1: Union naval victory in more than two years, and Robert 378 00:27:56,359 --> 00:28:01,520 Speaker 1: would get the credit he deserved. Need was determined that 379 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:04,680 Speaker 1: Robert would be honored for his brave actions of Christmas 380 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:10,240 Speaker 1: Day eighteen sixty three. First, he ensured that Robert got 381 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:15,560 Speaker 1: a promotion to seamen, leaving his contraband label behind him 382 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:21,440 Speaker 1: for good. And Robert, along with three other sailors, received 383 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:25,560 Speaker 1: the Medal of Honor. The Order for the Metal reads quote, 384 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:33,120 Speaker 1: Robert Blake, serving as powder boy, displayed extraordinary courage, alacrity, 385 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:38,560 Speaker 1: and intelligent in the discharge of his duties under trying circumstances, 386 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:43,560 Speaker 1: and merited the admiration of all. Robert Blake would be 387 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:46,840 Speaker 1: the first Black sailor to receive the Medal of Honor. 388 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,600 Speaker 1: Robert re enlisted. He was on the USS Vermont, where 389 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:58,479 Speaker 1: he had started the war, at least through the summer 390 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:04,920 Speaker 1: of eighteen sixty four, and then well, our trail goes cold. 391 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:12,320 Speaker 1: Robert Blake just vanishes. One possibility is that he stayed 392 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:16,440 Speaker 1: in South Carolina. So many formally enslaved people did after 393 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: the war. That was the place they knew, filled with 394 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:26,280 Speaker 1: the people they loved, and record keeping back then wasn't great, 395 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:32,120 Speaker 1: particularly for black folks. But maybe Robert didn't stay in 396 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:37,600 Speaker 1: South Carolina. Our detective Professor Reedy points out that by 397 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:40,320 Speaker 1: now Robert was a seasoned sailor. 398 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:44,960 Speaker 3: He had naval experienced at that point, and this is 399 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:46,880 Speaker 3: not the say he stayed in the navy, because he 400 00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 3: apparently did not, But he could have continued to work 401 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:51,880 Speaker 3: at the Mariner. 402 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:56,560 Speaker 1: According to a report that Captain Meade wrote decades after 403 00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:00,680 Speaker 1: the battle, Robert got one hundred dollars along with his medal. 404 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:06,280 Speaker 1: That's worth more than two thousand dollars today. That's enough 405 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:10,920 Speaker 1: money to kick start a new life. He was still 406 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:14,880 Speaker 1: serving on the Vermont in the summer of eighteen sixty four, 407 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,400 Speaker 1: and the Vermont left Port Royal for the Brooklyn Navy 408 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:23,320 Speaker 1: Yard on August two of that year. Could he have 409 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:28,000 Speaker 1: still been on it heading to New York. We just 410 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:34,320 Speaker 1: don't know, but I think it's an amazing idea. At 411 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:37,840 Speaker 1: that time, there were close to a million people living 412 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:40,960 Speaker 1: in New York City. He could have slipped into those 413 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:46,560 Speaker 1: crowded streets. Or Robert could have just boarded the next 414 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:51,920 Speaker 1: boat off to points unknown, skimming across the ocean. 415 00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:53,960 Speaker 2: Who knows. 416 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:58,920 Speaker 1: We have no records of him. It's possible that he 417 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:02,320 Speaker 1: changed his name and left Blake, the name of his 418 00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:07,080 Speaker 1: former slaveholder behind. And if you're wondering what happened to 419 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:12,760 Speaker 1: Old Arthur Middleton Blake, here's this gem. For years after 420 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:17,480 Speaker 1: the Civil War ended, Arthur had the audacity to petition 421 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 1: the government asking to be paid back for the slaves 422 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:25,880 Speaker 1: who had been quote unquote taken from him, a sum 423 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:31,440 Speaker 1: that he said amounted to at least four hundred thousand dollars. 424 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:35,440 Speaker 1: One man on Arthur's list of property is named Robert. 425 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:41,120 Speaker 1: He's valued at eleven hundred dollars, almost twice the average 426 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:45,600 Speaker 1: of other enslaved people. Whether that was our Robert Blake 427 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 1: or the other Robert Blake is unclear. In eighteen seventy five, 428 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 1: the US Congress unequivocally rejected Arthur's petition. 429 00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:57,240 Speaker 2: Good God Arthur. 430 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:05,480 Speaker 1: Captain Mead also wondered what became of Robber, As he 431 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:09,400 Speaker 1: later wrote, quote whatever became of him? Does not appear, 432 00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:12,200 Speaker 1: as there is no record of him in the books 433 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:16,120 Speaker 1: at the Navy Department. But if he is still alive, 434 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:21,360 Speaker 1: he is doubtless as cheery as ever. No man ever 435 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:25,440 Speaker 1: deserved a medal of Honor more truly than this gallant 436 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:30,160 Speaker 1: young negro from the Captain down. Every man on the 437 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:36,680 Speaker 1: marblehead honored the ex slave Robert Blake. I personally love 438 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:41,040 Speaker 1: the idea of Robert having a totally fresh start, a 439 00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:46,120 Speaker 1: new city, maybe even a new name. But whether he 440 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:49,520 Speaker 1: left the South or not, I hope he felt that 441 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:54,040 Speaker 1: his courage was rewarded not by the medal of Honor, 442 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:58,440 Speaker 1: not by the one hundred dollars, but by the hope 443 00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:03,160 Speaker 1: for a country that might liver on its promise of life, liberty, 444 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:08,240 Speaker 1: and the pursuit of happiness for everyone. 445 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:09,720 Speaker 2: Hope for a. 446 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:44,200 Speaker 1: New version of America, Hope a long last for freedom. 447 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:47,480 Speaker 1: Medal of Honor Stories of Courage is written by Meredith 448 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:51,240 Speaker 1: Robins and produced by Meredith Rollins and Jess Shane. Our 449 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:55,320 Speaker 1: editor on this episode is Amy Gaines McQuaid. Sound design 450 00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:59,320 Speaker 1: and additional music by Jake Gorsky. Our executive producer is 451 00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:03,880 Speaker 1: Gonstanza Gotta. Though fact checking by Arthur Gomperts and original 452 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:08,920 Speaker 1: music by Eric Phillips. Production support by Suzanne Gamber Special 453 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:12,480 Speaker 1: thanks to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Don't forget 454 00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:15,280 Speaker 1: We want to hear from you. Send us your personal 455 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:20,080 Speaker 1: story of courage or highlight someone else's bravery. Email us 456 00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:24,799 Speaker 1: at Medal of Honor at Pushkin dot fm. You might 457 00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:27,360 Speaker 1: hear your stories on future episodes of Metal of Honor, 458 00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:32,080 Speaker 1: or see them on our social channels at Pushkin Pods. 459 00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 1: I'm your host, JR. 460 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:35,680 Speaker 2: Martinez