1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting 5 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: On the night of September tenth of two thousand and one, 7 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:41,520 Speaker 1: a man lounged on a couch in a New York 8 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:44,559 Speaker 1: City hotel suite. Outside his window, the bright lights of 9 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: Manhattan cut through the darkness. He could see the twin 10 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:51,280 Speaker 1: towers jutting upwards, taller than any other buildings in the city. 11 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: The man hadn't felt this good in a long time. 12 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: His whole body was exhausted from the show he'd put 13 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: on a few hours before. But it was okay because 14 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: his tour was finally over, and for once he wasn't 15 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: alone in his hotel room. His relatives were there with him. 16 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:10,039 Speaker 1: You see, this man was always traveling, always away from home, 17 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: always missing his family. But that night, his mom and 18 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:17,480 Speaker 1: his sister sat across from him, smiling and laughing. I 19 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 1: don't know what they talked about. Maybe they told stories 20 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:22,680 Speaker 1: about when the man was just a kid, even back 21 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:25,679 Speaker 1: then he'd been a star. Maybe they told him how 22 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: great that evening show had been, how excited the fans 23 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: at Madison Square Garden had been. Or maybe they asked 24 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:34,399 Speaker 1: him what he had going on the next day. If 25 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: they did, he would have told them this. The very 26 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: next morning, September eleventh of two thousand and one, he 27 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: had a meeting on the top floor of the World 28 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: Trade Center. Whatever they talked about, it must have been 29 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: a great conversation, because the man's mom and sister didn't 30 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: leave his hotel room until four o'clock in the morning. 31 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: By the time they were gone, he was totally drained. 32 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: He barely remembered to set his alarm before he crawled 33 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: into bed and fell asleep. Next morning, at eight forty 34 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: six am, American Airlines Flight eleven crashed into the North 35 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: Tower of the World Trade Center. Seventeen minutes later, Flight 36 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: one P seventy five struck the South tower. In the process, 37 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: Manhattan became the setting of the deadliest terrorist attack in 38 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: US history, with over three thousand people killed. Rubble littered 39 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: the ground, smoke rose high into the air, and first 40 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,920 Speaker 1: responders risked their lives to save others. Across the country, 41 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: new stations played footage of the horrifying tragedy. Even today, 42 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: it would be difficult to find a single person over 43 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 1: the age of thirty that doesn't remember exactly where they 44 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: were the moment they heard the news. Back then, though, 45 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: word was still spreading, and in that New York City 46 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 1: hotel room, the man's alarm beaped and beaped and beaped. 47 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:47,360 Speaker 1: He should have been inside the World Trade Center at 48 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 1: the very moment the plane struck, but he was so 49 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: tired that he had slept through his alarm. It wasn't 50 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,640 Speaker 1: until the sounds of explosions and sirens broke out that 51 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 1: he woke up, got out of bed, and ran to 52 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:02,519 Speaker 1: his window. A peaceful scene from the night before was gone. 53 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,960 Speaker 1: The twin towers were in shambles. Just as he began 54 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: to understand what happened, the man's hotel phone rang. He 55 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: picked it up and heard his mom's frantic voice on 56 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: the other end. She wanted to make sure that her 57 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: son was alive, he told her, and I quote mother, 58 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: I'm okay. Thanks to you. You kept me up talking 59 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: so late that I overslept and missed my appointment and 60 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:26,800 Speaker 1: listen the last I slept through my alarm. It pretty 61 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 1: much ruined my whole day. But I can't even begin 62 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:32,080 Speaker 1: to imagine how grateful this man must have been. He 63 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: went on to live for another eight years, but those 64 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 1: were trying times for him. The man who had once 65 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: sold out shows at Madison Square Garden became the subject 66 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: of widespread controversy. Fame, something that he had had since 67 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: he was eleven years old, took its toll. His legacy 68 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: had been damaged time and time again, and this might 69 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: be what inspired his brother to write a memoir. The 70 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: story about this man narrowly escaping nine to eleven was 71 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: revealed in his brother's book, which was published in twenty eleven. 72 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: It also gives more intimate details of the man's life 73 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: and reminds readers that while he was a complicated and 74 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: often troubled figure, the impact he made on music and 75 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: pop culture is undeniable. Without him, there would be no Moonwalk, 76 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: no glittery White Glove, no thriller Knights. After all, he 77 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:35,839 Speaker 1: was Michael Jackson, the King of pop. In September of 78 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty three, the Civil War was at its height. 79 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: The Union and Confederate armies faced off in northwestern Georgia 80 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: in a conflict now known as the Battle of Chickamauga. 81 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: It was a horrible, brutal fight, becoming the second deadliest 82 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: battle of the Civil War, only behind Gettysburg. But in 83 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: the midst of this fighting stood a very curious soldier. 84 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: His name was John Clem. He was from Ohio, and 85 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: he left to join the Union Army a little over 86 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: two years prior. At first, he served as a drummer 87 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: for Michigan's twenty second Regiment, but anxious to do more, 88 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:10,279 Speaker 1: he quickly traded his drumsticks for a musket. When the 89 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:13,359 Speaker 1: twenty second Regiment entered the Battle of Chickamauga on September 90 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 1: eighteenth of eighteen sixty three, John Clem marched alongside them 91 00:05:17,839 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: for two days. They fought for two days. They stuck together, 92 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:25,839 Speaker 1: Then disaster struck. A group of Confederate soldiers surrounded them. 93 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:29,159 Speaker 1: John became separated from the rest of his regiment. When 94 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:31,479 Speaker 1: he looked up, he found himself staring straight into the 95 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 1: eyes of a Confederate colonel. The colonel sized John Clem 96 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: up and said, and I quote, I think the best 97 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: thing a mite of a chap like you can do 98 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: is drop that gun. But John Clem did not drop 99 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: his gun, quite the opposite. He lifted the musket, aimed 100 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 1: it right at the colonel and shot. Then he turned 101 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: around and sprinted away as fast as he possibly could 102 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 1: and behind him. The colonel yelled out some choice words, 103 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: calling John a damned little Yankee devil. But John probably 104 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: did hear that bit. He'd managed to make it back 105 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: across the Union lines and was safely with his fellow fighters. 106 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: Although the Confederate Army won the battle that day, John 107 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: Clem survived, and he would soon be honored for his 108 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:15,400 Speaker 1: bravery against the colonel. He was promoted from soldier to sergeant, 109 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: which meant that he was now officially an officer in 110 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,719 Speaker 1: the US Army. The only catch was John Clem was 111 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:24,839 Speaker 1: twelve years old. It's crazy, I know. It was a 112 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,039 Speaker 1: journey that started just a few years earlier too. John's 113 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 1: mother had died when he was nine years old, and 114 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: after she was gone, he ran away from home in 115 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:35,719 Speaker 1: the hope of joining the army. He'd actually been turned 116 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:38,280 Speaker 1: away from at least one other regiment on account of 117 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:40,920 Speaker 1: the whole thing of being a child. Before the twenty 118 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:44,520 Speaker 1: second Michigan regiment accepted him. When they did finally let 119 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: him in, it was only so that he could be 120 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,599 Speaker 1: a sort of unofficial mascot slash drummer boy. He was 121 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:52,280 Speaker 1: more like an adopted child who the other soldiers took 122 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:55,240 Speaker 1: care of than an actual member of the US military. 123 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,839 Speaker 1: But John kept insisting that he wasn't there to drum, 124 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:02,160 Speaker 1: he was there to fight. Eventually, his commander agreed that 125 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: he could have a musket, although they had to saw 126 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:06,920 Speaker 1: part of the end off to make it light enough 127 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: for the child to carry. Regardless, at the Battle of Chickamauga, 128 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 1: John clem clearly proved that he met business. Still, for 129 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: all his bravery, there was the pesky problem of being 130 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 1: a minor. About a year later, in July of eighteen 131 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: sixty four, the US War Department announced that it would 132 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: be instituting strict penalties for anyone who allowed boys under 133 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 1: the age of sixteen to enlist, So John's commanding officer 134 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:33,920 Speaker 1: was forced to let him go. He told the boy, 135 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: in so many words, that he ought to trade the 136 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 1: musket for a pencil and go to school. John followed 137 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: his commander's orders. From his new place in a high 138 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: school classroom. He kept in touch with his friends from 139 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: Michigan's twenty second Regiment, and when he graduated in eighteen seventy, 140 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 1: he received nomination to West Point from none other than 141 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: President Ulysses S. Grant, But that didn't go quite as 142 00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 1: planned either. John failed the West Point entrance exam. However, 143 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: due to his highly unique experience, President Grant appointed John 144 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 1: as an army lieutenant. Anyway, John Clem spent the next 145 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 1: forty four years in the military, eventually rising to the 146 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: rank of major general. When he retired in nineteen fifteen, 147 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: he was the last active duty member who had served 148 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: in the Civil War. He died in nineteen thirty seven 149 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 1: and is now buried at Arlington National Cemetery with a 150 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: headstone that says John Lincoln Clem, the Drummer Boy of Chickamauga, 151 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: a fitting nickname for such a strange soldier. I hope 152 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:41,599 Speaker 1: you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 153 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:45,040 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 154 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 155 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:53,080 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with hou 156 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore 157 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show and 158 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:04,840 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at Theworldoflore dot com. 159 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.