229: WWII Bataan Death March survivor Dan Crowley
The Hard Way With Joe De Sena
Spartan Races
4.8 • 874 Ratings
🗓️ 8 January 2019
⏱️ 65 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This may be the most important interview in Spartan Up history. The story Dan Crowley, a 96-year-old WWII POW, survivor of the horrific Bataan Death March, and a delightful man. Faced with unfathomable torture, he is truly one of the most resilient, remarkable and optimistic human beings we have had the privilege to meet. This extended episode tells a dark tale in the world's history, yet, his smiling jovial face shows the true and utter strength, grit and resolve of our species. It was our honor to be able to capture this important story and share it with all of you.
LESSONS:
Persistence of hope is key
Whatever has happened, there is still joy to be had
Believe in yourself
Be a role model
Use the way your impacted to positively impact the world
Live your life knowing you will survive
Humor can be a powerful tool for healing
LINKS:
This episode is brought to you by CHOMPS, the cleanest jerky stick on the market. You can purchase Chomps' grass-fed, non-GMO, no sugar added meat snacks at https://chomps.com/ use the promo code SPARTAN for 20% off and free shipping
TIME STAMPS:
0:00 Hosts Colonel Nye, Johnny Waite, Marion Abrams and guest Dr. Lara Pence introduce this powerful interview
2:34 Col Nye introduces the history behind the Bataan Death March
4:00 Joe DeSena interview with Dan Crowley begins
7:00 making his way to the Philippines
13:00 attack on Nichols Base in Manilla
15:00 sailing to Bataan Peninsula
17:00 defending Bataan against the Japanese
21:00 an untenable position
22:25 the night of April 9th - a long swim
28:00 CHOMPS.COM break
29:00 31 Habits of the Healthiest Spartan
30:48 Joe DeSena interview with Dan Crowley continues - "the need to endure"
33:00 trapped in a 3 acre cesspool - "becoming valuable enough to be given the right to live"
35:00 slave labor work detail
36:45 building an airfield without machinery & beaten with clubs (nicknamed vitamin sticks)
38:00 almost beaten to the point of death
39:30 Jerry the "Executioner"
43:20 being deemed "unfit for labor" & sent to Japan
46:45 sailing from Brooklyn army base
47:00 The lowest point
48:45 Going home - the Readjustment Period
51:00 trying to get a job once home
53:15 Johnny Waite, Colonel Nye, Marion Abrams and guest Dr. Lara Pence discuss this remarkable interview
1:05:00 CHOMPS.COM close
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CREDITS:
Producer – Marion Abrams, Madmotion, llc.
Hosts: Joe De Sena with Johnny Waite, Colonel Nye, Marion Abrams and guest Dr. Lara Pence
Synopsis – Sefra Alexandra
Production Assistant - Andrea Hagarty
© 2018 Spartan
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode of Spartan Up is brought to you by Chomps. |
| 0:03.0 | Pro Protein anti-junk, use the code Spartan at chomps.com to save 20%. |
| 0:08.5 | Welcome to Spartan Up podcast. |
| 0:10.0 | I'm standing here with Colonel Timnai, Dr Laura Pence, Johnny Waite. We are at Fenway recording today. |
| 0:17.0 | It's the stadium sprint going on. That's why Joe's not here. He's out there somewhere. |
| 0:21.0 | Sefra is a long way away in Fiji doing a great seed project. |
| 0:25.0 | But you know I actually want to call Marion in, you know, she spends a lot of time, she's |
| 0:28.2 | our producer, she also has a lot of the filming so we get to see this little tiny piece of her face, |
| 0:32.2 | but we want to see her whole face. |
| 0:34.0 | The reason is that she brought a very special guest to us. |
| 0:36.8 | And this was an interview that Joe did. |
| 0:38.9 | And it was one of the longest ones we've ever seen. |
| 0:41.2 | I'm sure you're going to do a bit of editing because you |
| 0:44.4 | know Joe he did not want to stop talking with yeah yeah so this guy Dan |
| 0:49.0 | is my husband's uncle Dan and he has a really amazing story. He was a he's 96 years old. He was a |
| 0:56.7 | POW in World War II and you know the things he experienced we talk about setting context or having a bar to set or setting a frame of reference and |
| 1:08.2 | Everything seems insignificant in in in the face of what he experienced so it's a story I wanted to tell on the podcast for a long time. |
| 1:15.9 | And so I approached Joe and I said, hey, let's go to Connecticut |
| 1:20.0 | and let's make a special trip and interview this guy. And he said yes immediately and I'm grateful for that and so you know this is what |
| 1:29.6 | follows is the interview we actually took the kids out of school brought them down |
| 1:32.2 | because we felt |
| 1:32.7 | like it was an important thing to see it and be a part of that that history. |
... |
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