You're listening to an airwave media podcast.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Wesley Levisa from the History of the Second World War podcast.

Join me on a journey to the most destructive conflict in human history, a journey that

will take us not just through the famous campaigns and cataclysmic battles, but also to the lesser

well-known corners of the war that touched millions all over the world, as we try and

answer not just the questions of what and where, but how and why.

You can find History of the Second World War on all major podcast platforms or at History

of the Second World War dot com.

Picture a man and holder man in a military uniform in the corner of a kitchen peeling potatoes.

Making a meal for his comrades, pulling kitchen patrol KP.

Now picture that this man is the vice president of the United States.

Hannibal Hamlin may not be the only vice president to serve in the military, certainly not.

But he's the only one I'm aware of to do so before his vice presidency was over.

In Hamlin's case, done with his duties in Washington, president pro temp of the Senate

established to manage that body, his only real constitutional job.

He wish to make a contribution to the civil war going on at the time.

And he joined the main coast guard as a private.

He didn't want to be treated any differently than anyone else.

He performed all the duties patrol, including kitchen patrol.

After some persuasion, they convinced him that he could reside with the officers, but that

was his only compromise.

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