Higgins: The Louisiana Boat Builder Who Won World War II
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 27 March 2026
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, when Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, they needed a way to get from ship to shore quickly, directly, and under fire. That job fell to a simple but revolutionary landing craft known as the Higgins boat, a vessel that could run up on the beach and drop its front ramp in seconds. Eisenhower himself called it a key reason victory was even possible.
Nancy Rust and Carol Stubbs, authors of Higgins and the Boats That Landed Victory in World War II, share the story of Andrew Higgins and how an invention born in the bayous of Louisiana helped change the course of World War II.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.3 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:14.1 | And we return to our American stories. |
| 0:17.8 | Before World War II, the idea of a beach landing wasn't something on the radar of most |
| 0:23.3 | militaries. We didn't have the right technology, nor did most nations want or foresee a need |
| 0:30.2 | for the right technology. This mindset would quickly change after the fall of France, and later |
| 0:36.3 | the attack on Pearl Harbor, and one man |
| 0:39.5 | from the swamps of Louisiana had a solution. Here to tell the story of Andrew Higgins is Nancy |
| 0:45.8 | Rust and Carol Stubbs. You'll also hear from Stephen Ambrose and segments from Louisiana's |
| 0:52.4 | 4WL TV. |
| 0:55.6 | Let's get into the story first with Stephen Ambrose. |
| 0:59.1 | The first time I ever met General Eisenhower was in 1964. |
| 1:02.7 | He had asked me to come to his office and get his bird, Pennsylvania, |
| 1:06.5 | to talk about being the editor of his papers. |
| 1:09.2 | And we talked through the day. And at the end of the day, he leaned back in his chair and he said, I see that you come from New Orleans. Did you ever know Andrew Higgins? I said, no, sir, Mr. Higgins died the year before I moved to New Orleans, so I never knew him. And Eisenhower said, well, that's too bad. You know, he's the man who won the war for us. |
| 1:30.3 | We interrupt this broadcast to bring to this important bulletin from the United Press. |
| 1:33.9 | This country is at war with Germany. |
| 1:40.0 | We'll fight in the hills. |
| 1:42.0 | We shall never surrender. |
| 1:43.4 | Flash, Washington. |
| 1:44.9 | The White House announces Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. |
| 1:49.3 | If it hadn't been for Andy Higgins, we would have had to change the whole strategy |
... |
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