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This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories,

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Up next, a story about a 29,000, 32-foot-tall mountain in Nepal, and the rag-tag group of men from across the United States

who decided to climb it during one of the most transformative years in our nation's history,

1963. Here to tell the story is Brat O'Burn, author of The Vast Unknown. Let's get into the story.

I was in the seventh grade in middle school in Tacoma, Washington, when the students in our class were summoned to the assembly

hall to listen to a guest speaker.

And in walked a man with a grizzled beard and laser-like eyes.

And he looked at all of us, reached down, opened a zipper of his Kelty frame pack, and pulled out a bottle and passed it around the room.

It contained his nine blackened toes that had been amputated in the capital city of Nepal and we were horrified and delighted.

And at that point I was hooked.

The man was Willie Unsold. And it turned out that Willie Unsold had led a life of charity because he was rescued in

1949 after making an attempt on a peak in India by some missionaries.

And they turned him on to a life of service.

So I really wanted to follow in Willie Unsold's footsteps.

I joined the Peace Corps. I was wanted to follow in Willie Unsold's footsteps. I joined the Peace Corps.

I was assigned to Nepal.

And I learned about the American Everest Expedition of 1963.

VIII.

...