IS A WORLD WAR BUILDING? 1/4: The Unknowns: The Untold Story of America’s Unknown Soldier and WWI’s Most Decorated Heroes Who Brought Him Home, by Patrick K. O'Donnell ÅÇ
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 15 April 2024
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When the first Unknown Soldier was laid to rest in Arlington, General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force in WWI, selected eight of America’s most decorated, battle-hardened veterans to serve as Body Bearers. For the first time, O’Donnell portrays their heroics on the battlefield one hundred years ago, thereby animatingÅÇ the Tomb by giving voice to all who have served. The Body Bearers appropriately spanned America’s service branches and specialties. Their ranks include a cowboy who relived the charge of the light brigade, an American Indian who heroically breached mountains of German barbed wire, a salty New Englander who dueled a U-boat for hours in a fierce gunfight, a tough New Yorker who sacrificed his body to save his ship, and an indomitable gunner who, though blinded by gas, nonetheless overcame five machine-gun nests. Their stories slip easily into the larger narrative of America’s involvement in the conflict, transporting readers into the midst of dramatic battles during 1917–1918 that ultimately decided the Great War
https://www.amazon.com/Unknowns-Americas-Soldier-Decorated-Brought/dp/0802128335
1941 MALTA
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is |
| 0:05.0 | CBS I on the world with John Bachelor. |
| 0:09.0 | Here's John Bachelor. |
| 0:11.0 | It is November 9th, 1921. The Potomac River off of Washington, D.C. Entering |
| 0:19.5 | the Potomac is a very famous ship, the USS Olympia. I welcome Patrick O'Donnell, the author of |
| 0:26.9 | The Unknown's, the Untold Story of America's Unknown Soldier and World War I's |
| 0:32.0 | most decorated heroes who brought him home. |
| 0:35.0 | Onboard Olympia is the unknown soldier. |
| 0:38.0 | Patrick, a very good evening to you, thank you for this. |
| 0:42.0 | The Olympia... The Olympics is bringing the unknown... Good evening John. |
| 0:43.7 | The Olympics is bringing the unknown soldier home. |
| 0:47.3 | Waiting for the Olympia and the unknown soldier on Kayside are the distinguished leadership of the United States of America. |
| 0:55.8 | And eight men who have been chosen to bear the body that day and in the next days as the unknown soldier is revered by the United States |
| 1:09.0 | of America. |
| 1:10.6 | The British and the French I learned from you have had ceremonies similar to this a year or more before. |
| 1:17.0 | The Americans were the last. |
| 1:20.0 | Why is that? What was the reluctance to have the unknown soldier come home from a graveyard in France? |
| 1:26.6 | Thank you Patrick. |
| 1:27.8 | Thank you John. It's really a pleasure and an honor to be with you today. |
| 1:31.9 | The reluctance was the War Department |
| 1:36.6 | told people, rather falsely, that they could identify the thousands of Americans that remained in Europe. |
| 1:47.0 | And that was a pipe dream and it was wishful thinking. |
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