Morning Wire - Honoring Our World War II Fallen Heroes & Veterans | Memorial Day | 5.29.23

Episode Date: May 29, 2023

Andrew Biggio is a Marine veteran and author of The Rifle. He’s spent years traveling the country collecting and sharing the stories of America's last living World War II veterans, many of whom – in their 90s or early hundreds – had previously never spoken about their experiences. Happy Memorial Day everyone and thank you to our veterans. God bless America. Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Black Rifle Coffee: Get 10% off your first order or Coffee Club subscription with code WIRE: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Andrew Bidgio is a Marine veteran and the author of The Rifle. He spent years traveling the country collecting the stories of America's last living World War II veterans, many of whom in their late 90s and early hundreds had previously never spoken about their experiences. In this episode, we hear from Bidio about the stories he was able to document from our last few veterans from the greatest generation and how their stories helped him process his own experience as a Marine. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's May 29, and this is your special Memorial Day edition of Morning Wire. We're joined now by Marine Veteran and author Andrew Bidgio.

Andrew, thanks so much for joining us. No problem. Thank you. It's my pleasure. Now, you took on an amazing project. You spent years traveling around the country, collecting the stories of World War II veterans. First off, tell us a little bit about the rifle you brought with you, and how does that play into this? story. Sure, the rifle is an M1 grand from 1945, and it was the stated issue rifle of that time.

Almost everybody had to fire it, whether in training or actual combat. So when I put the rifle into the arms of these men and women, 80 years later, 79 years later, it really acted as a microphone to bring back memories. They just, their memories flooded their brain again. and they were able to convey to me everything from training to combat to returning home. Does it bring back memories? I still think this is one of the best rifles we ever had. Did you carry that or the carbine? I'm done.

I don't remember being that every. This thing's right out of that. You remember that thing, don't you? Yes, I remember. Beautiful weapon. Now, clearly this rifle sparks their memories. Here's some of the reactions. What do you think about all this coming back?

Extremely. It's hard to put in words. We're lucky to have you back, man. I'm lucky to be back. I can't believe this. It's beyond my wildness. It's beyond words. I found a couple of medics in Jeep,

and they saw I was wounded, and they patched me up. And they told them, I want you to go. back to see these two men who had been hit with me. And one of the medics went up in the building and came back down shaking his head. There wasn't anything he could do. Wow. Now, what stood out to you most during these meetings with veterans? I think that what stood out most was a lot of them didn't try to play up to the reputation that they were the greatest generation. A lot of them taught me that war isn't just black and white, good versus evil, and that sometimes the greatest generation did some not so great things in order to win the war. And as a recent veteran of Iraq and

Afghanistan, it brought some normalcy to the situation that we found ourselves in as post-9-11 veterans. Yeah, I think that would be an important message for a lot of our service members to hear right now. Now, it's probably difficult to just pick one, but which was your most memorable meeting? I think of all the meetings of the men who signed the rifle, I'd say the one that stands out to me right now is Ed Cottrell, who's a 101-year-old P-47 fighter pilot. And Ed flew 65 missions during the Battle of the Bulge and was almost shot down twice. And he agreed to go back to Belgium with me. And we had located his former landing strip. We had located two crash sites of his.

friends actually recovered pieces of his friend's planes because the farmers that had been farming the area over the last 30 years have always been digging up small little pieces. So we're able to give a piece of the plane to add his momentum. And then when we brought him to Maragrotton Cemetery in the Netherlands, he found the grave of his friend Ted Smith and totally collapsed on his knees and crying and started hugging the grave. Wow. I saw part of your interview with Sal Marano where he was holding that rifle for the first time in decades. Let's listen to that real quick. Does it feel heavier than it used to?

Oh, yes, it does. A lot of area. And Sal, how old are you? 90 what? 102. Wow, 1921. Amen. Now, Sal served in the 10th Mountain Division in Italy.

Can you tell us a little bit about his story? Yes, Sal just passed away at 102 years old. He served with the 10th Mountain Division in the Po Valley of Italy and was wounded in action, came home and worked for the U.S. Postal Service for, I think, 38 years. And, you know, he's someone who's never felt sorry for himself, stayed active in the Disabled American Veterans Associations, and welcomed me into his house at age 102 to talk about the Italian campaign during the Second World War. Well, your work is so important because we just don't have very many years left with these veterans. and there's just very few of them left.

Some of them have left some really profound legacies. I'm thinking of your video with Tony Vaccaro. He was the war photographer. This took me Normandita Berlin. Normandy to Berlin, huh? Yeah. I was wounded twice. But I bet you I know some of these people.

It's amazing. When's the last time you held an M1 grand? I was 1920. I am not close to 100. It was a long time ago. Yeah, but still, I liked it. Because when you aim with this, was very accurate.

Tell us a little bit about Tony. Yeah, we just lost Tony at age 102. Man, he was a pioneer. I mean, he took some of the most notable photos of the Second World War, you know, ones you find on Google today that you never ask yourself, oh, who took this photo and is this person still alive? And he took some of the most iconic images of World War II.

German veterans crying once they found out their homes were destroyed after returning home from war. There's another one where there's a soldier on his knees and a little French girl's kissing his cheek. And the photo's called The Liberator. And it's pretty well known if you're browsing World War II images. He went on became a professional photographer after the war. as well, but he experienced a lot of trauma serving with the 83rd infantry division during World War II. He earned a Purple Heart, was in the Battle of the Bulge, and was an actual infantryman, but just happened to have a high-quality camera on him, which a lot of young men at that time couldn't afford

or didn't have. And because he was infantry and because he was the front lines, he got to capture some of the best photos that some official war press and war photographers couldn't. you know how many World War II vets we still have? The VA had released a statement maybe six months ago that they believe there was something like 180,000 World War II veterans still alive of the once 16 million. Those are U.S. veterans who earned the World War II Victory Medal. You recently brought a handful of these veterans with you to Europe. That was a pretty amazing trip, it sounds like.

Tell us a little bit about that. Yeah, I recently went to Belgium and Germany. We revisited the concentration camps with Jake Rooser, Ed Cottrell, Jack Moran, and Bud Heideke. And all four of those veterans had served in World War II, somewhere in the Air Force, somewhere in the infantry, and one of them was a medic. And we visited Buchenwald concentration camp and then also returned to the Ardennes where the battle, the bulge took place. and it was just amazing. We were able to locate the vicinity of their foxholes, see some of the remaining foxholes of their buddies,

homes they took shelter in during the war, and we even put up a small memorial plaque for the fourth infantry division on the Hercan Forest. And to do all that with these men while they're 98 years old was just awesome. Having a beer with a man who's nearly 100. 79 years later on the battlefield he served on that he never returned to because of such the trauma and the chaos that took place during the war,

never wanting to come back, and now finally being retired and being in nursing homes, these guys got on a plane, got on a coach bus, and toured the battlefields with me and some other younger veterans. And I imagine some of them got pretty emotional while they were there. Oh, yeah, especially when we visited the cemeteries. Some of them found guys from their exact regiments and units and got very emotional. had to sit down because of how powerful it was,

seeing some of these names written on a cross. 78 and 79 years later really took them back. Now, traveling around the country to meet these men and then traveling around the world to go back to some of these battlegrounds, that's a massive undertaking. What made you want to take that on? I think what happened was 50% of the veterans, if not more. I would even say 75% of the 300 veterans I met

had never returned to these places that I think are on the average Americans bucket list, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam. And the fact that now that they're retired, now that they're sitting home dwindling away in a recliner, the fact that they said, you know what, now I think I would go back to Omaha Beach, or now I would go back to Bastogne. I thought it would be so great to a pair younger veterans with an older veteran and let them bond together over there in France or Belgium. and, you know, who better to take care of an older veteran in a wheelchair than a younger veteran

knowing that he might be in that position one day? And I think it was very therapeutic for all the younger veterans and first responders that I paired with World War II veterans that these veterans had the courage to return at their age where their health is not so good. And they could bring back some post-traumatic stress memories, but they did anyway, especially in the eyes of the younger veterans. And I did about 10 trips. I've taken over 30 World War II veterans back.

to the battlefields they fought on. Were there any common sentiments that they shared or just common threads that you noticed again and again? A lot of the common threads were just, they never talked about the war to their wife, their kids. I don't think they want to die with any secrets. And they opened up to me as a younger veteran

because I told them that before all the World War II veterans are gone, you need to teach these young veterans who are coming home how to live a successful life after combat. And every one of them agreed to open up entirely about their war experiences. I think Americans need to realize that we only have a good couple years left with these men and women. And some of them are still driving. Some of them are still in nursing homes. Some of them can be still found in restaurants. Just make sure you take the time and say thank you. Right. There's not a ton of time left to do that. But it sounds like some

of the men that you were speaking to still are pretty active, even in their late 90s and early hundreds. What do you think accounts for that longevity? I think a lot of the veterans, have found now that are still living and still healthy kept active. They not only took one job, retired from that, then they took a second job, retired from that job, always stayed busy and active in their veterans associations and veterans clubs, always kept their mind so busy they don't have to dwell on the past or think about the past. And a lot of them definitely do not drink alcohol like they used to or smoke like they used to. So I think all of those became factors. Now, you yourself are a Marine veteran. What was

was your military experience like? I was an infantryman. I served in Iraq and Afghanistan. And I had a monetarily decent deployments. No heavy combat. I did see some death and destruction. And I think that's why I found it important to be able to spread the message to these other veterans who may have had more tragic experiences and find these World War II veterans who had just as bad experiences, if not worse, and to say, hey, if these guys can do it, so can you. You touched on this a little bit before, but how did meeting these veterans and hearing their stories help you process your experience?

Yeah, meeting these veterans not only helped me learn how to become a good veteran, but a good father, a good leader, a good listener, and a good family man. I could take a lot away from a man, a World War II veteran, who lived in until 98 years old and what they did. And I tried to apply that to my everyday life, not just what they did in combat, but what they did afterwards. Now, your first book, The Rifle,

documents a lot of these stories, and you have a sequel to that book coming out in September. How is Part 2 going to be different from part 1? The Rifle 2 is a little bit more controversy for sure. I interview a lot of veterans who came home and had their head on their shoulders I wasn't live good lives, but I did this time cover of many veterans who came home as alcoholics, criminals, liars, and even a murderer. So it was trying to show the other side of things of the guys who didn't come home and live up to that greatest generation title.

But eventually, it took a while, but eventually they did square their lives away and made it to their late 90s. All right. Well, Andy, thanks so much for coming on today and bringing these stories to our audience. Sure, thank you. It's my pleasure. That was Andy Bidgio, author of The Rifle. You can learn more and view dozens of veteran interviews that Andy has collected at World War II Rifle.com, spelled www.com. We want to take a moment to remember and honor our fallen heroes on this Memorial Day. We know without the sacrifices of the selfless and courageous members of the U.S. military and their families, we couldn't enjoy the freedoms we do today.

Thank you to all who have given so much. for the rest of us. Thanks for waking up with us. This has been your Memorial Day edition of Morning Wire.