#163 - One Soldier's Story; Bob Dole, Part I

 

Before he was a Senator, and even before he was a soldier, Bob Dole (right rear) was the second oldest of four children in a family in Russell, Kansas

In high school he was a three-letter varsity athlete. He played football; he ran track; but basketball was his first love, and it is partially why he became the first person in his family to go to college.

[REPLAY] Episode 13 - I Could Stay Here Forever

This week is a REPLAY of Episode 13, when I initially talked about JFK's funeral as part of the story of the history of the history of Arlington National Cemetery, but is a fitting finish for the story I've been telling these last few months.

 

Episode 162: The Other PT 109 Survivors; JFK, Part VIII

 

The survivors of PT 109 led distinct and varied lives. All but one of them survived the war, most of them survived their skipper, Jack Kennedy, and a few of them lived into the 21st century. Several of them worked on JFK's presidential campaign in one way or another, and a handful were even given the chance to travel to Japan in the early 1960s and meet with crewmembers of the Amagiri.

What they all had in common was a love for their commander and not a single one of them ever had a negative thing to say about Lieutenant Kennedy - at least not in public. That tends to be the sign of a good leader!

Episode 161: The Rest of the Story; JFK, Part VIII

 

After Jack's rocky year in the House of Representatives, he runs for the Senate and beats a guy who hasn't lost an election in years... and he wins it with the help of an endorsement from an old adversary who has become a new friend.

He really settles into life as a senator and, as you probably know, he goes on to become the second youngest president in US history. But I promise there are a few details you don't know about the rest of the story, so I hope you listen.

 

Episode 160: Jack's War is Over; JFK, Part VII

While the PT 109 survivors's saga comes to an end, it is not the end of the story. In this episode we learn why JFK decides to get into politics after the war - it was NOT his decision - and when his political career plateaus, we'll see the insane thing Joe, Sr. has his son do to take his political career to the next level.

 

Episode 159: Castaway; JFK, Part VI

After PT 109 is ripped in two, the eleven men who miraculously survive spend the next four days looking for rescue before they die of dehydration and before the thousands of Japanese troops surrounding them become away of their presence... This is also why JFK will have a coconut on his desk in the oval office.

 

Episode 158: Forged in Fire; JFK, Part V

In the chaos following PT 109's collision with INJ Amagiri, Jack Kennedy does everything he can to rescue his shipmates and when it becomes obvious that no one is coming to rescue them, he choses an island deep inside enemy territory and hopes it is small enough to be of no strategic value to the Japanese; but only time will tell if it is garrisoned or not.