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Flight Plan · Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menkey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
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  Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
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  Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
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  Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
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  Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
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  Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Everyone in the rural town often commented on
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  Speaker 1: his physical strength, stamina, and endurance. Tall and strong, he
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  Speaker 1: easily bested every boy his age and physical skills. He
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  Speaker 1: had plenty of lean muscle from hours of hard physical labor.
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  Speaker 1: And while he excelled at running and jumping, and was
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  Speaker 1: even an accomplished axe thrower, it was wrestling that he
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  Speaker 1: enjoyed the most. In fact, by the time he was
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  Speaker 1: twenty one, he'd won every single match he entered, becoming
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  Speaker 1: the reigning champion in America. Needless to say, he was good,
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  Speaker 1: really good, and he knew it. In a biography written
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  Speaker 1: many years later, it was said that after one particular
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  Speaker 1: wrestling match, he looked out into the crowd and declared
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  Speaker 1: himself the big Buck of the sports and challenged anyone
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  Speaker 1: who thought differently to step on up and give it
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  Speaker 1: their best. Now, his claim might have sounded a bit
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  Speaker 1: arrogant coming from anyone else, but the townsfolk knew he
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  Speaker 1: was right. He could back all that talk up. After all,
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  Speaker 1: he had competed in over three hundred matches and had
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  Speaker 1: lost only once after taking a bad step and falling
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  Speaker 1: bold statements. Aside, though the townsfolk liked him, he had
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  Speaker 1: a solid reputation for being forthright, hard working, kind and dependable.
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  Speaker 1: Boasting wasn't usually his thing, so if he claimed that
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  Speaker 1: he was the best, well then he was. Not a
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  Speaker 1: single person accepted his challenge. He wasn't the only champion
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  Speaker 1: wrestler in the area, though, another wrestler about the same
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  Speaker 1: age lived just one county over, and by some accounts,
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  Speaker 1: he was as big and strong as a Russian bear.
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  Speaker 1: His name even sounded like a formidable wrestler, Jack Armstrong
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  Speaker 1: and Jack Armstrong had a fan club of sorts, a
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  Speaker 1: gang of troublemakers called the Cleary Grove Boys. For laughs,
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  Speaker 1: they once put a drunk into a barrel and closed
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  Speaker 1: it tight, and then rolled him down a hill. If
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  Speaker 1: the barrel hadn't broken on a tree, it would have
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  Speaker 1: plunged into the river. Another time, they burned a man's
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  Speaker 1: wooden leg, forcing him to watch. I'd venture to say
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  Speaker 1: that they were the only ones laughing at their attempt
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  Speaker 1: at a joke. Jack kept hearing great things about his
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  Speaker 1: neighboring rival and decided that he and his gang needed
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  Speaker 1: to rough him up a bit. But our local hometown
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  Speaker 1: champion talked him into a fair fight instead, or so
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  Speaker 1: he thought. Jack, certain that his bear like strength and
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  Speaker 1: bulk outmatched his much taller and lean built competitor, agreed
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  Speaker 1: to the challenge, but Jack would soon find out that
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  Speaker 1: he was wrong about that. The two men squared off
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  Speaker 1: on a dusty street on a sunny afternoon, like old
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  Speaker 1: West gun slingers. Spectators gathered to watch, and a few
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  Speaker 1: even placed bets. Moments into the match, however, those who
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  Speaker 1: had bet on Jack realized their mistake. Jack's friends had
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  Speaker 1: circled around, jabbing and punching, and even attempting to kick
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  Speaker 1: the legs out from the taller man. It was clearly underhanded,
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  Speaker 1: and the crowd jeered. Instead of stooping to the gang's level,
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  Speaker 1: our champions simply lifted Jack off his feet and slammed
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  Speaker 1: him to the ground. Then he offered to take Jack's
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  Speaker 1: friends on one by one after he finished with Jack,
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  Speaker 1: of course, and that's when something interesting happened. Jack Armstrong
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  Speaker 1: called off his gang and admitted defeat. The story goes
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  Speaker 1: that Jack was so taken with his rivals handling of
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  Speaker 1: the situation and the crowd's admiration of him, that he
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  Speaker 1: changed his ways to become more like his competitor. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: the two would eventually become good friends. The lesson hadn't
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  Speaker 1: gone unnoticed by our small town hero either. He'd made
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  Speaker 1: a lasting impression on those attending and changed a bully
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  Speaker 1: into someone who cared for others. Learning how to fight
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  Speaker 1: fair and having the courage to do the right thing
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  Speaker 1: would become key qualities for the rest of his life.
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  Speaker 1: But for all his talent as a wrestler, that's just
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  Speaker 1: a tiny part of his accomplishments. You see. After leaving
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  Speaker 1: his small hometown, he went on to serve in the military,
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  Speaker 1: became an accomplished public speaker, a lawyer, a writer, and
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  Speaker 1: a U. S Senator, And in twenty seven years after
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  Speaker 1: his death, he was also awarded a spot in the
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  Speaker 1: Wrestling Hall of Fame, a pretty nice achievement, but certainly
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  Speaker 1: not his biggest. No. That would be the time, he
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  Speaker 1: climbed his way to the top of American politics, becoming
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  Speaker 1: the sixteenth President of the United States and later the
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  Speaker 1: author of the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln. With the American
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  Speaker 1: twenty Division flanking their rights and the French Fourth Army
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  Speaker 1: flanking their left, Major Whittlesey led five fifty men from
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  Speaker 1: different troops passed the significantly wired and gardis post of
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  Speaker 1: the Argonne Forest. Their mission was to reach Hill on
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  Speaker 1: October two of nineteen eighteen. They made their way through
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  Speaker 1: the dense forest, and while they encountered some resistance while
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  Speaker 1: capturing Hill one night, they had no idea that the
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  Speaker 1: rest of the Americans and the French had come under
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  Speaker 1: heavy fire and had to turn back. Soon, the Germans
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  Speaker 1: closed in circling Whittlesey and his men. The Major sent
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  Speaker 1: runners to get help, but they were either captured by
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  Speaker 1: Germans or killed before reaching safety. The Major soon realized
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  Speaker 1: their predicament. With only two choices to either hold their
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  Speaker 1: ground or attempt to retreat, he and his men agreed
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  Speaker 1: to stay and fight at all costs, so they dug in,
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  Speaker 1: firing back and holding down the hill with everything they had.
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  Speaker 1: For five days, those men fought bravely, withstanding one assault
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  Speaker 1: of gunfire and grenade attack after another, food and ammunition
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  Speaker 1: ran low. The only water available meant crawling to a
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  Speaker 1: stream while under sniper fire, and the Germans cut off
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  Speaker 1: all radio communications. And then things got worse. The battalion
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  Speaker 1: came under friendly fire from the Americans, who had mistaken
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  Speaker 1: the lost battalion for the enemy. So Whittlesey sent a
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  Speaker 1: carrier pigeon to the nearby American forces, telling them to
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  Speaker 1: stop their fire. Yes, a carrier pigeon, you see. Back then,
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  Speaker 1: radios were heavy and not always reliable. Connecting the wires
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  Speaker 1: quickly was not only difficult, but often dangerous. Carry your pigeons,
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  Speaker 1: on the other hand, were fast, flying it close to
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  Speaker 1: fifty miles per hour, and they proved to be much
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  Speaker 1: more reliable too. Because of this, German machine gunners often
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  Speaker 1: targeted the words stop the bird, stop the message. The
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  Speaker 1: Germans shot down every bird the battalion scent They've taken
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  Speaker 1: heavy casualties. Bandages were in such short supply that they
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  Speaker 1: were removed from the dead and reused on the living.
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  Speaker 1: The men honestly couldn't last much longer, but they had
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  Speaker 1: one bird left, a female named Scheremi. The major jotted
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  Speaker 1: down one last message, We are along the road parallel
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  Speaker 1: to seventies six point four. American artillery is dropping a
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  Speaker 1: barrage directly on us. For Heaven's sake, make it stop.
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  Speaker 1: As soon as they sent the bird on her mission,
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  Speaker 1: a shell exploded beneath her, killing five men. Others watched
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  Speaker 1: in horror and despair. As chere Amie fluttered in the sky,
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  Speaker 1: disoriented and desperately avoiding gunfire. A bullet grazed her chest,
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  Speaker 1: sunning feathers, and Cheremi spiraling to the ground. Their last
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  Speaker 1: hope was gone, except that it wasn't. That little bird,
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  Speaker 1: now blind one eye and with a serious wound in
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  Speaker 1: her chest, took flight once more. Jeremy seemed as determined
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  Speaker 1: to live as the men who had sent her. For
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  Speaker 1: twenty five miles, she flew through enemy lines, dodging wave
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  Speaker 1: after wave of machine gun fire and every attempt to
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  Speaker 1: shoot her down. Meanwhile, the men hung on for another
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  Speaker 1: forty five minutes, and then as suddenly as it began,
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  Speaker 1: the friendly fire stopped. For a moment. There was silence
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  Speaker 1: before the sound of mortars started up again, this time
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  Speaker 1: hitting the Germans with hope restored, the remaining men continued
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  Speaker 1: to fight. Five days later, the Germans were driven back.
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  Speaker 1: On October eight, four survivors from the lost battalion made
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  Speaker 1: their way safely to American territory, all thanks to the
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  Speaker 1: sacrifice of little Jeremy. But Jeremy's story doesn't end there
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  Speaker 1: soon she was given one of France's most honored awards
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  Speaker 1: for her bravery on the battlefield. American General John Pershing said,
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  Speaker 1: there isn't anything the United States can do too much
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  Speaker 1: for this bird. On the day Jeremy arrived at her destination,
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  Speaker 1: bleeding and weary, medics had rushed to save her. They
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  Speaker 1: amputated her leg and remove the shrapnel, and miraculously Jeremy lift.
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  Speaker 1: For her valor, she was returned to her trainer and
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  Speaker 1: handler in New Jersey. Jeremy, the carrier pigeon who saved
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  Speaker 1: the Lost Battalion from the Germans and friendly fire, passed
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  Speaker 1: away on June of nineteen nine. Her heroics and her
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  Speaker 1: name will never be forgotten. After all, Jeremy is French
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  Speaker 1: for dear friend. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour
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  Speaker 1: of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts,
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  Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast
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  Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky
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  Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award
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  Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series,
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  Speaker 1: and television show and you can learn all about it
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  Speaker 1: over at the World of Lore dot com. And until
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  Speaker 1: next time, stay curious. Yeah,