April 24, 2023 • 17 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Judith Pierson tells us the story of Navy corpsman Estel Myers and his story of survival in the WWII Pacific theater.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
And we love to hear listeners stories. Share them with
us at our Americanstories dot com. There's some of our favorites.
And this next story, well, it's the story of a
World War Two veteran who was a member of the
(00:30):
Naval Medical Corps. Judy Pearson brings us the story.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
My father was a World War Two veteran who never
left you wondering where he stood on a topic. When
he came to visit me in Phoenix after my mother died,
I took him to an area antique store. It was
full of military memorabilia, including a World War Two arid jeep.
(00:59):
Well dad digging through campaign medals and old postcards, the
store owner shared with me his most recent find, a
collection of personal items belonging to a deceased veteran named
Estel Myers. He spread the treasure across the counter. Meyer's
death certificate, his Bronze Star commendation, a handwritten letter, and
(01:20):
a newspaper article, now fragile and yellowed with the passage
of time, yet told of a piece of World War
II history. I had never heard before. Most Americans know
that the war began with the attack on Pearl Harbor
and ended with the atomic bombs, but the vast middle
of the Pacific War isn't well documented in most history books.
(01:41):
My father later shared his thoughts on that omission, peppered
with colorful expletives. I found Estell's brother, Ken, He lived
just twenty miles from my home. Over the course of
the next two years, I spent hours poring over his
family albums and listening to the stories of their sacrifice.
I scoured libraries and archives, the result which became my book,
(02:05):
Belly of the Beast, A POW's inspiring true story of faith, courage,
and survival, tells not just Estell Meyer's story. It's the
story of all of the young men whose names and
courage never made it to the history books. Estel came
from a simple Kentucky sharecropping family. When times were tough
(02:27):
during the Depression, the Navy offered an exotic and exciting life.
Estell joined up, landing in the medical Corps. He was
ultimately stationed in the Pacific's playground, Manila. In the Philippine Islands,
life unfolded like scenes from the movies, parties and booze
pretty girls, local customs mingled with American swagger, war was
(02:52):
the last thing on Estell's or anyone else's mind. Despite
myriad warning signs now clearly seen in retrospect, Hitler's advances
in Europe were what held the Western world's attention. Because
of that, the Imperial Japanese Army's unmitigated attacks in December
nineteen forty one caught everyone by surprise. In addition to
(03:15):
the infamous death and destruction at Pearl Harbor, Japanese fighter
squadrons attacked six other sites across Asia, Malaya, Hong Kong, Guam,
Wake Island, Midway Island, and Manila in the Philippine Islands,
bombs reigning down. Commanding General Douglas MacArthur realized Manila could
(03:39):
not be saved by the unprepared American army. He declared
it an open city military terminology, meaning no retaliatory actions
would be taken. Yet the Japanese onslaught continued. All able
military personnel were evacuated. Some were sent across Manila Bay
to the Batan Peninsula, while others continued further south to Corregador.
(04:02):
A Rocky Island stronghold. From there, MacArthur and his team
would make plans to retake the islands, but the Japanese
military proved a powerful combatant, and MacArthur, against his wishes,
was forced to flee to Australia for regrouping. The Manila
hospital to which Estel Meyers was then assigned, was filled
(04:23):
with wounded and dying men who could not be moved
with the rest of the troops. When the Japanese ships
arrived filled with invasion forces on January two, nineteen forty two,
Estell became one of America's first prisoners of war. Language
was not the only barrier between the American medical personnel
and the conquering army. The Japanese Bushido code was a
(04:48):
centuries old belief that espoused willingness to die for one's
superiors if necessary. Surrendering as the medical corps had done,
and ultimately what those in Batan and Corregadoor would be
forced to to do, was considered cowardly under Bushido. The
cease fire the Americans asked for to spare more deaths
only caused the Imperial Army to despise their captives even
(05:11):
more in their minds. Those POWs were disgraced and unworthy
of soldierly or humane treatment. Thus began an ugly chapter
in human history. Estel and the rest of the medical corps,
along with the patients who were still alive, were moved
to Manila's decrepit Bilibid Prison, where they set up a
(05:33):
makeshift hospital. It was here that the survivors of the
Batan Death March arrived after their three month battle trying
to hold the Philippines. The seventy mile forced March had
begun with eighty thousand American and Filipino POWs. They had
depleted their own supplies defending the peninsula, and the Japanese
(05:54):
had no food or water to give them. In addition,
they were tortured and brutalized, all of which resulted in
the death of nearly twenty thousand men. The men who
lived to the end of the march were in deplorable condition.
Those the Japanese deemed useful as laborers were transferred to
nearby prison camps. The others became billibit patients. The filth
(06:17):
and lack of food and medical supplies made treating them
nearly impossible for Estel and the other Cormen and the
unspeakable atrocities continued.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
And you've been listening to Judy Pearson telling us the
story of a Pow in the Pacific Theater, and we learned,
we got some insight into why our soldiers, our POW's,
got treated so poorly and had to do with that
honor code of the Japanese warriors. Surrender just wasn't an option,
so they looked at our soldiers like they were cowards.
Of course, this at the Geneva Convention. Why we surrenders,
(06:52):
because there's honor in surrendering and the alternative is just
so horrible and inhuman. But the Japanese soldiers saw our
soldiers as less than newman, as cowards, and thus treated
them terribly. Twenty thousand of our boys and many women
too died in the Baton Deathmarch. And when we come
(07:13):
back more of this remarkable story. Stel Meyer's story here
on Our American Stories. Lee Hibib here the host of
our American Stories. Every day on this show, we're bringing
inspiring stories from across this great country, stories from our
(07:34):
big cities and small towns. But we truly can't do
the show without you. Our stories are free to listen to,
but they're not free to make. If you love what
you hear, go to Ouramerican Stories dot com and click
the donate button. Give a little, give a lot. Go
to auramericanstories dot com.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
And give.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
And we continue with our American stories in the story
of Estel Meyers, a World War Two enlisting in the
Naval Medical Corps and one of the first prisoners of
war in the Second World War, we continue with Judy Pearson.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
As was the case with citizens in Europe under Nazi rule,
the majority of the Japanese people were completely unaware of
the brutality of the Imperial Japanese Army against their captives.
Even today, these stories are omitted from Japanese history books.
And then things got worse as the tide of the
(08:53):
war started to turn and the Japanese military began using
Kamakazi tactics. They found themselves with outsufficient workers. Increased war
production was needed in their factories and mines. They realized
the wealth of labor they possessed in the form of
POW's seventy eight thousand of them across the Pacific Ocean.
(09:16):
They began transporting these already weakened and tortured men to
the Japanese homeland in what came to be known as hellships.
Prisoners were crammed into cargo holds of huge tankers. They
had little air, food, or water for journeys that lasted weeks.
Many died from asphyxia, starvation, or dysentery. They went mad
(09:38):
from the cramped quarters, and some even drank the blood
of those who had died. Worst of all, these prisoner
transports were unmarked. Allied submarines and aircraft targeted them as
enemy ships, firing on them. Eight hell ships had sailed
for Japan. All were attacked to a greater or lesser extent.
(10:01):
One sank with their hold still filled with POW's nearly
eighteen hundred of them. Only five men who had been
on deck at the time survived to tell their story.
On December thirteenth, nineteen forty four, after years of physical
and psychological torture, Estel Meyers and one thousand, six hundred
(10:22):
and twenty other American captives marched aboard the ninth and
final Japanese hellship, the Oreoku Maru. Before she even left
Manila Bay, American bombers attacked the unmarked ship, still able
to maneuver. She made her way to Subic Bay, on
the west side of the Philippines main island of Luzan,
(10:45):
where the continued strafing finally sunk her. Nearly three hundred
POWs died from the conditions the bombing or having been
shot by the Japanese as they tried to escape, but
Estel Meyers survived, held and unprotected on a tennis court
for several days. More men died from lack of water
(11:05):
and the elements. Ken Myers had joined the Navy shortly
after his brother had been captured in an unbelievable irony. Ken,
now part of MacArthur's return to liberate the Philippines, stepped
onto the island just as Estel and the other POWs
were loaded into two more tankers to continue the journey
(11:27):
to Japan. Further unimaginable deprivation awaited those prisoners. When they
arrived in Taiwan to refuel, they were again attacked by
Allied flyers. One of the ships was disabled and more
prisoners died in the attack. With a smaller number of men,
(11:48):
only the remaining ship was needed by the time it
finally arrived in frigid Japan on January twenty ninth, nineteen
forty five weeks over due, only five hundred and forty
nine of the original one thousand, six hundred and twenty
remained in rags and shivering in below freezing temperatures. Estel
(12:12):
was among them. The men were sent to a collection
of prison camps in Fukuoka, Japan, and put to work
under brutal guards. The Nazis surrendered in Europe on May seventh,
nineteen forty five, but for Japan, the war raged on.
(12:34):
Then on August sixth, nineteen forty five, unimaginable destruction fell
from a clear blue sky. Ten thousand pound little boy,
the world's first fully detonated atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima, Japan.
(12:57):
If the Japanese didn't surrender the US, the US promised
it would drop another bomb. Fat Man was ready, with
a short list of targets, just forty four miles from
the Fukuoka prison camps where Estel was working. The city
of Kolkura was first on that list. The morning of
(13:21):
August eleventh, nineteen forty five, not a word had come
from the Japanese military nor the emperor. As second American
B twenty nine took off from Tinian prepared to drop
its jumbo bomb, but unlike five days earlier over Hiroshima,
(13:41):
the sky over Kulkura was obscured by smoke and haze,
so the pilot flew on to a secondary target, Nagasaki,
and dropped his payload.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
A great towering mushroom effect could be seen, going higher
and higher and reaching into the stratosphere. Because the bomb
was exploded high above the ground, the greatest part of
its harmful radioactive material was dissipated in the stratosphere. As
a result, the area under the explosion was relatively free
from radioactivity. Persons entering Nagasaki shortly after the explosion to
(14:17):
do rescue work sustained no ill effect or injury. In
an area of a little more than three square miles,
there was very severe damage by blast and fire. Most
buildings were reduced to rubble. Still recognizable from the air
are the skeleton remainders of the Mitsubishi plants, the large
steel and arms works, and the ordnance factory devoted to
(14:38):
the manufacture of torpedoes.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Had the bomb fallen on to Kokura, it would certainly
have destroyed the Fukuoka camps. After all, they had been
through estill and the other prisoners would have died even
ninety five miles away. They all witnessed the blinding light
from Nagasaki. It wasn't until two weeks later, after the
(15:02):
camps had been liberated and the prisoners were boarding the
awaiting Allied hospital ships, that they learned how the war
ended and how narrowly they escaped. By that time, the
original Oreoku Maru group was down to only three hundred
and seventy two, Estell still among them. After having been
one of America's first to be captured. He was finally
(15:25):
going home, among the last POWs to do so. The
prisoners were in horrible physical and emotional condition. They suffered
from all manner of diseases and had lost nearly half
of their body weight. When Estell finally sailed under the
Golden Gate Bridge on October sixth, nineteen forty five, most
(15:47):
of the post war hysteria that had rocked a grateful
nation months earlier had ended. Estel didn't care. He reunited
with his brothers, including Ken and his sister, married the
sweetheart he had left behind, and fathered five children. He
moved his family to Phoenix in nineteen fifty nine, but
(16:08):
physical problems, no doubt caused by his horrific experiences, plagued
Estel the rest of his life. He had three heart
attacks before the age of fifty, and was then diagnosed
with lung cancer. On September twelfth, nineteen seventy three, Estel
Meyers died of his fourth heart attack at just fifty
(16:29):
three years old. I made certain the items my friend
at the antique store had acquired were returned to his family.
For them they were true treasure. Probably the most precious
thing was the letter Estell had written to his children
several months before he died. His ending words speak volumes
(16:51):
about the man. Believe with all your heart in God, country,
and family. Be truthful, being patient, and forgiving with your
spouses and children. Give an honest day's work in whatever
you do. Believe in the Golden Rule. Be loyal and
honest to your country. Be a good American, and thankful
(17:13):
that you are one. I love you all. Remember Papa, Papa, And.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Thanks to Judy Pearson for that story, and thanks to
Robbie for doing such a great job producing it and
bringing it to us. And again that was the Estel
Meyers story, a pow story. And we tell these World
War Two stories for a reason, not to bring you down,
but hopefully to inspire you, and also to remind us
all that so many did so much for future generations.
(17:43):
These stories are real and are a fundamental part of
all of our stories. Estel Meyer's story here on our
American Stories.
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
And we love to hear listeners stories. Share them with
us at our Americanstories dot com. There's some of our favorites.
And this next story, well, it's the story of a
World War Two veteran who was a member of the
(00:30):
Naval Medical Corps. Judy Pearson brings us the story.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
My father was a World War Two veteran who never
left you wondering where he stood on a topic. When
he came to visit me in Phoenix after my mother died,
I took him to an area antique store. It was
full of military memorabilia, including a World War Two arid jeep.
(00:59):
Well dad digging through campaign medals and old postcards, the
store owner shared with me his most recent find, a
collection of personal items belonging to a deceased veteran named
Estel Myers. He spread the treasure across the counter. Meyer's
death certificate, his Bronze Star commendation, a handwritten letter, and
(01:20):
a newspaper article, now fragile and yellowed with the passage
of time, yet told of a piece of World War
II history. I had never heard before. Most Americans know
that the war began with the attack on Pearl Harbor
and ended with the atomic bombs, but the vast middle
of the Pacific War isn't well documented in most history books.
(01:41):
My father later shared his thoughts on that omission, peppered
with colorful expletives. I found Estell's brother, Ken, He lived
just twenty miles from my home. Over the course of
the next two years, I spent hours poring over his
family albums and listening to the stories of their sacrifice.
I scoured libraries and archives, the result which became my book,
(02:05):
Belly of the Beast, A POW's inspiring true story of faith, courage,
and survival, tells not just Estell Meyer's story. It's the
story of all of the young men whose names and
courage never made it to the history books. Estel came
from a simple Kentucky sharecropping family. When times were tough
(02:27):
during the Depression, the Navy offered an exotic and exciting life.
Estell joined up, landing in the medical Corps. He was
ultimately stationed in the Pacific's playground, Manila. In the Philippine Islands,
life unfolded like scenes from the movies, parties and booze
pretty girls, local customs mingled with American swagger, war was
(02:52):
the last thing on Estell's or anyone else's mind. Despite
myriad warning signs now clearly seen in retrospect, Hitler's advances
in Europe were what held the Western world's attention. Because
of that, the Imperial Japanese Army's unmitigated attacks in December
nineteen forty one caught everyone by surprise. In addition to
(03:15):
the infamous death and destruction at Pearl Harbor, Japanese fighter
squadrons attacked six other sites across Asia, Malaya, Hong Kong, Guam,
Wake Island, Midway Island, and Manila in the Philippine Islands,
bombs reigning down. Commanding General Douglas MacArthur realized Manila could
(03:39):
not be saved by the unprepared American army. He declared
it an open city military terminology, meaning no retaliatory actions
would be taken. Yet the Japanese onslaught continued. All able
military personnel were evacuated. Some were sent across Manila Bay
to the Batan Peninsula, while others continued further south to Corregador.
(04:02):
A Rocky Island stronghold. From there, MacArthur and his team
would make plans to retake the islands, but the Japanese
military proved a powerful combatant, and MacArthur, against his wishes,
was forced to flee to Australia for regrouping. The Manila
hospital to which Estel Meyers was then assigned, was filled
(04:23):
with wounded and dying men who could not be moved
with the rest of the troops. When the Japanese ships
arrived filled with invasion forces on January two, nineteen forty two,
Estell became one of America's first prisoners of war. Language
was not the only barrier between the American medical personnel
and the conquering army. The Japanese Bushido code was a
(04:48):
centuries old belief that espoused willingness to die for one's
superiors if necessary. Surrendering as the medical corps had done,
and ultimately what those in Batan and Corregadoor would be
forced to to do, was considered cowardly under Bushido. The
cease fire the Americans asked for to spare more deaths
only caused the Imperial Army to despise their captives even
(05:11):
more in their minds. Those POWs were disgraced and unworthy
of soldierly or humane treatment. Thus began an ugly chapter
in human history. Estel and the rest of the medical corps,
along with the patients who were still alive, were moved
to Manila's decrepit Bilibid Prison, where they set up a
(05:33):
makeshift hospital. It was here that the survivors of the
Batan Death March arrived after their three month battle trying
to hold the Philippines. The seventy mile forced March had
begun with eighty thousand American and Filipino POWs. They had
depleted their own supplies defending the peninsula, and the Japanese
(05:54):
had no food or water to give them. In addition,
they were tortured and brutalized, all of which resulted in
the death of nearly twenty thousand men. The men who
lived to the end of the march were in deplorable condition.
Those the Japanese deemed useful as laborers were transferred to
nearby prison camps. The others became billibit patients. The filth
(06:17):
and lack of food and medical supplies made treating them
nearly impossible for Estel and the other Cormen and the
unspeakable atrocities continued.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
And you've been listening to Judy Pearson telling us the
story of a Pow in the Pacific Theater, and we learned,
we got some insight into why our soldiers, our POW's,
got treated so poorly and had to do with that
honor code of the Japanese warriors. Surrender just wasn't an option,
so they looked at our soldiers like they were cowards.
Of course, this at the Geneva Convention. Why we surrenders,
(06:52):
because there's honor in surrendering and the alternative is just
so horrible and inhuman. But the Japanese soldiers saw our
soldiers as less than newman, as cowards, and thus treated
them terribly. Twenty thousand of our boys and many women
too died in the Baton Deathmarch. And when we come
(07:13):
back more of this remarkable story. Stel Meyer's story here
on Our American Stories. Lee Hibib here the host of
our American Stories. Every day on this show, we're bringing
inspiring stories from across this great country, stories from our
(07:34):
big cities and small towns. But we truly can't do
the show without you. Our stories are free to listen to,
but they're not free to make. If you love what
you hear, go to Ouramerican Stories dot com and click
the donate button. Give a little, give a lot. Go
to auramericanstories dot com.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
And give.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
And we continue with our American stories in the story
of Estel Meyers, a World War Two enlisting in the
Naval Medical Corps and one of the first prisoners of
war in the Second World War, we continue with Judy Pearson.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
As was the case with citizens in Europe under Nazi rule,
the majority of the Japanese people were completely unaware of
the brutality of the Imperial Japanese Army against their captives.
Even today, these stories are omitted from Japanese history books.
And then things got worse as the tide of the
(08:53):
war started to turn and the Japanese military began using
Kamakazi tactics. They found themselves with outsufficient workers. Increased war
production was needed in their factories and mines. They realized
the wealth of labor they possessed in the form of
POW's seventy eight thousand of them across the Pacific Ocean.
(09:16):
They began transporting these already weakened and tortured men to
the Japanese homeland in what came to be known as hellships.
Prisoners were crammed into cargo holds of huge tankers. They
had little air, food, or water for journeys that lasted weeks.
Many died from asphyxia, starvation, or dysentery. They went mad
(09:38):
from the cramped quarters, and some even drank the blood
of those who had died. Worst of all, these prisoner
transports were unmarked. Allied submarines and aircraft targeted them as
enemy ships, firing on them. Eight hell ships had sailed
for Japan. All were attacked to a greater or lesser extent.
(10:01):
One sank with their hold still filled with POW's nearly
eighteen hundred of them. Only five men who had been
on deck at the time survived to tell their story.
On December thirteenth, nineteen forty four, after years of physical
and psychological torture, Estel Meyers and one thousand, six hundred
(10:22):
and twenty other American captives marched aboard the ninth and
final Japanese hellship, the Oreoku Maru. Before she even left
Manila Bay, American bombers attacked the unmarked ship, still able
to maneuver. She made her way to Subic Bay, on
the west side of the Philippines main island of Luzan,
(10:45):
where the continued strafing finally sunk her. Nearly three hundred
POWs died from the conditions the bombing or having been
shot by the Japanese as they tried to escape, but
Estel Meyers survived, held and unprotected on a tennis court
for several days. More men died from lack of water
(11:05):
and the elements. Ken Myers had joined the Navy shortly
after his brother had been captured in an unbelievable irony. Ken,
now part of MacArthur's return to liberate the Philippines, stepped
onto the island just as Estel and the other POWs
were loaded into two more tankers to continue the journey
(11:27):
to Japan. Further unimaginable deprivation awaited those prisoners. When they
arrived in Taiwan to refuel, they were again attacked by
Allied flyers. One of the ships was disabled and more
prisoners died in the attack. With a smaller number of men,
(11:48):
only the remaining ship was needed by the time it
finally arrived in frigid Japan on January twenty ninth, nineteen
forty five weeks over due, only five hundred and forty
nine of the original one thousand, six hundred and twenty
remained in rags and shivering in below freezing temperatures. Estel
(12:12):
was among them. The men were sent to a collection
of prison camps in Fukuoka, Japan, and put to work
under brutal guards. The Nazis surrendered in Europe on May seventh,
nineteen forty five, but for Japan, the war raged on.
(12:34):
Then on August sixth, nineteen forty five, unimaginable destruction fell
from a clear blue sky. Ten thousand pound little boy,
the world's first fully detonated atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima, Japan.
(12:57):
If the Japanese didn't surrender the US, the US promised
it would drop another bomb. Fat Man was ready, with
a short list of targets, just forty four miles from
the Fukuoka prison camps where Estel was working. The city
of Kolkura was first on that list. The morning of
(13:21):
August eleventh, nineteen forty five, not a word had come
from the Japanese military nor the emperor. As second American
B twenty nine took off from Tinian prepared to drop
its jumbo bomb, but unlike five days earlier over Hiroshima,
(13:41):
the sky over Kulkura was obscured by smoke and haze,
so the pilot flew on to a secondary target, Nagasaki,
and dropped his payload.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
A great towering mushroom effect could be seen, going higher
and higher and reaching into the stratosphere. Because the bomb
was exploded high above the ground, the greatest part of
its harmful radioactive material was dissipated in the stratosphere. As
a result, the area under the explosion was relatively free
from radioactivity. Persons entering Nagasaki shortly after the explosion to
(14:17):
do rescue work sustained no ill effect or injury. In
an area of a little more than three square miles,
there was very severe damage by blast and fire. Most
buildings were reduced to rubble. Still recognizable from the air
are the skeleton remainders of the Mitsubishi plants, the large
steel and arms works, and the ordnance factory devoted to
(14:38):
the manufacture of torpedoes.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Had the bomb fallen on to Kokura, it would certainly
have destroyed the Fukuoka camps. After all, they had been
through estill and the other prisoners would have died even
ninety five miles away. They all witnessed the blinding light
from Nagasaki. It wasn't until two weeks later, after the
(15:02):
camps had been liberated and the prisoners were boarding the
awaiting Allied hospital ships, that they learned how the war
ended and how narrowly they escaped. By that time, the
original Oreoku Maru group was down to only three hundred
and seventy two, Estell still among them. After having been
one of America's first to be captured. He was finally
(15:25):
going home, among the last POWs to do so. The
prisoners were in horrible physical and emotional condition. They suffered
from all manner of diseases and had lost nearly half
of their body weight. When Estell finally sailed under the
Golden Gate Bridge on October sixth, nineteen forty five, most
(15:47):
of the post war hysteria that had rocked a grateful
nation months earlier had ended. Estel didn't care. He reunited
with his brothers, including Ken and his sister, married the
sweetheart he had left behind, and fathered five children. He
moved his family to Phoenix in nineteen fifty nine, but
(16:08):
physical problems, no doubt caused by his horrific experiences, plagued
Estel the rest of his life. He had three heart
attacks before the age of fifty, and was then diagnosed
with lung cancer. On September twelfth, nineteen seventy three, Estel
Meyers died of his fourth heart attack at just fifty
(16:29):
three years old. I made certain the items my friend
at the antique store had acquired were returned to his family.
For them they were true treasure. Probably the most precious
thing was the letter Estell had written to his children
several months before he died. His ending words speak volumes
(16:51):
about the man. Believe with all your heart in God, country,
and family. Be truthful, being patient, and forgiving with your
spouses and children. Give an honest day's work in whatever
you do. Believe in the Golden Rule. Be loyal and
honest to your country. Be a good American, and thankful
(17:13):
that you are one. I love you all. Remember Papa, Papa, And.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Thanks to Judy Pearson for that story, and thanks to
Robbie for doing such a great job producing it and
bringing it to us. And again that was the Estel
Meyers story, a pow story. And we tell these World
War Two stories for a reason, not to bring you down,
but hopefully to inspire you, and also to remind us
all that so many did so much for future generations.
(17:43):
These stories are real and are a fundamental part of
all of our stories. Estel Meyer's story here on our
American Stories.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.