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Historian Stephen Ambrose appropriately described World War II as “history’s greatest catastrophe”. But from the smoldering rubble of that war there emerged amazing stories of ordinary men and women doing extraordinary deeds of valor, sacrifice, and heroism in the midst of extraordinary times.
Today, over 80 years later, there are still such stories being unearthed, stories that need to be told. Such is the purpose of Ron Eckberg’s Ordinary Heroes Project podcast. You will hear stories that you will most likely not have heard before, stories that will inspire, educate, and hopefully challenge you to help in this effort to keep alive the memory of what the Greatest Generation did to keep the world from succumbing to the madness of those who would seek to rule it.
Ron Eckberg is the “proud son of a World War II combat veteran”. Join him as he brings new stories of man’s greatest conflict in the Ordinary Heroes Project Podcast.
LEAD: Welcome to the Ordinary Heroes Project Podcast. I am your host Ron Eckberg and this is Episode 1
MUSIC INTRO:
INTRO: 85 years ago the world was coming to grips with the reality it had long feared and had hoped against all hope to avoid.
At 4:45 AM on September 1, 1939, all along the Polish border thousands of German heavy artillery pieces, tanks, rocket launchers and small arms opened up, the beginning salvo of what would become the most terrible war in human history.
Author Ken Follett describes it as, "the greatest drama in human history”. Stephen Ambrose referred to it as, “history’s greatest catastrophe”. Winston Churchill described it as, “a war to determine whether the principle of freedom could survive the onslaught of the forces of tyranny.”
No matter how you try to describe it, when it comes to World War II, mere words fail. That global catastrophe—contested over eight decades ago—still defies description.
Perhaps another approach offers a clearer perspective. Historian Rick Atkinson refers to September 1, 1939 as “the first day of a war that would last for 2,174 days, and…claim an average of 27,600 lives every day, or 1,150 an hour, or 19 a minute, or one death every 3 seconds.”
Facts and figures, however, don’t tell the real story of war, the human side of war, the loneliness, the heartache, the suffering and loss of war. That is what we must endeavor to remember and that is what the Ordinary Heroes Project is about. It is about telling the stories that you perhaps have not heard, stories that are not as famous and familiar as some of those that have made the TV or movie screens. Nonetheless, they are stories of incredible courage and sacrifice, stories of ordinary soldiers who did extraordinary things in the midst of extraordinary circumstances.
So let’s begin our journey with a powerful, tragic story of one such soldier.
MUSIC:
If you were to visit the Spring Lake cemetery in Aurora, Illinois, and find your way to plot JW, tile 75 you will find a simple marker that—like all cemetery markers— gives you a basic summation of a life. The name on this marker is that of a Herschel G. Horton. The date of birth chiseled into this stone marker is November 15, 1913. The date of death, December 12, 1942. The marker tells you that he was military— a 2nd Lt, 126th Infantry, 32nd Division. A further examination of the dates tells you that Horton—just 29 when he died—was part of a generation shaped and strengthened as a teenager by the Great Depression. Like the rest of his generation, Horton had no doubt watched the world’s descent into the chaos and darkness that would ultimately lead to the deadliest, most catastrophic war in history, a war his generation would be called upon to wage.
But like all grave markers, there is more to the story than the few etchings tell us. And in the case of Hershel G. Horton it is a powerful, tragic story.
Horton grew up in Aurora, Illinois and graduated from East high school in 1931 and get on with the task of living his life.. In 1940 he entered Notre Dame university, class of ’43.
Horton's college career was short-lived, however. He enlisted in the US Army in April 1941 and was commissioned as a first lieutenant. In 1942 he and his regiment were sent across the Pacific to Port Moresby, New Guinea.
On December 1, 1942, Horton was badly wounded in a fire fight with the Japanese outside the perimeter of his regiments defenses. After two fellow soldiers were fatally wounded in an attempt to retrieve their Lieutenant, those up the chain of command forbid any further efforts.
Horton managed to drag himself into a grass hut but the Japanese discovered him and wounded him twice more. During the next 10 or 11 days that it took for Horton to die, he wrote a letter home, a diary of his final days of life. It is heart wrenching to say the least.
It is a personal letter, beginning, “to my dear father, mother, and sister…”
It tells of the “mercy mission” Horton was on on December 1, trying to retrieve the dog tags of soldiers killed in a previous firefight.
It tells how he was shot two or three times in the hip and leg and how he dragged himself to a grass shanty that would serve as his sanctuary.
It tells of the rescue attempt thwarted by Japanese gunners.
It tells of spending four days digging with his hands to find water only to find that water polluted by rotting bodies surrounding him.
It tells of his attempt to stand on December 11th—by his reckoning—and attempt which only led to him being shot again, in the chest and neck.
Finally, he writes, “I sit and lay here in this terrible place, wondering not why God has forsaken me; but rather why He is making me suffer this terrible end?”
He continues; “It is true I understand life and its reasons now, but why should He send it to this terrible grave with me? Why not let me live and tell others? I am not afraid to die although I have nearly lost my faith a couple of days here…I think He must be giving me the supreme test. I now know how Christ felt on the cross…My right hip is broken and my right leg, both compound fractures; else I could have been out of here in those first couple of days, wounds or no wounds…I am so young and have so many things undone that a man of 29 should do. We may never know God's purpose in striking me down like this, but He must have one.”
He concludes, “I wonder how long a man can go on like this?”
Horton bids his family goodbye and soon lies dead from his wounds. He died alone and afraid, 8,000 miles from home. And he died knowing he was dying.
That is the real story of war. It is a story of far, far more than just statistics. It is the story of young men and women suffering and dying. It is the story of mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, who would mourn the rest of their life the loss of someone so dear to them, someone they would have to find a way to live without.
World War II claimed the lives of anywhere from 60 to 80, perhaps even 100 million lives, at least half of them innocent civilians caught in its path.
We can, and we must, talk about strategies, policies, battles one and lost, how the war changed the world order in a radical way. Yes, we can talk about all those things, and in the Ordinary Heroes Project Podcast we will, but we must never, ever forget the humanity of war.
The before mentioned historian Rick Atkinson was asked in an interview what he most learned from his exhaustive study of the European conflict. Atkinson's response was simple; “Suffering” he said.
So it is. We remember wars in terms of winners and losers but it is much, much more than that. And it is that other part, the suffering, the humanity that we must remember if we are to avoid suffering the same kind of calamity again.
And we must always, always remember men such as Herschel G Horton.
(MUSIC)
Thank you again for listening to the ordinary heroes Project podcast. I hope you have somehow been inspired or educated or perhaps challenged to discover the extraordinary stories within your own family history. If you do please record them. Write them down. Technology makes easier than ever for us to do such things. And, of course, if you enjoy this podcast, then please, please subscribe or push the like button.
Also, if you would like to know more about what I do and who I am visit my website, roneckberg.com or you can email me at ron@roneckberg.com. I would love to hear from you and would love the opportunity to come to your area, to any Library, museum, civic or Church organization, or school to talk about World War II and to keep the history, the stories, and the legacy of World War II alive.
So for now this is Ron Eckberg, the proud son of a World War II combat veteran, thanking you and saying goodbye until the next episode of the Ordinary Heroes Project podcast.