May 27, 2025 • 39 mins
Continued rememberance on Memorial Day with listeners sharing their stories of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Through parades and ceremonies, we remember the fallen…but even a simple moment of silence can speak volumes.
You can hear NightSide with Dan Rea, Live! Weeknights From 8PM-12AM on WBZ NewsRadio on the #iHeartRadio app!
You can hear NightSide with Dan Rea, Live! Weeknights From 8PM-12AM on WBZ NewsRadio on the #iHeartRadio app!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Nightside with Dan rays Costin's video.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Now, thank you very much. We're gonna what I'd like
to do here on Nightside is we had a topic
which we could get to in the later at the
ten o'clock hour, but people seem to want to talk
about Memorial Day. We had some really interesting calls last hour.
Steven Cambridge made some great points Larry and Dennisport, Jim
(00:26):
in Southampton, Greg and Lynnfield, John in Dorchester, Linda in Weymouth.
And so we're going to continue this and if you'd
like to reflect on what you did today or we're talking.
We're trying to make sure people understand the meaning of
Memorial Day. And Steve made the point early on during
(00:48):
the hour conversation that Memorial Day has been somewhat watered down.
I come by the fact that it is now just
in the minds of many people just the start of summer,
a weekend for barbecue, and they missed the meaning of it.
And Steve felt that that was because it was moved
from the fixed dative, which was May thirtieth for about
(01:10):
one hundred years, to the Monday, the last Monday.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
And yeah, I guess that's what it is. It's no,
it's let me see. Yeah, it's the last Monday because
the yeah, the last Monday in May, and people are
having a great time, but they have no idea what
it's about. So we're talking to people who do know
(01:36):
what it's about. I'm going to start with George in Boston. George,
appreciate your holding on throughout the news. You're next on nightside.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Gor ahead, all right, thank you. My uncle Marby was
in the Korean War, hand to hand combat. He was chilled,
and I think that this story of what he did
varied over the years. I wasn't even born yet. I
was in More until sixty four. Something about helping his buddies,
you know. But he did do something of significant valor
(02:07):
because he has a square in Jamaica plane dedicated to him.
It's at the corner of Heath and Shula Street. Really,
it's named Robert m Engelhat Square, and they dedicated it once,
but they rededicated it in the eighties and I was
at that one. I had like a big benefit breakfast
in his honor. And you'll never guess who the MC was,
(02:31):
a very famous boisterous politician, Boston politician.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I'm gonna guess da' neil.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Oh my god, how did you guess?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Well, you know, I took a lucky guess.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
There's no way you guess that I've been at the church,
has that?
Speaker 5 (02:45):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (02:45):
It was him.
Speaker 6 (02:46):
Oh what a.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Character he was.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Well, I covered the city council as a TV reporter
for many years, and that when you said boisterous, I
could think of the name that struck me was da Neil.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Yeah, I couldn't even know what was he? What kind
of politician was the.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Earlier on here's the city councilor here's a city council.
Ran for higher office a couple of times and was unsuccessful.
I think at one point tried to run for mayor
another type. Another time he wanted to run for the
sheriff of Suffolk County. But yeah, dapper O'Neil was. He
fashioned himself as sort of a a protege of James
(03:27):
Michael Curly.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah. He was very proud of the fact that he
was a graduate of the Staley College of the Spoken Word.
I don't think the Staley College of the Spoken Word
exists anymore. But yeah, So he made an impression on you,
that's for sure. So your your your uncle. Was it
(03:49):
your mom's brother or your dad's brother.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
My dad's brother.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, and he was involved, which is true when the
Chinese communist troops came home over the border in North Korea.
He was in hand to hand combat that had to
be inch on and places like that, brutally cold winter time.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
That was I do know he was killed in November. Yeah,
it says that I remember that. But yeah, you're talking
about Memorial Day's getting watered down. Yeah, yeah, but a
lot of us do know what it's about.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
No, I know that. Nobody I talked. I talked, I
talked about. There was a survey in which people of you.
You were born in sixty four, so you are one
of the last of the baby boomers. Okay, I'm also
a baby boomer born somewhat before you. I wish I
had been born in sixty four. But baby boomers have
(04:54):
a better appreciation of what the real purpose of Memorial
Day is and has always been of subsequent generations. The
newer the generation, the less they understand what the purpose
of Memorial Day is. And Memorial Day is indeed to
honor people like your uncle, who not only enlisted in
(05:16):
the military, served in the military, but gave his all
in the military.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
Oh I remember, And how about World War two? The
whole country got together. Remember if people had to donate
all their metal and stuff.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah, neither you or I were alive during World War Two.
But yeah, the stuff was rationed and there was a
matter of fact, that's why they were pennies made of
It was like an alloy. You sometimes you'll see pennies
from the nineteen forties and I guess the copper that
(05:51):
would have been used for the fermenting of pennies, it
was diverted to military use. I mean they were there
were shortages of food was rationed. Oh yeah, the whole
country was in a war footing in World War two.
Been nothing like that ever since in this country.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Yeah, that's my point. The whole country got together, shipping
in helping out and there were no protests and to
any of these protests back then, yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Well they were, they were. Yeah, there were protests prior
to the world to World War Two, there was a
fairly strong isolationist faction in the country, led by at
least nominally led by Charles Lindberg, the American aviator who
was the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
But once Pearl Harbor was attacked, the country was on
(06:45):
war footing from then. And by the way, World War
Two was completed in three and a half years. If
you go from December of forty one to August of
forty five, its it's really three and a half years.
On the calendar, it's about forty four months or forty
(07:05):
three months.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
And of course we had the Vietnam War, which went
for over ten years. We had the War on Terror
which went for over twenty years when you think about it,
the War in Terror really began following nine to eleven
and didn't conclude until that horrendous withdrawal from Kabul Afghanistan.
Speaker 4 (07:24):
So yeah, my point is, though the country got together
back then, I don't remember the protest till Vietnam when
the soldiers were coming back, and I was young for
that and I didn't know what was going on, yep,
And now it seems it's just protests everywhere I go.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
It's yeah, we had become a very we had become
a very fractionalized nation, you know. Ironically, something I'm going
to talk about later on during the week. Donald Trump,
a Republican, has been talking about streamlining the military, uh,
and not sending the US military off to fight wars
(08:02):
halfway around the world that we don't understand what the
purpose of those wars are. It's funny what Trump is
saying about the use of military force echoes what many
folks on the other side, the sort of the George
McGovern wing of the Democratic Party, the folks who were
called the quote unquote peacenicks or whatever against war and
(08:25):
uh and all of that. And and Trump has picked
up some support politically from that wing of the Democratic Party.
I believe in his he's almost a neo isolationist. I mean,
it's America first and all of that. But uh online,
I mean he wants to pull back from NATO and
all all of that sort. There's there's this kind of
(08:46):
a transition going on in the in the American political system,
which is being headed by in the in the Donald
Trump wing of the Republican Party. It's something to keep
an eye on. George. Thank you for the story of
your uncle. That's an amazing Was his body recovered, Was
he was?
Speaker 7 (09:03):
He was?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
His body brought home?
Speaker 4 (09:05):
I hope I don't even remember everybody. All my up
was a pass now, and like I said, the story
change going down. But I do know you have to
do something, you know, a significance to get us something
dedicated to you.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Oh my goodness, well absolutely, I mean that's that has
to have been, has to been very heroic, George. I
appreciate you, Carl, thank you for holding for the news.
Thank you all right, thank you, good night. We'll keep
going here. I got John in New York. I got
Rick in Central Pennsylvania. If that's it, we will switch topics.
If not, we can continue on this. We're reflecting on
(09:42):
Memorial Day and trying to make people better understand Again,
there was this interesting and I want to thank my
listener Andrea who sent me this, uh this poll which
indicates that older Americans do understand Memorial Day and the
purpose of the moor Day, and younger Americans not all,
(10:03):
but the percentage of Americans diminishes the younger you are
as to understanding what Memorial Day's purpose is, and that
is to remember the memory of those who not only served,
but gave they're all and lost their lives in the
service of the country. Veterans Day is a broader celebration,
(10:25):
a broader holiday back on night Side. If you like
the joining, it's got a couple of lines six one, seven, two, five,
four thirty and one at six one, seven, nine, three,
ten thirty. Back on the night Side.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
After this Night Side with Dan Ray on ws Boston's
news radio. You're on night Side with Dan Ray on
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Well, just keep rolling. I'm gonna go to my friend
John in New York. John got your email today. How
are you, sir? Hello? John?
Speaker 5 (10:55):
Oh good, Hello?
Speaker 7 (10:56):
Do you hear me?
Speaker 2 (10:57):
I can hear you? Find John? Go right ahead?
Speaker 5 (11:01):
Okay, all right, Yeah, I had mentioned to you I
was going to thank you.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Yeah, sure, not exactly sure what, but go ahead.
Speaker 5 (11:12):
And the reason, okay, what to thank you is about
that thanks to you and your program and the fact
that I enjoy it. I to you know, I loaded
the Facebook app to watch your after show program.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
All right, yes, yes, thank you, and I.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
Enjoyed the program. But get this, pal, just after your show,
I saw this woman wanting a friend on there. You
know how that works with Facebook? Yeah, So I I
contacted her, and she contacted me, and we've been talking
every day and now we're going to be falling in
love soon. Man, this could be the for all because
(11:54):
it's all because of you.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Well, I hope I get an invitation to the wedding.
Don't want to get too far out of you here,
but you know, now you're in New York. Where where
is this lovely lady from?
Speaker 8 (12:09):
Uh, Manila, Manila in the Philippines. Yeah, man, Now, be careful,
be careful, John.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
I know, Hey, I know the stories. I know you
know what I mean. Okay, I don't want to say
I meant I've met I traveled a lot for thirty years.
I've met a lot of individuals that told me the
nightmare and what happened.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Yeah. Yeah, No, I'm just saying that if she starts
looking for it for you to send your cash or
or to give you somewhere her passwords, be very careful, Joe.
That's all I'm saying. I was hoping it's gonna be
somebody from from New York.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
But she's gonna, she's gonna she's gonna come fly and
see me soon. She's gonna come see me.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Okay, John, keep me posted, will you?
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Uh?
Speaker 5 (12:59):
I gain an thing is remember the program you had
a few weeks ago, having people call, hey, how much
old are you than your wife and all that good stuff. Yeah,
guess what how much old are you?
Speaker 9 (13:13):
Do?
Speaker 5 (13:13):
How much older do you think I am over her?
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Well? I think what you're referring to was the Bill
Belichick Jordan Hudson program where we talked about Bill Belichick,
who's seventy four dating a woman who's somewhat younger than he.
She's twenty four, right, Okay, So, okay, how old are you?
I'm seventy Okay, I'm gonna guess. Is she thirty?
Speaker 5 (13:44):
Right on the log and you did, Wow, you got
a crystal ball in that studio there.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
No, I do not, No, I do not.
Speaker 5 (13:53):
But why did you guess that?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I totally guessed that I was putting you in the
Bill Belichick?
Speaker 6 (14:00):
Was that?
Speaker 5 (14:01):
But by the way, the fact I'm on the voice
of Boss and the Big Drifted Killer Watch station in
the city, right, Yeah. I want to suggest that all
the lady callers called Dan and Zankims would being such
the polite gentleman he is, the way he handles all
your calls.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
I appreciate it. You gotta keep me posting on this one, John, Okay, Uh,
I would be I would just be be. I would
simply advise that these international friendships can can in order
the detriment of what people might perceive as wealthy, afluent Americans.
(14:41):
If you get my drift, John, and I think, oh.
Speaker 5 (14:44):
Yeah, sure, that's all right. I mean I might be
a sugar daddy.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
You got to keep your eyes open if she starts,
if she starts to do it, if she's if she
tries to do a done in Bradstreet on you, you
gotta be very yeah. Well, okay, she starts asking you
questions like so, how many bank accounts do you actually have?
And one of the past words, that would be a
clear indication that maybe she's looking she's looking for love
(15:11):
in the wrong places. If you get my drift, okay,
just be careful.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
I could never be that much and loves to do
that good.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Good, Well, now you solid we're good. We're good. That's all.
You know what they say.
Speaker 5 (15:25):
Sometimes very much.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Sometimes people are blinded by love or what they perceive
is love. Right, yeah, yeah, you know.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
And I'm on here a long time. But I was
going to talk a little bit about Memorial Day stuff.
But that's okay because you're changing the subject now.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
No, no, that's fine. You give me a quick Memorial
Day story. What did you do today? What did you do?
Speaker 5 (15:47):
I actually I did not do anything related to it
except to think about it and what it was. When
I was a youngster, I was a member of the
Sons of the League and my father was the commander
of the Legion Post number eighty six watching the cord
a gentleman that was killed in the First World War.
They named the post after him. Okay, and my dad
(16:08):
led the parade and it was the Sons of the
Legion organization. I was one of the first members. In
the nineteenth late fifties they started that organization and I
became a member, got a membership card. And one of
the things we did was we watched in the parade
right behind our fathers. And the other things we did
is a few weeks before Memworth, they we visited all
(16:30):
the cemeteries and put flags on all the guy's graves.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
That's pretty good.
Speaker 5 (16:36):
And you realize being a kid, you realize how many
people died for this particular war stuff, you know, Yeah, no,
there's no doubt.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
My brother a million people in World War two, half
a million Americans and other you know, fifty thousand and
soul in Korea fifty eight thousand in Vietnam, and on
and on it goes.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
Yeah, well my dad was in Iwo Jima, but he
was on the third wave. Okay, with the landings, the
first two waves, everybody, they lost so many guys that
were killed on the first two waves of landing on
the beach.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Tell you, I'll tell you. I don't know if you're
a baseball fan or not, and if you're from New York,
but Hank Bauer, Yankee outfielder in the nineteen fifties, was
a veteran of Ewo Jima.
Speaker 5 (17:27):
Okay, I didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Yeah, he was a marine one one tough guy. One
tough guy.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
Yeah, that's you know, that is common from that error
of people. Because my dad was.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Like that, you got it, you got it. Hey, John,
great to hear your voice. Keep me posting on all
the romantic activities. And then.
Speaker 5 (17:48):
Okay, and yes, thank you again.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Thanks. Well, don't take me yet. Let's see how it
works out, you know what I'm saying. Okay, thanks you,
I talked to you.
Speaker 7 (17:58):
Soon.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Have a great night. I take very quick break here
at the bottom of the hour. We will stick with
this topic. The only lines that are open, and we
will change topics at eleven. So if you want to
get into this, I'm not going to go three hours
on it, but I can easily finish out this hour
six one seven, two, five, four ten thirty. Those lines
are full. I shouldn't even given that six one seven,
(18:19):
nine three one ten thirty. If you want to get
in two lines at six one seven, nine three one
ten thirty. Back on night Side after this, It's.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Night Side with Dan ONBZ Boston's news radio. It's night
Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Thank you, Suzanne. Let's get back to the phone calls.
We are reflecting on Memorial Day, and as I say,
I'm more than happy to finish out the hour here
on this subject because I think it's a subject that's important.
Uh and UH feel free. We got some lines open
at six one seven, nine three, one ten thirty. There
were two lines there. Everything else is full up. Rick
is in Central Pennsylvania. Ricky were next on, said welcome.
Speaker 6 (19:01):
My Dan, It's Rick. I haven't talked to you in
quite a while, but I wanted to touch base. Sure,
a great topic, and I'm glad you extended it beyond
the ten o'clock hour. Of it. I grew up in Bolsburg, Pennsylvania,
which is two or three miles east of State College
(19:22):
where Penn State's located. Absolutely, and Bolsberg is one of
the places in the country that claims to be the
birthplace of Memorial Day, and Memorial Day in this town
and the area is not watered down. It's a whole
weekend of different activities.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
How far how far is your community? How far does
your community trace back their Memorial.
Speaker 6 (19:52):
Day heritage to the eighteen hundred It started with the
group of three women that decorated, like they used to
call it decoration Day. Yeah, decorated grave of one of
the women's sons that was killed in the Civil War.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
You know, I think I think, believe it or not,
you might be right here. I'm just had I looked
it up earlier, and I guess originally as a federal holiday.
It was first observed on May thirtieth, eighteen sixty eight,
following a proclamation by General John A. Logan that we
(20:33):
should commemorate all American military personnel who had died in service.
And I guess there are various claims of you know,
origination of it, but yeah, your community's claim might be
as good as anyone's, to be honest with you.
Speaker 6 (20:53):
Yeah, it's a very nice weekend. And it is a
shame that so many people people think of it as
the start of summer, a day off day for picnics.
And I'm trying to keep this tradition going in my
family based on my grandparents of putting flowers in the
(21:14):
graves of past relatives that have served.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
By the way, did you say, Rick, did you cite Bolesburg, Pennsylvania,
Boa lsb u RG, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 6 (21:26):
It's Boa lsd u RG.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah, it says July fourth, eighteen sixty four, ladies decorated
soldiers graves. According to local historians in Bolsburg, Pennsylvania, Bowlesburg
promotes itself as the birthplace of Memorial Day. However, no
published reference to this event has been found earlier than
the printing of the History of the one hundred and
forty eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers in nineteen oh four. In a
(21:51):
footnote to a story about her brother, Missus Sophie Keller
Hall described how she and Emma Hunter decorated the grave
of his father, Reuben Hunter, and then the grave of
all soldiers in the cemetery destroy did not account for
Reuben Hunter's death occurring two months later in September of
eighteen sixty four. So I can see with us a
(22:11):
little bit, a little bit of a confusion there. But hey,
maybe it was Bowsburg, Pennsylvania. It's interesting. There's a whole
bunch of communities here that claim to have originated this story.
But we do know that the National Day was a
proclamation calling for decoration data to be observed annually and
(22:35):
the nationwide by John A. Logan General who was the
commander and the chief of the Grand Army of the
Republic of course, the organization that fought on the Union
side of the Civil War.
Speaker 6 (22:50):
Now, and also this weekend we put flowers on the
grave of my great great grandfather that was involved with
in the Civil War Gettysburg. And interesting enough, Dona, who
do you remember Nancy Culp? Is that ring a bell?
Speaker 2 (23:14):
It rings a very distant bell.
Speaker 6 (23:16):
Tell me who that was, well, miss Jane Hathaway from
the Beverly Hill Billy, oh right right, right, yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yeah, yeah, right. And Nancy Health was like the secretary
of the President of the Bank.
Speaker 6 (23:27):
Right, yeah, she was quite the character. Anyway. She is
buried near that great great grandfather's marker. So we also
put something on her grave too because she was in
the service during World War Two.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Now, she she was actually in the television series.
Speaker 6 (23:50):
Yeah, she was in the Beverly Hill Billy And she
was an actress for lots of things, but best known
for Beverly and LP.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
The Ulp Yeah, okay, yeah, Nancy Jane Calth She was
best known best known as Miss Jane Hathaway in the
series The Hillbillies. Yeah, kind of fun. Yeah, but she's
been around for she was she was quite an accomplished actress.
Speaker 6 (24:20):
Well she was then she's kind of forgotten there, and
so I put something on her grave too because she
was in she was in the service during the Second
World War. Yeah, I'm not sure what.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Yeah, she was born in nineteen nineteen twenty one, and
she was in the US the United States navor reserved
from nineteen forty six to nineteen nineteen forty four and
nineteen forty six.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, all right, that's all good.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
She was a lieutenant's it's amazing when you when you
get into some of these people. I think everybody knew
those characters in the Beverly Hillbillies miss Jane Hathaway. That
was her name. That was her her the role that
she played in that in that one. That's good.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
That's my name.
Speaker 6 (25:09):
That's imprinted on her tombstone or grave marker too, so
so it's.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Got Nancy Culp and also Nancy Jane Hathaway.
Speaker 6 (25:18):
Yeah, that was her famous role.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
I guess Jane Jane Hathaway. Yeah, I guess she was.
Excuse me, let me clarify. She was Nancy Jane Culp
in real life, but she was Miss Jane Hathaway on
the CBS TV series The Beverly Hillbillies. Remember, Rick, I
got a screwed here. Thanks so much for colling don't
be a stranger man. That that was good information tonight.
Speaker 6 (25:42):
Well you have a good evening, and thanks a lot
for bringing all this attention.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Well, thanks for thanks for being a contributor tonight. That
was excellent. Thanks, Ray, appreciate it. Let me get one
more in here. I think I cut Rick off a
little bit. Sorry, Rick didn't mean to do that, but
I want to get to Sandra from Carver, Massachue. Seddra,
you were next on Nightside.
Speaker 9 (26:01):
Welcome, Hi, thank you for taking my call. You're welcome
and you're talking about the Memorial Day. Yes, yes, And
I did go to the Memorial Middleborough Parade today. My
grandson Dylan marched in the parade with the Boy Scouts.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Okay, and that's an annual event up sure in Middleborough.
An annual event.
Speaker 9 (26:27):
Yes, they have a very very nice parade. This is
his second time marching in one of the Middleborough parades.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
How old your grandson? He's thirteen thirteen, so he now
has an understanding of Memorial Day, probably better than most
thirteen year olds.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Right.
Speaker 9 (26:42):
Well, he's kind of a serious kid. He's a good
kid and people know him quite a bit in town.
He does a lot of he's mowing lawns and doing
things like that.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
That's okay a little he's an entrepreneur, you know, nothing
wrong with that.
Speaker 9 (27:00):
Through he's a good kid. He's played baseball too, and
now he's a good kid. And there was just one
of the things you had one of your callers that
mentioned lung cancer.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Metho can never put out mesoploma.
Speaker 9 (27:16):
Right, And it was coincidental that I was talking to
a man that was at the parade, and I guess
he had been struggling with that had been in the
military and was actually very sick a few months ago
and was in the hospital with it.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Yeah. One of our callers was talking about that. His dad,
I think it was Larry from the Cape, said that
his dad had worked in one of the Navy yards
and then went on to serve in the Air Force
and his plane was shot down and he's a pow
and I guess fifty years later he developed some form
of lung cancer because of the exposure to the asbestos. Right,
(27:57):
that's what this.
Speaker 9 (27:57):
Man did too, from the military. Yeah, well, be very
common from the military.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Well, I think a lot of that asbestos. They used
asbestos for installation for many years, and they've finally figured
out that there was a relationship between asbestos, uh and
lung cancer. And you know, asbestos now is something that
is not used in a lot of buildings Before they
can be sold. They have to go in there and
eradicate the asbestos, just like they had to do member
(28:26):
with lead paint. Similar fashion that there were kids who
were you chewing on chips of lead paint, and so
lead can no.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
Longer be used in paint, right, not just which is good?
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Yeah, Well, sure, you learn learn as you go along.
Here and unfortunately people along the way end up. Uh
you know, all the worse, all the worse for wear. Well, Sandrew,
that's good to know that that your that your nephew
was out there today. And uh, great son, excuse me,
(29:01):
I'm sorry, grandson. Okay, here I was making you younger
and no problem. Well that's great, Sandra, And hopefully more
young people like him in the years they had will
develop an appreciation of Memorial Day. I think, right, I
think if every kid listened to these two hours who
have had, we've had some really interesting stories, all of
(29:23):
which brought us back to what the true meaning of
Memorial Day is.
Speaker 9 (29:27):
And I also wanted to remember my uncle Bill, who's
the United States Air Force World War two shot down,
had broken legs and injuries, stayed in the military, and
died in nineteen fifty seven on the service of the
United States building barracks after a typhoon. And he's buried
(29:49):
in Ireland to National Cemetery. He was from Canada, really.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
And so he was injured during World War Two.
Speaker 9 (29:57):
Did you say through the United States? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Yeah, and then he then he did he stay in
the military or did he work.
Speaker 9 (30:05):
As a military and died in nineteen fifty seven building
barracks after a typhoon on Okinawa.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Was he there as a member of the military. Was
he there as a contractor?
Speaker 9 (30:18):
He was there with the military United States Air Force?
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Wow, boy, I'll tell you Okinawa that was a pretty
important outpost. Still is still is? Yeah, Zedra, appreciate, appreciate
your call. Thank you so much and thanks for listening
to night side.
Speaker 9 (30:34):
Okay, thank you also for taking my call. Very good show.
Speaker 3 (30:38):
Thank you bye.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
All right, all right, we've got to take a quick
break and from Drake and who waits on the other side.
I got room for a couple more calls to finish
out the hour. So if you'd like to comment on
what Memorial Day meant to you today and what it
means to your family, don't be shy. Six one seven, two,
five four ten thirty or six one seven, nine three
one ten thirty. We will change topics. And seven o'clock, Uh,
(31:01):
the hour that I was going to do on Donald
Trump for his ongoing fight with Harvard, we will push
that over till tomorrow.
Speaker 6 (31:09):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
But the hour we will do after eleven o'clock is
the the the the graduation speech, the commencement address, that
was delivered by Kermit the Frog. This almost sounds that
you don't think it's I'm putting you on, but Kermit
the Frog delivered a commencement address to graduates at the
University of Maryland. We'll save that after eleven. Final comment
(31:33):
or two would be welcome on Memorial Day and the
meaning of this day to all of us as Americans.
Six one, seven, two, five, four, ten, thirty six one seven, nine, three,
one ten thirty Back on Nightside, give Noah a call
back right after.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
This Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news radio.
It's night Side with Dan Ray on WBZY, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
All right, let's get back to the call. It's going
to go to Ann from Drake It Hey an welcome
you are next on night Side.
Speaker 7 (32:05):
Thanks for calling day, Yeah, thank you for taking my call.
I talked to you about this a few years back.
But sometimes you think that these big incidents happened overseas
during World War Two and it doesn't affect people families here.
But my husband had five had five uncles out World
(32:27):
War Two at the same time, and the youngest one
begged for permission to go, you know, with the other
brothers and they gave it to him and he went overseas.
He's the only one who didn't come back. He was
on a Belgian coop ship that was used to take
soldiers to the to the Normandy coast. He was in
(32:49):
the ship. It was used to be an Ocean minor,
a Belgian coop ship, and was torpedoed and sunk by
German submarine Christmas Eve nineteen forty four. And my my
husband's grandmother, who you know, the the mother of the
of the uncles, she got letters from Western Union telegrams
(33:13):
that he was missing in action and that's still his
body hasn't been found. Another Western Union telegram that said
that you know that that the body could not be recovered.
So he's he's buried back home here. Well actually not
very because there's nobody, but there's a marker with the
other brothers who came home from the one was married,
(33:35):
but there were four, there were three grades, one marker
and and one of the other brothers married. And he's
not living in the area. He wasn't. So it's like
the Arizona. Now there's a it's a protected ward race
and it is a picture of that gone Alost like
the Titanic down in the Arizona, down at the bottom
of the ocean.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
So it was it off the coast of where was it?
Do you recall it was torpedoed.
Speaker 7 (34:02):
Yeah, it was going from the English Channel and it
was going from from the English Channel and it was
going to Shirp from Southampton to Serbourgs in France. And
for the Normandy invasion when it was struck by the torpedo,
it said seven hundred and sixty three soldiers were killed
in fifteen crew members and many of the soldiers were
(34:25):
rescued by British destroyers who were in the area and
their way over there too. So and over in Normandy
there's a it's called the Leopoldville the ship, and it's
a Leopoldville incident and it's the you know, it says
that there have been all kinds of books, documentaries, memorials,
(34:47):
and the last soldiers are remembered on the Normandy American
Cemetery's walls of the Missing. They have walls of the
missing almost probably like the via v a memorial.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
You know, just realize, how you know, the events of
the world changed so many lives during.
Speaker 7 (35:07):
That time and you know Dan Christmas Eve to get
to get Western Union telegram as well. They don't do
that anymore now, a chaplain. Uh, we'll go with another
service member to the family to give the news.
Speaker 6 (35:23):
You know.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
Of course, remember during World War two? Was it I
think it was, If I'm not mistaken, I think it
was half a million US soldiers died in the various
theaters around the world. Europe, China, Bournom in India, Africa
are different places where the war was font So I
think that's the figure. Someone will probably correct me because
my audience is pretty good on this sort of thing.
Speaker 7 (35:46):
So if I'm wrong on that, those who never came home,
you know.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
So yeah, I'm just trying to have one more.
Speaker 7 (35:53):
Thing if i can ahead. You know, the lady who
just called about it was a her was her husband
who was working in the shipyard and he was exposed
to his best tost No.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
It was a it was a call at last hour.
It was his dad who had worked and it was
exposed to asbestos. And then he told destroy that the
dad went in and joined the Air force and actually
was a gunner on an airplane that was shot down
and the and his dad survived the shootdown and also
(36:28):
survived the German Fisher of War camp as well. Yeah.
Speaker 7 (36:34):
Oh, I was going to ask you if you could
please look into this. And I know all about it anyways,
but for your uh, you know, for your listening audience.
It's called the Pack Act. Pact Act was signed a
coup in twenty twenty two by President Biden. It gave
benefits to families of servicemen who who died from Ajorn Orange,
(37:00):
you know, from inhaling the fumes of of Yeah, and
there also now that you act the benefits were include
now and survivors of nine to eleven are people who
work there with you know, first responders, they were exposed,
and also people who I can I know all about it.
(37:24):
I've still lot some of these performs. My husband passed
away two years ago, and he was he was exposed.
He was in South Korea. He's a d m V
during the Vietnamese War, and he was the drinking water
and the herbicides on all the glasses.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
You know, what I what I would see, what I
would suggest on this, and is that are you looking
to investigate the potential death benefit for your husband?
Speaker 8 (37:49):
Oh?
Speaker 7 (37:49):
No, I already I have that It took me a
year and a half of forms and working with an agent.
But for other people who aren't aware that it doesn't
have to be you know, like that that person's loved
one would be entitled to something.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
You know.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Yeah, again, I don't have much to to I think
you know much more about that than I do. By
the way, I did look up the total number of
US military debts in World War two is approximately four
hundred five thousand, three hundred and ninety nine, which includes
both combat and non combat debts. And they believe that
two hundred and ninety one thousand, five hundred and fifty seven,
(38:27):
so just sort of just short of three hundred thousand
were battlefield debts, and then there's another one hundred thousand
plus that were non battlefield deaths. So we're talking about
when you the point of making is when you talked
about people being notified by telegrams. That was back in
the day in World War two, a fairly quick course
(38:49):
of communications. That that's what what they called then the
Department of War day, Yeah, a little different.
Speaker 7 (38:56):
I'd advise anybody to go to that Leopolville website. There
are tons of photos, you know, uh, real photos. It
used to be a crul ship.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Yep, no, I hear you. You said the Belgium ship,
all right, and I got to run here because I'm
up against my great Thanks so much for you. I
have a great knock tonight when we come back, we're
going to talk about something caught my eye over the weekend,
and that was that there was a very special commencement
speaker at the University of Maryland, Kermit the Frog. I
(39:28):
have mixed feelings about this. I'd love to get your
thoughts right after the eleven o'clock news here on Nightside
It's Nightside with Dan rays Costin's video.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Now, thank you very much. We're gonna what I'd like
to do here on Nightside is we had a topic
which we could get to in the later at the
ten o'clock hour, but people seem to want to talk
about Memorial Day. We had some really interesting calls last hour.
Steven Cambridge made some great points Larry and Dennisport, Jim
(00:26):
in Southampton, Greg and Lynnfield, John in Dorchester, Linda in Weymouth.
And so we're going to continue this and if you'd
like to reflect on what you did today or we're talking.
We're trying to make sure people understand the meaning of
Memorial Day. And Steve made the point early on during
(00:48):
the hour conversation that Memorial Day has been somewhat watered down.
I come by the fact that it is now just
in the minds of many people just the start of summer,
a weekend for barbecue, and they missed the meaning of it.
And Steve felt that that was because it was moved
from the fixed dative, which was May thirtieth for about
(01:10):
one hundred years, to the Monday, the last Monday.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
And yeah, I guess that's what it is. It's no,
it's let me see. Yeah, it's the last Monday because
the yeah, the last Monday in May, and people are
having a great time, but they have no idea what
it's about. So we're talking to people who do know
(01:36):
what it's about. I'm going to start with George in Boston. George,
appreciate your holding on throughout the news. You're next on nightside.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Gor ahead, all right, thank you. My uncle Marby was
in the Korean War, hand to hand combat. He was chilled,
and I think that this story of what he did
varied over the years. I wasn't even born yet. I
was in More until sixty four. Something about helping his buddies,
you know. But he did do something of significant valor
(02:07):
because he has a square in Jamaica plane dedicated to him.
It's at the corner of Heath and Shula Street. Really,
it's named Robert m Engelhat Square, and they dedicated it once,
but they rededicated it in the eighties and I was
at that one. I had like a big benefit breakfast
in his honor. And you'll never guess who the MC was,
(02:31):
a very famous boisterous politician, Boston politician.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I'm gonna guess da' neil.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Oh my god, how did you guess?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Well, you know, I took a lucky guess.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
There's no way you guess that I've been at the church,
has that?
Speaker 5 (02:45):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (02:45):
It was him.
Speaker 6 (02:46):
Oh what a.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Character he was.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Well, I covered the city council as a TV reporter
for many years, and that when you said boisterous, I
could think of the name that struck me was da Neil.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Yeah, I couldn't even know what was he? What kind
of politician was the.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Earlier on here's the city councilor here's a city council.
Ran for higher office a couple of times and was unsuccessful.
I think at one point tried to run for mayor
another type. Another time he wanted to run for the
sheriff of Suffolk County. But yeah, dapper O'Neil was. He
fashioned himself as sort of a a protege of James
(03:27):
Michael Curly.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah. He was very proud of the fact that he
was a graduate of the Staley College of the Spoken Word.
I don't think the Staley College of the Spoken Word
exists anymore. But yeah, So he made an impression on you,
that's for sure. So your your your uncle. Was it
(03:49):
your mom's brother or your dad's brother.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
My dad's brother.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, and he was involved, which is true when the
Chinese communist troops came home over the border in North Korea.
He was in hand to hand combat that had to
be inch on and places like that, brutally cold winter time.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
That was I do know he was killed in November. Yeah,
it says that I remember that. But yeah, you're talking
about Memorial Day's getting watered down. Yeah, yeah, but a
lot of us do know what it's about.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
No, I know that. Nobody I talked. I talked, I
talked about. There was a survey in which people of you.
You were born in sixty four, so you are one
of the last of the baby boomers. Okay, I'm also
a baby boomer born somewhat before you. I wish I
had been born in sixty four. But baby boomers have
(04:54):
a better appreciation of what the real purpose of Memorial
Day is and has always been of subsequent generations. The
newer the generation, the less they understand what the purpose
of Memorial Day is. And Memorial Day is indeed to
honor people like your uncle, who not only enlisted in
(05:16):
the military, served in the military, but gave his all
in the military.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
Oh I remember, And how about World War two? The
whole country got together. Remember if people had to donate
all their metal and stuff.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah, neither you or I were alive during World War Two.
But yeah, the stuff was rationed and there was a
matter of fact, that's why they were pennies made of
It was like an alloy. You sometimes you'll see pennies
from the nineteen forties and I guess the copper that
(05:51):
would have been used for the fermenting of pennies, it
was diverted to military use. I mean they were there
were shortages of food was rationed. Oh yeah, the whole
country was in a war footing in World War two.
Been nothing like that ever since in this country.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Yeah, that's my point. The whole country got together, shipping
in helping out and there were no protests and to
any of these protests back then, yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Well they were, they were. Yeah, there were protests prior
to the world to World War Two, there was a
fairly strong isolationist faction in the country, led by at
least nominally led by Charles Lindberg, the American aviator who
was the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
But once Pearl Harbor was attacked, the country was on
(06:45):
war footing from then. And by the way, World War
Two was completed in three and a half years. If
you go from December of forty one to August of
forty five, its it's really three and a half years.
On the calendar, it's about forty four months or forty
(07:05):
three months.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
And of course we had the Vietnam War, which went
for over ten years. We had the War on Terror
which went for over twenty years when you think about it,
the War in Terror really began following nine to eleven
and didn't conclude until that horrendous withdrawal from Kabul Afghanistan.
Speaker 4 (07:24):
So yeah, my point is, though the country got together
back then, I don't remember the protest till Vietnam when
the soldiers were coming back, and I was young for
that and I didn't know what was going on, yep,
And now it seems it's just protests everywhere I go.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
It's yeah, we had become a very we had become
a very fractionalized nation, you know. Ironically, something I'm going
to talk about later on during the week. Donald Trump,
a Republican, has been talking about streamlining the military, uh,
and not sending the US military off to fight wars
(08:02):
halfway around the world that we don't understand what the
purpose of those wars are. It's funny what Trump is
saying about the use of military force echoes what many
folks on the other side, the sort of the George
McGovern wing of the Democratic Party, the folks who were
called the quote unquote peacenicks or whatever against war and
(08:25):
uh and all of that. And and Trump has picked
up some support politically from that wing of the Democratic Party.
I believe in his he's almost a neo isolationist. I mean,
it's America first and all of that. But uh online,
I mean he wants to pull back from NATO and
all all of that sort. There's there's this kind of
(08:46):
a transition going on in the in the American political system,
which is being headed by in the in the Donald
Trump wing of the Republican Party. It's something to keep
an eye on. George. Thank you for the story of
your uncle. That's an amazing Was his body recovered, Was
he was?
Speaker 7 (09:03):
He was?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
His body brought home?
Speaker 4 (09:05):
I hope I don't even remember everybody. All my up
was a pass now, and like I said, the story
change going down. But I do know you have to
do something, you know, a significance to get us something
dedicated to you.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Oh my goodness, well absolutely, I mean that's that has
to have been, has to been very heroic, George. I
appreciate you, Carl, thank you for holding for the news.
Thank you all right, thank you, good night. We'll keep
going here. I got John in New York. I got
Rick in Central Pennsylvania. If that's it, we will switch topics.
If not, we can continue on this. We're reflecting on
(09:42):
Memorial Day and trying to make people better understand Again,
there was this interesting and I want to thank my
listener Andrea who sent me this, uh this poll which
indicates that older Americans do understand Memorial Day and the
purpose of the moor Day, and younger Americans not all,
(10:03):
but the percentage of Americans diminishes the younger you are
as to understanding what Memorial Day's purpose is, and that
is to remember the memory of those who not only served,
but gave they're all and lost their lives in the
service of the country. Veterans Day is a broader celebration,
(10:25):
a broader holiday back on night Side. If you like
the joining, it's got a couple of lines six one, seven, two, five,
four thirty and one at six one, seven, nine, three,
ten thirty. Back on the night Side.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
After this Night Side with Dan Ray on ws Boston's
news radio. You're on night Side with Dan Ray on
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Well, just keep rolling. I'm gonna go to my friend
John in New York. John got your email today. How
are you, sir? Hello? John?
Speaker 5 (10:55):
Oh good, Hello?
Speaker 7 (10:56):
Do you hear me?
Speaker 2 (10:57):
I can hear you? Find John? Go right ahead?
Speaker 5 (11:01):
Okay, all right, Yeah, I had mentioned to you I
was going to thank you.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Yeah, sure, not exactly sure what, but go ahead.
Speaker 5 (11:12):
And the reason, okay, what to thank you is about
that thanks to you and your program and the fact
that I enjoy it. I to you know, I loaded
the Facebook app to watch your after show program.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
All right, yes, yes, thank you, and I.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
Enjoyed the program. But get this, pal, just after your show,
I saw this woman wanting a friend on there. You
know how that works with Facebook? Yeah, So I I
contacted her, and she contacted me, and we've been talking
every day and now we're going to be falling in
love soon. Man, this could be the for all because
(11:54):
it's all because of you.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Well, I hope I get an invitation to the wedding.
Don't want to get too far out of you here,
but you know, now you're in New York. Where where
is this lovely lady from?
Speaker 8 (12:09):
Uh, Manila, Manila in the Philippines. Yeah, man, Now, be careful,
be careful, John.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
I know, Hey, I know the stories. I know you
know what I mean. Okay, I don't want to say
I meant I've met I traveled a lot for thirty years.
I've met a lot of individuals that told me the
nightmare and what happened.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Yeah. Yeah, No, I'm just saying that if she starts
looking for it for you to send your cash or
or to give you somewhere her passwords, be very careful, Joe.
That's all I'm saying. I was hoping it's gonna be
somebody from from New York.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
But she's gonna, she's gonna she's gonna come fly and
see me soon. She's gonna come see me.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Okay, John, keep me posted, will you?
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Uh?
Speaker 5 (12:59):
I gain an thing is remember the program you had
a few weeks ago, having people call, hey, how much
old are you than your wife and all that good stuff. Yeah,
guess what how much old are you?
Speaker 9 (13:13):
Do?
Speaker 5 (13:13):
How much older do you think I am over her?
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Well? I think what you're referring to was the Bill
Belichick Jordan Hudson program where we talked about Bill Belichick,
who's seventy four dating a woman who's somewhat younger than he.
She's twenty four, right, Okay, So, okay, how old are you?
I'm seventy Okay, I'm gonna guess. Is she thirty?
Speaker 5 (13:44):
Right on the log and you did, Wow, you got
a crystal ball in that studio there.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
No, I do not, No, I do not.
Speaker 5 (13:53):
But why did you guess that?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I totally guessed that I was putting you in the
Bill Belichick?
Speaker 6 (14:00):
Was that?
Speaker 5 (14:01):
But by the way, the fact I'm on the voice
of Boss and the Big Drifted Killer Watch station in
the city, right, Yeah. I want to suggest that all
the lady callers called Dan and Zankims would being such
the polite gentleman he is, the way he handles all
your calls.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
I appreciate it. You gotta keep me posting on this one, John, Okay, Uh,
I would be I would just be be. I would
simply advise that these international friendships can can in order
the detriment of what people might perceive as wealthy, afluent Americans.
(14:41):
If you get my drift, John, and I think, oh.
Speaker 5 (14:44):
Yeah, sure, that's all right. I mean I might be
a sugar daddy.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
You got to keep your eyes open if she starts,
if she starts to do it, if she's if she
tries to do a done in Bradstreet on you, you
gotta be very yeah. Well, okay, she starts asking you
questions like so, how many bank accounts do you actually have?
And one of the past words, that would be a
clear indication that maybe she's looking she's looking for love
(15:11):
in the wrong places. If you get my drift, okay,
just be careful.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
I could never be that much and loves to do
that good.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Good, Well, now you solid we're good. We're good. That's all.
You know what they say.
Speaker 5 (15:25):
Sometimes very much.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Sometimes people are blinded by love or what they perceive
is love. Right, yeah, yeah, you know.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
And I'm on here a long time. But I was
going to talk a little bit about Memorial Day stuff.
But that's okay because you're changing the subject now.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
No, no, that's fine. You give me a quick Memorial
Day story. What did you do today? What did you do?
Speaker 5 (15:47):
I actually I did not do anything related to it
except to think about it and what it was. When
I was a youngster, I was a member of the
Sons of the League and my father was the commander
of the Legion Post number eighty six watching the cord
a gentleman that was killed in the First World War.
They named the post after him. Okay, and my dad
(16:08):
led the parade and it was the Sons of the
Legion organization. I was one of the first members. In
the nineteenth late fifties they started that organization and I
became a member, got a membership card. And one of
the things we did was we watched in the parade
right behind our fathers. And the other things we did
is a few weeks before Memworth, they we visited all
(16:30):
the cemeteries and put flags on all the guy's graves.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
That's pretty good.
Speaker 5 (16:36):
And you realize being a kid, you realize how many
people died for this particular war stuff, you know, Yeah, no,
there's no doubt.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
My brother a million people in World War two, half
a million Americans and other you know, fifty thousand and
soul in Korea fifty eight thousand in Vietnam, and on
and on it goes.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
Yeah, well my dad was in Iwo Jima, but he
was on the third wave. Okay, with the landings, the
first two waves, everybody, they lost so many guys that
were killed on the first two waves of landing on
the beach.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Tell you, I'll tell you. I don't know if you're
a baseball fan or not, and if you're from New York,
but Hank Bauer, Yankee outfielder in the nineteen fifties, was
a veteran of Ewo Jima.
Speaker 5 (17:27):
Okay, I didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Yeah, he was a marine one one tough guy. One
tough guy.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
Yeah, that's you know, that is common from that error
of people. Because my dad was.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Like that, you got it, you got it. Hey, John,
great to hear your voice. Keep me posting on all
the romantic activities. And then.
Speaker 5 (17:48):
Okay, and yes, thank you again.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Thanks. Well, don't take me yet. Let's see how it
works out, you know what I'm saying. Okay, thanks you,
I talked to you.
Speaker 7 (17:58):
Soon.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Have a great night. I take very quick break here
at the bottom of the hour. We will stick with
this topic. The only lines that are open, and we
will change topics at eleven. So if you want to
get into this, I'm not going to go three hours
on it, but I can easily finish out this hour
six one seven, two, five, four ten thirty. Those lines
are full. I shouldn't even given that six one seven,
(18:19):
nine three one ten thirty. If you want to get
in two lines at six one seven, nine three one
ten thirty. Back on night Side after this, It's.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Night Side with Dan ONBZ Boston's news radio. It's night
Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Thank you, Suzanne. Let's get back to the phone calls.
We are reflecting on Memorial Day, and as I say,
I'm more than happy to finish out the hour here
on this subject because I think it's a subject that's important.
Uh and UH feel free. We got some lines open
at six one seven, nine three, one ten thirty. There
were two lines there. Everything else is full up. Rick
is in Central Pennsylvania. Ricky were next on, said welcome.
Speaker 6 (19:01):
My Dan, It's Rick. I haven't talked to you in
quite a while, but I wanted to touch base. Sure,
a great topic, and I'm glad you extended it beyond
the ten o'clock hour. Of it. I grew up in Bolsburg, Pennsylvania,
which is two or three miles east of State College
(19:22):
where Penn State's located. Absolutely, and Bolsberg is one of
the places in the country that claims to be the
birthplace of Memorial Day, and Memorial Day in this town
and the area is not watered down. It's a whole
weekend of different activities.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
How far how far is your community? How far does
your community trace back their Memorial.
Speaker 6 (19:52):
Day heritage to the eighteen hundred It started with the
group of three women that decorated, like they used to
call it decoration Day. Yeah, decorated grave of one of
the women's sons that was killed in the Civil War.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
You know, I think I think, believe it or not,
you might be right here. I'm just had I looked
it up earlier, and I guess originally as a federal holiday.
It was first observed on May thirtieth, eighteen sixty eight,
following a proclamation by General John A. Logan that we
(20:33):
should commemorate all American military personnel who had died in service.
And I guess there are various claims of you know,
origination of it, but yeah, your community's claim might be
as good as anyone's, to be honest with you.
Speaker 6 (20:53):
Yeah, it's a very nice weekend. And it is a
shame that so many people people think of it as
the start of summer, a day off day for picnics.
And I'm trying to keep this tradition going in my
family based on my grandparents of putting flowers in the
(21:14):
graves of past relatives that have served.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
By the way, did you say, Rick, did you cite Bolesburg, Pennsylvania,
Boa lsb u RG, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 6 (21:26):
It's Boa lsd u RG.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah, it says July fourth, eighteen sixty four, ladies decorated
soldiers graves. According to local historians in Bolsburg, Pennsylvania, Bowlesburg
promotes itself as the birthplace of Memorial Day. However, no
published reference to this event has been found earlier than
the printing of the History of the one hundred and
forty eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers in nineteen oh four. In a
(21:51):
footnote to a story about her brother, Missus Sophie Keller
Hall described how she and Emma Hunter decorated the grave
of his father, Reuben Hunter, and then the grave of
all soldiers in the cemetery destroy did not account for
Reuben Hunter's death occurring two months later in September of
eighteen sixty four. So I can see with us a
(22:11):
little bit, a little bit of a confusion there. But hey,
maybe it was Bowsburg, Pennsylvania. It's interesting. There's a whole
bunch of communities here that claim to have originated this story.
But we do know that the National Day was a
proclamation calling for decoration data to be observed annually and
(22:35):
the nationwide by John A. Logan General who was the
commander and the chief of the Grand Army of the
Republic of course, the organization that fought on the Union
side of the Civil War.
Speaker 6 (22:50):
Now, and also this weekend we put flowers on the
grave of my great great grandfather that was involved with
in the Civil War Gettysburg. And interesting enough, Dona, who
do you remember Nancy Culp? Is that ring a bell?
Speaker 2 (23:14):
It rings a very distant bell.
Speaker 6 (23:16):
Tell me who that was, well, miss Jane Hathaway from
the Beverly Hill Billy, oh right right, right, yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yeah, yeah, right. And Nancy Health was like the secretary
of the President of the Bank.
Speaker 6 (23:27):
Right, yeah, she was quite the character. Anyway. She is
buried near that great great grandfather's marker. So we also
put something on her grave too because she was in
the service during World War Two.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Now, she she was actually in the television series.
Speaker 6 (23:50):
Yeah, she was in the Beverly Hill Billy And she
was an actress for lots of things, but best known
for Beverly and LP.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
The Ulp Yeah, okay, yeah, Nancy Jane Calth She was
best known best known as Miss Jane Hathaway in the
series The Hillbillies. Yeah, kind of fun. Yeah, but she's
been around for she was she was quite an accomplished actress.
Speaker 6 (24:20):
Well she was then she's kind of forgotten there, and
so I put something on her grave too because she
was in she was in the service during the Second
World War. Yeah, I'm not sure what.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Yeah, she was born in nineteen nineteen twenty one, and
she was in the US the United States navor reserved
from nineteen forty six to nineteen nineteen forty four and
nineteen forty six.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, all right, that's all good.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
She was a lieutenant's it's amazing when you when you
get into some of these people. I think everybody knew
those characters in the Beverly Hillbillies miss Jane Hathaway. That
was her name. That was her her the role that
she played in that in that one. That's good.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
That's my name.
Speaker 6 (25:09):
That's imprinted on her tombstone or grave marker too, so
so it's.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Got Nancy Culp and also Nancy Jane Hathaway.
Speaker 6 (25:18):
Yeah, that was her famous role.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
I guess Jane Jane Hathaway. Yeah, I guess she was.
Excuse me, let me clarify. She was Nancy Jane Culp
in real life, but she was Miss Jane Hathaway on
the CBS TV series The Beverly Hillbillies. Remember, Rick, I
got a screwed here. Thanks so much for colling don't
be a stranger man. That that was good information tonight.
Speaker 6 (25:42):
Well you have a good evening, and thanks a lot
for bringing all this attention.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Well, thanks for thanks for being a contributor tonight. That
was excellent. Thanks, Ray, appreciate it. Let me get one
more in here. I think I cut Rick off a
little bit. Sorry, Rick didn't mean to do that, but
I want to get to Sandra from Carver, Massachue. Seddra,
you were next on Nightside.
Speaker 9 (26:01):
Welcome, Hi, thank you for taking my call. You're welcome
and you're talking about the Memorial Day. Yes, yes, And
I did go to the Memorial Middleborough Parade today. My
grandson Dylan marched in the parade with the Boy Scouts.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Okay, and that's an annual event up sure in Middleborough.
An annual event.
Speaker 9 (26:27):
Yes, they have a very very nice parade. This is
his second time marching in one of the Middleborough parades.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
How old your grandson? He's thirteen thirteen, so he now
has an understanding of Memorial Day, probably better than most
thirteen year olds.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Right.
Speaker 9 (26:42):
Well, he's kind of a serious kid. He's a good
kid and people know him quite a bit in town.
He does a lot of he's mowing lawns and doing
things like that.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
That's okay a little he's an entrepreneur, you know, nothing
wrong with that.
Speaker 9 (27:00):
Through he's a good kid. He's played baseball too, and
now he's a good kid. And there was just one
of the things you had one of your callers that
mentioned lung cancer.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Metho can never put out mesoploma.
Speaker 9 (27:16):
Right, And it was coincidental that I was talking to
a man that was at the parade, and I guess
he had been struggling with that had been in the
military and was actually very sick a few months ago
and was in the hospital with it.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Yeah. One of our callers was talking about that. His dad,
I think it was Larry from the Cape, said that
his dad had worked in one of the Navy yards
and then went on to serve in the Air Force
and his plane was shot down and he's a pow
and I guess fifty years later he developed some form
of lung cancer because of the exposure to the asbestos. Right,
(27:57):
that's what this.
Speaker 9 (27:57):
Man did too, from the military. Yeah, well, be very
common from the military.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Well, I think a lot of that asbestos. They used
asbestos for installation for many years, and they've finally figured
out that there was a relationship between asbestos, uh and
lung cancer. And you know, asbestos now is something that
is not used in a lot of buildings Before they
can be sold. They have to go in there and
eradicate the asbestos, just like they had to do member
(28:26):
with lead paint. Similar fashion that there were kids who
were you chewing on chips of lead paint, and so
lead can no.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
Longer be used in paint, right, not just which is good?
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Yeah, Well, sure, you learn learn as you go along.
Here and unfortunately people along the way end up. Uh
you know, all the worse, all the worse for wear. Well, Sandrew,
that's good to know that that your that your nephew
was out there today. And uh, great son, excuse me,
(29:01):
I'm sorry, grandson. Okay, here I was making you younger
and no problem. Well that's great, Sandra, And hopefully more
young people like him in the years they had will
develop an appreciation of Memorial Day. I think, right, I
think if every kid listened to these two hours who
have had, we've had some really interesting stories, all of
(29:23):
which brought us back to what the true meaning of
Memorial Day is.
Speaker 9 (29:27):
And I also wanted to remember my uncle Bill, who's
the United States Air Force World War two shot down,
had broken legs and injuries, stayed in the military, and
died in nineteen fifty seven on the service of the
United States building barracks after a typhoon. And he's buried
(29:49):
in Ireland to National Cemetery. He was from Canada, really.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
And so he was injured during World War Two.
Speaker 9 (29:57):
Did you say through the United States? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Yeah, and then he then he did he stay in
the military or did he work.
Speaker 9 (30:05):
As a military and died in nineteen fifty seven building
barracks after a typhoon on Okinawa.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Was he there as a member of the military. Was
he there as a contractor?
Speaker 9 (30:18):
He was there with the military United States Air Force?
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Wow, boy, I'll tell you Okinawa that was a pretty
important outpost. Still is still is? Yeah, Zedra, appreciate, appreciate
your call. Thank you so much and thanks for listening
to night side.
Speaker 9 (30:34):
Okay, thank you also for taking my call. Very good show.
Speaker 3 (30:38):
Thank you bye.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
All right, all right, we've got to take a quick
break and from Drake and who waits on the other side.
I got room for a couple more calls to finish
out the hour. So if you'd like to comment on
what Memorial Day meant to you today and what it
means to your family, don't be shy. Six one seven, two,
five four ten thirty or six one seven, nine three
one ten thirty. We will change topics. And seven o'clock, Uh,
(31:01):
the hour that I was going to do on Donald
Trump for his ongoing fight with Harvard, we will push
that over till tomorrow.
Speaker 6 (31:09):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
But the hour we will do after eleven o'clock is
the the the the graduation speech, the commencement address, that
was delivered by Kermit the Frog. This almost sounds that
you don't think it's I'm putting you on, but Kermit
the Frog delivered a commencement address to graduates at the
University of Maryland. We'll save that after eleven. Final comment
(31:33):
or two would be welcome on Memorial Day and the
meaning of this day to all of us as Americans.
Six one, seven, two, five, four, ten, thirty six one seven, nine, three,
one ten thirty Back on Nightside, give Noah a call
back right after.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
This Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news radio.
It's night Side with Dan Ray on WBZY, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
All right, let's get back to the call. It's going
to go to Ann from Drake It Hey an welcome
you are next on night Side.
Speaker 7 (32:05):
Thanks for calling day, Yeah, thank you for taking my call.
I talked to you about this a few years back.
But sometimes you think that these big incidents happened overseas
during World War Two and it doesn't affect people families here.
But my husband had five had five uncles out World
(32:27):
War Two at the same time, and the youngest one
begged for permission to go, you know, with the other
brothers and they gave it to him and he went overseas.
He's the only one who didn't come back. He was
on a Belgian coop ship that was used to take
soldiers to the to the Normandy coast. He was in
(32:49):
the ship. It was used to be an Ocean minor,
a Belgian coop ship, and was torpedoed and sunk by
German submarine Christmas Eve nineteen forty four. And my my
husband's grandmother, who you know, the the mother of the
of the uncles, she got letters from Western Union telegrams
(33:13):
that he was missing in action and that's still his
body hasn't been found. Another Western Union telegram that said
that you know that that the body could not be recovered.
So he's he's buried back home here. Well actually not
very because there's nobody, but there's a marker with the
other brothers who came home from the one was married,
(33:35):
but there were four, there were three grades, one marker
and and one of the other brothers married. And he's
not living in the area. He wasn't. So it's like
the Arizona. Now there's a it's a protected ward race
and it is a picture of that gone Alost like
the Titanic down in the Arizona, down at the bottom
of the ocean.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
So it was it off the coast of where was it?
Do you recall it was torpedoed.
Speaker 7 (34:02):
Yeah, it was going from the English Channel and it
was going from from the English Channel and it was
going to Shirp from Southampton to Serbourgs in France. And
for the Normandy invasion when it was struck by the torpedo,
it said seven hundred and sixty three soldiers were killed
in fifteen crew members and many of the soldiers were
(34:25):
rescued by British destroyers who were in the area and
their way over there too. So and over in Normandy
there's a it's called the Leopoldville the ship, and it's
a Leopoldville incident and it's the you know, it says
that there have been all kinds of books, documentaries, memorials,
(34:47):
and the last soldiers are remembered on the Normandy American
Cemetery's walls of the Missing. They have walls of the
missing almost probably like the via v a memorial.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
You know, just realize, how you know, the events of
the world changed so many lives during.
Speaker 7 (35:07):
That time and you know Dan Christmas Eve to get
to get Western Union telegram as well. They don't do
that anymore now, a chaplain. Uh, we'll go with another
service member to the family to give the news.
Speaker 6 (35:23):
You know.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
Of course, remember during World War two? Was it I
think it was, If I'm not mistaken, I think it
was half a million US soldiers died in the various
theaters around the world. Europe, China, Bournom in India, Africa
are different places where the war was font So I
think that's the figure. Someone will probably correct me because
my audience is pretty good on this sort of thing.
Speaker 7 (35:46):
So if I'm wrong on that, those who never came home,
you know.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
So yeah, I'm just trying to have one more.
Speaker 7 (35:53):
Thing if i can ahead. You know, the lady who
just called about it was a her was her husband
who was working in the shipyard and he was exposed
to his best tost No.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
It was a it was a call at last hour.
It was his dad who had worked and it was
exposed to asbestos. And then he told destroy that the
dad went in and joined the Air force and actually
was a gunner on an airplane that was shot down
and the and his dad survived the shootdown and also
(36:28):
survived the German Fisher of War camp as well. Yeah.
Speaker 7 (36:34):
Oh, I was going to ask you if you could
please look into this. And I know all about it anyways,
but for your uh, you know, for your listening audience.
It's called the Pack Act. Pact Act was signed a
coup in twenty twenty two by President Biden. It gave
benefits to families of servicemen who who died from Ajorn Orange,
(37:00):
you know, from inhaling the fumes of of Yeah, and
there also now that you act the benefits were include
now and survivors of nine to eleven are people who
work there with you know, first responders, they were exposed,
and also people who I can I know all about it.
(37:24):
I've still lot some of these performs. My husband passed
away two years ago, and he was he was exposed.
He was in South Korea. He's a d m V
during the Vietnamese War, and he was the drinking water
and the herbicides on all the glasses.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
You know, what I what I would see, what I
would suggest on this, and is that are you looking
to investigate the potential death benefit for your husband?
Speaker 8 (37:49):
Oh?
Speaker 7 (37:49):
No, I already I have that It took me a
year and a half of forms and working with an agent.
But for other people who aren't aware that it doesn't
have to be you know, like that that person's loved
one would be entitled to something.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
You know.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Yeah, again, I don't have much to to I think
you know much more about that than I do. By
the way, I did look up the total number of
US military debts in World War two is approximately four
hundred five thousand, three hundred and ninety nine, which includes
both combat and non combat debts. And they believe that
two hundred and ninety one thousand, five hundred and fifty seven,
(38:27):
so just sort of just short of three hundred thousand
were battlefield debts, and then there's another one hundred thousand
plus that were non battlefield deaths. So we're talking about
when you the point of making is when you talked
about people being notified by telegrams. That was back in
the day in World War two, a fairly quick course
(38:49):
of communications. That that's what what they called then the
Department of War day, Yeah, a little different.
Speaker 7 (38:56):
I'd advise anybody to go to that Leopolville website. There
are tons of photos, you know, uh, real photos. It
used to be a crul ship.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Yep, no, I hear you. You said the Belgium ship,
all right, and I got to run here because I'm
up against my great Thanks so much for you. I
have a great knock tonight when we come back, we're
going to talk about something caught my eye over the weekend,
and that was that there was a very special commencement
speaker at the University of Maryland, Kermit the Frog. I
(39:28):
have mixed feelings about this. I'd love to get your
thoughts right after the eleven o'clock news here on Nightside
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