01.) Shake Hands With A Dead Man

Chris DeRose falls down a deep rabbit hole searching for answers to the mystery of the Phantom Marine.

Episode Transcript

(00:09):
Welcome to the first episode of thePhantom Marine Podcast. I'm Chris de Rose,
and I'm delighted you're here because Ireally need to talk about this case
with people. I haven't been ableto get this story out of my mind,
not since the first article I read. Maybe together we can solve a
mystery nearly seventy five years old.Here's how it started. I was writing

(00:31):
a book called The Fighting Bunch,which came out this week, the true
story of an armed rebellion by WorldWar Two veterans against the corrupt political machine
to prevent it from stealing an election. One of the things I love about
my work is reading old newspapers.I came across an article with a headline
about a phantom marine, a mannamed William Langston, who was declared dead

(00:53):
in the war, who appears tohave been incredibly cited in his hometown.
Was a short article. It clearlyreferenced previous day's coverage. Now I'm distractable.
If nothing else, I can't goon with my research without learning more
about this fan of marine, soI turned to Google. I figured I'd
read the Wikipedia, entre see whathappened, and move on with my life.

(01:15):
But there isn't one. There's basicallyno digital footprint for William Langston.
So I went into a database ofold newspapers for an event that appears to
have faded fully from the public consciousness. It was once a major national story.
Every wire service carried day by daycoverage to newspapers throughout the United States.
I figured I would read to theend, learn what happened, and

(01:38):
get back to researching the fighting bunch. Here's what those national stories had to
say. The mystery began when acrippled marine, his hands injured in one
foot missing, visited Newport, Arkansason Saturday, January nineteenth, nineteen forty
six. He was greeted as Langston. Old friends accosted him on the street,
and he called them by name,asking questions about their families and relatives.

(02:04):
Langston's mother, father, and sisterarrived in Newport, searched frantically for
a trace of the young marine oran impostor who had fooled even his closest
friends in the cruelest kind of hoax. The young warrior was reported killed and
he regima last March seventh, butfriends say they were positive he was the
man who talked to them in Newportlast weekend. The man encountered Newport funeral

(02:28):
director Addie Dillinger, who asked whetherhe had a discharge. All I have
is a dead man certificate, hesaid. Langston was reported to have left
town at ten thirty pm on Sunday. One reporter identified twelve people who knew
Lenggston was certain the man was him. William Lynkston had a wife, Linda,

(02:49):
in Saint Joseph, Michigan, wherethey had lived together in the years
before he enlisted and went off towar. Linda had remarried on January fifth,
two weeks to the day before herfirst husband allegedly reappeared in Newport,
Arkansas. Linda was skeptical. Shetrusted the official report of his death.
Her confidence was reinforced by the returnof her husband's personal effects and the fact

(03:14):
that he had been assigned a specificray of Annie Wishima. Langston's father Bill
Langston, sister Florence Griffin, andmother Naomi Hendrix all lived in the area
and headed to Newport as soon asthey learned the news. They asked witnesses
whether it was true. There couldbe no mistake. They were assured.

(03:36):
Florence spent two days talking with peoplewho had spent time with the man claiming
to be her brother. We knowhe is alive and well, and we
expect to talk to him sometime tomorrow, she said, referring to Wednesday,
January twenty third. But there wasno sign of him, or I should
say almost no sign. On Thursday, January twenty fourth, Naomi received a

(03:58):
letter in her mailbox. It hadbeen postmarked the day before from Conway,
Arkansas, about ninety miles southwest ofNewport, and the outside was written USMC
station unknown. She recognized the writing. Her hand shook as she opened it.
Naomi read the letter through tears.Dear mother, I am going to

(04:24):
a hospital in Oklahoma somewhere. We'llbe home as soon as I can get
a discharge. Don't worry. I'mokay and feeling fine. It was signed
William Langston. Naomi compared the letterto a nineteen forty three letters she received
when he was stationed in San Diego. I am sure that my boy will

(04:44):
communicate with me when he gets locatedin that hospital, she said. There
was an article about Linda's intention totravel from Michigan to Arkansas to investigate the
story. In person, but nomore than that. Then came a headline
which seemed to clear up everything.Ghost Marine's mom says second son missing.
In the United Press story dated Februaryfirst, the weird saga of Arkansas's Ghost

(05:11):
Marine took on a new air ofmystery when Naomi Hendrix, mother of the
key figure in the drama, reportedthat another son had been missing four weeks.
Marian Lynston had last been seen atthe home of friends on January sixth.
Marian apparently had an injured back anda broken leg from a work accident.
She claimed he was nineteen years old, but looked older than that.

(05:32):
Anomi had attempted to contact Marian unsuccessfully, so that's it, after all,
That was simply his brother. Marian, who undoubtedly bore a resemblance, had
similar injuries to the man with alimp, and would have probably shared some
memories that might have convinced others.One of the things that makes the imposter

(05:53):
theory hard to accept in general isthat nobody seems to have had a motive.
Lynkston wasn't the heir to any money. He'd been declared dead by the
government. What would possess someone totry and pass themselves off as him,
but perhaps Marian, injured an industrialaccident, might assume the identity of his
war hero brother. I decided totry and find Marion Langston. My first

(06:15):
stop was whitepages dot com searching forhis name. He was nine in nineteen
forty six, so born around nineteentwenty seven. He appeared to be deceased.
I looked at his last address fora manufactured home community in Federal Way,
Washington. It had its own Facebookpage I posted asking for anyone who

(06:36):
knew Marion Langston to contact me.I called the front office and asked them
to post a note on the bulletinboard to the same effect. But I
didn't hear anything. I couldn't locatehim on find a Grave, and I
couldn't find his obituary in any newspaperdatabase that I had access to. I
contacted the King County Library System andasked their reference librarians to try and find

(06:59):
it their local newspaper. Here wastheir reply. I was able to find
a death notice for Marian Davis Langstonpublished in the Seattle Post Intelligence or newspaper
and November fifteenth, two thousand andthree, on page p. Four.
There it was on a long listof names. Langston Marian d. Seventy

(07:20):
six of SCAC November fifth. That'sit. There was no trace of a
paid for obituary or a widow orchildren I could get in contact with.
Marian's trail was cold for now.I found Linda Langston on find a Grave.
She died in nineteen ninety eight,still using the name from her second

(07:43):
marriage, Osiniac. Her epitaph remembersa loving wife and mother Joe O'siniac,
her second husband died in nineteen ninetyseven, and they're buried next to one
another in Burying County, Michigan.So it's safe to say their marriage at
the distance, and that whether Williamor the man with the limp ever made
contact with them, William Langston andLinda did not reunite in marriage. The

(08:09):
national reports had stopped abruptly. Ineeded to find local coverage, which I
hope would file the story to itsend and provide missing details, such as
eye witness accounts of people who interactedwith Langston. I reached out to the
Historical Society of Jackson County, Arkansas. That's the county including Newport. One

(08:31):
thing I've learned is that particularly insmaller counties, there is always someone,
even if it's one person, whoknows everything that ever happened there. These
historical societies play an important part ofcivic life, with members writing articles and
giving presentations at regular meetings. Isent them a message about William Langston on
their Facebook page. A man namedCraig Roberts, who you'll hear from in

(08:54):
future episodes, responded that evening familiarwith him, please contact me directly.
He gave me his email address.I wrote, this is one of,
if not the most mysterious stories I'vecome across in my career as a historian.
Please put me out of my misery. I'm dying to know what happened.

(09:18):
The national newspapers dropped the story byFebruary nineteen forty six. Did he
ever reappear in town or anywhere else? Last I read his wife was coming
down from Michigan to see what shecould learn. I did find her grave.
She appears to have remained married toher second husband. So the questions
I have did Langston ever reappear?What happened to his brother? If I

(09:41):
had to put money on it,it was his brother Marian who appeared in
Arkansas. But nothing seems to makesense. Why torture your mother and former
sister in law. Somewhere we canfinally ending to this story. Perhaps we
can team up, Craig wrote.I'll tell you from the get go that
I do not know the definitive answeryou were asking about, so you're not

(10:01):
going to be able to put yourcuriosity to bed with what I know.
But I do have some information andcan perhaps find out more. Let me
give you the story as I knowit and how I came about it.
Craig told me he was working ona history of the area and had recently
read through the local newspapers. Heremembered detailed coverage of the Phantom Marine.

(10:24):
I succeeded in pequing Robert's interest,and he drove to the Arkansas State University
Library in Jonesboro, about an hourfrom his home, to find and take
images of these stories. He sentme an email with all the coverage from
the Newport Daily Independent, the JacksonCounty Democrat, and the Batesville Guard.

(10:45):
These newspapers provided greater details about Langston'schildhood. Newport was not Langston's hometown,
as had been reported. Langston hadgrown up in the smaller town of Newark
about fifteen miles away, and themuch smaller town of Sulfur Rock twenty miles
away. But Newport was the largesttown in the area, located on the

(11:05):
main train line, a place wherepeople from Sulfur Rock in Newark went to
shop, and since they lived ina dry county, they also went to
Newport to drink. Many of thepeople who grew up in these communities moved
to Newport for work, so it'sno surprise that so many people in Newport
knew William Langston. William Willard Langston, reported killed in action on Iwashima March

(11:33):
seventh, nineteen forty six, wasin Newport yesterday. U must a number
of his former friends are grossly mistaken. Read one article. The appearance in
Newport Saturday of a man representing himselfas Marine Private first class William Langston presented
a mystery here which is still unsolved. The man told friends whom he met
on the street and in cafes,that he had returned home from overseas to

(11:56):
find that his wife in Saint Josephmission Chan had married another veteran, and
that he was in route to visithis mother Naomi Hendrix of Jonesborough and his
father, Bill Langston of Newark.His parents were divorced, which was a
rarity for the time and certainly forthe region. Reports are inconsistent as to

(12:18):
where the man with the limps saidhe was headed. An article in the
Jackson County Democrats said he was headedto nearby oil Trough to stay with friends.
Other reports accord that he was headingto Jonesborough to see his mother,
or Newark to see his father,or bebby to see other members of his
family, but nearly all agreed thathe said he would return to Newport on

(12:41):
Wednesday. According to one source,Langston said he was going to see his
family as soon as a telegram fromthe Navy Department could be delivered, telling
of the fact that he was stillalive, in order to not give his
family too much of a surprise.Where had Lengston been since he Jima?
According to one account, the veterantold friends that he had been a prisoner

(13:05):
of war of the Japanese for thirteenmonths and had been tortured. I think
this is a good place to stopand make note of something. Langston obviously
wasn't a prisoner for thirteen months.Military records list Langston Is having died on
March seventh, nineteen forty five,and he allegedly reappeared in Newport on January
nineteenth, nineteen forty six. That'sthree hundred and eighteen days, a little

(13:30):
over ten months. So why notjust say it's an impostor and call it
a day. Well, first,there could be an issue with how it
was relayed to the reporter or howthe reporter wrote it down. Witnesses are
consistent that the man with the limpclaimed to have been a Japanese prisoner of
war, but the thirteen months issomething I've only seen here and perhaps one

(13:50):
other place. Second, the manwith the olymp is described by multiple people
as displaying signs of mental illness.It certainly could play a role in whether
you think you were a prisoner foreight, ten, thirteen months, And
if you've been imprisoned and tortured,you experience time differently. If you're going
to go through the trouble of impersonation, it seems like an easy fact to

(14:11):
get right. And here's the otherthing about our mystery. If we can
prove that the man with the limpwas an impostor, and that William Langston
is buried in the grave with hisname on it. We've only solved the
mystery in part. We would stillneed to know who did it and why
and how he managed to convince somany people who knew Lenggston so well,

(14:33):
like Bill Powell. Whereas the nationalnewspapers reported that a dozen witnesses or more
were convinced that it was Langston,the local stories carried the names and details
of their conversations. Bill Powell hadonce been the Lenggston family landlord and was
sure the man was William. MargieFields, along with her husband Lacy,

(14:54):
operated a cafe on Front Street inNewport. I knew Willard for years,
she said, but I didn't recognizehim when he came in here. Neither
did Lacy Fields, her husband,who knew him before the war. Several
others said the same, but theywere sure of his identity after they talked

(15:16):
with him. Among them were basketballteammates and other friends he'd had growing up
in Newark and Sulfur Rock. SoI find this really curious. People didn't
seem to recognize the man with olympezLangston, but they were certain it was
him after their interactions I think aboutthe people I grew up with and the

(15:37):
things we experienced that only we wouldknow. Is it really that strange that
they wouldn't recognize him? First,we know that Langston had moved to Michigan
some years before. Today, thanksto social media and digital photography, I
know exactly what my grade school classmateslook like, even the ones I haven't
seen in twenty years. But whatif it was nineteen forty six. What

(16:02):
if I hadn't seen you in personor seen a photograph of you in decades?
Particularly because these are formative years we'retalking about. So if they hadn't
seen Langston in five years, tenyears, possibly longer, It's weird,
but not necessarily an issue. Here'sthe other thing. Who else would have
the right memories to convince the patronsof Fields Cafe? If not Langston,

(16:27):
it would have to be someone elsewho grew up with them, played on
the same teams, went to thesame schools. It's one thing if you're
a total stranger passing yourself off asWilliam Langston. But if you're someone these
people already know and you're trying topass as Langston, well, that's another

(16:47):
level of difficulty. Entirely because theperson would risk being recognized for who they
really are. The last time Isaw the boy was in the summer of
nineteen forty three, said Fields.He sure has a since then, I
never would have known him. Well, how could a man that he didn't
recognize convince him that he was whohe said he was? Lacy Fields explains,

(17:11):
Was I ever at your house?He asked the man with the limp?
The response gave me chills the firsttime I read this. You came
with Dutch Vaughan, said the manwith the limp. If you're an impostor,
you could say you didn't remember.You could take a fifty fifty guess
on whether mister Fields had ever beento your house, but to remember the

(17:34):
visit and to remember exactly who wasthere with him. Who else would know
that but William Langston. Margie Fieldssaid that the man brought up an incident
that had happened in a pool hallthat the Fields used to own. I
really wish we had the details ofthat one. But these are at least

(17:56):
two very specific memories, both ofwhich convinced the Fields beyond all doubt that
the man they were speaking with wasnone other than William Langston. One reporter
showed photographs of Langston to three witnesseswho confirmed that he was the man they
spoke with on January nineteenth and twentiethin Newport. One of them was Addie

(18:17):
Dillinger, the funeral director, whosaid the photographs bore a distinct resemblance to
the man he met at the trainstation on Saturday. The man said that
he was supposed to be in ahospital, but that when he landed in
the States, he headed for home. Dillinger adds that the man alleged to
be Langston seemed depressed about family troubles, saying what's the use in going home

(18:38):
now now that his wife had remarried. Dillinger said the youth is heartbroken and
confused, and that he will returnto a hospital instead of contacting relatives in
Arkansas. The next set of witnesseswere the Briton family. Hayden Britton,
also a cafe owner in Newport,and his son, Royal Briton. Royal

(19:02):
had learned to swim with Langston growingup in Sulfur Rock. They expressed definite
opinions that the man they talked tois Langston. The man with the lamp
walked into Britain's cafe, went upto Haydon and said, mister Britton shake
hands with a dead man. Britton, like others, didn't recognize him by

(19:23):
sight. Both Britton's said Langston hadhis dates mixed and is generally confused.
They believe he is headed for aveteran's hospital. Ermolu Britton, Hayden's eleven
year old daughter, said that Langstondrew pictures of animals for her. He
wrote the word gray under one ofthe sketches so that Emma would know how
to color it in. Roy Craigof Newark, who is Robert Craig's grandfather,

(19:48):
the historian I spoke with earlier,contacted the Congressman Wilbur Mills and asked
him to investigate. Mills went tothe Navy Department. The article says he
found a discrepancy with the death certificate, doesn't specify what it is. It
also says that the death certificate ismissing fingerprints, which Congressman Mills characterized as

(20:11):
very unusual. Marine Corps Headquarters issueda statement no error indicated in the report
of death of Private First Class WilliamWillard Langston of Wounds received that Iwashima March
seventh, nineteen forty five, whileserving in the third Marine Division. Have
requested fingerprints of man claiming to beLengston from chiefs of police at Newport and

(20:34):
Jonesboro for comparison to Prince of Langston'son file at headquarters. Langston buried in
Fourth Marine Division Cemetery, Iwashima,Grave one nine two seven Row thirty nine.
The man claiming to be Langston wasdescribed as wearing a brown sweater and
striped trousers and army shoes. Hewas bareheaded, He walked with a limp,

(21:00):
His hands were slightly deformed and gnarled, and he had a scar at
the back of his head. Thedescription put out by Arkansas State Police was
twenty seven but looks older, fivefeet ten inches, one hundred and seventy
pounds, gray eyes, light hairgraying at the temples, gis shoes,

(21:21):
dark brown slipover sweater, khaki pantsover blue pinstripe pants, kaki shirt,
and hatless left foot missing up toabout three inches past the ankle. On
the evening of Wednesday, January twentythird, Bill Langston, William's father,
held a vigil at the Missouri PacificTrain station in Newport, waiting for the

(21:44):
man claiming to be his son toreturn. Bill is described as a section
worker for that railroad, and hishome is listed as Newark. Gonna wait
here till whoever it is shows up, he said, we'll clear this thing
up. Bill was joined by hisbrother George Langston of Magnus, Arkansas,

(22:04):
and G. W. Crownover ofNewport, a foreman in the pearl button
factory in town. Crownover had hostedthe man with a Limp at his home
on the night he stayed in Newport. I'll bet my last cent that boy
is Willard, said Crownover, usingWilliam's middle name. He named all his

(22:25):
relatives and even had a picture ofhis wife. He had last seen him
when they went to town together onSunday morning. The man with the limp
was last seen at three p m. Sunday, according to this report.
He told Crownover that he would beback Wednesday evening. This article says that
the man told people he had goneto his house in Saint Joseph, Michigan,

(22:47):
and that his wife fainted when sheopened the door. He said he
saw that she was married, sohe decided the only thing for him to
do was to leave again. Ithink we need to evaluate this. Like
his report of being held prisoner forthirteen months, only one or two accounts
say that he claimed to have goneto the door in Michigan and saw his
wife faint. The man clearly seemsto have said that he went to Michigan

(23:12):
and had learned that his wife hadremarried, but most accounts don't include this
bizarre encounter at the door of thehouse. Charles Griffin, Lenkston's brother in
law, made an appeal get intouch with the family and clear things up.
This boy's return will save a lotof tears, said Charles. My
wife is heartbroken. In a stateof nervous collapse, Florence Griffin was convinced

(23:37):
that her brother was alive. Sherelated a story where a man with a
limp slapped an acquaintance of the familyon the back and greeted him with a
nickname. According to Florence, nostranger could have known. The only way
we can coax him back home isto let him know through the papers that
the whole family loves him and thatwe are all praying for him to come
back home and settle down, saidFlorence. General Alexander van der Grift,

(24:03):
a World War Two hero now servingas Commandant to the Marine Corps, announced
that every VA in naval hospital inthe country was placed on alert. City
and state police were reportedly combing Arkansasin search of the man. They had
a request from Marine headquarters in Washingtonto pick him up and send his fingerprints
to Washington. There was a fourstate manhunt led by Bill Walker, sergeant

(24:26):
of the Arkansas State Police. Alive stock dealer in Conway said that he
had met a man claiming to beWilliam Willard Langston, son of Bill Langston
of Newark. He told them thathe was in route to Muskogee, Oklahoma,
to enter a naval hospital. Conway, you'll remember, is where the

(24:47):
letter to Naomi was postmarked, whichalso included his intention to head to Oklahoma
for treatment. There were more detailsabout Linda's visit to Newport in these local
papers. The widow or current wifeof William Langston, along with her new
husband, son, and brother,arrived in Newport on Sunday, January twenty

(25:10):
seventh, a week to the daysince the man with the limp was last
seen in town. We're here toget firsthand information on the story said Linda.
The reporter described her as a beautifulyoung lady whose deep brown eyes welled
with tears as she spoke. Shewas described as having dark brown hair,
sparkling teeth, a striking figure,and extremely well poised. They made contact

(25:36):
with Bill Langston, William's father inNewport, and drove to Jonesborough on Monday
to meet with Langston's mother, Naomi. Linda stayed for two days on the
way at a town She said theman who appeared on January nineteenth was an
impostor. She said, however,that she was puzzled by the fact that
the man knew about her getting remarried. Linda hadn't told Eingston's father or mother

(26:00):
that she had married again. Ithadn't been in the newspaper. They'd been
married in a private ceremony and onlya handful of people were aware. I
used to dream that he'd return,she said, even when they sent me
the initial to ONYX diamond ring thatI gave him just before he went overseas,
I just couldn't believe he was dead. Despite her comments to the press,

(26:23):
Linda wasn't saying exactly what she wasthinking. More on that in future
episodes. On Monday, eight daysafter he was last sighted in Newport,
the man with the limp appears inan unlikely place, Memphis, Tennessee.
Or did he Another report says thathe was last seen getting out of a

(26:44):
car at the gates of Camp Chaffeeand Fort Smith, Arkansas. Fort Smith
was two hundred miles to the westof Newport, on the border with Oklahoma,
in the direction that Lynston seemed tohave been heading. Memphis, on
the other hand, is about ninetymiles to the east of Newport. Both
accounts probably can't be right. Iwould have to dig deep into the local

(27:07):
newspapers in Conway, Fort Smith,and Memphis to figure out what happened.
We'll pick that up in the nextepisode. George Cronover put up a reward
for the return of the man inquestion to his home. I am positive
the man who spent the night withme was Willard Langston, said Cronover.
I can't understand why he has notreturned as he promised to do, nor

(27:30):
do I understand why the police havefailed to find him. But I do
know in my own mind that heis Langston. Noel McGee, owner of
Max's liquor store on Front Street,Newport also offered fifty dollars if Langston would
come see him of his own volition. At the time Langston supposedly reappears in
Newport, there were still Marine Venniwushima, and one of them was Charles Wellborn,

(27:56):
a Navy sailor from Batesville, Arkansas. He heard about the mystery in
a letter from home. Well Bornewrote a letter back to his sister.
Just to see from myself, Iwent over to the Fourth Marine Cemetery and
looked up Lenggston's grave. I eventook a couple of pictures of it.
As you know, every man inthe service wears two dog tags. One

(28:19):
of these is nailed to the backof the cross over his grave, and
the other is kept by the government. Sometimes the dog tags are lost to
the wearer some way, usually througha blast or explosion. In that case,
a metal tag is made intact onthe cross in place of the regular
tag. There was no dog tagon the Lyngston boy's grave, just one

(28:41):
of the substitute tags. That couldmean only that there were no dog tags
on the body, or that theywere lost later. There could be a
mistake. So now we have boththe fingerprints missing from Lenggston's death certificate,
as well as the dog tags missingfrom his grave Honywushima. As our investigation
continues, we'll pick up the trailof the Phantom Marine in Memphis and find

(29:04):
out more about what happened to himin Conway. We'll look at the files
of a multi state FBI investigation andlearn some fascinating new details. We'll talk
to some of the world's leading expertson imposture to see whether someone who wasn't
Lenggston could have pulled this off.We'll travel to the dormant volcano island of
iwo Jima, where William Langston allegedlylost his life. We'll talk to James

(29:29):
Bradley, author of the number onebestseller Flags of Our Fathers, who will
tell us more about this horrific battle. I track down an interview to man
in San Diego who may be thelast surviving member of Langston's company, who
will tell us about the bloody encounterat Cushman's Pocket, and we will hear
from Langston's surviving family. Hopefully wewill be able to bring resolution to this

(29:52):
mystery. If you're interested, contactme at Christo's Books. Dot com and
in our Facebook discussion page Facebook dotcom slash Phantom Marine. Once I had
finished reading the newspapers from the Newportarea, I knew there was only one
thing left to do. I hadto call Dwayne Langston, son of the

(30:15):
Phantom Marine. We'll discuss that conversationin the next episode. Thanks for listening.