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00:01:59
Own the dream. Hello and welcome to My Favorite Murder. That's Georgia Hartstark.
00:02:22
That's Karen Kilgariff. And we're going to do a solo episode for you. We each do a story just for you.
00:02:28
No, no. Solo episode, right? Yeah. Right. Where one of us does a story just for you.
00:02:33
One at a time. Solo. I know, but I can count to solo. You can, and you have in the past.
00:02:39
I know. And I think as a gift, not a gift, as a bonus for solos, let's do one beauty product that we both love.
00:02:48
What's funny about this is, so, and we've complained about this before on this podcast, we now have to worry about our makeup and how we look before we record.
00:02:57
It's a real bitch. I don't like it and I don't make enough time for it. You look great.
00:03:02
Oh, thank you. Your makeup looks great. Today, when I went to put makeup on, my makeup bag was not in my purse.
00:03:08
No. So, of course, we've gotten it down. I'm sure you have, like, I have gotten it down to, like, this is the.
00:03:14
I can do it in 10 minutes or I can do it in an hour and it'll look the fucking same.
00:03:18
It'll look the same and it'll stick on, right? I'm trying to get like the primers and the grippers because it just all comes off my face.
00:03:25
And then you have to have the before and afters nowadays just to like fucking get it to stick.
00:03:31
So what a day to talk about the things I really need because all of this was at the bottom of a filing cabinet that I had thrown in there, like an emergency bag.
00:03:40
Nice. It's working, honestly. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. The colors are working.
00:03:46
So I wonder, like, whatever that lipstick is that you threw in your, like, some other time, it's working.
00:03:49
I don't. Here's the thing. I don't even know what it is. It was a thing at the bottom where I was like, that looks like a good color for camera.
00:03:56
It's working. I'll put that right at the top. Yay. Okay. Okay. But you go because obviously something inspired you, right?
00:04:03
Yeah. Well, my hair, I'm doing my hair instead of my makeup, even though we just talked about the makeup.
00:04:07
Yeah, yeah. Because this one thing I've been using has, like, really changed things up for me.
00:04:12
And it's like one of those things where, you know, TikTokers are always like, here are my empties of the month.
00:04:17
I am just like so inconsistent that I never have empties. Do you? Yes. Well, I started long ago when we're like, I'm going to do a Korean skincare recommendation video, which I will do for the fan cult, I promise.
00:04:29
But I started keeping empties. Yes. And so that same. Now we have to fucking keep our empty fucking bond.
00:04:35
Like, can we just please. Why does everything have to be content? Okay. So mine is.
00:04:41
It's what we signed up for. No, and this is literally what I'm doing right now. Okay.
00:04:44
I put in my like regular leave-in conditioner, the K-19 stuff. But I blow dry my hair every time I shower, which is somewhat frequently.
00:04:54
Not at the same time. No. So then I have to now put on the Bumble and Bumble heat shield spray.
00:05:03
Yep. Because it has changed the way my hair looks post blow dry and straightener and any kind of heat.
00:05:11
Yeah. And even my hairstylist was like, your color's staying longer because of it.
00:05:15
Because you found a product. Yeah. The heat shield, Bumble and Bumble. Nice. Okay.
00:05:20
I'm a big fan. I have empties, which never happens to me. That's exciting. Because then it's like it's working and you're using it.
00:05:26
Right. Well, then if I were to do a hair one, I started, have you seen any of those videos that are like, you can figure out what type of hair you have?
00:05:36
So it's like, I think I have A3, which is wavy and a little bit curly, but mostly wavy.
00:05:43
And you can go through and they basically tell you, you find your kind of hair. Yeah.
00:05:48
And then they're like, this is what you should use and not use. Is this AI? It AI drawn as like third grade coloring panels to teach you math or whatever Yeah That what it kind of looked like the last one I looked at So anyhow I figured out I put too much protein in my hair
00:06:05
It makes it dry. So if you're spraying in leave-in conditioner and you find that you're getting dry ends,
00:06:12
I am. Watch out for the K-19. I don't know. K-19 might be keratin. I don't fucking know.
00:06:19
Watch out for the protein. I didn't even know there was protein in fucking hair products.
00:06:22
Dude. Protein. And also you have to like figure out like I'm an A3 that I have to use this thing over here where it kind of does work though.
00:06:30
Yeah, I'm sure. So I will give you my I Love Necessaire Rosemary Shampoo and Conditioner.
00:06:38
Have you used it? No. I know Rosemary Shampoo is great. Yeah, it's good for growing your hair and stuff.
00:06:43
And then that brand, although it sounds fancy, is totally affordable. You can get it at Ulta or wherever.
00:06:49
It just smells really good, and it's the most, like, so, I was going to say foamy.
00:06:54
What am I looking for? Sudsy. Yeah. Yeah. The suds. It gives you, like, tons. It feels like it's cleaning your hair double.
00:07:01
And it's great. Okay. What's it called? Necessaire? Necessaire Rosemary. I think it's Rosemary Mint Shampoo and Conditioner.
00:07:08
Okay. Dark green bottle. Perfect. Yeah? Love it. And we love you to give us free products if you want to, friends.
00:07:15
Friends who's... Always. So now we'll just do solo and we'll say what we want and then hopefully the products will listen.
00:07:22
We like stuff and we're going to say it. Yeah. Okay. All right. So I'm first and only.
00:07:26
First and only. It's a solo. Okay. This is my solo. Good luck. Thank you. See you later.
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00:08:37
Can I be honest for a second? Some mornings I look in the mirror and I think, why do I look this tired?
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off promo code Ashley at tryhg.com slash Ashley. Today I'm going to tell you a story about heroism.
00:09:40
Heroism? Heroism. Heroism. Yeah, heroism. I think people say heroism. Heroism. Heroism. That's it.
00:09:49
I knew it was wrong. Heroism. Heroism. That's it. But why do we do that when it's heroism? Heroism.
00:09:55
It should be heroism. Yeah. But it's heroism. Okay, stop. This is a serious one.
00:09:59
Yeah, you're right. Heroism. Heroism. In the face of racism. We need more of that.
00:10:06
Yes. The Medal of Honor is the United States' highest military decoration, as you know well, Karen.
00:10:11
Yes, I talk about it a lot. All the time. And it's awarded for special acts of valor.
00:10:15
So here's a little shitty fact. Black soldiers had been awarded the Medal of Honor for wars before and after World War II,
00:10:22
But due to the racist Jim Crow era policies around the time of World War II in particular, zero black soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for service in World War II until about 50 years after the war ended.
00:10:36
So World War I, the Korean, Vietnam, but World War II is just sitting there. Yeah.
00:10:44
Honorless. Erased. Yeah. So today I'm going to tell you about two Black war heroes, one who was alive to receive his medal 50 years later while the other died in combat.
00:10:53
Both fought bravely in an army that was still operating under racist policies, defending a country that was in so many ways hostile to them.
00:11:02
This is the story of World War II heroes Vernon Baker and John Fox. Amazing. It's a lot of heroism.
00:11:09
Great. There's a lot of heroism. We need that these days. We need some examples.
00:11:12
Yeah. So the main sources I used in the story were Vernon Baker's obituary from the Spokesman Review by Ken Olson and an episode of the Black is American podcast and a book called Braided in Fire, Black G.I.s and Tuscan Villagers on the Gothic Line.
00:11:27
Yes. In 1944 by Solace Wales. I want to read that book. Yeah. I'm going to be honest with you. I did not know that there was a Gothic line and what that was in World War II.
00:11:37
Do you know now? I do know now because of this story, but I do know a good amount of stuff about World War II.
00:11:42
It's like one of my interests. Couldn't have told you anything about Italy and its role in it.
00:11:47
Like Italy is not my focus. Tuscanese in the middle. I know, but Italy's role in World War II.
00:11:52
Oh, right. Mussolini but then I like back in Germany Obviously it pertains to me a little bit more So it was really interesting Anyways the rest of the sources can be found in the show notes Can I just ask are you going to tell me what the Gothic line is later Yeah we going to go there So it going to perfect So here we
00:12:08
are. It's 1996. And 76-year-old Vernon Baker receives a phone call from a professor of military
00:12:14
history at Shaw University. Like many men his age, Vernon is a World War II veteran. The professor
00:12:20
tells Vernon that he's leading an investigation into why no black soldiers had been awarded the
00:12:25
Medal of Honor for their service in the Second World War. Black soldiers had been awarded the
00:12:30
Medal for wars before and after, as I said. But the hypothesis is because it was directly during
00:12:36
Jim Crow era. It just their service was erased. Yeah, exactly. And contributions of black soldiers
00:12:42
was ignored for decades. Yeah. Vernon doesn't think much will come of this phone call.
00:12:47
There have been some efforts in the past to nominate him for the Medal of Honor, but those efforts haven't come to fruition.
00:12:53
But he talks to the man on the phone and they go over the details of Vernon's life and military service.
00:12:57
Even so, let's go over that. Vernon is born in 1919 and he's orphaned at age four when his parents die in a car accident.
00:13:05
It's like James and the Giant Peach. I know. So sad. He and his two sisters are raised in Cheyenne, Wyoming by their grandparents.
00:13:12
And Vernon has a good relationship with his grandfather who teaches him how to hunt.
00:13:16
And eventually he's sent to live at Father Flanagan's Boys Town in Nebraska. Mm-hmm.
00:13:21
Know of it? My dad used to reference it all the time. Really? There's like a famous movie that somebody was in and, you know.
00:13:30
Yeah, it's one of your dad's favorite. It's like, we're going to send you to Boys Town type of thing.
00:13:36
Well, actually, as orphanages go, Boys Town looks like it was better than most. I'm reading The Reformatory by Tannen R.V. Dew.
00:13:44
And that is not a good place. What is it? It's like a historical fiction about a reformatory or a boy, like a, you know, juvenile school in the South.
00:13:53
Oh, got it. It's just harrowing. But Flanagan's Boys Town, Father Flanagan's Boys Town, your father will be disappointed to know, was actually better than most.
00:14:03
Doesn't mean it was good. It took in boys of all races and religions and emphasized physical well-being.
00:14:08
It was considered a pioneer in the field of child welfare. So take that home, Jim.
00:14:14
Home Jim will be like. pioneer of child welfare at a time where it was like, we get to beat you freely and you'll shut
00:14:21
your mouth. Have you seen that TikTok trend where the little kids are supposed to finish
00:14:25
the phrase and the parents go like, I brought you into this world. And it's like, because I love you.
00:14:30
I know. Just like, oh, it wasn't that long ago. So after high school, Vernon looks for a job
00:14:36
and winds up working as a railroad porter, which he hates and is unhappy with his career prospects.
00:14:42
So his sister suggests he joined the Army. The first time he walks into the recruitment office, he's met with a racist sergeant who simply says to him that the Army doesn't have any need for, quote, you people.
00:14:53
And so he walks out. Merton says, quote, that kind of turned me off, end quote. So he tries for another three months to find a job, still not finding anything he's interested in.
00:15:03
He returns to the recruitment office in June of 1941. This time, a different sergeant takes down his information.
00:15:10
In the 1940s, the Army is still operating under Jim Crow era guidelines that generally exclude black soldiers from combat roles.
00:15:18
In 1925, the Army War College produces a racist document. It was in use for training officers up to World War II.
00:15:25
It serves as a blueprint for segregating the military and specifically calls for black soldiers to be supervised by white officers.
00:15:31
It also makes all sorts of racist remarks about the nature of black soldiers as opposed to white ones.
00:15:36
Due to those racist policies, the Army is reluctant to send Black soldiers directly into combat.
00:15:42
They eventually reinstate the all-Black 92nd Infantry when they're facing a shortage of manpower.
00:15:48
This infantry is known as the Buffalo Soldiers, a name given to the segregated regiments dating back to the 1860s when all-Black regiments were sent to fight the Native Americans in the effort to steal their land.
00:16:01
Did you know that? Buffalo Soldiers. I mean, I've heard of Buffalo Soldiers and I knew that, but I didn't know that specifically.
00:16:08
But it's like, it gives so much context to like what Muhammad Ali said during the Vietnam War, which is like, we're not going to go fight your war from a country where you treat us this terribly.
00:16:18
Second class citizens. Insane. When the 92nd infantry arrives in Italy for World War II, it receives a hostile welcome.
00:16:25
General Edmund Almond, the white brigadier general in charge, tells the black junior officers, he says, my, quote, white friends have insisted on your seeing combat and I shall see that you get combat and your share of casualties.
00:16:40
Sorry, this is their own side. Yeah. That they're landing and talking to that are talking to them like that.
00:16:47
Yeah. Now go fight for us. Yeah. Good luck in war. Right. After basic training, Vernon is assigned to the 92nd Infantry.
00:16:53
He completes officer candidate school, becomes a second lieutenant at the age of 23 in 1943.
00:16:59
A second lieutenant oversees a platoon, which includes between 18 and 50 soldiers.
00:17:04
He reports to a first lieutenant. Vernon is the only black officer in his company, and he's met with, of course, resentment from soldiers for this.
00:17:13
He's also met with flat out racism. He's not allowed to use the front entrance of the officers club, but German prisoners of war are.
00:17:22
Well, that's the white supremacy inherent in all of it. On the trip overseas, Vernon bonds with the men he's in charge of saying, quote,
00:17:29
I became the father to my platoon. The men, we got to know each other. Most of them couldn't read or write.
00:17:34
And I read their letters and I wrote letters home for them. And we became quite close.
00:17:38
So basically in spring of 1945, Vernon's regiment is trying to break through what's called the Gothic line.
00:17:47
Great name for a band. Yeah. Right. I mean, in the 90s. Not now. Yeah. It's too late now.
00:17:53
It's way too late. The Gothic line is a chain of mountain strongholds being used by the Germans that stretches across the width of northern Italy Okay Thank you to my researcher Allie for putting that in there Great work once again
00:18:05
Yeah. Vernon and his fellow soldiers are mostly focused on trying to gain control of a 15th century castle
00:18:11
on top of a mountain about 30 miles north of Pisa. Can you imagine combat and fighting in the most gorgeous, historical place you've ever been in your life?
00:18:22
Like you're from the U.S. where everything is brand fucking new. You're from New Jersey and you're here like among ruins.
00:18:28
Yeah. Yeah. So on April 5th, 1945, Vernon and his platoon navigate barbed wire and minefields to get within sight of the castle and hide in some terraced olive groves on the hillside beneath it.
00:18:41
On his own, Vernon takes out three machine gun nests, two observation posts and two bunkers.
00:18:48
He also destroys telephone lines the Germans are using. By then, the Germans know that they're there,
00:18:52
and Vernon's platoon takes on heavy fire from machine guns and mortars. Vernon's white company commander fucking skedaddles.
00:18:59
What? Gets the hell out of there. Saying he's going for reinforcements, BRB. And bails.
00:19:05
And fucking just bails. Holy shit. And then you know what he does? He reports back that the whole platoon is dead.
00:19:12
And just like leaves them there. Yeah. So not even like, I got out of there. They're still there.
00:19:18
Let's save them. Yeah. Holy shit. He's like, I left. I can't say it's because I'm a coward.
00:19:24
So I'm just going to tell you it's because everyone's dead. And how many people are still alive?
00:19:28
We'll get to that. Okay. Verning continues to radio for help, but American officers don't believe him when he reports his position because it's so far behind enemy lines that they can't believe it that they made it that far.
00:19:39
Like, that's how good the platoon is. Okay, well, what else could it be? I know.
00:19:43
JK? Yeah. Is this a trick by the Germans? Jesus Christ. No. No, seriously, please help me.
00:19:48
No, seriously. Please don't use this line. Kids, get off this line. Dinner's in 20 minutes.
00:19:54
The platoon fights on, eventually losing 19 out of 25 men. So 25 men are stranded.
00:20:01
Yeah. And they lose 19 of them because of this. Vernon and the survivors withdraw, but it turns out they've done enough to capture the castle.
00:20:10
The next day, he's ordered to lead an all-white company back to the castle. Oh, they need him now.
00:20:15
And because of Vernon's efforts the day before, they're able to reach it without any shots being fired.
00:20:21
And then, of course, in May of 1945, Germany surrenders and the war in Europe ends a month later.
00:20:26
So Vernon does earn the Distinguished Service Cross. He also earns the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and the Italian Cross of Valor of War and the Polish Cross of Valor,
00:20:36
making him the most highly decorated black soldier in the Mediterranean theater.
00:20:40
Wow. But his being nominated for the Medal of Honor, the highest award, would have depended on the cooperation of the same white officers who skedaddled and constantly treated him and the other black soldiers with hostility.
00:20:52
Right. So it just didn't happen for anyone. Right. It wouldn't even be considered.
00:20:57
Right. Exactly. So back in America after the war, Vernon meets a woman named Fern Brown.
00:21:02
They have three children and he continues his military career and becomes an army parachutist serving in the Korean War.
00:21:09
He went back to fight for this country after that. Yeah. When it was still, well, it's never not been.
00:21:17
He retires from the military in 1968 and spends 20 more years working for the American Red Cross.
00:21:23
His wife, Fern, dies in 1986 and Vernon moves to northern Idaho. Three years later, he meets a German tourist at an airport in Spokane named Heidi Pollack.
00:21:35
and they wind up getting married and they both are aware of the irony. Yeah. Of the fact that he basically is like marrying the enemy.
00:21:43
Yeah, that's crazy. But they're in love. He's like, actually, I was in another war, so you're not the enemy.
00:21:48
Right. Yeah. We're all enemies. Okay. Yeah. About 10 years later, when Vernon is in his 70s,
00:21:53
he receives the call from Shaw University that we started with. That does result in him being awarded the Medal of Honor, finally.
00:22:00
When asked if he had given up hope of ever getting the medal, Vernon says, quote,
00:22:03
I never thought about getting it at all. You know, period. Right. End quote. Vernon receives his Medal of Honor on January of 1997 from President Bill Clinton.
00:22:13
He dies of cancer in 2010 at the age of 90. He wound up being one of seven black soldiers who were awarded the Medal of Honor for their service in World War II, 50 freaking years later.
00:22:24
Yeah. But he was the only one who was alive to receive his medal. Some of the others died after the war and some died in combat.
00:22:33
So let's talk about one of those other six soldiers, Lieutenant John R. Fox, who did die heroically in combat.
00:22:40
So John is born in 1915 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The oldest of three children, he attends Ohio State University, but then transfers to Wilberforce University and its ROTC program.
00:22:51
At the time, Wilberforce is one of a handful of schools that allows black students into the ROTC.
00:22:56
What does ROTC stand for? It's a regiment of... Can you tell me, Lolly? It's Reserve Officers Training Corps.
00:23:06
Thank you. Reserve Officers Training Corps. You were close. Yeah. So close. So close.
00:23:13
At Wilberforce, which is a historically black university, John is mentored by a black World War I hero,
00:23:18
a man named Captain Aaron Fisher. Wow. So Fisher had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross
00:23:23
and the Purple Heart. During the war, World War I, he and his men were manning a trench, which was invaded by Germans, and they stood their ground,
00:23:32
and Fisher was badly wounded in the process. But because they didn't abandon their position,
00:23:36
reinforcements were able to come and fight off the Germans holding their trench. Like,
00:23:41
so if they had retreated because they were being attacked, it would have been for naught.
00:23:46
It would have all been bad. And I don't know if you saw, is it 1917, that movie that,
00:23:51
or that World War I movie that was so good from a couple years ago. Trench Warfare.
00:23:57
Oh, my God. I don't want to say it's one of my fears because I don't think— It'll ever happen. Right. That idea of just like sudden you're they're just right there.
00:24:04
You have to like fight and kill each other. But also like just the conditions when you're not
00:24:09
fighting are worse than anything we'll ever experience in our lives. For real. Pray God.
00:24:14
Yeah. Yeah. So John R. Fox graduates and joins the army in 1941 as a second lieutenant,
00:24:20
one of very few black officers at the time. Now 26. He's stationed at Fort Devens near Brockton,
00:24:27
Massachusetts. He's also part of the 92nd Infantry, that segregated infantry that Vernon
00:24:32
served in. In Massachusetts, John meets his future wife, Arlene, which bring that name back, right?
00:24:39
And Fern. Fern and Arlene. Yes. The two great, two great lady names. Two great ladies that you can actually, you can tell what they're like already.
00:24:47
Totally. Fern's kind of quiet and pretty. Arlene is like staunch and you don't mess with her.
00:24:51
She will serve you some pie at the diner. Yeah, I have a second aunt, Arlene. Whatever. Who cares? I do. She's 22 at the time. They both enjoy riding horses and they first meet at a stable in Boston. They hit it off right away. They go on lots of dates. They go riding and they go on walks. John meets Arlene's family and they love him immediately. Arlene says, quote, he could ingratiate himself anywhere. He was just honest and outgoing and funny.
00:25:19
John and Arlene get engaged and start planning a big wedding, but the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941 just has to move up everyone's timeline.
00:25:28
Yeah. John insists that he and Arlene get married before he leaves, and Arlene gets pregnant three months after the wedding and goes into labor in December of 1942 in a snowstorm.
00:25:38
John leaves her laboring in the house, treks out into knee-deep snow, and comes back bringing a fellow soldier who has a tractor with a snowplow.
00:25:48
And so John drives Arlene to the hospital following behind the plow. So he's clearly very like, what's the word?
00:25:57
Inventive, industrious. Yes. He'll make it happen. Yes, exactly. She gives birth to a daughter who they named Sandra.
00:26:03
The family is together for about a year before John ships out. Arlene says, quote,
00:26:07
In that year, we lived a lifetime of loving and caring. He was so proud of that child.
00:26:14
We had some good times. I already told you, spoiler alert, that he dies in combat.
00:26:18
So that's her saying that, like, I'm so lucky to have had the time I had with this person.
00:26:24
And that's how loving he was. It's like. And that was the plan. Like, he's like, we get married now, not when I come back.
00:26:30
Yeah. And we get this going now. Yeah. Beautiful. John's regiment ships out to Algeria in March of 1944.
00:26:38
There, his all-black regiment encounters racism from white soldiers on what is possibly a worse scale than they are used to back at home.
00:26:46
At the camp in Algeria, black soldiers are not allowed to go to the movies after a certain time.
00:26:50
They're forbidden from entering. The post exchange. In one letter to Arlene, John writes, quote,
00:26:56
segregation on every turn, and I mean in the worst kind of way. He adds, quote, some of these rotten dogs I have to work around are worse now than they were in the States.
00:27:06
Because they just, they're free. God, that sucks. He lives in like Massachusetts and he's from Ohio.
00:27:12
you know, it's not from the South. So he's experiencing something he's never maybe,
00:27:16
never had that intensity. Yeah. The following November, John, now 30, and his regiment are called to Italy.
00:27:22
Your friend, Italy. That's my spot. Yeah. To fight on that same Gothic line that Vernon was fighting on.
00:27:28
On Christmas of 1944, John is serving as a forward observer in the town of Somocolonia.
00:27:37
It's gorgeous. Somocolonia. Somocolon. Italy. And then put a hand up like you. On Christmas night, more and more enemy troops amass near the town, this little town in Italy, until the Americans are outnumbered.
00:27:50
Most of the Allied troops in town withdraw, but John and a few others stay back, directing defensive artillery fire that will slow down the Germans.
00:27:59
So they're all retreating. They've got like a little platoon staying to like just fend off what's becoming more and more enemy soldiers.
00:28:07
By early Boxing Day morning, the Germans have entered the town. John and the few soldiers who remained are positioned at the top of a tower in the center of town.
00:28:17
This part, when I read it, I just it broke my heart. From that position John is able to call in coordinates to the Americans firing artillery from farther away and say here exactly where the Germans are As the Germans advance on the tower he calling in strikes closer and closer to his position He like hit them here hit them here The artillery fire he calling in is effective but the town is overrun with enemy troops by this point Each explosion draws nearer and nearer to the tower where he and the remaining soldiers are
00:28:45
Finally, John calls in one more set of coordinates. The artillery unit on the other end of the line argues with him because that he's basically calling in a strike to his own position.
00:28:57
Like they're here. Strike. Yeah. John says, quote, fire it. There are more of them than there are of us.
00:29:05
Give them hell. And it's like worth it to him. You know what I mean? Well, it is.
00:29:11
It's the world. It's like they are fighting for the freedom of the world. Right.
00:29:15
I mean, chills. Yeah. The Americans follow John's instructions, and he and the other men who volunteered to stay behind are killed along with the enemy.
00:29:25
By remaining in town and continuing to do that to direct artillery fire, John and his team slow down the German troops, and the artillery fire kills somewhere between 40 and 100 of the enemy.
00:29:36
They also give the retreating American soldiers and the Italian civilians from that town time to escape by doing that.
00:29:43
The U.S. troops are eventually able to regain control of the town. The Germans had been trying to retake the strategic port at Livorno, about 60 miles south of Soma Colonia, and they ultimately were unable to because of this.
00:29:56
If they had succeeded, if the enemy had succeeded, they would have cut the Americans off from being able to get supplies at all.
00:30:02
So John does not receive any award for his heroism until 1982 when a friend compiles the necessary evidence for him to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, which has to be so complicated because it's just word of mouth at that point, probably.
00:30:17
Right. Like you have to interview everyone who was there. And try to go find like paperwork in the archives that shows that they were there.
00:30:23
Totally. Yeah. Arlene, who became a widow at 25 years old, never remarries. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.
00:30:31
I know. I know. I know. 25 and she never remarries that's her man I mean she was married to a man like that
00:30:39
she was married to a man that made a sacrifice like that yeah find someone better
00:30:43
you're not going to go be like hey do you like to read I mean like what are you supposed to do after that
00:30:47
you married the hero already god damn it okay for decades she and their daughter Sandra
00:30:56
along with other members of the 92nd Infantry and their families advocate for better recognition
00:31:01
of the valor of Black soldiers in World War II. Though America took decades to recognize John's heroism,
00:31:08
it turns out that in the town of Soma Colonia, they already were like, oh, celebrating it.
00:31:15
Long before John was awarded his first medal, the town memorialized him with a small monument
00:31:20
among several dedicated to the heroes who helped rid them that town of Nazis. There is a monument to him
00:31:28
before we even like were like, Hey, good job. In the 1970s, an American woman named Solace Wales, who wrote the book that I used as a source, is living in Italy and she finds the monument and she becomes so interested in Fox's story that she researches his life and military service and eventually writes that book. She also joins in Arlene's push to get her husband's contributions recognized. So the Clinton administration is the first to really pay attention to these calls. Surprisingly, can you believe me?
00:31:58
Her emails. Yeah. And a grant is given to Shaw University, who we talked about in the very beginning, to investigate stories of black heroism in World War II. And that's how Vernon winds up getting his phone call in 1996. And then in January of 1997, along with Vernon and five other soldiers, as I said, John is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the military's highest decoration.
00:32:24
At the time that he's awarded the medal, Arlene says, quote, he was always a hero to us.
00:32:29
We never needed a medal to know what he had done and what kind of person he was.
00:32:33
If he knew he didn't have a way out, he was going to make it count. He was that kind of guy.
00:32:40
I mean, so brave. That's the ultimate act of bravery. I mean, you'd wonder what you would do in that situation.
00:32:47
And I bet the most of us would not do that. It'd be like, um, I guess you could put, well, like, let us run. Yeah. I mean, that's also just like the survival instinct. Right. That's why it's so noble.
00:33:00
Totally I mean it what you supposed to be as a soldier but it you also a human Yeah When asked about what the recognition means to her Arlene says quote I think it more than just what it means to this family
00:33:12
I think it sends a message to all like a little wake up call that when a man does his duty, his color isn't important.
00:33:19
End quote. The five other black soldiers who received the Medal of Honor for their service in World War II are Sergeant Reuben Rivers,
00:33:26
Staff Sergeant Edward A. Carter, Jr., Lieutenant Charles Thomas, Private First Class Willie James
00:33:32
and Private George Watson. When he receives his medal, Vernon, the only veteran alive at the time,
00:33:39
says, quote, the only thing that I can say to those who are not here with me is,
00:33:44
thank you, fellas. Well done. I will always remember you. And those are the stories of Lieutenant John R. Fox
00:33:51
and Lieutenant Vernon Baker, two American heroes who went far too long without the recognition they deserved.
00:33:58
Here's your next. Great job. here's your Netflix series. And it's like, these are untold stories.
00:34:03
Oh my God, the 92nd Infantry, like give them a straight to series 10 season arc.
00:34:08
Thank you. Tell that story. Yeah. Everybody wants to know these stories. And there's tons more.
00:34:13
God dang. That's amazing. Great job. Thank you. Thank you. Great find. Like great idea.
00:34:19
All right. That's. There it is, a solo episode. That's what the solo episodes I think are about
00:34:24
is we try to find a strong story that can stand on its own. That's right. And we'll also give you
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Ashley for 15% off. Promo code Ashley at tryhg.com slash Ashley. Well, we're back in the car and you know what that means.
00:36:50
It's time for another round of honking hoorays. Presented by Hyundai. This is actually my car.
00:36:57
This is my Hyundai. All right, should I go first? Go ahead. Okay, this is just called hooray.
00:37:02
Hi, Karen in Georgia. My hooray is that my mom came with me to get my first tattoo.
00:37:07
Sat by my side for the full four hours, holding my hand, helping me get through some of the worst parts of the pain.
00:37:13
This was the same woman who eight years ago told me if I ever got a tattoo, I would never be welcome in her home again.
00:37:20
Battling breast cancer and winning turned her into the strong, amazing woman that she is today.
00:37:25
She is living proof that it is never too late to change and grow. And I'm so proud to be her daughter, SSDGM Kaylee.
00:37:32
Kaylee congrats on your cool mom Yeah But also I love that she like my mom sat there with me through this voluntary pain that I paid a bunch of money to have Like fed me crackers and gave me water She got me through something I did not have to go through
00:37:46
Right. It wasn't required. Because she's been through real shit. That's right. And she knows none of this matters.
00:37:52
Exactly. Okay. This is from Jenna via Instagram DM. And it says, my hooray is that after years of wanting a sectional couch, I took the plunge and got a giant, comfy sectional couch.
00:38:03
Right? same now I finally get to experience being a corner couch cushion queen in my own home oh my
00:38:10
god have you heard of that I didn't know the thing but that is like me in a nutshell I have my little
00:38:15
corner with all my little things and what do you do if someone sits in that corner they don't yeah
00:38:20
that's right no they don't they know the impression is exactly your butt no one else can go in there
00:38:24
um and then the last line of this dm is I also just found out I'm pregnant oh my god so if you
00:38:30
You need a little, you know, the heart at the end. So beautiful. That is lovely.
00:38:36
There is something about a sectional couch that just, like, can't compare to a regular old boring-ass sofa.
00:38:42
The gratitude you feel from a good sectional couch is unmatched. Totally. I'm sorry.
00:38:47
Okay, here's mine from Instagram. Karen in Georgia, please meet my hooray, Georgia Hardbark.
00:38:55
She's a hoot and a half. Oh, that's a cute dog. And that's from Jessica. Georgia Hardbark.
00:39:01
I'm so honored. Very cute. Very similar here. I won't read you the subject line.
00:39:07
It just says, here's a quick little hooray. My play, Catching a Cheese Pervert, a Francis mystery that I wrote and directed,
00:39:14
is inspired by the Swiss cheese pervert who I heard about first on MFM 25 years ago.
00:39:21
And it went up at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Oh, my God. I was there. So it was good.
00:39:27
Like, it wasn't just they wrote one. It's like I got that out of my system. You've got to be accepted to that.
00:39:31
They made it into the fringe. It's hard to do. A dream come true for every theater kid in the world.
00:39:36
Thanks, Karen of Georgia, for planting the seed for my weird little show. I love that.
00:39:41
Catching the Swiss Cheese Pervert. Look it up. Look it up next. Coming up on what?
00:39:46
PBS, probably. Swiss Cheese Pervert? Yeah. Yeah. Because it's the theater. Yeah.
00:39:51
I'm excited. Congratulations, Krista. Masterpiece Theater. Yeah. That's incredible.
00:39:56
Wow. Well, thank you, Hyundai, for letting us present Honking Hoorays. And we love to sit in cars and read emails.
00:40:02
So if you have any, you know, send them to us. Let us know what your Honking Hooray is.
00:40:06
Yeah, please. Stay sexy. And don't get murdered. Goodbye. Elvis, do you want a cookie?
00:40:14
This has been an Exactly Right production. Our senior producer is Molly Smith and our associate producer is Tessa Hughes.
00:40:25
Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo. This episode was mixed by Liana Squalachi. Our researchers are Maren McGlashan and Allie Elkin.
00:40:32
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That's the best way you can support our show. Goodbye. Ask yourself, what are your best people spending their time on right now?
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