Legacy of Honor - A WWII Veteran's Untold Story

When Tyler Boland set out to preserve the stories of World War II heroes like his great-grandfather, he found an incredible friend in 99-year-old veteran, Matt Gutman.  Their bond takes center stage as Matt, shares memories of his service, steering a Higgins boat through enemy fire.  Feel the weight of history as Matt's voice bridges the years, bringing to life tales of survival and duty that are as much a part of him as the air he breathes.  His anecdotes provide a candid look into the sacrifices made and the daring spirit of those who served.

Venture into the heart of warfare with Matt's riveting first-hand account of his voluntary enlistment in the Navy and the daring operations as a Higgins boat driver during the most pivotal moments of the Pacific theater.  The courage in his blood, a gift from his immigrant parents, led him to face perilous beach landings and a harrowing night in a foxhole, clutching only a knife and a grenade.  The history that Matt carries is made tangible through a samurai sword, an heirloom echoing the legacy of conflict and the honor of military service that we are given a rare chance to explore.

With every story recounted, gratitude for the bravery of veterans like Matt Gutman resonates deeply.  Acknowledging the remarkable lives of these individuals extends beyond mere appreciation; it's a celebration of their indelible mark on our world.  As we conclude, we're reminded that the wisdom and valor shared by veterans remain as timeless as the memories they entrust to us.  Join us for more unforgettable narratives that continue to shape our present and enlighten our future.
#WorldWarII #veterans #mattgutman #tylerboland #greatestgeneration

"Everyone should listen to this episode... we owe such a great depth of gratitude to our Veterans.  Freedom is NOT FREE, Many have paid the price of LIFE for us to enjoy what we have.  Thanks to Matt Gutman for sharing his story with us" - Brad Weisman

---
Welcome to The Brad Weisman Show (formerly known as Real Estate and YOU), where we dive into the world of real estate, real life, and everything in between with your host, Brad Weisman! 🎙️ Join us for candid conversations, laughter, and a fresh take on the real world. Get ready to explore the ups and downs of life with a side of humor. From property to personality, we've got it all covered. Tune in, laugh along, and let's get real! 🏡🌟 #TheBradWeismanShow #RealEstateRealLife #realestateandyou

Credits - The music for my podcast was written and performed by Jeff Miller.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

from real estate to real life and everything in between the brad weisman show and now your host, brad weisman.

Speaker 2: 0:34

All right, we are back in the studio and I am super excited about this show. Um, as you can probably see already, we have some people in the studio. We have tyler boland back in the studio. You were in here before and you brought a really cool guy with you. I did, and now you brought another really cool guy with you, yeah. So tell me you're still doing, you're doing these world war two like interviews, uh, documentary type thing. Tell us a little bit about that. And then, of course, we're going to we got to turn it over to Matt here.

Speaker 3: 1:05

Okay, um. So yeah, uh, kind of like you said, I interviewed World War II vets. Um, just as like a passion project, yeah, I've been doing it for like three, four years now. Um, I have a Jeep. I drive them around in the Jeep.

Speaker 2: 1:17

I've seen the Jeep in our neighborhood. Yep, that's just not any Jeep. What kind of Jeep is it, oh World?

Speaker 3: 1:23

War II Jeep yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:25

It's cool, it is cool.

Speaker 3: 1:26

But yeah, I interview vets, I record their stories, so everything's recorded, so it's not lost to history and I just document it down for their families and future generations.

Speaker 2: 1:37

So it's cool. I love what you're doing. I think it's totally amazing what you're doing. So do you want to introduce who we have here today? Sure, yeah, why don't you do that for us?

Speaker 3: 1:45

So today I brought Matt Gutman, or Matthias Gutman. He and I are really good buddies. He's a 99 year old World War II vet who served in the Pacific theater. He, my great grandfather, was in World War II and he was a Marine and Matt was his Higgins boat driver in the Pacific. So that's Matt and I.

Speaker 2: 2:04

Oh, so wait, you have a connection. This is this how the connection started. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 2:08

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 2:09

Did not know that. I didn't know that you had a connection. That's how you started doing this.

Speaker 3: 2:14

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 2:14

It was your great-grandfather, or grandfather, great, great, great great-grandfather. He was involved in, in the age, would you say, the Pacific age of Pacific.

Speaker 3: 2:23

Yeah, and that did you and you knew him. No, I didn't know, you didn't know he didn't know at the time it was my grandfather Gotcha Gotcha.

Speaker 1: 2:32

Okay, I didn't know him.

Speaker 2: 2:33

No, I don't think he was around yet. I'm pretty sure that's a good point, very good point, matt. Yeah, no, but so you're saying that. So the two actually were in the same place at the same time. Correct Got it, and that's where you started this passion of getting to know World War II vets.

Speaker 3: 2:50

Yeah, that's what sparked the whole thing.

Speaker 2: 2:52

Amazing. How many do we have at this point?

Speaker 3: 2:54

vets In the country there's about 120,000 left.

Speaker 2: 2:59

So we have one of 120 sitting right over here.

Speaker 3: 3:02

Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 1: 3:06

That's awesome. That's awesome, Matt. Welcome to the show. Thank you very much. I'm glad to be here, yeah yeah, I'll tell you what.

Speaker 2: 3:10

what amazes me? Whatever happened in World War II, you guys look amazing for your age. Like seriously, you're 99 years old.

Speaker 1: 3:19

I don't know what happened? It just happened, it just happened. Yeah, I never thought I'd attain that age of 99. Right, never would I say that I'd last that long. Yeah, well, you did.

Speaker 2: 3:33

You're here. Here I am. So tell me everybody's going to say this, I'm sure, and then we'll get into your past and what you've done and all the awards and stuff you have. Do you eat something that you think makes you live better, or are you drinking something? Is there some kind of secret sauce that you eat Something that you think makes you live better, or are you drinking?

Speaker 1: 3:47

something. Is there some kind of secret sauce that you use? I'll tell you, brad. If it was, I'd make a lot of money.

Speaker 2: 3:54

Well, that's why I'm asking you, because we could all make a lot of money. We could split between the four of us. We have Hugo, we have Tyler. You would be perfect. I had no idea, no idea. All I know is I'm still here. You're still here and you're doing great. You're really doing great. Thank you, yeah, absolutely so. Let's go back. So when did you enlist in the? You were in the navy correct?

Speaker 1: 4:23

yeah, I enlisted after I graduated from high years rather than be drafted, because I found out if you were drafted you didn't have no choice to pick your military. Oh, interesting. But if you enlisted, then I enlisted because I wanted to be in the Navy. I enlisted in the Navy.

Speaker 3: 4:43

Okay, why the?

Speaker 1: 4:43

Navy. Just curious, Was it just something that you really you felt that, okay, I want?

Speaker 2: 4:45

enlisted in the Navy. Okay, why the Navy? Just curious, was it just something that you really you?

Speaker 1: 4:48

you felt that, okay, I want to be Well I had a brother in the army and a brother in the Navy prior to World War II. Wow, when World War II started, they volunteered directly to go into the service. Right, there were three of us in the service in World War II Two of us in the Navy and one in the Army, and these are your siblings right, these are your siblings.

Speaker 2: 5:14

No, those are my brothers. Yeah, okay, yeah, your brothers were in, which reminds me of Louie. He was the same way. He had a ton of people that were in the Armed Forces at the same time. It's incredible. So in the armed forces at the same time. It's incredible. So you get into Navy. Did your parents let go? Why are you enlisting? Did they say anything about?

Speaker 1: 5:31

that? No, not really. Both of my parents were immigrants, okay, and they were only too glad to get to the United States. They came in the early 1900s, oh, okay, and we were poor yeah.

Speaker 2: 5:45

We were poor.

Speaker 1: 5:47

Yeah, and it all worked out nice. Yeah, we got along very nice with all of us in the family.

Speaker 2: 5:54

Yeah, that's cool and you started and you came to. Allentown is where you're actually from.

Speaker 1: 5:58

Well, originally my parents came to Hellertown Okay, and then to Bethlehem Okay, that's where they met. Interesting, they lived only 12 miles away from each other in Yugoslavia. Oh, and that's where you're from. Yeah, and they never met there. Oh my gosh, they met here in Bethlehem. What are the odds of that?

Speaker 2: 6:21

Seriously.

Speaker 1: 6:21

And then they got married here in Bethlehem.

Speaker 2: 6:24

Talk about traveling far to get married.

Speaker 1: 6:26

Oh, my gosh, that is crazy.

Speaker 2: 6:30

So they live 12 miles away in Yugoslavia, and they never met there, unbelievable it is, and imagine that conversation.

Speaker 1: 6:38

Well, my father came here earlier than my mother, okay, you know, at Bethlehem. Well, most of the immigrants that came from Yugoslavia at that time came to Bethlehem. But most of the immigrants that came from Yugoslavia at that time came to Bethlehem because they knew that they were hiring there at the Bethlehem Steel. I was just going to say I bet it was Bethlehem Steel, absolutely, and my father learned how to be a blacksmith when he was 15 years old in.

Speaker 2: 7:00

Europe. Wow, they started them young back then, didn't they? That's amazing. So now you get into the navy, so you enlisted. Because I didn't know that before. When you enlist, you can actually pick that's right more of what you want to do, whereas if you, if you were, if you were drafted you they kind of just put you where they want you well, if you were drafted, they needed more men in the army than marines, and they need navy gotcha, and that's why I didn't want to take that chance.

Speaker 2: 7:27

So let me guess navy's a little bit safer. Yeah, a little bit. I mean not that anything's safe in war, but if you were going to pick one, that's probably like a little, because now you're on water. So you had said that what you did is you helped out the Marines, though? Right, did you help the Marines? Is that what he did or no? What did they do with the boats, with the amphibious?

Speaker 3: 7:47

Well, Matt, tell them what boat did you drive.

Speaker 1: 7:50

Well, first of all, on our ship, yeah Carries the Higgins boats. Okay, two of them, okay, one the port side, one the starboard side. I had the port side boat. I was in charge of that boat when we made the landings, gotcha. I carried 35 combat Marines and four of us sailors in that boat when we landed and beached these troops.

Speaker 2: 8:18

Yeah, now, just from my memory, the Higgins, is that the one that goes up on land?

Speaker 3: 8:23

then yeah, right, yeah.

Speaker 2: 8:25

And the front comes down. Yes, yeah. That's it. Yeah, not something I want to be on.

Speaker 1: 8:28

That's the Higgins boat and they were made in New Orleans. Yes, and I revved that boat real fast. Is that how you got it up on the sand On a sandy beach? I did that, yeah, so that we could knife into the sand, and so the next wave coming in wouldn't be able to broach the boat. Oh, yes, yes, I see what you mean. Or if the wave was too heavy, we could throw an anchor out first, gotcha, so that the tail, once the tail end, would broach. You're like, you couldn't get out, get out of here. It's finished, you're finished. Then, at that point, you're finished. Yeah, because the boat is useless. Oh jeez, you'll never straighten it out again. Wow, so we had to be very trained for that yeah, well, the anchor would be a good idea, like you said, because you throw that out and then that way it depends on how.

Speaker 1: 9:23

Yeah, some of the. Some of the ways are yeah, yeah, but some were different places, different islands.

Speaker 3: 9:30

You know that's incredible.

Speaker 2: 9:31

Yeah, he's cool and this is what you did. You actually were the one that was on there and just jamming it into the sand I transferred these marines in the beach to make the invasion wow, that's incredible under fire.

Speaker 1: 9:44

So while I'm coming in, I'm seeing artillery shells coming out at us oh my god got closer Mortar shells. And then, once we're near the beach, machine gun firing Unbelievable All the time. And up in the air you have our airplanes fighting Japanese planes. A complete roar of noise ammunition.

Speaker 2: 10:11

I tell you when you're in that moment, do you think? Oh shit, this could be the end.

Speaker 1: 10:17

When you're in that moment, do you think, oh shit, this could be the end. Well, the first one, I was scared, and I was scared after all the others, and for the reason was I might not survive that day. Yeah, exactly. And after one or two of these landings, I'm thinking to myself my number's probably up. The next one, oh my gosh.

Speaker 1: 10:42

That's crazy, In fact it got to the point. When I wrote to my girlfriend in Allentown. I told her. I says her name was Arlene. I says, arlene, you know what? I may never be able to see you again. If you have a man, friend or anybody at home, go make friends with them, because I have a feeling that I'll never return. I already accepted that in my brain, that I will never get home, and I accepted that?

Speaker 2: 11:20

That's amazing.

Speaker 1: 11:21

And I was scared at every landing.

Speaker 2: 11:25

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 11:25

Mostly in Peleliu or Okinawa. Yeah, the Philippines were a little more silent, gotcha, because you were involved in the Philippines were a little more silent, gotcha, because you were involved in the Philippines too.

Speaker 2: 11:37

Yep, what were you doing in the Philippines then? Same kind of thing.

Speaker 3: 11:42

So he did. He landed six different invasions. The first one was Peleliu, that was his own separate island.

Speaker 2: 11:49

Okay.

Speaker 3: 11:49

That one is like one of the. It's a really big one. And then there were four islands in the philippines um late, which you'll talk about that's one of the islands, and then okinawa was the last one okay, that's a big one.

Speaker 1: 12:02

Oh yeah, okinawa, yeah I think we know that one yeah four invasions in the philippines late mendoro, lingang and subic bay, yep, and then okinawa, okinawa. We landed that on April 1st 1945. And that was VE Day, easter Sunday morning. I was in the first wave and guess what? What? Not a shell was fired at us. Interesting Nothing, calm. First wave landed. Second wave been landed. Third wave been landed. They left all of our troops land on that island before they fought. Why is that? They were hunkered in down in there.

Speaker 2: 13:17

So is that a strategy of some sort? It must have been. Like get them all off, get them here first, and then we're going to.

Speaker 3: 13:22

Because they were hiding in the tunnels.

Speaker 2: 13:23

They were in the tunnels and caves. Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1: 13:26

They'd only come out to fight when it was to their advantage. Smart.

Speaker 2: 13:31

It's smart, got to tell them that's amazing.

Speaker 1: 13:34

Unbelievable. That was amazing Because that's the largest island in the Pacific that we invaded. That island is 73 miles long and about eight or nine miles wide. Wow.

Speaker 2: 13:46

Amazing. Well, how did those combats turn out Like that one there? How did it turn out then at that moment?

Speaker 3: 13:54

Well, matt tell them about Pelelo what happened.

Speaker 1: 13:58

Well, pelelo, when I made the landing, I was told to stand by to take the wounded out to the hospital ships. Hmm, and through me doing all this, our ships that invade the island go out to sea. They don't stay there overnight. Well, I was too late to catch up to my ship. My ship was ready to go out way out in the Pacific, somewhere I don't know, and I tried to follow it and I couldn't keep up to it. So I had to come back. Just you on the boat, just me on the boat and my boat crew. Oh geez, this doesn't sound good. So we had to stay with the Marines overnight in the beach, in foxholes. Wow, now, in the foxhole that I was in was two Marines and me. Right, I had no ammunition, no guns, no, nothing. I only wore my helmet and my life preserver, which I always wear.

Speaker 2: 15:01

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 15:04

And I spent the night there with them. So they had to be there to protect you, then, obviously, well, the one gave me a knife, the other gave me a hand grenade in case I needed it.

Speaker 3: 15:13

And he still has that stuff.

Speaker 1: 15:15

Do you really? Yeah, my son John has them, wow, and everything was fine. I thought maybe there might be a bonanza. You know a lot of times they did that at night. Yeah, they'd come in. But everything was quiet and we relieved each other. Two could go to sleep while one watched. Do you sleep? What was my watch? Do you?

Speaker 2: 15:35

really sleep.

Speaker 1: 15:37

I didn't sleep at all.

Speaker 2: 15:38

There's no way I'm sleeping I would be awake the whole time.

Speaker 1: 15:41

We were listening all the time oh yeah, it seemed to be, somebody rattled something, so did you leave the next morning? Then the next morning the ship come back, thank God, and I came back with my boat and my boat crew and the crew was glad that I came back. They thought that maybe I was done.

Speaker 2: 15:59

Yeah, oh, that's amazing, and I was glad to get back on the ship. Well, yeah. I think I'd rather be on the ship than in those holes. That was at Pelelo. Now why wouldn't you carry a sidearm? They didn't have you carrying a sidearm when you were on the boat, no sidearms is.

Speaker 1: 16:15

The only time I wore a sidearm is when I had the duty watch on a quarter deck. Okay, that's when people come and go Gotcha. Then we had a .45. Yeah right, other than that, we had no guns. Wow, I never fired a rifle guns. Wow, I never fired a rifle. I was assigned combat duty right on a 20 millimeter gun on the on the ship. Oh geez. Okay, when I wasn't landing troops, that was my duty. Okay, on a 20 millimeter.

Speaker 2: 16:45

Well, that's a pretty nice gun.

Speaker 3: 16:46

Yes, yeah so at late. One of the islands in the Philippines he was at. That was when the Japanese really started using kamikaze planes. And he shot down three kamikaze planes. Wow, and they almost hit him right.

Speaker 2: 17:01

Yes, you shot him down from that 20 millimeter. Yeah, on the 20 millimeters.

Speaker 1: 17:05

yeah, Well, I can't say that I shot him.

Speaker 2: 17:09

But everybody was shooting at him. But still, everybody was shooting. Yes, but one almost. What came into you after? Because they just go towards you, don't?

Speaker 1: 17:15

they yeah, no, I was on a ship. Then I was on my Higgins boat. Oh, thank goodness.

Speaker 3: 17:20

But it came close.

Speaker 1: 17:22

Oh yeah, oh yeah, they never hit our ship. They came close because we knocked them down and they exploded because they carried a bomb. You know. Them down and exploded because they carried a bomb, you know? Oh, they did have a bomb.

Speaker 3: 17:33

If it was a plane, they'd have a bomb and then, when they'd hit, it'd blow up.

Speaker 2: 17:38

I never knew that the kamikaze planes had a bomb in the front, just so that when they would hit their whole thing was just a Well.

Speaker 1: 17:45

that bomb was made to bomb the ship when they hit the ship.

Speaker 2: 17:49

Impact Unbelievable, they say. I've heard stories before that you could actually see the whites of their eyes.

Speaker 1: 17:55

Yes, yes, they sacrificed their life for the emperor. It's amazing, right. They knew, because they gave them enough gasoline in that airplane to go one way. That's it, that was it?

Speaker 2: 18:07

Wow, incredible, unbelievable. So what else? What other stories did you want to tell? Well, you have a very big sword.

Speaker 3: 18:13

Yes, matt, tell him about this.

Speaker 1: 18:17

The samurai sword. Yep, that happened after the war ended. Okay, our ship was assigned to hit one of the two islands, disarmed the Japanese Right, and they knew we were coming there to do that. So I was one of the ones that went ashore to disarm them. The first thing we did, we had them bring all their rifles and their ammunition and explosives down to the beach. Yeah, pile them up high. They loaded their boat with this. Yeah, I was instructed then to take their boat out to sea, with four other Japanese and my crew and mine out to sea about three, four miles. We had the Japanese throw all that into the water while I was still maneuvering, so it wouldn't be all in one pile.

Speaker 1: 19:23

On the way back, I seen one of the Japanese come down the road with four others, oh boy, and I noticed he was still wearing his samurai sword. I quickly went over to him and I said these are exact words. I said. I said, sir, you will not need this anymore and I unbuckled it from his belt and I brought it home. And there it is, oh my gosh, and that's the sword that's here in the studio Brad.

Speaker 1: 19:56

I slept with that, I ate with that and I protected that all the time on a ship, so no one would steal it.

Speaker 2: 20:03

That's incredible. So that's a real, that's legit, that's the real thing right there.

Speaker 3: 20:08

And this wasn't just made in like World War II, so like they would, it's old. Yeah, it thing right there, and this wasn't just made in like world war ii.

Speaker 1: 20:14

So like they would. It's old. Yeah, it's like george washington old. You remember that japanese that was at the reading air show yeah he started explaining everything.

Speaker 3: 20:19

Oh, no way you, somebody that was there, actually could explain it he took it all apart and they found like, when it was made, who made it?

Speaker 2: 20:26

that sort of thing oh my gosh, that's incredible in the handle.

Speaker 3: 20:29

So it's like 16, 1700s was when it was made.

Speaker 2: 20:33

Wow, wow wow, that's incredible. That's a great story.

Speaker 1: 20:36

That handle is Carl the white, carl Reese. Oh, is that what that is?

Speaker 2: 20:42

That's Carl. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh, it's in really good shape.

Speaker 1: 20:47

Oh, it is very good shape. Yeah, it's amazing I often wonder if it was used. You mean, if somebody went through somebody, or chopped, oh jeez, that's heavy oh.

Speaker 2: 20:57

I bet that's heavy. That's amazing, very cool, hugo. Be careful, be careful, all right, that's cool, all right. So we have a picture here too that I thought was kind of cool that you might want to put up one here. I don't know if we can see it or not. Tyler, do you want to put that?

Speaker 1: 21:13

over that way. That's their boat there you go On your camera there.

Speaker 2: 21:16

That's one of their boats, that's one of your boats, and then you're in that picture too. You're in that picture. That's a.

Speaker 1: 21:22

Japanese boat, oh amazing.

Speaker 3: 21:24

So this is him on Leyte, one of the islands in the Philippines, and he was 19 here, so that's him right there Unbelievable, yeah, incredible.

Speaker 2: 21:33

So tell me a little bit about so. Now you talked about a girlfriend. Was that who you ended up marrying or no?

Speaker 1: 21:39

No, I married. My first wife was Bernadine. Okay, we had the six children.

Speaker 2: 21:47

Six children, so you had four boys and two girls.

Speaker 1: 21:50

Yeah, the second one. In the second marriage. She already was married and had four children, and I had my six children. Yeah, wow, that's a lot, yeah, yeah. So now I have three step-sons, because one died, okay, and she had four sons and one died, so we're equal.

Speaker 2: 22:10

Now what about grandchildren, great-grandchildren? You have to have some great Nine.

Speaker 1: 22:14

Nine and three great-grandchildren Unbelievable.

Speaker 2: 22:18

Do you realize how lucky you are to be able to see that? Pardon me, how lucky, how fortunate you are to be able to see the generations.

Speaker 1: 22:26

Believe me. I'm so grateful.

Speaker 2: 22:29

Oh yeah, I can see I'm grateful. We're grateful too for you for your service.

Speaker 1: 22:32

Awesome. I thank God every night that he let me survive so long. Yeah, that's very cool.

Speaker 2: 22:40

Such a wonderful life. Now you're any of your brothers and sister, any brothers that you have that are still alive?

Speaker 1: 22:46

I know, no, they're. My whole family is dead, okay, except me, me, the only thing I have left is to have sons and sons with her. Amazing amazing.

Speaker 2: 22:57

So we got a bunch of medals up here. Maybe, tyler, you can show us what's going on there too, because that's amazing. He's got all kinds of medals. So, there you go, there you go. Look at that.

Speaker 3: 23:10

So this is Matt when he was 18, when first enlisted. And then this is him when he retired. So he served 22 years total. These are all his medals there, you go there, you go yeah all his medals, that's his dog tag right up there yep um, that's his amphibious uh emblem emblem, yep, so like he would wear that like on his uniform type thing. Um, so yeah, that's it's amazing display case.

Speaker 2: 23:39

It's kind of cool so what, as far as stories go, as far as being combat, all that stuff, what was the scariest time? Was it that time where you went to go back to the boat and you couldn't, and they had already left? Hello, that was the scariest, that was the worst, one of my first, and worst the first first, I can't imagine the feeling that you had realizing that the mother ship is gone and you're on your own. That is scary.

Speaker 1: 24:05

Oh sure, I wonder what the hell am I gonna do? Yeah, there's only one thing I can do is go back inland. Oh, then, when one I'm on land now, what the hell am I going to do there? Well, you're a sitting duck and I have nothing on me no guns, nothing. Oh my gosh, that's incredible. I thought that maybe I'd be captured, you know?

Speaker 2: 24:23

Yeah, thank goodness you weren't, but it all worked out. It all worked out great, isn't that something?

Speaker 1: 24:27

how things work out like that, you're definitely on the good side. It's staged, it's staged yeah.

Speaker 2: 24:34

It's amazing, it just happens. What other stories do you have? Anything else you want to talk about?

Speaker 3: 24:38

You had pets on your ship.

Speaker 1: 24:40

Yes, pets. I didn't know you were allowed to have pets. We had a dog named Margie. It was a female dog. It wasn't too big, medium size. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I have no idea how that dog got on our ship, but once it was there, our commanding officer, our captain, he loved the dog. Yeah, he loved it. So they became like a little mascot and the dog would once in a while sneak out his sneaker or his slippers from his bedroom. Oh, that's At the deck.

Speaker 2: 25:18

I bet that didn't go over well oh.

Speaker 3: 25:20

No, he liked that.

Speaker 1: 25:21

He liked that. Yeah, yeah, he didn't mind that.

Speaker 2: 25:23

I think it's a good idea to have a pet on the ship out there we also had a monkey on our ship A monkey.

Speaker 1: 25:28

Yeah, one of our crew members brought on a monkey. I don't know how he got that on that ship.

Speaker 2: 25:37

Amazing.

Speaker 1: 25:37

But our commanding officer found out that there was a monkey in the ship. How'd that go? He says, boy, we better capture that monkey, because we don't know what kind of disease he may be carrying.

Speaker 2: 25:50

That's what I was going to say Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 25:51

And once they carried it, we were out at sea. They could wipe out the whole ship. We threw it over the side.

Speaker 2: 25:58

So how long did the monkey swim, is the question. Was the monkey a good swimmer?

Speaker 1: 26:04

I don't know. I wasn't the one that threw it over.

Speaker 2: 26:08

That monkey was having a great day until all of a sudden, somebody just threw him over the monkey.

Speaker 1: 26:12

I don't think swiped very good.

Speaker 2: 26:14

No, I don't think so. I definitely don't think so.

Speaker 3: 26:16

Ask him what he fed the dog. What did you?

Speaker 1: 26:19

feed the dog. What did we feed?

Speaker 2: 26:21

the dog Marjorie right.

Speaker 1: 26:22

Every now and then we used to have a little beverage beer, beer, 3.2% only oh, is that it that? 3.2% only, oh, is that it? That's it, oh my gosh. And we used to drink that, and when we'd see Marge the dog with us, we'd pour a little out on deck and she'd lap that up. She got so dizzy one time she went under our vents we had vents there, you know, to vent the tanks when they rolled and she slept underneath there recuperating.

Speaker 2: 26:52

Oh my gosh, she was funny Little drunk puppy, nice dog, everybody loved her.

Speaker 1: 26:58

Yeah, we, the crew, and especially once I knew the captain, loved their boy.

Speaker 2: 27:05

We didn't dare hurt that dog, and when you wouldn't want to, it's actually nice to have. It gives you some kind of something to look forward to, right, absolutely Very cool.

Speaker 1: 27:11

Is there anything else you want to? It's actually nice to have it.

Speaker 2: 27:12

gives you some kind of something to look forward to right.

Speaker 1: 27:13

Something.

Speaker 2: 27:13

Absolutely Very cool. Is there anything else you want to share before we wrap it up? Hugo, do you have any questions? When is when is your birthday? When is your 100th?

Speaker 1: 27:23

Oh yeah, When's your 100th birthday? January 26th 1925. I was born.

Speaker 2: 27:30

So we're heading to 100. Yes, all right, very cool, very cool, awesome. Well, I appreciate it, man, thanks for coming and bring more in if you can. This is great. I love it. It was great talking to you. Thank you so much for your service. Well, I want to thank you for having me. Oh, absolutely, absolutely. I love everything that you did here. I thank Tyler.

Speaker 1: 27:51

Mostly he has me going all over. I don't think I refused anything he mentioned.

Speaker 3: 27:57

Did I.

Speaker 1: 27:58

No, did I ever refuse you.

Speaker 2: 28:00

No, I don't think so. He speaks very highly of you. Last time he was here he was talking about you, and I know he talks about you a lot, and I think what he's doing is amazing too. I mean, you're doing some great work.

Speaker 1: 28:10

He comes from a good family. I met the parents and his brother. They're very nice and, like I said, I am entirely grateful. There's no way I could repay them.

Speaker 2: 28:24

Oh, that's nice, that's really nice. Well, we're grateful to you too, like I said. I mean, I can't imagine the things you went through and what you did for all of us, and we really appreciate it Well.

Speaker 1: 28:34

I just did what I was told, yeah.

Speaker 2: 28:37

It's not just that I was told to do a lot of things and I didn't do them. All right, well, we're going to wrap it up, okay. Yes, sir, all right, thank you so much. All right, there we have it. What? But what a great show. World War II vet Matt here, gutman, I mean just amazing stories, and we're also thankful that we have people like him around. It's amazing. All right, we'll see you next Thursday at 7 pm. Thanks for watching.

Speaker 1: 29:02

When is this going to be on the show? We don't know yet.