WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:02.919 This is Gary and Shannon and you're listening to KFI 2 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:05.839 AM six forty the Gary and Shannon Show on demand 3 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:07.240 on the iHeartRadio app. 4 00:00:07.559 --> 00:00:09.800 Mystery disease everybody watch out for. 5 00:00:10.199 --> 00:00:12.880 If you've been traveling through the Democratic Republic of Congo, 6 00:00:12.919 --> 00:00:16.000 you might want to pay attention. They said that they 7 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:19.640 have had an infectious disease outbreak. At least three hundred 8 00:00:19.640 --> 00:00:23.760 and seventy six people afflicted with what they're calling disease X. 9 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:28.039 At least seventy nine people have been killed by disease X, 10 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:31.800 and they said this flu like illness. About half of 11 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:35.600 those who are afflicted are young, under the age of five. 12 00:00:36.679 --> 00:00:40.560 Cases of fever and headache and cough and difficulty breathing 13 00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:46.079 and anemia first reported October twenty fourth in a southwestern 14 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:50.079 province of Quongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 15 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:54.240 That should be fun, That should be fun well, and 16 00:00:54.280 --> 00:00:56.479 then still should be okay. 17 00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:01.520 New artificial intelligence based weather model could deliver fifteen day 18 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:05.959 forecasts with unrivaled accuracy and speed. They said that this 19 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:10.760 could potentially save lives. Gen Cast is what it's being called, 20 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:15.519 showed better forecasting skill than the current world leading model. 21 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:19.599 So the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasts. By 22 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:23.120 the way they throw a great holiday party, produces predictions 23 00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:26.280 for thirty five countries. Is considered the global benchmark for 24 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:29.959 meteorological accuracy. Says they are going to now be using 25 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:35.159 gen cast based on Google's Deep Mind AI research laboratory. 26 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:37.879 Pete is a winner, and there is nothing that can 27 00:01:37.959 --> 00:01:40.840 be done to change that. That is Trump on truth 28 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:44.079 Social about his pick for Secretary of Defense, Pete haig Seth. 29 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:45.959 It's where we kick off swampwatch. 30 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:51.239 Swamp is horrible the government. We're gonna make it like 31 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:53.359 a reality TV show. 32 00:01:53.719 --> 00:01:54.680 Was a bad boos. 33 00:01:54.920 --> 00:01:57.359 Always a pleasure to be anywhere from Washington, DC. 34 00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:01.439 Hey, Joe after a town all too clearly built on 35 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:04.239 a swamp and in so many ways still a swamp. 36 00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:06.239 I have a watch of Malwarkee Boy, he said, drained 37 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:09.479 the swamp. I said, Oh, that's so hell keep happens, 38 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:11.479 you know the thing? 39 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:17.159 Well, I don't know exactly how, but Trump says he 40 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:20.240 still believes that peaks at Pete Hegseth has a chance 41 00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:22.879 to be confirmed as Secretary of Defense. 42 00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:23.639 This morning. 43 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:26.599 He went on a truth Social said that hag Seth's 44 00:02:26.639 --> 00:02:31.879 support is strong and deep among Congress. He says he's 45 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:35.120 doing very well, much more so than the fake news 46 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:38.360 would have you believe. He was a great student Princeton, 47 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:41.240 Harvard educated with a military state of mind. He will 48 00:02:41.240 --> 00:02:46.280 be fantastic, high energy secretary of Defense. Defense one. I 49 00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:48.759 don't know, but it did he write it twice? Yes, 50 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:52.319 one who leads with charisma and skill. He is a winter. 51 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:57.919 You've made this point multiple times, the things that he 52 00:02:58.039 --> 00:03:01.400 is accused of, whether it's having a couple of pops 53 00:03:01.560 --> 00:03:04.199 at a work event, which by the way, no one 54 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:06.919 has put their name to. All these allegations that he's 55 00:03:06.919 --> 00:03:08.919 shown up drunk to work or was even on air 56 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:10.000 at Fox drunk. 57 00:03:09.879 --> 00:03:11.800 They've been kind of watered down to. He was hungover 58 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:12.840 a couple times, right. 59 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:18.759 Allegations of sexual assault, which he says were consensual. Yes, 60 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:21.879 he did pay a woman and no charges were brought 61 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:24.240 in that case. Of course, the email where his mom 62 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:26.439 ripped him a new one for the way that he 63 00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:30.680 was treating his wives and previous girlfriends. Does any of 64 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:34.840 that matter when it comes to his job as Secretary 65 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:35.280 of Defense. 66 00:03:35.319 --> 00:03:37.879 The drinking would, but he has said it's not an 67 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:41.039 issue and that he would abstain completely for the entire 68 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:45.599 duration of him having that job, but him running. 69 00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:46.680 Around on women, how does that. 70 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:51.400 Well outside of like we said back when this all 71 00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:55.120 came up, you know, that does violate rules within the 72 00:03:55.199 --> 00:04:00.639 Uniform Code of Military Justice. But is he an active 73 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:03.319 member of the military at the time, which I don't 74 00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:09.120 know the timeline specifically of his dalliances, and I you 75 00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:11.919 know it, would he be able to convince enough senators 76 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:14.800 and not just Democratic senators because I don't think any 77 00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:16.519 of them are going to vote for him. Would he 78 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:20.360 be able to convince the Republican senators that that type 79 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:24.600 of history should not be taken into account or should 80 00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:28.279 not disqualify him from being confirmed as Secretary of State. 81 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:33.399 According to The Hill, that least one Republican senator says 82 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:36.000 there are seven or eight votes against him in the 83 00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:39.040 Republican Party right and that it's just a matter of 84 00:04:39.079 --> 00:04:41.240 time before hag Seth drops out or is. 85 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:43.360 Asked to take to take his name out of consideration. 86 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:47.800 He has yet to meet with Murkowski and Susan Collins. 87 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:54.759 Those are losses, I mean, those are uphill battles for him. Anyway, Yeah, 88 00:04:54.839 --> 00:04:57.319 there is I guess there is a chance I don't 89 00:04:57.360 --> 00:04:59.639 think it's a good chance, but there is a chance 90 00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:03.160 that he is able to convince senators that's not who 91 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:07.399 I am now. And at what point do we give 92 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:12.360 somebody an opportunity to rebuild their reputation. 93 00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:14.680 I kind of think you are who you are at 94 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:15.160 that point. 95 00:05:16.199 --> 00:05:19.360 Well, my question is, listen, if one of the things 96 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:21.639 that but doesn't matter. I guess one of the things 97 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:25.319 that Trump wants is a guy who was a boots 98 00:05:25.319 --> 00:05:28.920 on the ground guy. He doesn't want a military administrator. 99 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:31.759 He doesn't want somebody who was promoted simply because of 100 00:05:32.839 --> 00:05:35.920 some immutable characteristic that they didn't have control. That's not 101 00:05:35.959 --> 00:05:39.319 who he wants as secretary of Defense. He wants somebody 102 00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:42.319 who knows what's going on at the ground level. But 103 00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:45.360 you're telling me there's no one else. There's no one 104 00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:47.040 in that circle that would be able to fit that 105 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:49.639 qualification that does not have this baggage with him. 106 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:53.319 At least one Pentagon official spoke to Politico says, the 107 00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:56.000 biggest thing I'm picking up is a level of discomfort 108 00:05:56.040 --> 00:05:58.759 and uncertainty at the Pentagon. People want to know who 109 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:00.600 their leadership is going to be and what they're going 110 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:03.319 to be asked to do. These are professionals who can 111 00:06:03.319 --> 00:06:10.959 put personal feelings aside. They say that Trump's team Trump 112 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:13.720 Team's delay and signing an agreement with the White House 113 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:16.639 means the Pentagon and other agencies are in a holding 114 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:19.560 pattern until transition officials are in place. 115 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:24.720 And you remember, remember that there has been some discrepancy 116 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:27.000 as to whether or not the transition team was going 117 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:31.120 to submit names to the FBI. They did submit Pete 118 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:35.240 Hegseth's name to the FBI for a complete background check. 119 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:39.560 They had announced earlier this week that the transition team 120 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:42.560 was going to pave the way for it to get 121 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:45.399 these background checks, announcing that had signed this memo of 122 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:50.959 understanding with the Justice Department to do that. Heg Seth's 123 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:53.600 attorney said he received the forums yesterday from the FBI. 124 00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:54.920 Were working on them right now. 125 00:06:55.959 --> 00:06:58.680 Trump told Pete Hegseth he wants to see him fight 126 00:06:58.759 --> 00:06:59.920 for votes in the Senate. 127 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:01.560 He continued backing. 128 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:05.079 His continued backing of his own nominee is part of 129 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:07.319 the reason that Pete hag Seth has appeared more bullish 130 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:09.959 this week and has not shied away. I mean, there's 131 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:12.319 pictures right there of him standing in the hallways in 132 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:15.120 the Capitol Building, saying that I am not the same 133 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:17.360 guy that you think I am, and that this is 134 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:22.240 a giant smear campaign where they're taking small, little incidents 135 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:24.040 in my past and blowing them out of proportion. 136 00:07:24.519 --> 00:07:29.360 Biden's team is considering blanket pardons for people that they 137 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:31.920 think Trump is going to go after once he swoops, 138 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:35.839 and we'll talk about that. Also, Bill Clinton gives Democrats 139 00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:36.720 some blunt. 140 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:42.759 Truths and RFK Junior has some unexpected support in the 141 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:45.279 Senate to take over Health and Human Services. 142 00:07:45.560 --> 00:07:49.079 Massive manhunts still underway to find the person who's shut what. 143 00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:53.800 Transition, That's what we do here. That is what we 144 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:56.199 do here. Transitions are nothing if not smooth. 145 00:07:56.399 --> 00:08:01.680 Smooth, smooth, shot and killed the CEO of United Healthcare, 146 00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:06.199 Brian Thompson on Wednesday. They're coming through surveillance video. There's 147 00:08:06.360 --> 00:08:08.399 reports that this was a guy who arrived on a 148 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:11.199 bus from Atlanta ten days before the murder. There is 149 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:14.720 surveillance photo with him nearly his whole face when he 150 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:17.279 removed his mask that came out yesterday, so they're trying 151 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:20.399 to run that through all their facial recognition software. 152 00:08:21.879 --> 00:08:25.680 Jarian Shannon I received a notice today from Igheart saying, 153 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:28.600 and I have listened to one hundred and four and 154 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:34.600 sixty five minutes of your programming here. Now that means 155 00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:37.600 if I'm doing the math right, I'm listening for I'm 156 00:08:37.639 --> 00:08:39.879 listening for about six and a half hours per day, 157 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:44.320 and I think I deserve an award for that. 158 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:48.919 Well, congratulations, you won the award. 159 00:08:49.799 --> 00:08:52.039 You won free programming. 160 00:08:52.120 --> 00:08:54.639 You won the award from us to you. 161 00:08:54.879 --> 00:08:56.519 The booty is the treasure. 162 00:08:56.679 --> 00:08:57.600 You won the treasure. 163 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:01.679 You're giving him your booty, the booty. Who's booty? 164 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:05.279 I didn't say who, I just said the hm, the 165 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:06.960 booty is the treasure. 166 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:11.799 President Biden's staff debating whether he should issue blanket pardons 167 00:09:11.879 --> 00:09:15.320 for a bunch of Trump's perceived enemies to protect them 168 00:09:15.320 --> 00:09:21.039 from retribution when Trump takes office. For you to shift 169 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:25.960 fauci names that are coming to mind, Liz Cheney, Cheney. 170 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:28.480 Yeah. 171 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:31.159 They said that this was previewed by the way he 172 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:35.960 pardoned Hunter wiped away not just those criminal counts that 173 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:40.960 he was convicted of, but any crime that he may 174 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:43.720 have committed or taken part in over the course of 175 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:50.480 the last eleven years. This presumably means that Donald Trump 176 00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:54.480 can't do anything to Hunter Biden or any allegations that 177 00:09:54.519 --> 00:09:58.080 he didn't merit that did not merit charges. But this 178 00:09:58.279 --> 00:10:01.960 act of clemency, they said, even theoretical crimes over the 179 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:04.879 course of a decade, went beyond any scope of any 180 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:08.639 pardon we've ever seen. The closest you can come to 181 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:11.600 that would be the Watergate era, when President Ford pardon 182 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:14.840 Nixon for any crimes even though he was not charged. 183 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:18.120 Trump has said on social media that Cheney should be 184 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:21.639 prosecuted for what she's done, that the whole January sixth 185 00:10:21.639 --> 00:10:25.039 Committee should be prosecuted for their lives and treason, that 186 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:29.600 Kamala Harris should be impeached and prosecuted. He promised to 187 00:10:29.639 --> 00:10:33.000 appoint a real special prosecutor to go after Biden and 188 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:36.440 his family. He said, Letitia James, the Agy of New 189 00:10:36.519 --> 00:10:39.039 York who won that judgment against him for business fraud, 190 00:10:39.559 --> 00:10:43.159 and the Justice Arthur Engern, who presided over the trial, 191 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:47.320 should be arrested and punished accordingly, the police officers on 192 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:49.320 January six should be charged. 193 00:10:50.200 --> 00:10:52.799 But none of that had I mean, yes, in his mind, 194 00:10:52.919 --> 00:10:55.360 that's what he believes, and that's he likes to say 195 00:10:55.399 --> 00:10:57.840 it that way. I don't see any of those people 196 00:10:57.879 --> 00:11:04.159 ever actually facing any sort of criminal investigation at all. 197 00:11:04.279 --> 00:11:06.519 It just sounds like this is the bluster that people 198 00:11:06.519 --> 00:11:09.080 are get very afraid of, and we saw that going 199 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:12.519 into his first term that a lot of stuff never materialized. 200 00:11:14.039 --> 00:11:18.080 Bill Clinton has been giving Democrats some blunt truths. He 201 00:11:18.200 --> 00:11:23.360 went after Biden for the Hunter pardon handling. He said, 202 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:25.159 I wish he hadn't said he was going to do it. 203 00:11:25.159 --> 00:11:28.240 It weakens his case because Biden repeatedly pledged not to 204 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:31.519 pardon his son. He did an interview at the New 205 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:35.279 York Times deal Book event. This is the first time 206 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:40.799 he's been interviewed since Biden's move. He said, we had 207 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:45.799 a lot better record than the Republicans, but what good 208 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:49.039 did it do to us? No one believes in anybody anymore. 209 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:54.320 There was a Bernie Sanders cut that was making its 210 00:11:54.360 --> 00:11:59.279 way around yesterday that I found pretty interesting. He actually recently, 211 00:11:59.720 --> 00:12:03.519 within the last day or two, tweeted that he supports 212 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:08.240 Robert F. Kennedy as or I should say, at least 213 00:12:08.279 --> 00:12:12.440 he's praised RFK Junior's message on food issues. 214 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:16.360 And Elon Musk and getting rid of governments. 215 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:20.360 Yeah, government waste, Bernie Sanders said, He hasn't really made 216 00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:22.360 up his mind yet on whether or not he's going 217 00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:26.559 to oppose Kennedy to head Health and Human Services, but 218 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:32.200 he did say that there are things that they agree 219 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:35.039 on when it comes to the criticisms of the influence 220 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:38.039 of the food industry in Washington, DC. Right now, Bernie 221 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:41.159 Sanders is the chair of the Senate Health Committee, and 222 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:44.440 when he sat down in front of FDA officials this week, 223 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:46.399 this was one of the exchanges that he had. 224 00:12:46.519 --> 00:12:49.639 What is the reason that our kids are unhealthy? What 225 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:52.759 role do this industry play? Even now you're getting out 226 00:12:52.759 --> 00:12:56.120 of wolpus, are you prepared to tell us that this committee, 227 00:12:56.159 --> 00:12:59.320 this Congress needs to take on the food and beverage industry. 228 00:12:59.399 --> 00:13:02.639 Who's green is destroying the health of millions of people. Well, 229 00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:05.480 I'm not going to castigade the people that work in 230 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:06.759 the food and beverage. 231 00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:10.399 And I love that. I love that. 232 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:14.720 I'm not going to castigate the people in the food industry. 233 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:16.799 And Bertie Sanders. 234 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:19.120 Says, you're the head of the FDA, You moron, That's 235 00:13:19.159 --> 00:13:22.440 exactly what you're supposed to do when they produce food 236 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:24.200 that is bad for us. 237 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:28.240 Yeah, but that guy's in bed naked with the food industry. 238 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:31.840 Right, that's the problem, which is why that's why he 239 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:34.080 at least agrees with Kennedy that you've got to get 240 00:13:34.120 --> 00:13:36.399 those people out of that relationship. 241 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:37.759 You've got to have got to. 242 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:40.440 Put their clothes on, get them out of bed, and 243 00:13:40.440 --> 00:13:41.120 get them moving. 244 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:41.840 Spray them with. 245 00:13:41.799 --> 00:13:45.600 Cold water, right, whatever they do. 246 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:46.759 Do you want a good story? 247 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:52.480 Waiting guy by the name of Speedy Weber wrote his 248 00:13:52.600 --> 00:13:57.919 wife three hundred letters in World War Two, and now 249 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:02.200 the letters have been given anonymously to the USO, and 250 00:14:02.279 --> 00:14:05.919 we're learning what that correspondence was all about. 251 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:08.000 A love that lasted fifty six years. 252 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:11.080 It was beautiful. Do you ever find any letters when 253 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:11.679 your parents? 254 00:14:11.879 --> 00:14:13.279 I don't want to read those. 255 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:15.159 I just I don't mean that. 256 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:18.440 I don't mean like, no, they never were apart ever, 257 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:20.799 they never had to write letters back and forth. 258 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:24.440 I mean maybe cards and stuff for anniversaries or whatever, 259 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:25.639 but no letters. 260 00:14:26.360 --> 00:14:29.240 I found a couple. I found a handful in a 261 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:31.759 shoe box in a closet in mom and dad's house. 262 00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:35.159 Dad was writing letters. He was at cal Poly writing 263 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:37.480 letters to my mom. She was living in Bakersfield at 264 00:14:37.480 --> 00:14:42.039 the time. And so whatever, what twenty two twenty one 265 00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:43.240 years old something like that. 266 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:45.919 Was there a sexy talking there, No, no, just. 267 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:47.759 A matter of fact, I miss you and when we 268 00:14:47.799 --> 00:14:50.440 see each other, we'll go have to the sockhop or 269 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:54.720 whatever they said. Oh, the side note to that story 270 00:14:54.879 --> 00:14:59.240 is my dad was complaining how hard his chemistry class was, 271 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.440 and it was a specific physical chemistry class that he 272 00:15:04.519 --> 00:15:07.759 was taking at the exact time that my daughter was 273 00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:10.960 taking that exact class, and complaining about how difficult it. 274 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:12.679 Was at cal Poly. 275 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:13.759 It's wilde. 276 00:15:14.039 --> 00:15:19.240 Finding letters written by your parents or grandparents can be 277 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:24.039 pretty eye opening for people, whether it's the racy kind, 278 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:27.320 the love letters, or just letters just to kind of 279 00:15:27.320 --> 00:15:30.600 give you an idea of how people communicated before there 280 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:33.519 were things like cell phones, even before there were phones 281 00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:34.679 in some cases well. 282 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:37.360 And before you could send what we would consider now 283 00:15:37.559 --> 00:15:42.679 racy texts or what have you. It was a flowery 284 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:44.279 it was people knew how to write. 285 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:45.360 Back then. 286 00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:49.919 It was you could feel the anticipation of not being 287 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:52.000 able to see somebody in the near future. 288 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:54.559 Yes, I've told you that there's. 289 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:58.519 An antique store near my house where they have boxes 290 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:01.440 of these old letters, and I'll go in there and 291 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:06.759 just be captivated reading the correspondence from you know, eighty 292 00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:10.519 years ago on those postcards. It's just fascinating to see 293 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:14.080 what beautiful writers people once were, and now we just 294 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:19.320 say things like lol duh. 295 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:25.240 The USO a couple of years ago got a collection 296 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:31.559 of letters, three hundred or so letters that Lewis Weber 297 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.080 wrote to his wife Francis. 298 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:35.519 He went by the name Speedy. 299 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:39.879 The first letter, the first wartime letter to his wife, 300 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:42.919 he wrote on June ninth, nineteen forty two. 301 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:48.480 She was at home in the Bronx. He wasn't that 302 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:49.360 far away. 303 00:16:49.399 --> 00:16:52.080 He had enlisted in the army that day, and he 304 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:55.399 was actually eating an Italian restaurant nearby before leaving. 305 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:58.399 Now this is something that would have been encapsulated in 306 00:16:58.480 --> 00:17:00.960 a text message these days. But he wrote to her 307 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:04.759 while he's sitting at this restaurant, darling being shipped to 308 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:08.119 Fort Dix. I'm writing this during my supper time. Excuse 309 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:10.759 the card, love, Speedy, will write tomorrow. 310 00:17:10.839 --> 00:17:13.759 This was a time when restaurants had postcards. 311 00:17:13.319 --> 00:17:15.799 Also that so he goes to Fort Dix in New 312 00:17:15.880 --> 00:17:18.599 Jersey that night. He writes her on the tenth the 313 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:20.440 next day and says, I want you to get word 314 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:24.279 from me every day. He wrote her again on June seventeenth, 315 00:17:24.359 --> 00:17:25.960 and again on June nineteenth. 316 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:32.599 The letters kept coming from South Carolina, North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, Germany. 317 00:17:32.680 --> 00:17:36.359 In all, more than three hundred letters written to his 318 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:41.000 wife Francis at fifteen seventeen, jessup Avenue in the Bronx, 319 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:45.839 and she saved every single one of those letters. 320 00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:49.359 Michael Case with the USO says, I've never seen anything 321 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:50.119 like it. 322 00:17:50.119 --> 00:17:50.960 It's incredible. 323 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:54.359 They're sorting and digitizing them to try to piece together 324 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:55.359 the couple's story. 325 00:17:56.480 --> 00:17:59.599 What's fun is back in World War Two, if you 326 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:02.640 were writing back to your family or whatever, the Army 327 00:18:02.839 --> 00:18:04.839 checked your letters. They wanted to make sure that you 328 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:09.160 weren't divulging any secrets, either intentionally or accidentally. So army 329 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:11.599 censors would go through and if they had to, they'd 330 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:13.160 block out part of your letters. 331 00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:17.720 But he knew that, yes, but the personal life went uncensored. 332 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:22.039 His handwriting excellent. He wrote in one letter, I always 333 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:24.000 said that I didn't care if the world knew how 334 00:18:24.039 --> 00:18:26.640 much I love you. Well, now the whole damn army 335 00:18:26.680 --> 00:18:29.759 will know. Knowing that they were reading his letters, right. 336 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:32.720 He wrote, just as sure as night must follow day, 337 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:35.200 I'll keep missing you until I can come home and 338 00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:36.799 hold you in my arms once again. 339 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:38.440 You are always in my heart. 340 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:41.880 In another letter written from North Africa, he said, be good, 341 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:43.960 and when this thing is over, we start where we 342 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:47.240 left off by being so happy that people will envy us. 343 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:50.079 They said that they knew that there was some you know, 344 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:53.640 spicy parts, intimate romantic racie, if you want to call 345 00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:56.200 it that. And what they said was a lot of 346 00:18:56.680 --> 00:19:00.680 his writing actually echoed what she had been writing in 347 00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:03.839 her letters. Now at this point we don't have any 348 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:05.599 of Francis's letters. 349 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:07.240 We just have what Speedy wrote. 350 00:19:07.640 --> 00:19:10.079 She did joke that she might get pregnant just reading 351 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:15.880 his letters, Okay, funny, lady weird. 352 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:23.640 There are research specialists who look specifically at this kind 353 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:26.319 of communication there, I mean, there's a there's such a 354 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:29.799 rich value to handwritten letters like this, especially at a 355 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:33.559 time that was so formative in our recent past of 356 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:36.839 World War two. And they say that a lot of times, 357 00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:40.880 because you know, so many of our young men were 358 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:44.920 overseas for very long tours, you know, years at a time. 359 00:19:45.799 --> 00:19:49.680 They had hundreds of letters, in some cases written by 360 00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:51.039 individual soldiers. 361 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:55.119 It's wild these were delivered anonymously, so they don't really 362 00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:56.960 know what happened with their relationship. 363 00:19:57.039 --> 00:19:59.359 But we don't really know about their lives. They apparently 364 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:00.400 had no Chill children. 365 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:05.920 In nineteen fifty, the US Census lists them still on 366 00:20:06.200 --> 00:20:10.319 Jessup Avenue there living with her widowed mother. She was 367 00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:15.079 working at the post office, and he was described as 368 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:16.039 a watchmaker. 369 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:18.720 Yeah, we know they died. They passed away. 370 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:22.839 He died at the age of seventy eight back in 371 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:23.759 nineteen ninety seven. 372 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:25.920 She lived a few years more. 373 00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:28.279 She died at eighty seven in two thousand and five, 374 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:30.680 and they're buried together in a cemetery there outside of 375 00:20:30.680 --> 00:20:34.279 Fort Lauderdale. But we don't know a whole lot else 376 00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:36.920 about them. But like you said, they didn't have any kids, 377 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:41.359 So where who got these letters and where? 378 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:43.640 It must have just been through their estate that was 379 00:20:43.759 --> 00:20:46.079 just kind of sold off or whatever. Right, if they 380 00:20:46.200 --> 00:20:51.000 have no living relatives. It's interesting that they died five 381 00:20:51.079 --> 00:20:54.839 days apart, different years. But he died on a February nineteenth, 382 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:57.279 she died on a February twenty fourth. You notice that 383 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:01.000 he was twenty three went off to war when he 384 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:05.160 wrote that first postcard at that restaurant in the Bronx. 385 00:21:05.240 --> 00:21:09.880 She was twenty four. They were of modest means, they 386 00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:13.599 were broke when they met, of course, children of immigrants. 387 00:21:13.640 --> 00:21:17.240 Her parents had come from Austria. Their late of Nay 388 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:18.920 language was Hebrew. 389 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:20.000 Hers was. 390 00:21:20.039 --> 00:21:22.400 Her father was a tailor. His parents were from what 391 00:21:22.519 --> 00:21:24.640 is now Ukraine, Biraktar. 392 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:27.400 I'm not sure that right. 393 00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:31.559 That wasn't had nothing to do with anything. His father 394 00:21:31.799 --> 00:21:34.440 was a longshoreman. And then in nineteen forty the families 395 00:21:34.440 --> 00:21:37.160 lived about five blocks apart on the same street. 396 00:21:36.920 --> 00:21:39.519 Which would explain why they knew each other. I mean, 397 00:21:39.559 --> 00:21:42.799 just that they were in the same neighborhood. Perhaps she 398 00:21:42.839 --> 00:21:48.000 would send him packages when he was overseas, Salami, Anchovy's gum, what. 399 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:52.519 A wonderful n salami and ritz crackers is the move. 400 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:55.480 So here's something also, this would be a great mystery 401 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:58.559