The Coward of the Deep - The Way I Heard It Podcast (Ep. 21)

oh hey Facebook good morning how are you nice to see you welcome to weekend it's funny last week I said good morning in much the same way I just did hopped on the site a couple hours later and dozens of people told me it's not morning here Mike it's not morning and I'm not sure how Bob wasn't sure what to say I don't think I offended them necessarily but I what do you do you say good morning if it's morning but then I thought my why not say good morning off what what if morning really is a is a state of mind and not merely a time of day huh morning in America right Reagan I believe he said some interesting things okay what if it's morning all that free associating is going rather well this morning don't you think you are hearing Maya my very first words of the day this is the way I heard if this is the story I'm about to read for you it's called the coward of the deep but not until you join me for a much-needed brief an early morning crap collectibles rare and precious the fundraiser wherein we replenish the empty coffers here at micro works by offering various and sundry items for sale today I'd like to offer for your consideration my personal neck knife this is an amazing tool this was sent to me by a guy named Patrick Gorman who makes knives Patrick makes extraordinary knives and I just autographed it because I'm gonna auction it off and I'm under the illusion that my name on a thing might somehow enhance its value this is made from a moon rock the material in the inside of an asteroid and sharpen with a futuristic laser that's not true it's this is simply made from the very best tempered steel I would imagine there is or carbon steel is it's just so damn sharp I just don't I don't know how to overstate it it's it's a it's a it's a scalpel a surgeon could actually ply his trade with this knife I think it fits perfectly into any hand your forefinger goes in this little notch here gives you maximum control it's a production knife and I don't want to spend a lot of time tell you why it's the best a GaN knife in the world but I do want to spend a second and just tell you that this guy who made it Patrick this is his website over here his name's Patrick Gorman I just want to show him to you real quick because they're just very very few craftsmen left who who cared this much I mean the guy lives knives and his knives sell for literally thousands of dollars like he does these custom-made knives he sent me he sent me one a couple years ago I'll show it to you just as an example of it at the top top top top and this kind of thing I mean and and you can literally watch him make it online it's really interesting if you're in the knives make sure you check that out and Patrick just one more look at the guy I mean he's a character when I got that knife in the mail I was I was I was really touched up along with this one and I called him to thank him at home in the Ozarks somewhere in Missouri where he makes the knives and he answered the phone in his garage and there was this commotion in the background and think sounded chaotic and I said Patrick if I have I got you the bad time he said no it's ok it's just a look it's honestly it's pandemonium and I said well what's going on he said why my wife's in the other room having a baby I mean it's all going fine it's our ninth baby was 8 forgive me if I got her only the eighth or nine if it was a time sure it's 9 by now because Patrick and his wife stay busy anyway so he's having he's having a baby he's listening to me thank him for sending me this knife and the other and pausing in between labor pains I supposed to make another knife I mean this is the guy is dedicated to making knives mt knives dotnet this will be offered over on ebay ii I finished this story along with one of our talking bobbleheads and an autograph ready in the biped campaign t-shirt a dog house divided against itself cannot stand those three items available to you in mere moments the money goes to the micro works foundation having said all that you ready get you out of the shop and this there we go it's called the coward of the deep here it is Victor Sinise was the kind of man people wrote songs about a sailor in the French Navy he'd risen through the ranks distinguishing himself in countless battles and winning praise and admiration from his countrymen now the legendary Admiral stood in the wheelhouse of his mighty warship and looked out upon the Adriatic the hour was late the sea a Mill Pond turned silver in the glow of a waxing moon he didn't see the periscope poking above the surface nor did he see the torpedo racing toward his ship in one terrible blast both engines were gone and the Admiral ship was dead in the water as the sea rushed in the bow slowly rose Victor grabbed the useless helm as 684 terrified men looked for a way out some left over the rails into the frigid water others tried to launch lifeboats from the rising bow the officers begged their Admiral to attempt an escape for the good of France they pleaded but Victor refused if his ship was going down he'd go down with it five hundred meters away the u-boat commander watched the nightmare unfold in his periscope and wondered if anyone would ever write a song about him not likely where was the honor in this kind of victory where was the glory as the doomed ship slipped below the surface the German commander sighed and turned to his first officer I'd rather be fighting in a trench he said there at least you can hear the wounded groan there a man can fill with rage but down here we drown masses of men like the cold-blooded cowards we are masses of men was a fair characterization under his command thirteen Allied boats were sent to the bottom of the sea along with thousands of sailors who never saw the face of the man who sealed their fate but cowardice that's a matter of perspective in the First World War there was no place on earth more hazardous or harrowing than the pressure Hall of an experimental u-boat of the 375 to leave German ports 202 would not return there was no reliable sonar the batteries generated toxic gas they had to resurface for air every two hours which left them utterly defenseless underwater the crew was blind choking on air thick with diesel and forever on the brink of some catastrophic mechanical failure in short there were death traps and the men who commanded them knew it but this commander not only kept his crew alive he kept his enemies on the run eventually he would receive Austria's highest military honor and the abiding respect of his countrymen in fact the self-described coward of the deep became widely known as the dread of the Adriatic in time this conflicted commander wound up inspiring a few songs after all but surprisingly not for his exploits in battle when the Germans lost the war Austria was annexed and the Navy disbanded so the dread of the Adriatic resumed his life as a civilian his first wife gave him seven children but died of scarlet fever his second wife would give him three more with every passing year his prominence grew along with his reputation as a bonafide war hero but then the world geared up for the second war and his new commander-in-chief beckoned him back to service the threat of the Adriatic did something way out of character he refused then he fled the country at the time many Germans called it an unthinkable display of cowardice and disloyalty others called it what it was treason but when two American composers heard about Georg insubordination they took a closer look at his personal life and before long Broadway had a new musical and Hollywood was handing out five Academy Awards sure they took some liberties with the facts they always do but they got the important parts right Georg Ritter was a patriot and the soldier he loved his profession his country and his family and yes he also loved the nanny who raised his children and burst into song while skipping through alpine meadows you might say that those were a few of his favorite things but in the midst of singing nuns and precocious kids and all that other doremi the magnitude of georg defiance that's easy to forget and if Oscar and Hammerstein could have added just one more song to their timeless musical I'd vote for a haunting ballad called the coward of the deep where in our conflicted commander ruminates on the pitfalls of patriotism the barriers of bravery the limits of loyalty because really long before anyone heard the sound of music Georg Ritter he was singing the sound of sedition in Nazi Germany that was a very dangerous tune and it cost Georg quite a bit his title his position his reputation and all of his material possessions but it was better than the alternative because fighting for Adolph Hitler that just felt cowardly and georg ritter von trapp was no coward anyway that's the way I heard that originally dropped seven weeks ago over on a micro comm slash podcast that's what they call it when when podcast premiere they drop well it just dropped again right here hope you liked it to review mt knives net this is for sale right now over on ebay the link is in the what you call it you scroll up and you'll see it you get that you get the somebody's got to do it bobblehead with Freddie it's a talking bobblehead so we're clear if you like one of these but you don't win the bid you can go to bobbleheads calm and get it and if you want one of these shirts which is also included in today's crap you can go to represent calm and get one of those to a dog house divided against itself cannot stand that's me and Freddie and if you look closely you'll see that yeah I signed it too if you look very closely you might say to yourself who the hell is that it's supposed to be me but I I confess it is not the most perfect representation alright that's it I threw a lot at you right there and I talked for 12 minutes and 30 seconds have a great day a great morning a great afternoon a great dusk a fine evening and a lovely gloaming look up gloaming it's a good one

Channel: Mike Rowe

Views: 50,886

Keywords: mike rowe, The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe, podcast, eBay

Id: QzJwtNkc2C8

Length: 12min 39sec (759 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 23 2016