Andrew Biggio
Appearances
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
Sure. And you asked me if I prefer to be called Andrew or Andy. And yes, my name is Andrew, but I go by Andy because... That was my grandfather's brother who was killed in World War II, Andy Biggio. And I'm named after him. So when I survived Iraq and Afghanistan, I was trying to figure out a good way to honor my great uncle. I came home from combat deployments, read his letters home.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
And they really changed my life. And one of the letters he wrote home before he was killed in action in Italy was how much he enjoyed the M1 rifle, the rifle. So I went out and purchased one and then found myself traveling the country with it and putting it in hundreds and
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
hundreds of different World War II veterans' hands and arms and recording their story, recording their reaction and their memories. And little did I know, I was on this therapeutic journey for seven years meeting these men and women, over 500 World War II veterans.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
Andrew Biggio is a Marine veteran and author of The Rifle. He spent years traveling around the country collecting the stories of America's last living World War II veterans, all of whom are now in their late 90s or early 100s.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
Sure. There was once 16 million World War II veterans. The VA and the government judged that by the 16 million... medals given out, which were the World War II victory medals. So that doesn't even mean the 16 million that served may have even served in combat. They were just people who earned that medal. That's what the numbers they go by for World War II.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
I think the VA now thinks there's less than 120,000 World War II veterans nationwide of the 116 million.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
Over the past year, it's hard to say, but I think of the 500 names featured on my rifle, because each veteran I had actually... sign their name on the rifle to remember them. I would say maybe there's 40 still alive of the 500 that I came close to know, and some closer than others. I have a funeral this Sunday for a gentleman who was really close to me. His name was Ed Cottrell.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
He was one of America's last P-47 fighter pilots. He died at age 103. And I was the first person to bring him back to Belgium, where he flew his 65 missions during the Battle of the Bulge. And we found his old runway. We found the crash site of some of his wingmen with pieces of their planes still in the soil that the German farmers had dug up over the years that they collected it in barns.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
Oh, amazing. We located his wingman's grave, who was buried in Holland. And we took him to see his wingman, his best friend, Ted Smith's grave for the first time in 80 years.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
Yeah, in those seven years that I was meeting the World War II veterans and placing that rifle into their arms, there was like one common denominator, and it was like over half of them had never returned to the battlefields they'd served on. And living on the Northeast myself in Boston, I said, well, hell, it's only a six, seven hour flight direct to Paris or direct to Rome or even Amsterdam.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
And these veterans I'm meeting are alone. They outlived their spouse. They're trying to find a purpose in life in their late 90s. And I said, would you go back? Let's go back and visit this area. And I got over 60 of them to say yes in a span of five or six years. And I've done over 25 trips back to Europe with 60 different World War II veterans visiting their homes.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
The villages they liberated, they're finding their foxholes, seeing where they were wounded. And then most recently, I went back to Stalag Luft 4 with an ex-POW who was 101 years old. I'm sure a powerful experience there.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
You know, the most recent one was a gentleman by the name of Lester Schrenk, and he's still alive. Lester's still alive. He's 101. He'll be 102 soon.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
And, you know, he was shot down. from a B-17 as a ball turret gunner. And he was held prisoner of war for 15 months. For 15 months, he was held prisoner of war, starved, beaten, watched his friends dragged off into the woods and executed. And he agreed to go back to his prison camp with me, which was located in Poland. And we flew back, back in March,
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
And when we visited his prison camp, they said, the Polish said that this is the first survivor of Stalag Luft 4 that they've seen in over 20 years.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
That's what we would dream about. Unbelievable. This guy was just a symbol of strength. I mean, not only did he survive that prison camp, but when the Russians started to liberate Poland, the Germans pulled him out of this prison camp and forced them to march 800 miles.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
in 80 days so it was 10 miles a day malnourished starved poked with bayonets this is a well-known death march this isn't you know fallacy made up stuff by a world war ii veteran with a crazy imagination this is true documented stuff that the men of stalag four had to march what was called the german death march 800 miles to not be captured by the Russians. And he survived that.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
How it's changed me is... I definitely have a different perspective of life because many of these men and women who I didn't just grab a signature for and take a photo op. I became friends with them. I traveled overseas with them. Hell, I bathed them if I have to when we were overseas. Yeah. And it made me evaluate and appreciate life and slow down a little bit. I spend more time with my kids.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
I'm more patient. I learned how to handle stress a different way. You know, all these guys saw combat in World War II and were able to live long, successful lives after combat well into their 100s. And so I tried to teach veterans, especially with my books, Rifle I and Rifle II, how
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
how to be like those men, how to live a successful life, how to overcome and not just plateau after military service, but continue to peak. And I think about that all the time.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
People used to say to me, hey, you have too much on your plate. Hey, you're too busy. But one thing I saw that some of these World War II veterans did was not dwell on the past, not dwell on their military service. They came home. They got a job. They started a family. They had kids. They retired from one job. They started another job. Hobby after hobby is what kept them going.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
And I think that is – is not necessarily a bad thing for people to be too busy. I think it's a way to be a good person, to be able to give back to your community and use your energy in a proper way rather than sitting on a couch and
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
Using substance abuse, alcohol, you know, things that stuff that will bring people down in a hole, really, is just get out there and continue to give back to your community. Even if you are a veteran, yes, you serve, but why don't you continue to serve? There might be other veterans that may not be having a good time or have a good network system like you do.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
Get out, get involved in your local veterans organizations. And things like that of that nature is what I learned from those veterans.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
I have, but now I'm starting to kind of see things slow down. I think when we were... Actively involved in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, there was a lot of veteran nonprofits. There was a lot of networking. I feel though it has lessened now, especially since the fall of Afghanistan. That was very demoralizing. I think a lot of guys got disenfranchised from that and
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
You know, I hate to think that we created another wave of Vietnam vets who feel like they weren't appreciated or whereas their service was wasted. So my mission has been to just continue to push to keep these veterans involved, start new programs. You know, I host a motorcycle run every year called the Boston's Wounded Vet Ride. right here in Boston. It was last Sunday.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
We had over 4,000 bikers involved. And even those who didn't ride came to volunteer to donate money to local wounded veterans. It's something new rather than just sitting by an old rusty monument and commemorating a boring Memorial Day service. And I'm not calling Memorial Day boring, but we might need some new techniques to keep these younger veterans involved.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
rather than just the same old same old that might not jive um technology wise intriguing wise and mental wise compared to world war ii which was everyone's a hero and v's for victory and there's everyone's all smiles and it was good versus evil we defeated evil you know we gotta if we're gonna keep this veterans thing alive we might have to come up with some new ideas
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
I think it's extremely significant. I think we absolutely positively need a day to pause. And sure, if that means having a barbecue or spending time with your family, that's what veterans would have wanted in a free America.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
That's what, you know, a lot of people say, you know, try to guilt trip into people of just having barbecues and hanging out with their family, not knowing the true meaning of Memorial Day. But you know what? Veterans who gave their lives wanted a free and happy America for people to do that. But there's a huge, but don't forget what the day is truly about.
Morning Wire
The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans
Take that moment of silence, plant a flag out of the cemetery, um, Make sure that your local memorial to these men and women aren't covered in rust or dirt or bird feces or something like that, and make sure that this history stays alive.