Where Heroes Walked: The Faces, the Places, and the Stories of World War II

Far more often than we might think our lives are shaped by people unknown to us. If we are fortunate, if somehow our journey through life offers the opportunity,  we might just get to spend one shining moment in the presence of these wonderful, anonymous benefactors.
 On Episode 12 of Where Heroes Walked, the Podcast, I want to tell you a very ordinary story about two very ordinary men from two very ordinary places, men who shared an extraordinary experience in a land far away and in a terrible season known as World War II. I want to introduce you to The Unknown Hero.

For every well-known story from World War II there are thousands of stories few people ever hear. Today on the Where Heroes Walked Podcast we will explore Japan's surprising attempt at yet another surprise attack on the United States...and the tragic consequences it would create.  

Before December 7, 1941 few Americans knew what Pearl Harbor was or where it was. After December 7th every American knew. What most Americans don't know, however, is that the Japanese commander who designed and commanded the attack was not all that keen about starting a war with the United States.  Episode 10 of the Where Heroes Walked podcast tells this unknown part of the Pearl Harbor story.

When we think of women and their role in World War II what most often comes to mind is “Rosie the Riveter”, symbolizing the women who went to work in the factories building the planes and ships and ammunition needed to wage war. There were more, however, those who served and sacrificed and even died for the cause of freedom. Episode 9 of the Ordinary Heroes Podcast tells the story of some of those women, some of the “Others”.

A small-town teenager leaves high school to join the Marines and soon finds himself in the brutal island-hopping campaign of the Pacific during World War II. He returns home physically unharmed. The scars of war, however, run much deeper.

In this episode of the Ordinary Heroes Podcast we hear the story of one of the million of soldiers who lived through the war then fought another to return to a normal life after coming home.

Join Ron Eckberg, host of the ORDINARY HEROES PODCAST, in episode 8, the ORDINARY HEROES story of Gordon Larsen. 

D-Day, June 6, 1944, was a pivotal day in World War II and in World History, period. On that day 156,000 men took part in the largest amphibious invasion every attempted. In episode 7 of the Ordinary Heroes Podcast we will hear the story of one of those men, the battle he fought, and the path down which the war--and life--took him beyond that June day. 

It is easy to read even the most detailed of accounts of history’s great events and still never grasp the significance of them. The only way to really do that is to see them first hand. In episode 6 of the Ordinary Heroes Podcast, Ron Eckberg shares an overview of Normandy, France and the D-Day beaches as he saw them during his two visits when he walked “Where Heroes Walked”.

16 million Americans served in uniform during World War II. What they did was dangerous and essential, to be sure, but they were not the only ones who served our nation in such a way. Today we focus on one of the many--and certainly one of the best known--war correspondents who traveled with our forces to the front lines on the ground, on the seas, and in the air. He went on to a stellar career in radio, print, and television. He was so good, so honest at what he did that he was named "America's Most Trusted Man" by the American people and he cut his journalistic teeth in World War II. This is his story. His name was Walter Cronkite.

The story of Jackie Lucas is one of patriotism, persistence, courage, sacrifice and resilience. It is a story with more than a few surprising twists and turns along the way. Most of all it is about a very ordinary young man who did an extraordinary thing in a moment of crisis and against all odds lived to tell about it. Join host Ron Eckberg for episode four of the Ordinary Heroes Project Podcast titled, Indestructible: The Incredible Story of Jackie Lucas.

"No war is truly over until the last veteran has died", one veteran of World War II declared. That is certainly true. Or is it? Listen as writer / speaker / musician / and "lay" historian Ron Eckberg explains why that "end" of the war may come at different times and in different ways for every different soldier. Please Like / Subscribe / Review or contact Ron Eckberg at ordinaryheroes/roneckberg.com or visit his website, roneckberg.com/heroes .