Episode 987 – The Honored Dead … War Room’s Memorial Day Special Part I

Freedom Isn’t Free

Stephen K. Bannon hosts War Room’s Memorial Day special to honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice with guests historian Patrick K. O’Donnell and Capt. Maureen Bannon.

“Freedom and liberty isn’t free,” O’Donnell said. 

Capt. Bannon honors three of her classmates at West Point who were killed in action. 

“It was a rough summer of 2012,” she said.

“As a country, we have to understand the sacrifice that has come before us,” Stephen K. Bannon said.

Get the book: The Indispensables: The Diverse Soldier-Mariners Who Shaped the Country, Formed the Navy, and Rowed Washington Across the Delaware

American Thermopylae 

Patrick K. O’Donnell explains the America’s version of the Battle of Thermopylae, the Battle of Brooklyn, where through defeat the revolutionary war was saved.

O’Donnell reveals the Maryland Heroes’ role in the battle in August 1776. 

“They were being vaporized by cannister [fire]…it was horrendous casualties,” he said. 

“You know when you’re on that charge your last minutes on earth are upon you,” Bannon said.

O’Donnell said the battle was the reason he wrote the book Washington’s Immortals. “I wanted to know who these men were,” he said.

“We literally wouldn’t be here,” O’Donnell said. “Their sacrifice in the Battle of Brooklyn has an incredible importance because the war hung in the balance.”

Get the book: Washington’s Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution

America’s Dunkirk

Capt. Bannon reveals 130,000 American soldiers are buried in cemeteries overseas. Stephen K. Bannon explains why these stories are so critical to America’s future.

“A nation that can forget these stories is a nation that’s not going to exist,” Bannon said.

Patrick K. O’Donnell explains the American version of Dunkirk, when the Marbleheaders helped General George Washington retreat across the East River.

“Washington has a decision to make,” O’Donnell said. “Does he stand and fight or does he retreat?”

In the middle of the storm, 10,000 men were transported on “rinky dink boats” by the Marbleheaders, who had “spent years fishing in the most treacherous waters.”

“It was a nightmare, Steve,” O’Donnell said. “It was mission impossible.”

O’Donnell reveals the miraculous fog that set in, and Washington’s stand as one of the last men to leave, and the horrors of the brave men left behind to suffer in British prison ships.

These were “floating concentration camps,” O’Donnell explains. Many soldiers starved to death, and were unceremoniously thrown overboard.

“Their bones were washing ashore for 70 years,” he said. 

They now lie at the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Brooklyn.

The Heroes Behind the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

This year marks the 100th anniversary on Veteran’s Day of the tomb of the unknown soldier. 

Patrick K. O’Donnell reveals the stories of the brave men behind the tomb. Gen. John Pershing personally selected the men “to tell the story of WWI through their eyes,” and they were the most decorated soldiers of the war.

Get the book: The Unknowns: The Untold Story of America’s Unknown Soldier and WWI’s Most Decorated Heroes Who Brought Him Home