The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans

Summary

Morning Wire Podcast Summary: "The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans"

Release Date: May 26, 2025
Hosts: John Bickley and Georgia Howe
Episode Title: The Last of the Greatest: Stories from WWII Veterans

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Introduction

In this poignant Memorial Day edition of Morning Wire, Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley and co-host Georgia Howe engage in a heartfelt conversation with Andrew "Andy" Biggio, a Marine veteran and author of The Rifle. Andy dedicates his life to preserving the memories of America's last living World War II veterans, many of whom are now in their late 90s or centenarian years. This episode delves into Andy's inspiring journey, the invaluable stories he has collected, and the profound impact these veterans have had on his life.

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Andy Biggio's Mission: Honoring the Greatest Generation

Andy Biggio embarks on a mission to honor his great uncle, Andy Biggio, a World War II veteran, by collecting and documenting the stories of over 500 living WWII veterans. He initiates this journey inspired by his own experiences as a Marine and the profound letters his uncle wrote during the war.

[02:05] Andrew Biggio:
"When I survived Iraq and Afghanistan, I was trying to figure out a good way to honor my great uncle. Reading his letters home changed my life."

Andy purchases an M1 rifle, a symbol of his uncle's fondness, and travels across the United States, placing the rifle in the hands of these veterans while recording their memories and reactions. This endeavor not only serves as a tribute but also becomes a therapeutic process for Andy.

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The Dwindling Number of WWII Veterans

During the discussion, Andy highlights the stark reality of the diminishing number of World War II veterans.

[03:21] Andrew Biggio:
"There was once 16 million World War II veterans. The VA now estimates there's less than 120,000 veterans nationwide."

Andy reflects on the profound loss over the years, noting that out of the 500 veterans he connected with, only about 40 remain alive. He shares the somber news of Ed Cattrell, a 102-year-old P-47 fighter pilot, who recently passed away. Ed's legacy includes flying 65 missions during the Battle of the Bulge and his enduring friendship with fellow pilot Ted Smith.

[04:55] Andrew Biggio:
"We located Ted Smith's grave in Holland and took Ed to visit his best friend for the first time in 80 years."

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Revisiting Battlefields: A Journey of Remembrance

Andy’s mission evolves into bringing veterans back to the very battlefields where they fought, fostering a deep sense of closure and connection.

[05:17] Andrew Biggio:
"Over half had never returned to the battlefields they served on. So, I arranged over 25 trips back to Europe with 60 veterans."

One notable journey includes visiting Stalag Luft 4, a former prisoner of war camp in Poland, with Lester Schrenk, a 101-year-old veteran who endured 15 months of captivity and a grueling 800-mile death march.

[07:04] Andrew Biggio:
"Lester survived unimaginable hardships, including being forced to march 800 miles under brutal conditions."

These visits provide veterans with an opportunity to confront their past, pay respects to fallen comrades, and find peace.

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Personal Transformation Through the Stories of Veterans

Engaging with these veterans has profoundly changed Andy, altering his perspective on life and purpose.

[09:28] Andrew Biggio:
"I have a different perspective of life. I spend more time with my kids, I'm more patient, and I've learned to handle stress differently."

Andy draws inspiration from the resilience and positivity of the veterans, integrating these lessons into his own life and teachings.

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Lessons in Resilience and Community Building

Andy identifies key qualities that have enabled these veterans to thrive long after the war:

1. Staying Active: Engaging in jobs, hobbies, and community activities.
2. Not Dwelling on the Past: Moving forward without being anchored by past experiences.
3. Giving Back: Actively contributing to their communities and supporting fellow veterans.

[10:41] Andrew Biggio:
"Don't dwell on the past. Get involved in your community and continue to serve, even after your military service."

He emphasizes the importance of staying busy as a means to prevent negative coping mechanisms like substance abuse.

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The State of Veteran Communities Today

While Andy acknowledges progress in building veteran communities, he also observes a decline in recent years, particularly following the fall of Afghanistan, which has left many veterans feeling disenfranchised.

[12:03] Andrew Biggio:
"After the fall of Afghanistan, many felt disenfranchised. My mission is to keep pushing to keep these veterans involved and start new programs."

To counteract this, Andy organizes events such as the Boston's Wounded Vet Ride, which attracts thousands of participants and serves as a dynamic way to honor and support wounded veterans.

[12:15] Andrew Biggio:
"We had over 4,000 bikers involved in the last ride. It's about finding new ways to honor veterans beyond traditional ceremonies."

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The True Meaning of Memorial Day

Memorial Day holds a deep significance for the veterans Andy works with. While they appreciate the opportunity to enjoy the day with family and friends, they stress the importance of remembering the true essence of the day.

[13:56] Andrew Biggio:
"Don't forget what Memorial Day is truly about. Take a moment of silence, honor the fallen, and maintain local memorials."

Andy advocates for a balanced approach that honors the sacrifices made while allowing families to celebrate freedom and togetherness.

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Conclusion

Andy Biggio's dedication to preserving the legacy of World War II veterans offers invaluable insights into resilience, community, and the enduring human spirit. His work not only honors those who served but also provides a blueprint for current and future generations to lead fulfilling lives post-service. This episode of Morning Wire serves as a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made by the Greatest Generation and the importance of keeping their stories alive.

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Thank you for tuning into this special Memorial Day edition of Morning Wire. We honor and remember the heroes who have shaped our history.

Transcript

[John Bickley]

Andrew Biggio is a Marine veteran and.

[Andrew Biggio]

Author of the Rifle.

[John Bickley]

He spent years traveling around the country collecting the stories of America's last living World War II veterans, all of whom.

[Andrew Biggio]

Are now in their late 90s or early hundreds.

[John Bickley]

In this episode, we hear from Biggio about the stories he was able to document from our last few veterans from the Greatest Generation and how their stories helped him process his own experience as a Marine. I'm Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, May 26th, and this is a special Memorial Day edition of Morning Wire.

[Georgia Howe]

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[John Bickley]

So Andrew or Andy, I should say I wanted to start. For those viewers and listeners that didn't get to hear our first interview with you about a year ago. A little bit of background about your project, the Rifle. Tell us about that. How did this all start?

[Andrew Biggio]

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 my great uncle. I came home from combat deployments, read his letters home, 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 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.

[Sal]

You know, it didn't seem this heavy when we were on a range with them, you know.

[Andrew Biggio]

Does it feel heavier than it used to?

[Sal]

Oh, yes, it does. A lot heavier.

[Andrew Biggio]

And, Sal, how old are you?

[Sal]

90. What?

[Andrew Biggio]

No.

[John Bickley]

102. While seven years and about 500 veterans. Do you know about how many World War II vets are currently still alive in the U.S. sure, there was.

[Andrew Biggio]

There was once 16 million World War II veterans. The. 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. I think the VA now thinks there's less than 120,000 World War II veterans nationwide of the 116 million.

[John Bickley]

And I know many of those you've met with have passed away since your time with them. Do you know how many we've lost since that last time we talked over.

[Andrew Biggio]

The past year, it's hard to say, but I think of the 500 names featured on. 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 Cattrell. He was a P. One of America's last P47 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.

[John Bickley]

Wow. Amazing.

[Andrew Biggio]

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.

[John Bickley]

Incredible. And to be clear, this is something you've done now. Many times returning to these battle sites. What inspired that? How. How often have you taken veterans back to these sites?

[Andrew Biggio]

Yeah, in. 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 6, 7 hour flight direct to Paris or direct to Rome or even Amsterdam. And these veterans I'm meeting are alone. They outlive 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 there, their villages they liberated, they're finding their foxholes, seeing where they were wounded. And then most recently, I went back to Stalag Louvre 4 with an ex POW who was 101 years old.

[John Bickley]

I'm sure a powerful experience there. Can you share with us some of the other stories that came out of these trips?

[Andrew Biggio]

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. So we're going back to Germany and Poland and we're going to Stalag Luft 4, where you were a prisoner of.

[Sal]

War for 15 months. Pardon me, for six months at the Stalag Luft War.

[Andrew Biggio]

And did you ever think 80 years later you'd be going back there?

[Sal]

Never, ever autograph one of these bombs, Doc on red. I autographed a bomb like that.

[Andrew Biggio]

Do you remember what your. You just wrote your name on there.

[Sal]

I think I said, for Hitler.

[Andrew Biggio]

And you know, he was shot down from a B17 as a bald 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. And when we visited his prison camp, they said, the Polish said that this is the first survivor of Stalag LU4 that they've seen in over 20 years.

[Sal]

When I was shot down, I weighed 185 pounds. When I was liberated I weighed 93, but I had already been liberated for must have been almost about three weeks before they even give it the least bit of a physical.

[Andrew Biggio]

Lester, as you stand here in your former prisoner of war camp, was there one meal that you couldn't wait to eat when you got home? Was there a particular food on your mind or was it just.

[Sal]

When we were real starved? We would lay in bed thinking about food, and it was always something real rich, that it wouldn't be like bread and potatoes. It would be like ice cream or chocolate cake or something like that. That's what we would dream about.

[John Bickley]

Unbelievable.

[Andrew Biggio]

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 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 4 had to march what was called the German death March 800 miles to not be captured by the Russians. And he survived that.

[John Bickley]

It's incredible. This has turned into a life mission for you, obviously. How has this changed you, this whole experience over the last seven years?

[Andrew Biggio]

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. And it made me evaluate and appreciate life and slow down a little bit. I spend more time with my kids. I'm more patient. I learned how to handle stress a different way. All these guys saw combat in World War II and were able to live long, successful lives after combat, well into their 1/ hundreds. And so I tried to teach veterans, and especially with my books Rifle 1 and Rifle 2, how to Be like those men, how to live a successful life, how to overcome and not just, you know, plateau after military service, but continue to peak. And I think about that all the time.

[John Bickley]

And what's the connection you've seen in terms of these survivors, these guys that have gone on to really thrive after the war? What are some of the qualities you've seen in them that others can learn from?

[Andrew Biggio]

People say to me, hey, you have too much on your plate. Hey, you're too Busy. But one thing I saw some of these World War II veterans did was not dwell on the past, not dwell in 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. They hobby after hobby is what kept them going. 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. 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 using substance abuse, alcohol, you know, things. Things that stuff. 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. Get out, get involved in your local veterans organizations, things like that. Of that nature is what I learned.

[John Bickley]

From those veterans about that key issue of community. What have you seen among veterans in terms of building community? I feel like we've seen some very positive momentum on that front. We've had some discussions with people, some groups that are really reaching out. Have you seen progress?

[Andrew Biggio]

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, I feel, though, it has lessened now since, especially since the fall of Afghanistan. That was very demoralizing. That was. I think a lot of guys got disenfranchised from that. And we, 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. 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. You know, and I'm not calling Memorial Day boring, but we might need some new techniques to keep these younger veterans involved rather than just the same old, same old. That might not jive technology wise, intriguing wise, and mental wise compared to World War II. Which was everyone's a hero and V is for victory, and there's everyone's all smiles and it was good versus evil and 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.

[John Bickley]

That actually dovetails nicely with my final question, and that's what does Memorial Day mean to them, the men that you've gotten to know over these last few years? How significant is this day?

[Andrew Biggio]

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. 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. Take that moment of silence. Plant a flag out of the cemetery. Make sure that, 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.

[John Bickley]

So important to remember. Andy, thank you so much for coming on. We appreciate what you're doing and taking the time to talk with us.

[Andrew Biggio]

Thank you for having me and have a great Memorial Day weekend.

[John Bickley]

That was Andy Biggio, author of the rif. And this has been a special Memorial Day edition of Morning wire. This is Dr. Jordan B. Peterson. Watch Parenting, my new Daily Wire plus series, May 25th.

[Andrew Biggio]

We're dealing with misbehaviors with our son.

[John Bickley]

Our 13 year old throws tantrums. Our son turned to some substance abuse. Go to dailywireplus.com today.