EP271: Coming Face to Face with the “Nuclear Abe Lincoln" and The 1st "Disneyland" on Lake Michigan's Shore

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If you have one share with us in our American stories.com that's our American stories.com. Some of our favorites when we talk about United States nuclear Navy or even the widespread use of nuclear reactors generate power. We need to talk about one man, Adm. Hyman Rickover, a man whose active duty service span 63 years, making him the longest-serving naval officer, as well as the longest-serving member of the US Armed Forces in history, despite Rickover's impressive length of service is more known for his unorthodox interview tactics, there is retired Navy Capt. Bill Tony tell us about his experience with the kindly old gentleman time was about 7 PM after a series of very long days. Like the others. This day was filled with testing and views hours of metal intensity interrupted by hours of mindnumbing boredom.

I was a first class midshipman at the US Naval Academy and this was the singular event that would determine the course of my professional life for the previous few hours. Accommodation T and nervous energy have been building and I had become riveted torn between the all of the moment in fear of screwing this up and heard many tales about what I would soon encounter most of the stories were presumed to be tall tales.

For example, several different renditions of the make me mad story had been circulating for Adm. Hyman Rickover dared midshipman to do something that would anger him purportedly to see how willing the midshipman would be to follow in order so midshipman were said to have complied by clearing the outmost desk with a single arm swing with the various confinement tales being locked up in a small space or tiny closet for hours.

This apparently was one of the outmost famous tests for claustrophobia to see if the midshipman had what it would take to become a submarine officer. The only anecdote I heard from our current round of interludes had supposedly involved a classmate of mine just a few hours earlier as the breathless rumor went. Adm. had been berating him for particularly poor performance in a certain course of study. What would your mother think if she knew your goofing off like this. The Adm. had supposedly asked my classmate who reportedly replied my mother stood Dowdell's alleged response was a good thing she is or she would die of embarrassment. This is how the legends usually spread most of them were unbelievably over-the-top.

Each was uncorroborated. I've been running through my potential reactions to these various scenarios when it happened. I was ushered in to see the kindly old gentleman, the K OG of nuclear power. The year was 1979. Since the Adm. was born in 1900. It was never difficult to calculate his age. The man was 79 and of almost mythical stature. I walked into his office and something seemed vaguely familiar.

I couldn't quite place, but I'd witness the scene before I looked around searching for a clue of why I had this sudden bout of dreamlike familiarity and is my backside hit the seat of a sadistically teetering wooden chair designed it was said to keep the midshipman off balance. The first of the rumors I could now actually validate it hit me. The room was right out of the holiday movie it's a wonderful life. He was Mr. Potter and I was George Bailey is about to offer me a job and having a cigar and then the Adm. without ever looking up muttered the only words I would hear during round one of Tony versus the Adm. I can't use a philosophy major with a 30 average get out. My son Shepherd prospective commanding officer for PCO student grabbed my elbow and yanked hard enough to overcome inertia suddenly were standing outside the Adm.'s office to visit.

Having lasted less than 30 seconds as the door closed behind me. I broke through the mental fog enough to proclaim but I'm a physics major, clearly weary of playing advocate to a bunch of wide-eyed midshipman. He let me off to parts unknown. He pointed to a door and said I'll see what I can do weight in here my holding pen was a very small office with bare walls and dust and filled nearly to capacity by a large metal desk. After a couple of the most excruciatingly tedious hours of my life. The door opened and the same commander said, we retraced our steps down the now familiar quarter into the Adm.'s office and I threw myself back onto that demon of a chair. Adm. Rickover was gazing harder to file occasionally muttering to himself.

I was surprised how old and frail, the great man looked his desk was stacked high with files of various sizes I could barely see him behind this morass. After what seemed an eternity again without looking up he said you got a C in philosophy by philosophy again and you been listening to Navy Capt. Bill Tony tell the traumatic story of his first interview with a living legend and a curmudgeon back in the day. There were a lot more interviews like this. Now you get arrested stuff thrown in the stockade when we come back more of Capt. Tony's story about coming face-to-face with the nuclear a blinking Adm. Hyman Rickover here on our American stores. The host about Americans every day on the show were bringing inspiring stories from across this great country, very smart, big cities and small towns, but we truly can't do the show without our stories are free to listen to, but they're not free to me if you love what you hear but our American stories.com and click the donate button a little give a lot go to our American stories.com and give her back without American stories, retired Navy Capt. Bill Tony's experience with the father of the nuclear Navy Adm. Hyman Rickover after accusing Tony of being an underperforming philosophy major was actually physics major Rickover brought Tony back into his office to grill him once again. After what seemed an eternity again without looking up he said you got a C in philosophy by philosophy again.

Thus began my rant which went something like this. My professor was a product of Yale University didn't believe in grades he would frequently say I can lead you philosophy but I can't make you think our grade was dependent on the number of papers we submitted rather than the quality of our work while the other students submitted for two-page papers to get in a I submitted one very good 60 page paper essentially daring him to give me a C and he did. I gambled and lost. I could see the rage starting to build.

I think it started somewhere in his neck, but maybe it started lower than that I couldn't really tell because his lower regions were obstructed by the stack of papers by the time this passion had risen to his head in a groan to what can only be called with ovarian proportions, and his eyes the fire in his eyes was not that of an old man. This was a young, visceral anger that's he stood halfway up spittle shot out of his mouth as he yelled, summarizing a much longer tirade. The gist of what he screened was my day but have never ever heard such before I want you young man that you now hold the record here my office at this point in my life I would not call myself an over achiever and I kind of gloried in the possibility that now after all these years I might finally hold a record something and I earnestly simple mindedly stupidly wondered what I could've said or done to earn such wrath.

I also honestly began to wonder if I really had the stuff he was looking for when I be accepted into the program that was at the time the most prestigious. The Navy had to offer. I follow the PCO down the hall to what I presumed would be the same office and to my surprise when I stared through the door I was looking into a closet.

The closet of legend. I would now have the honor referring to myself as one of the closet survivors and their PCO said many wondered about the criteria for putting malcontents in the last barren office as opposed to this closet.

My Catholic upbringing provided the answer I concluded that the office was sort of a nuclear purgatory saved for those innocents who were guilty only of original sin. That is, those who through no fault of their own simply stupid by birth closet on the other hand, was reserved for those truly despicable characters who had actively if not knowingly sinned against him. Those who are actively stupid, not merely passively so it all made sense in a nuclear justice sort of way, but it wasn't the kind of closet. I had imagined when hearing miscreants had been banished to the closet in my mind the place of banishment was a coat closet or storage room of some sort. Instead, my current station was actually one of those janitorial closets with brooms and bad smells in a deep sink for almost 2 hours. I considered my plight while pondering the intangibles of this closet.

I contemplated the fine art of dust mop construction. I remember the many times I had been trusted with operating such equipment in my first real job. When I was still too young to drive sweeping and mopping floors, and although I was successfully killing time. I was completely missing the point. Maybe it was because of the boredom or maybe a couple of stray neurons in my brain collided in a freak fission like accident, but eventually I began to think I trace the sequence of events in my life that have led to this day, I began to recall the drive to cause me to toss off the constrained dreams of a young steel town boy and apply for an appointment to the Academy and while searching for my motivation. I began to ponder my heritage. My grandparents were immigrants who escaped from Italy to avoid the unhappy fate of a poor dirt farmer and reporter command.

At one point my father's father found employment in his new homeland by digging ditches for letting happy to drill sewer lines through solid Ohio sandstone with nothing more than a pick ax and a hard steel shovel my mother's father had toiled his entire life shoveling coal and working the steel mills I remembered even at a very early age I understood the travails of a hard life, and so will still just a young boy I made a commitment to myself that for me it would be different and suddenly there in that janitor's closet. Among those mops and brooms I had an epiphany. So when the door finally opened.

I rose from a deep sink sofa and walked into the Adm.'s office with confidence. Are you ready to sell me the truth. He asked how new it doesn't matter what grade I got philosophy, but matters that I could've worked harder but didn't.

And by not giving my best effort. I betrayed myself and I betrayed the investment. The country was placing me and although I didn't say it.

I also knew that I betrayed my past, and amazingly, for the very first time the admiral looked at me. The rage was gone.

The fire was gone and it was now after 11 PM.

All I saw was an old man with the weight of the greatest submarine force in the world on his shoulders. That's right.

If you give lessons are able to let everyone down the ship.

Or maybe your country. I can't use people like that. I can only use people with courage and discipline to give everything they've got.

I can be one of those people. Adm. better be where you never survive my program and that is how I was accepted into Adm. Rickover's nuclear training program since commanded one of the submarines. The owner brought into this world and I served as Commodore of the submarine squadron and after all these years I'm still not sure if Adm. Rickover contended that simple janitor's closet to serve as his mecca of wisdom and humility was that confinement merely a sadistic ruse as some of said or did he really intend for those cleaning tools to be symbols of what my life might have been tangible touchstones to our collective past. I hear people frequently say that the Adm.'s methods were trivial or petty, but I don't believe I'm one of those who think there was a method to after all, I found truth in the closet and in so doing, I found myself in a terrific job on the production by Robbie and a special thanks to Capt. Bill Tony his book from CO to CEO a practical guide for transitioning from military to industry leadership is available wherever you buy your books. What a story he told about being in that closet and having to come to terms with who he really was having to tell the truth too well a legend. I could've worked harder and didn't. I betrayed myself in my past his life began on that day the story of Adm. Hyman Rickover Capt. Bill Tony here. Our American store student millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year and United healthcare can help you feel confident about your choices for those eligible Medicare annual enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7. If you're working past age 65. You might be able to delay Medicare enrollment. Depending on your employer coverage.

It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be this@uhcmedicarehealthplans.com to learn more United healthcare helping people live healthier lives. I know everything about running a coffee shop for small business insurance. I need my State Farm agent make sure my business and confident business owners to help the past.

State Farm is in your corner and on like a neighbor. There call your local State Farm agent for quote today doing household chores can Artie be time-consuming and tedious.

There's nothing more daunting than facing piles and piles of laundry that need to be done can be overwhelming for anyone. If you want to get those larger laundry loads down right and get back to your life. Try free clear maggot packs all three clear mega packs are bigger packs two times the cleaning ingredients compared to a regular pack so that you can tackle any laundry load without the worry free clear maggot packs are also 100% free of perfumes and dyes and their dental and skin which is great for any family sensitive skin needs my family. We definitely have sentence again the next time the whole family gets home from long vacation or you get the kids back in summer camp or whatever the situation as that's cause this big pile of dirty clothes all free clear maggot packs purchase all free, clear mega packs today and conquer any laundry load for all fabric types. This is our American store is one of the things we love to do on the show is tell history stories. Our next story comes to us from Benton Harbor, Michigan, and is a bit of local history you won't forget here's our own Monty Montgomery with the story in Benton Harbor, Michigan. There's an interesting story that started because of a Michigan eccentric media called him king, then they started calling the teams I called Kingdon because he was mega wealthy, and he ruled an Empire very much like a Michigan Roman Empire, having who who had that much wealth in that much success in America.

I don't know very many people. That's Chris areata, founder and curator of the house of David Museum in St. Joe, Michigan, a museum dedicated to an interesting bit of local history that got its start because of the so called Kingdon Benjamin Purnell was born in Canoe the Kentucky in 1861 to a very very poor family.

He was the seventh son in the family are up basically with nothing and was an intelligent child and loved to listen to the fire and brimstone campfire talks at night and that his father would give the townspeople by the time Benjamin was 14 years old. He was extremely book smart and could basically memorize a book cover to cover and he was given the King James Bible for Christmas on his 14th birthday and he digested the whole Bible.

And at that point he felt like he should be a messenger from God and by commission and when 16 years old, he met Mary Purnell, his wife, and were itinerant preachers through the South up in the Midwest where he set down roots in Fostoria, Ohio. That's where he first started his first church is called the God house the huge congregation of people believers in his faith, which was a Christian communal, celibate, vegetarian lifestyle very similar to the shakers is what he taught and that if you believed all these things and were Christian and believed in God and Jesus that you would have eternal life of the body on earth you would never die and it was in Fostoria. His daughter Patty turned 14 years old. Patty started her job.

Our first job at a fireworks factory in Fostoria, Ohio, and he announced to the congregation that evening that Hedy is proud of her that she got a job and you could see the factory out the windows of the church and about halfway through the sermon the fireworks factory caught on fire and actually blew up so it was very obvious that nobody survives that explosion to the people in the church and Benjamin and Mary went over to the window and were quiet and within a couple hours authorities came banging on the church door wanted Ben and Mary to positively identify the remains of Hattie's body and he refused to acknowledge that that could be his daughter because of the fact that there is teaching. If you believe this faith that I'm that I'm sharing your live forever will never die. You have eternal life of the body, so there's no way that he was getting admit that his daughter was dead, especially to his whole congregation. Immediately after that was that the townspeople had to get together and have a huge funeral for Hedy. She was a very popular kid in town. It was the most decorated funeral in the history of that town is not a small town and after the funeral.

They stone the church control Benjamin Mary out because it would partake even in their own dollars.

At that time.

Benjamin already had knowledge of the Albert and Louis Barsky, who were considered the second-leading wagon factor manufacturers in the country behind Studebaker and they were here in Benton Harbor, Michigan, extremely wealthy, extremely successful men with a lot a lot of intelligence a lot of connections but the biggest thing was they were early believing in this faith and when he arrived he explained who he was and what he was doing and accepted him. So they gave Ben and Mary over $400,000.

At that time which was late fall of 1902 to acquire the land and began life at Britton Avenue. There life at the house of David, basically consisted of strictly Christian lifestyle. They were all vegetarian. They were celibate so they could come to the house of David, enjoying single, married, or married with 10 kids didn't matter. They did not live anymore with their spouse. So the men were separated and mansions different from the women, even different from the kids. The kids lived in a building called art which is also a schoolhouse and a dormitory until there 14 years old rules were that there was no basically no contact with the opposite sex. If you wanted to have lunch or dinner with your spouse you could eat for 30 minutes in the married couple dining hall in the basement. The men could also not cut their hair or shave their beards.

But despite these rules, countless people looking for new life lock to the house of David, many of whom were wealthy industrialists, they acquired people from all over the world and they they didn't focus on recruiting highly intelligent, successful people, but they were a magnet to those kind of people so those people from all over the entire globe flocked in the when they joined in exchange of life at the house of David where you are given a place to live up gorgeous place to live your given housing, food, clothing, in exchange for that you gave him possession. According to the people that I interviewed at the house of David. They felt that the biggest day in the history of the house of David was that day that 85 Australians landed in Benton Harbor.

Amongst them were husband-and-wife it on the diamond along with them were world famous actors and actresses in musicians and by the 1920s. It's documented that the house of David Hanover $35 million in the bank. That's a lot of dough today along with crew ships and trolley cars and bus lines and hotels and resorts around the world and and the diamond mine in a gold mine in western Oklahoma and a coal mining, Kentucky. The reason for the coal mine was because during World War I when the government tried to ration the use of coal because of the war. Benjamin just went down five coal mine make it private so that because they generated power with call with giant called turbine engines to generate electricity. So there was nothing that would stop them and you been listening to Chris Soriano is a curator and founder of the house of David Museum in Benton Harbor, Michigan. What a story or hearing folks Mac more Benjamin Purnell story on our American story millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year and United healthcare can help you feel confident about your choices for those eligible Medicare annual enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7. If you're working past age 65. You might be able to delay Medicare enrollment. Depending on your employer coverage. It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be this at UHC Medicare health plan's.com to learn more United healthcare helping people live healthier lives. I know everything about running a coffee shop for small business insurance. I need my State Farm agent and company business owners to help the past. State Farm is in your corner and on neighbor call your local State Farm agent for quote today doing household chores can Artie be time-consuming and tedious. There's nothing more daunting and facing piles and piles of laundry that need to be done can be overwhelming for anyone. If you want to get those larger laundry loads down right and get back to your life. Try all three clear maggot packs all three clear mega packs are bigger packs two times the cleaning ingredients compared to a regular pack so that you can tackle any laundry load without the worry all three clear mega packs are also 100% free of perfumes and dyes and their dental and skin which is great for any family sensitive skin needs my family. We definitely have sentence again the next time the whole family gets home from long vacation or you get the kids back in summer camp or whatever the situation as that's because this big pile of dirty clothes.

All three clear maggot packs purchased all three clear mega packs today and conquer any laundry load for all fabric types and we continue with our American stories with Chris Soriano, founder of the house of David using Benton Harbor, Michigan telling the story of a religious colony in town at the turn-of-the-century that want to sit around and dissuade her paradise to come. They wanted to do something to occupy their minds and they were good at it you had a job that your given the name and what interview you and try to figure out what your talents were and he was amazing at finding out someone's highest best use. Even though maybe you didn't know it yourself. He had the financial wherewithal he had the power of people and the ability to take someone to the greatest in the world is the greatest in the nation, and because of that skill. The members of the house of David were able to create new inventions that they otherwise wouldn't have sometime in 1903, when a guy came from joint suite that was the ice cream maker help the waffle cone and then they introduced it to the St. Louis 1904 St. Louis world's fair and there are people that say what this person later this person, but the house of David. In fact didn't make their own waffle cone starting in late 1903 because it had crew ships on the Great Lakes. They invented across propeller system because they lost ships from early storms that took them sideways because they were so tall and thin. Back in the day they had 100,000 acres of farmland, so the quality of the fruit is very important to them that Herbert had the world's largest grower to buyer fruit market anywhere and huge money in the house of David had 100,000 acres of farmland, but they couldn't guarantee the quality of the fruit. If it is a super hot sweltering day. Maybe it was raining hard.

Or maybe Frost was coming so they they thought you only have to invent some way of securing our investment fruit. So they built the world's largest cold storage building where people from the world's largest fruit market could pull off pull up to the house of David. Cold storage building for pennies.

You can put your fruits and vegetables in the cold storage units which would take the temperature down to a point where it would stabilize the quality as long as you wanted to.

From that day that you brought it there so the next day that that fruit market was really pop in and dollars were big and the buyers were big farmers would fly over the house of David.

Cold storage: fruits and vegetables out. They looked exactly like they did when they drop them off and they invented that in the late they were cutting edge and so back in the 60s when Nassau was planning on sending people to the moon the astronauts they were trying to figure out a way how do you make a full meal deal to go and outer space with the pressure and explode and not screw up the astronauts stomach. If he does get in there and so they approach the house of David who in turn took that process with their own scientists down to a powder form so steaks, potatoes whatever's out up up full dinner plate. They made it into a powder form with an airtight wrap in those little packets were what Nassau sent to the moon with the astronauts house of David made the house of David's interesting travel wasn't just confined outer space in the sea. It also extended to train miniature ones that you could write a in 1904 Benjamin and Mary Purnell traveled to the St. Louis world's fair. There were so many reasons that they went there but mostly to get ideas on how to how to do things to with crowds of people.

It was during that time that they saw and they traveled on a little steam engine trains built by the Cagney Brothers at New York and those steam engine trains in St. Louis were hauling millions of people all over into this world's fair. During this whole year long event, so at the end of the world's fair. Benjamin bought one of those little steam engine trains that it brought back to Benton Harbor, Michigan, taken apart every piece of it and they re-created those trains made him better, stronger, slightly bigger than they built eight of just exactly like that and from 1905 to 1908 by 1908, there was a fleet of 815 inch steel white steam engine trains which were promptly put to work carrying passengers around their amusement park something the inherited as a simple resort called Eastman Springs. With the money there wealthy backers gave them when they first settled in Benton Harbor. The reason that they had their amusement park was basically because of the Australians their desire to entertain.

They wanted an avenue to be able to draw people and for the purpose of entertainment and because the 85 joined on the same day that will world famous actors and actresses and vaudeville show people and musicians they thought what better way to use that Eastman Springs Park is to turn it into an amusement park so late in 1905 they started building the railroad around the amusement park. They started building the amphitheater which was state-of-the-art world-class amphitheater and they wanted to they wanted to entertain people. They wanted to get their message out through the form of music basically. So when you arrived at the park by your trolley car early bus line you just thought that you're going to go to a show. Are you know you're gonna listen to a band when in fact you got on their little miniature train to go into the park you bought you got that whiff of those waffle cones, cooking and homemade ice cream couldn't resist that. Like the chill winds times 10 so you got that for a nickel. He went back in there. We got entertained got food for Nichols to maybe a dime you could drive the little racecars you could go to the zoo. You could spend the night in the hotel you could eat at their vegetarian restaurant in the amusement park that it was they did it for an experience, and for people to think of them as something more than just a phase. It was such a unique experience to see all these men with long hair and long beard longer and very humble mesh tight people in it was actually an awesome experience. I went there as a little kid. We went for years and it was a good feeling. It was like an old grandpa standing there.

There are very kind, they were very accommodating.

They would answer any questions that you had that would help you with things is a unique experience and it brought people by the tens of millions.

It was the leading amusement park in America only behind Disneyland and that was only after 1952 before that from the time he opened 08 until the early 50s. There's nobody that had more people attending amusement park in America more than the house of David Park. No Walt Disney came here and study the house of David and 1950, 51, and he actually bought one in the house of David steam engine trains. When original ones took it back to Anaheim California with him where he created his own little railroad there is property first and then later it is so it was a huge, huge success despite the continued popularity of the park.

People didn't necessarily want to join it. As a result of their belief in celibacy.

One by one the members of the house of David including Ben Purnell passed away until the point where they have a close. It had closed 74 people still wander through your allowed to go there and walk around reminiscent feeling, memories and stuff and keep you away but it was close. It was totally like a band is hard to close everything down. They still ran a printshop they still had their art department building where they made their own beautiful statuary. They still participated in an Blossom parade floats in musicals and things like that but can they all they just wanted to enjoy life quietly. From there, you know they were up there pretty good.

It's like a fairytale, place and way they they touched American such unique ways they they deftly left their mark left a beautiful Mark on the world. They touch people in unique ways they what they created.

It will live on in other inventions there so many things that live on way past that invited us in to feel it, experience it, but then we had to go home to stay. They found a pretty dang cool way to live and they were happy all the way until the close her eyes. They really were.

And you're listening to Chris Soriano and he's the founder of the house of Dave Museum in Benton Harbor the story Benjamin Purnell dear on our American story millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year and United healthcare can help you feel confident about your choices for those eligible Medicare annual enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7. If you're working past age 65.

You might be able to delay Medicare enrollment. Depending on your employer coverage. It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be this UHC Medicare health plans.com to learn more United healthcare helping people live healthier lives me know me from the recap on LA TV podcast life as a going to come at you every Tuesday and Thursday will be talking real and unapologetic about all things light and culture and everything in between. From someone who's never quite listen to life as a gringo on the iHeartRadio at Webbie gave podcast brought to you by State Farm like a good neighbor, State Farm is there a better future of humanity's imagination. Everything will be as critical juncture in human history. Touch and experience the very latest in technology. MW C Las Vegas October 28 through the 30th