Tom Phillips and his three young children disappeared from the isolated rural Waikato town of Marokopa on 9 December 2021. New Zealand Police believe that the children were taken by their father to a location somewhere in the western Waikato, after a dispute with their mother. Phillips is alleged to have committed a bank robbery in September 2023, but the first sighting of all three children with their father was on 3 October 2024, when they were spotted walking through Marokopa farmland. Howeve...
Jun 29, 2025•34 min
Gregory "Pappy" Boyington (December 4, 1912 – January 11, 1988) was an American combat pilot who was a United States Marine Corps fighter ace during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. A Marine aviator with the Pacific fleet in 1941, Boyington joined the "Flying Tigers" (1st American Volunteer Group) of the Republic of China Air Force and saw combat in Burma in late 1941 and 1942 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In September 1942, Boyington rejoined the Marine Co...
Jun 27, 2025•51 min
By 1880 the ATS&F Railroad had laid tracks from Kansas City to California- and people and products were starting to move through the still untamed west. Food along the way, however, was a spotty proposition, and the railroad was faced with a dilemma. Cooks were hard to keep employed, and waiters were hard to find. Thats when Fred Harvey, who had emigrated from England to the US at age 15 and got into the restaurant, and then the train business- saw an opportunity. He went to the offices of t...
Jun 22, 2025•55 min
This summer enjoy "JON'S TOP 10 WWII STORIES" every Friday morning at 12:30 am- a great choice for our night hawks! To find more like this one, check out our website www.bestof1001stories.com then "episodes", "categories"- dropdown "Last Stands and Long Shots". On October 25, 1944, through a series of naval movements, a small 13 ship destroyer task force found itself the only thing between a huge 23 ship Japanese battle fleet and the American landing force attempting to free the Japanese held Ph...
Jun 20, 2025•1 hr
On the 26th of March, 1863, the first six Medals of Honor were awarded to 6 surviving members of the Andrew's Raiders, who, one year earlier , had participating in a daring union raid into the south to commandeer a railroad engine and hobble Confederate supply lines around Chattanooga. The first of the six went to private Jacob Parrott. This is the story. Resources: • https://www.thoughtco.com/great-locomotive-chase-2360250 • Andrews Raiders - Warfare History Network https://warfarehistorynetwor...
Jun 15, 2025•47 min
Our 12 stories: 1) Frank Finkel, survived Custer's Last Stand; 2) Vesna Voluvik, sole survivor of terrorist-caused airplane crash over Czech republic 1972; 3) Julieanne Koepcke, when her plane broke up, she fell two miles, strapped in her seat, and landed in the Amazon Rain Forest, where she survived 11 days with multiple injuries until finding help;, 4) Salvador Alvarenga, out for a day of fishing with his friend, was blown further out ton sea in a storm, and survived 438 days at sea with no su...
Jun 13, 2025•1 hr
Here is our interview with filmmaker/producer Steve Edmiston ("The Maury Island Incident", Youtube) regarding the Maury Island UFO incident which occurred in June 1947 in the Seattle/Tacoma area. For all of you who live within a day's drive of Seattle WA you really need to consider attending the 4th annual,MIBB- the Men in Black Birthday Bash-to honor the event which all began with the alleged sighting of three UFO's by Harold Dahl, son, and boat crew in 1947, just a few days before. Come dresse...
Jun 08, 2025•1 hr 7 min
JON'S TOP TEN WWII FAVORITES: #1 OF 10 BEST "The Commando Raid on St. Nazaire: the Most Daring Raid of WWII": The St. Nazaire Raid, also known as Operation Chariot, was a British Amphibious attack on the heavily defended Normandie drydock at St. Nazaire on March 26th, 1942. The objective of the raid was to destroy the drydock in German-held St. Nazaire, thus denying an Atlantic repair port to the new and powerful German battleship Tirpitz, which by itself was capable of winning the battle for th...
Jun 05, 2025•1 hr
The Tuskeegee Airmen of WWII were the first black pilots to break the color barrier in our Army/Airforce- a job in itself- and this is their heroes story as they paved the way for big changes in our military as well as our industries in the 40's and beyond. Included you will find our 2022 interview with Lt.Col. Harry Stewart as he shares his stories and gives advice to our younger generation about being the best you can be if you want to succeed in life. Lt, Col. Stewart passed this past Feb 202...
Jun 01, 2025•1 hr 19 min
The incredible true story of Moe Berg- a major league baseball player who became a WWII spy and infiltrated the Nazi top scientist group to find out if the Nazis were close to making the atom bomb. Credits: Music: Chuck Brodsky, Baseball Ballads Compass/Red House Records www.chuckbrodsky.com Records Smithsonian Magazine 'Baseball Player Turned Spy Moe berg Went Undercover to Assassinate the nazi Top Scientist' Zachary Clary Central Intelligence Agency: Moe Berg, Baseball Player, Linguist, Lawyer...
May 30, 2025•45 min
I first heard this story on Paul Harvey years ago., and I've retold it in part but never in full. This is the story of Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry O'Hare (March 13, 1914 – November 26, 1943) who was an American naval aviator of the United States Navy, who on February 20, 1942, became the Navy's first fighter ace of the war when he single-handedly attacked a formation of nine Japanese medium bombers approaching his aircraft carrier. Even though he had a limited amount of ammunition, he was ...
May 25, 2025•39 min
This is one of my all-time favorites) In 1952, a Pueblo, Colorado housewife named Virginia Tighe volunteered for a hypnosis session, unaware that she would be revealing the fully detailed life of an Irish woman named Bridget Kathleen (Bridey) Murphy (1798-1864),. It it was detailed-featuring a full view of Cork and Belfast in the early 1800's, and containing lots of details that couldn't have been found in any books, as well as unusual words, folk songs, social morays and customs, names of shops...
May 23, 2025•44 min
(One of my top ten all time favs at 1001) In 1952, a Pueblo, Colorado housewife named Virginia Tighe volunteered for a hypnosis session, unaware that she would be revealing the fully detailed life of an Irish woman named Bridget Kathleen (Bridey) Murphy (1798-1864),. It it was detailed-featuring a full view of Cork and Belfast in the early 1800's, and containing lots of details that couldn't have been found in any books, as well as unusual words, folk songs, social morays and customs, names of s...
May 23, 2025•40 min
For full transcript see our website at www.bestof1001stories.com at each episode at 1001 Heroes-Thank you! and any review telling us that this show was not well researched can pound sand while gleefully tring to listen to the early recordings while reading the BOOK the reviewer recommended. ! Full transcript available at website ( www.bestof1001stories.com - see 1001 Heroes episodes)If you enjoy and appreciate what we have shared with these deep-dive , well researched, music included, episodes p...
May 18, 2025•39 min
"Urban Legends I"- Urban legends are described as often told stories quoted as truth but lacking in verification. Here are ten of our favorites, with some that are true thrown in for posterity. We hope you enjoy them. 1) The Colander Copier Crime Caper, 2) The Hook, 3), The Killer Biscuit, 4), The Bricklayer's Report, 5) The USS Nimitz and the Lighthouse, 6), The Flea Market Declaration, 7), Elvis's Harley, 8) There goes the Monarchy, 9), Mothman, and 10), The New Jersey Devil. See our collectio...
May 16, 2025•43 min•Ep. 20
Thank you for joining us on this episode of 1001 Heroes. Please leave a review for this show and let Jon know you are enjoying stories of this kind. Let him know, what is your favorite blues artist or song? For now we leave you with Ma Rainey. See 'The Birth of the lues' at our website ( www.bestof1001stories.com ) for full transcript To the reviewer who low scored us for "poor research": please see "Resources" below- then pound sand trying to listen to the the birth of the blues with the BOOK y...
May 11, 2025•55 min
Interview with Command Sgt. Maj. Bart Womack New Book- IMBEDDEDD ENEMY Shortly after deploying for the war in Iraq, an unprecedented attack was about to take place; the first of it's kind in U.S. military history. Embedded Enemy is the true story of the deadly attack against the men and women of Headquarters and Headquarters Company First Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. The Bastogne Brigade was staged at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait where they prepared for combat. During the early morning hours...
May 10, 2025•53 min
In part two we cover the start and rapid growth of the Bielski partisan camps in Belarus, their raids on Gernan patrols and on German sympathizers, and the hard and often times deadly choices that needed to be made to protect the forest clans. We also cover what happened to the four brothers after the war and the filming, which was done in Lithuania, which borders Belarus. We also discuss the controversy that faced the movie as well as criticisms that the movie basically whitewashed the story to...
May 09, 2025•45 min
This is part one of the story of the Bielski Brothers- a tightly knit group of 4 brothers- the yoiungest 13, and the oldest 33, who formed an armed resistance group in the forests of Belarus during WWII to save Jews from certain death in the hands of the Nazis. Led by Tuvia Bielsky, the group created a working community in the forest which was capable of defending itself against Germans, formed an alliance with a local Russian partisan group from whom they were able to get their first weapons, a...
May 09, 2025•39 min
Britain was fully involved in WWII in 1940-41 prior to the US entering the war- and they were defending their island against Germany to the last man if need be. So many British pilots had been killed that they despertaely needed women to ferry war planes, both new and "shot up" to and from factories and bases all over England. It was dangerous work involving over 140 types of planes. The American women, all licensed flyers, who answered the call were gutsy, determined women who proved themselves...
May 04, 2025•39 min
1001 Heroes takes a deep dive into one of the most tragic stories in history- The incredible true story of Russia's murder of tens of thousands of Polish surrendered officers, town leaders, intelligentsia, men, women, and children- and their attempt to cover it up and when that became impossible- to blame it on Germany.(Not that Germany wasn't committing other war crimes as well).. The Katyn massacre was a series of mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish military and police officers, border gua...
May 02, 2025•54 min
Part One of our 1001 Heroes deep dive history covers t he invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany on September 1, 1939, is widely considered the start of World War II in Europe. Germany, using a strategy of Blitzkrieg, quickly overwhelmed the Polish army and occupied much of the country. The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east on September 17, further dividing and occupying the country. Part Two covers the Soviet war crimes known as 'The Katyn Forest Massacre "SUPPORT OUR SHOW MONTHLY AT PATREO...
May 02, 2025•1 hr
Taking a Selfie: A strange yearning to experience the thrill of being photographed in a near-death situation which has taken hold of our "under 30" population- not just here in the US but around the world. Its an obsession being fed by social media and its called "Death by Selfie". We offer dozens of real-life situations and we explain the hows and whys of the social media obsession to be "seen/liked/followed by others"in this story and hopefully give you listeners the motivation to have that "d...
Apr 27, 2025•47 min
This long-lost American tale tells the true story of two young girls, Abigail and Rebecca Bates, the daughters of a lighthouse keeper in Scituate, Massachusetts, who turn back a British warship during the War of 1812. Early in September, 1814, a British warship was sighted offshore preparing to launch barges toward the lighthouse, barges containing troops bent upon ransacking the town. Simeon Bates, the lighthouse keeper, was away, leaving his wife, two very young boys, and his two daughters, Ab...
Apr 25, 2025•28 min•Ep. 45
1001 HEROES CONFIDENTIAL APRIL 20, 2025: THE SEARCH FOR AMY LYNN BRADLEY Amy Lynn Bradley (born May 12, 1974) is an American woman who went missing during a Caribbean cruise on the Royal Caribbean International cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas in late March 1998 while en route to Curaçao. Her whereabouts remain unknown to this day. She was a 23-year-old Longwood University graduate at the time of her disappearance. After midnight on Monday March 23, 1998, Amy and her younger brother Brad headed ...
Apr 20, 2025•52 min
Today we cover the stories of 1),Kokopelli, the Hopi Indian legend, 2.) Grutte Pier, the 16th century Frisian folk hero who exacted revenge upon an entire nation for the loss of his family, 3) Buford Pusser, the sheriff who wouldn't back down against organized crime in his county, whose wife was killed in a drive by shooting, and who promised and enacted revenge upon the criminals who had done it, 4) Finn McCool, the legendary Giant who created the Giant's Causeway in Ireland, 5.) Paul Bunyan an...
Apr 18, 2025•50 min
TV history was made in 1951 when the first episode of I Love Lucy aired on CBS starring a fiery red head Irish actress named Lucille Ball and her real life husband, Cuban American band leader Desi Arnaz as New York City apartment dwellers Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. The show would air 6 years, making #1 in ratings 4 of those years, and breaking single episode viewer ratings twice- once when Lucy announced she was pregnant, and again when she went to the hospital to have their baby. Today we remember...
Apr 13, 2025•44 min
On July 4th, 1910. in Reno, Nevada, a fight for the Heavyweight Championship of the World took place between Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries. Jack Johnson was a black man- the first black man to hold the heavyweight title in boxing, which he had won two years before. His lifestyle was, by 1910 standards, flagrant- he was frequently seen acting indecently in the company of white blond prostitutes, he drank and gambled to excess, and he liked fast sports cars. In the past two years a number of white...
Apr 11, 2025•31 min
Full Transcript at https://www.bestof1001stories.com/show/1001-heroes-legends-histories-mysteries-podcast/ In light of the recent release of thousands of previously classified documents concerning the Kennedy Assassination we present an in-depth look at the aftermath, which left investigators wirth the murder of the assassin Lee Harvey Oswald by strip club owner Jack Ruby, who was said to be heavily in debt to the New Orleans mafia, and the suspected murder by poison of journalist and popular tv...
Apr 06, 2025•1 hr 8 min
When Mary Magdalane, Mary Salome, and Mary Cleopas landed on the shores of pagan France with their group of faithfuls- they had a mighty task to accomplish. Taking refuge under a Roman Temple- they began to preach the word of Jesus- simple and pure, 350 years before Catholicism. Legend says that she brought with her The Holy Grail, and that after her death it was kept safe from invading Saracens and the armies of the Pope's Inquisition. Even the German Nazis joined in the search, convinced thata...
Apr 04, 2025•35 min
