Name: Suzanne Santo Shares Her Grandfather's Story of Being a WWII POW
Uploaded: 2022-11-04T19:09:55.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Suzanne Santo Shares Her Grandfather's Story of Being a WWII POW' from PowerfulJRE on Comedy Buff. Published 2022-11-04. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Suzanne Santo Shares Her Grandfather's Story of Being a WWII POW' from PowerfulJRE on Comedy Buff. Published 2022-11-04. Transcript available.

- The Joe Rogan Experience.
- You get these opportunities to like obtain
like a piece of wisdom if you can help it, you know?
And it's always through the darker things
or the things that are fucking annoying.
- Yeah.
- And lately I've been so aware of my lineage,
like my family tree and like my parents,
my grandparents, my great-grandparents and me,
and then, you know, my stepdaughter.
And, you know, if we have more kids,
like where I sit in this line of generational personalities
and habits and where I see the mistakes
and where I want to make corrections.
And it's really powerful.
I mean, you really have to look at yourself
and the things you don't like
and the things you like or love.
And it's a really defining moment lately.
Like I just feel my, again, responsibility
to what is most important.
And there's like, I'm so proud to be
from the family I'm from and like the kind of people.
And then there's so many things I'm like, oh God, you know?
And it feels like a real job to like heal generational wounds
and bad habits.
And yeah, I'm just like, 'cause I, if I, whatever I can do,
I want to give the best things to my children, you know?
- Hmm.
Yeah, you're trying to be a good person.
- But I come from this really long line of hustlers.
Like my great-grandmother was a bookie.
My great-grandfather was a bootlegger.
My grandfather was a bookie and a prisoner of war
for two years in World War II.
Like he was shot down from an airplane.
- Oh my God.
- And like, he was a waste gunner.
Like one of the most dangerous jobs you could have.
And he got captured and like, he survived
an 82-day death march.
And like made it back home to Cleveland.
And like, he married my grandmother who was an excellent cook.
And all the money he had from being a bookie,
they built this, these restaurants in Cleveland
with my grandma's recipes.
And it's amazing, like the food's so good.
And it's like my family legacy.
And I'm just fascinated by those people.
And I feel really lucky to be their granddaughter.
- Yeah, that's a fascinating fucking story.
- It's pretty wild.
- How did he survive?
- Oh man.
- How did he survive the crash?
- He parachuted out.
- So he parachuted it out and then he gets captured.
Jesus.
- Yeah, so he never talked about his experience
until he was almost 80.
So he didn't tell, like my, even my dad,
like nobody knew what my grandfather went through.
And he got inspired by somebody to finally tell us what he,
like to tell his family.
And he took a year doing voice recordings with his sister.
I'm pretty sure it was my Aunt Rita to tell a story.
And then like one day when I was in LA, when I was 22,
I got this book in the mail and it was his,
like he gave it to our family.
So we could all know about what his experience
in World War II was and being a prisoner of war.
And I mean, it was, I mean, I mean, I was bawling.
It's like, makes me emotional just talking about it.
Like I, he had finally had this moment where he felt
like it was okay to tell everybody.
And it was like very polite and sanitized.
And then like by the end of his life,
he really wanted to talk about it more and more
in greater detail.
But he carried one of his friends during that 82 day march
because I can't remember where they were moving them,
but it was, you know, like you walk for 82 days,
like you can't stop to take a shit or pee.
Like you just like, he had dysentery, he had lice.
Like he was just, he was filthy.
And I like, actually shortly before he died,
I went to visit him and he was telling,
like he just wanted to talk and like tell me these things.
And, you know, I remember him saying to me like,
and he like looked me in the eye and he was like,
you do not know filth.
You don't know filth.
And just being like, if you stopped, they killed you.
So you had to keep going.
And, uh, one of his friends, he carried him.
And, and, and I remember this old man,
cause my parents used to send us to Florida where,
like in the summers where my grandparents lived.
And we'd spend like two, three weeks with them.
And it was awesome.
But, you know, grandpa was usually, uh,
watching the Sopranos with his headphones on,
like doing his own thing.
That, you know, there was, there was so Italian.
Um, but his old friend was all like, I remember,
I think it was, I like, I don't want to butcher this,
but I think it was his friend, uh, Mr. Dragonetti.
And like, they were friends till their very old age.
And, you know, they had this experience together,
this horrible experience.
Um, but like, you know, not to like ramble on,
unless you want to hear more about it.
Like I'm just so amazed at that sacrifice and courage
and bravery and, and just fortune to survive
and then to have a life after that.
And then I think about somebody posting their fucking video
about working too long at Starbucks.
And I'm like, fuck you.
I'm sorry. Fuck your fucking feelings.
You're going to be fine. You know?
Thank you.