I have also heard that the US Navy used his experience to rewrite the survival manuals on how to survive at sea. I'm with him, I hope nobody has to break THAT record.

@1pcfred

Жыл бұрын

There's nothing quite like practical experience as a teacher.

@MattH-wg7ou

Жыл бұрын

In USAF SERE they taught us about this.

@quillmaurer6563

Жыл бұрын

I would imagine he changed views not so much on how to survive but that it is possible for someone to survive for so long.

@loditx7706

Жыл бұрын

@@quillmaurer6563 while singing! Remarkable strength! 💪

@quillmaurer6563

Жыл бұрын

@@loditx7706 He probably offered more lessons from a psychological side than a pragmatic one even - sourcing food via fishing, collecting rainwater, even the condensation bit, are all fairly straightforward and obvious, any survival expert or probably even common mariner could see that, at least in a theoretical manner. But how to stay sane and motivated to keep going, that's a deeper challenge.

The “Good Morning” statement pretty much says all you need to know about this man.

@texgowing7359

Жыл бұрын

Yes it does👍 How very British, total understatement😅😅

@robertbaucum5384

Жыл бұрын

I would bet he meant it.

@kingpest13

7 ай бұрын

Excellent, Poon Lim was a G

Taking apart that life vest to catch rain was genius.

@picklerix6162

Жыл бұрын

Thirst will either kill you or turn you into a genius.

im always impressed when someone not only survives like this, but then goes on to live another 50-60 years after. heck i dont expect to live that long, and im not starving to death on a raft.

@1pcfred

Жыл бұрын

Starving has a way of resetting our biological clocks. I'm surprised he didn't live longer. The free radicals we consume ultimately do kill us.

@richardhall1667

Жыл бұрын

What’s interesting about brief periods of starvation or near starvation is that most people that recover from that state and are able to become healthy end up living significantly longer than average. Not sure if it’s more of a mental or physical change that causes that, but it seems to have a significant impact on their lifespan, on average.

@Minty1337

Жыл бұрын

@@richardhall1667 may explain my hardiness, due to a combination of low income and being a dumb 8 year old, I'd end up not eating for a few days in a row occasionally

@1pcfred

Жыл бұрын

@@richardhall1667 research suggests that it has to do with resetting a biological clock at the cellular level. For me it is about quality not quantity though and I do love to eat.

@timothybattey171

Жыл бұрын

@@richardhall1667 He died at 72 years old.

When I feel overwhelmed or helpless I’m going to think of this guy! Total Legend!

When I was on the USCG Polar Star in 1984, they still called the life jackets "kapoks". Awesome story. Thanks, as always!

@randmayfield5695

Жыл бұрын

I was on the USCGC Iris (WLB-395) out of Astoria Oregon back in the 70's and I have to say it was one of the best times of my life. When your ship is located at the mouth of the Colombia River in an area fondly called the "Grave yard of the Pacific" lots of time is spent doing drills that pertained to surviving that particular piece of ocean. We had "Gumby" suits and practiced how to use them in Lake Union Seattle. Everything and daily life was all about being ready..... and we were.

@tadroid3858

Жыл бұрын

@@randmayfield5695 Life changing experience for sure. After I left the Polar Star I was at S&R Station Port Huron and just missed a spot in the MLB school at Cape D. Peace. Semper Paratus!

@randmayfield5695

Жыл бұрын

@@tadroid3858 Did you do the north or south or both trips on the Polar Star? Ice breaker duty was a sought duty because of the opportunities for travel. My CG experience was a rare one. My first duty out of basic training was three weeks in Hawaii on Sand Island then a LORAN monitor station in Thailand for a year, then school in Petaluma, then the buoy tender Iris, then the LORAN station Gesashi in Japan for nine months, then 3 months TAD on the island of Iwo Jima, then my last year was spent on a SAR station in Grand Isle Louisiana. I didn't want to get out but I wanted a girlfriend and to get a college education. Being in the guard we were either underway or out in the boonies so I was never anywhere that was stable over time. Thailand was absolutely amazing in every way. On the Iris we did four week fisheries patrols with the Soviet hake fleet and traveled up and down the west coast doing training and working navigation aids. We spent six weeks in dry dock in Seattle after we bottomed out going though the Colombia River bar at night with seas breaking jetty to jetty. Cracked a bunch of welds and were leaking fuel oil. It was like being in the boy scouts with one adventure after another. Thanks for the comment.

@lonnywilcox445

Жыл бұрын

Or Mae West's.

@randmayfield5695

Жыл бұрын

@@lonnywilcox445 I remember them being called that. They were the vests that had the back of the head pad. Supposedly those could cause snapped necks when jumping from a high deck when abandoning ship.

Anyone who sailed under the red ensign during WWII were true heroes and their history definitely needs to be remembered.

MacGyver could have learned a thing or two or three from this guy. His mental toughness for such a young guy was incredible

Hail and well met, fellow students! Greetings from Connecticut!

@jaredmehrlich6683

Жыл бұрын

Thank you, I've learned something new.

@stuartriefe1740

Жыл бұрын

@@jaredmehrlich6683 The thanks belongs to Lance Geiger, The History Guy! I’m just a fellow student!

This is the kind of story I love to hear. Absolute legend. May his name live forever and may his record never be broken.

Pretty resourceful man. I imagine the loneliness and boredom would drive most of us insane.

@FlattardiansSuck

Жыл бұрын

The mental strength... people don't understand what it takes...

@MissMarinaCapri

Жыл бұрын

Sometimes I feel most of you already are insane. Maybe a similar experience would improve your ability to recognize higher consciousness? While I don’t wish such a life changing experience on most people, I can’t help wondering if it might help. What do you think?

@shankthebat8654

Жыл бұрын

This is not a mystical learning moment. This was a man’s life. This is not room for growth. This is about survival, and nothing else. It’s absolutely horrible to think that other people should have to go through this.

@FlattardiansSuck

Жыл бұрын

@@MissMarinaCapri you delusional person. "Sometimes I feel most of YOU are already insane". State why "us". State why it's all "us" instead of maybe it's YOU...? Have YOU ever had a similar experience Marina? Life or death? Excruciating waiting for months alone, knowing the odds are hard against you? Ever been in a sinking ship, torpedoed? Etc etc...? Ever served your country instead of serving coffee? I doubt you have half a clue about what you are having an opinion on. Maybe it's time that, instead of saying "your" every time, think about self reflection. Enlightenment comes from NOT KNOWING. But I doubt you understand

@DrPlatypusMan

Жыл бұрын

I read the book 'Sole Survivor' many years ago. Lim said that he was thankful for the chores he set up for himself, scrubbing the deck and airing out his clothes and collecting water. He mentioned spending a lot of time reminiscing about his home and childhood memories. He had a pet chicken that he thought about constantly. I remember he obsessed over gathering water and fishing and his lack of a pillow and his painful physical condition. I don't remember him worrying about going insane. Hilariously, the first thing he asked for after being rescued was tobacco. He had many feverish nightmares where I though there was tobacco somewhere on the raft.

My Dad served in the Merchant Marines during WW2. He told me little about it, but what he Did tell me was quite disturbing.

@hunterroberts9951

Жыл бұрын

It's called the merchant marine there is no s on the end. They are refered to as merchant mariners, I spent 2 and a half years as a merchant mariner before i did a hitch in the Navy in the eighties. I planned on going back after the Navy but life has a funny way of redirecting a person in a different direction than planned.

@otpyrcralphpierre1742

Жыл бұрын

@@hunterroberts9951 Life does that, and thank you for the tip.

@texgowing7359

Жыл бұрын

With you Ralph, my father & 2 uncle's were both in the Merchant Marine sailed from the U.K. all from Grimsby on the east coast where Grandfather was a fisherman on trawlers.

@texgowing7359

Жыл бұрын

​@@hunterroberts9951 And of course Hunter you are perfectly correct👍I always refered to it as the Merchant Marine & even did so in my reply to Ralph, not even thinking about it😅

@tomperkins5657

11 ай бұрын

The Merchant Marine service in the first year of WWII was a death sentence. Kudos to your father.

In the book "Adrift: Seventy-six days Lost at Sea" by Steven Callahan, he went through a similar experience when his sailboat was stove in by a whale off the Canary Islands during his solo to cross the Atlantic. One part of his saga that I always found very amusing and fascinating was when he finally after going through hell in his tiny life raft saw land and instead of being overjoyed he became fearful because the beach area he was drifting into was covered with heavy surf. He wasn't sure he was strong enough to survive the landing. Then miraculously a small panga fishing boat saw his raft and pulled up next to him. They told him that they had spent considerable fuel at a high cost to get to these special fishing grounds so they asked him if it was alright if they fished for awhile with the promise they would come back to get him after they finished. Steven explains how a euphoric state had come over him and he smiled and replied: "Sure, why not." That just fascinates me.

@dedorcsgood

Жыл бұрын

Read this book as a kid and thought often about it crossing the pacific myself...once had a group of pilot whales literally swim above my head in a blow when a wave quartered above the cockpit...felt like the odds were a bit smaller then from being killed by a whale from above:)

@mariebelladonna437

4 ай бұрын

Why didn't they just take him onboard, let him rest while they fished, and then all go back together? Why let him stay out there and take a chance on him drifting somewhere they couldn't find him, or into the dangerous surf?

@randmayfield5695

4 ай бұрын

@@mariebelladonna437 There's an answer to your question. Steven had been in that small raft for weeks and he was covered in mahi mahi rotting slime and blood he looked and smelled so bad that the fishermen couldn't stand the way he smelled.

@mariebelladonna437

4 ай бұрын

@@randmayfield5695 Ah. I guess that makes a lot of sense, lol. Just very glad for Steven that they did indeed come back, and were able to find him again, and properly rescue him. I never knew this story. Thanks so much for answering.😊

I remember reading Lim's story on Reader's Digest when I was a child. It was such an exciting tale that I kept coming back and reading it over and over again.

@elemenopee6014

7 күн бұрын

I remember that issue! It was gripping!

Fascinating. I'm reminded of a man from church years a ago. His name was Eugene Eliezar. I recall that he was an Indonesian. With others in a lifeboat, he survived a U-boat sinking and drifted ashore in Africa (after not nearly 133 days). I also recall the Pacific ordeal of Eddie Rickebacker and few other guys. (I think there's a THG epsiode on this.) Being adrift at sea is an adventure I do not wish to have. Such courage!

@martinjcamp

Жыл бұрын

Here's THG's link to the episode you refer to.... kzread.info/dash/bejne/h6uV2K-bn5m6ldo.html&ab_channel=TheHistoryGuy%3AHistoryDeservestoBeRemembered

@kevinhorne7881

Жыл бұрын

@@martinjcamp THANKS!

A strong spirit can motivate a person to achieve what others believe impossible. 133 days on a life raft, staying sane. What a remarkable human being. *tips hat*

Having thought, read & absorbed stories about survival ever since I attended USAF Flight Nurse school I am of the belief the main thing is what is inside us - the mental game. Of course, water & food are mandatory but in the long run, you have got to be one, a survivor. Kudos for this incredible story. What a man!!

You know, anyone can be a historian, but you are one of those few people who are just natural story tellers.

I suspect Poon Lim and Eddie Rickenbacker would have gotten along famously.

@vcv6560

Жыл бұрын

and Louis Zampernilli

Coast of my dear Brazil! You are getting close! My grandad gone fight in Italy in WW2 and the story of Brazilians expeditionary force is never told. Very few was really soldiers or even military, but government promised "benefits" to volunteers - that never came. My grandad used to tell stories and everyone took that as joke, a weird lie, someone else's stories, etc. But it was everything very consistent with he being there. After his passing, in 1984, my dad had some boxes, photos, and other itens from him and a friend of the family that had passed years before, a french man called Pierre, and was very dear to my grandad and my family - it was a strong and significant friendship. Pierre came "because of the war" and we never knew much more. I still have Pierre's books. Grandad lived many years and died in the house besides ours, that my dad arranged to him and my grandma, bcuz they were very poor and as soon my dad could, he bought them a good place to live. Many years later I found many itens related with the Brazilian expeditionary force (FEB) and written stories about it, in very old piece of papers, but no names, no documents, no medals, but old bullets casings, keychains, and some other minor itens. My grandad had a interesting story of life and he actually had 2 different names - slightly different - with different year of birth dates. He was born in the early 1900, in a small rural area in Brazil, inside a monastery and was baptized before be registered and, later, registered with a different last name and as new born. One of those names was the most common name in Brazil at the time "José Maria da Silva". I checked the data about FEB, just like my cousin, journalist, and there is hundreds of "José Maria da Silva" there, with similar birthday and lost info about origins or state or town or anything else. Gone to the FEB museum - witch was very close of where my grandad always lived - and an old Feb volunteer, a very nice fellow with medals and trauma and all, told me he met many ppl with this name and they totally lost contact with most of the expeditionary - they didn't even had a complete information about the KIA or MIA personal. But my old man used to tell stories like "we were not used to American food in cans and at the first try, me and all my fellows had to spend a week in the camp toilet - that was no food! Was a purgation!"... Another was about "breaking the shoulder" shooting American rifles" bcuz in Brazil we only knew the "yellow chin" rifle - a Winchester like rifle with bronze parts and Brazilians refer to it as "papo amarelo" - a kind of caiman alligator we have in Brazil that have a "yellow chin". These stories - and many more - are consistent with stories told by that fellows in the FEB museum. So... There's more stories that deserves to be remembered!!! Hugs!!

@davidgiancoli2106

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for telling the story of your grandfather. Now it will not be forgotten!

@RicktheCrofter

Жыл бұрын

As Cobras Fumantes!

@wisconsinfarmer4742

Жыл бұрын

Gracias.

One of my neighbors growing up was also a merchant man half Polynesian and half Irish and had three ships sink under him one or two by torpedo and one by Kamikaze a very short slender man but never had to wait that long for rescue. He mainly sailed American flagged vessels but not exclusively. The merchant marines suffered some of the highest casualty rates during WWII.

@peterport646

Жыл бұрын

A great tale, and well told, but I had to slow your commentary to 0.75 speed to make sense of it. Please slow down. These episodes are too good to be rushed😊

@woah6958

Жыл бұрын

​@@peterport646 I agree.

This man possessed an incredibly strong will to live. Amazing. I think I would’ve gone insane long before 4.5 months had passed.

He was lucky he had his own raft all to himself. Those built in supplies lasted a lot longer than they would if there were two rafts and thirty men clinging to them. When the _Compass Rose_ sank in _The Cruel Sea_ they started off with a few rubber rafts and a lot of men in the water clinging to them. They organized relays where they'd let people get out of the water (this was in the North Atlantic ...) for a while but as time went by there were fewer and fewer men. Finally, they didn't have to share the boat with men in the water because there were no men in the water who were still alive. When the sun came up the next morning another escort came looking for them and pulled those that were left aboard. One of the more moving incidents in the Novel (based on the Authors real experiences in WWII) came when they saw a life boat coming towards them under sail. The Life boats were good boats. They had a mast you could raise, a sail and a tiller. The Life Boat was headed right for the convoy and happened to be heading right down a lane between the ships. They were over joyed that these men had survived. Then ... they got closer. The man sitting at the tiller was a skeleton as were those huddled under blankets in the boat. They didn't stop and the Life Boat went on it's way, under sail, tiller in the skeletal hands of it's helmsman. .

I can think of easier ways to binge on sushi. But this man's resolve and resourcefulness are beyond reproach.

@stanwolenski9541

Жыл бұрын

I am a very resourceful guy, but I'm not too sure I could have survived half the amount of time he did or even past a quarter of the time.

I knew of this man when I was in junior high school in Brooklyn, N.Y. with his daughter as a class mate.

I love your "deserves to be remembered" line.. it'll never get old.

i love you man thank you and your son for all your work. your one of my heros

For someone with no survival training, he showed what can be accomplished if a person doesn't panic, and lives one day at a time. I wonder if he got back pay for those 133 days. After all, he protected and brought to shore all that was left of his employer's ship.

Strong will to survive. Very impressive.

I've always loved this story. What an ordeal, and what a true survivor!

Thank you. I'm teaching a survival class tomorrow, and will definitely tell them this story, and if time allows, may show this to the class.

@wisconsinfarmer4742

Жыл бұрын

I have been in a couple situations and discovered that there is an inner voice that coaches us. A person will find that an object has their attention, say a particular stone or stick. That object is offering itself for our use and it is up to us to discover how it can be useful. Paying attention to our attention.

When I hear these types of amazing survival stories I always think of the probable larger numbers of people who stayed alive for similar lengths of time, but still perished without being found and their stories are unknown.

Fortunately for Poon Lim he had a pretty good start for his epic survival test. All of the food and water, plus other survival gear, all put him in good stead for at least some survival time, but honors to him, as he utilized them, and then did many other things that saved his life. For example the canopy that sheltered him, and caught water for him was his own idea, and it certainly was a big factor in his survival. Great kudos, and all praise to Poon Lim, for he actually saved himself. Doctor George Whitehead

Sacrificed his lifejacket to make shade. Lived. And caught rain water. Genius. DOUG out

This is the real history not so much the history I was meant to be taught in the sixties and seventies history classes in school. Half of which was either fictional or most likely falsehoods. He was an incredibly innovative and unbelievably tough man. Excellent episode, thank you. 👍

@1pcfred

Жыл бұрын

I remember in school we read a story about 3 airmen in a raft. I think they only survived about 34 days? Was still a harrowing tale as I can recall. That story was a large part of the reason why I clicked on this video. I thought to myself, I like raft stories.

@quillmaurer6563

Жыл бұрын

For the most part this is an interesting tidbit not really important to the "overall story" of history. But what I really like about The History Guy's videos is that, while they focus on some sort of interesting tidbit, they go into the broader backstory and historical context that is more important overall but maybe not so well known. Such as in this video the importance of, and danger faced by, the Merchant Marine fleet in WWII, as well as the British Empire and Chinese sailors involved in it. Most emphasis and awareness is on military history, the roles of combatants, navy ships, and so on, the story of civilian ships less discussed.

@cheaplaughkennedy2318

Жыл бұрын

@@quillmaurer6563 That’s very true , good point 👌

The last time I heard this story was during the Christmas holidays in 1974,when some of the older relatives were talking about those years. I think that their stories are what got me to appreciate the lessons that history can offer.

WOW! Wow, that's just amazing...AND he was all "Good morning!" when someone rescued him? That man was as tough as nails, he was!

That's was one heck of a man! These are some of the stories that should be taught in schools.

Excellent story of perserverance.

Only's clicked the link because I have minor dyslexia and thought it read "Poon's Limit: A WWII Survivale Story", and I am but a humble Sailor. Stayed and subscribed because it is nuanced nautical history, and I am but a humble Sailor.

US Merchant Mariners sustained more battle injuries per capita than did the members of any of the *traditional* uniformed services. My dad was an AB (able-bodied seaman) and served during the war exclusively aboard high-octane aviation fuel to Murmansk from somewhere in the Tri-State (PA, DE, NJ) where most refineries were located.

I had to watch/listen to this twice. The part where the U-Boat crew takes merchant survivors aboard to interrogate them only to return them to their fate at sea is especially heinous. Poon Lim is a man and story I hope to remember when encountering situations of despair. I can think of few, myself included, who could endure such a hopeless circumstance and invent the resourcefulness required to acvomplish such a feat... and not only survive, but thrive in his years of aftermath.

@WALTERBROADDUS

Жыл бұрын

To be fair, there was very little accommodation to fit additional people on a U-boat.

@bmon4095

Жыл бұрын

David. Especially henious are the stories of survivors like that being machine gunned into the water by Uboat crews. My father was a British merchantman, 4+ years of convoy duty. One of his ships was sunk in the Mediterranean. They were taken aboard the Uboat, his captain was kept, and the rest of them returned to the lifeboat. When the U-boat crew prepared to gun them, the Uboat captain stopped them. The story is, my dad yelled at him and asked him his name. I was named after that man. Such is the reality of war.

@bmon4095

Жыл бұрын

@@WALTERBROADDUS “to be fair”? Absolutely nothing in war is fair. It is not the nature of the beast.

@WALTERBROADDUS

Жыл бұрын

@@bmon4095 be that as it may, we do have rules and regulations concerning War.

@WALTERBROADDUS

Жыл бұрын

@@bmon4095 actually what is far more heinous, is Crews being machine-gunned by American submarines.

Him having grown up on a small island and the resourcefulness of the people and resources they had at that time and age surly gave him the skills that saved his life. In this throw away world now many would not have those skills to survive. RIP Mr Lim

Logistics has always been the unsung hero that made military campaigns possible. Without logistics there would likely have been no wars.

Actually the record is now 438 days by Salvador Alverenga who came to shore in February 2014. The book is called 438 days and well worth a read.

@MrWansty

Жыл бұрын

ok i,m being a pedant but he was in a boat not a liferaft ,but still a remarkable feat of endurance

@MrWansty

Жыл бұрын

ok i,m being a pedant but he was in a boat not a liferaft ,stil a remarkable feat of endurance

As the Sailor, I find this story of survival remarkable and a pure perseverance

Wow! This man was intelligent, highly resourceful and had an indomitable will to live, hats off to him.

His story was covered by National Geographic Magazine. I remember reading his story all those years ago.

You should do a segment on the voyage of the Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl. I read the book when I was about 9 years old. I was so inspired by the story. I built model of the raft from sticks and a piece of old bed sheet for a sale...

@dennis1954

Жыл бұрын

I read Kon-Tiki when a young teen and couldn’t put the book down even so I didn’t like reading anything longer than a Reader Digest article.

Alone on an empty sea day and night for months , how did he not go insane? Most people couldn't last 72 hours.

Awesome story. On a related note, I would like to see THG do a piece on the WWII Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda. Edit: I have also noticed that THG has yet to cover the Tom Dooley case. That's right in THG's wheelhouse.

Another great survival story was U533 part of the Monsun Wolfpack , sank in the gulf of Oman by an RAF Blenheim bomber on the 16th Oct. 1943 that flew out of RAF Sharjah, only one man survived , ‘Matrosengefreiter’ Gunther Schmidt, he had escaped from the sub from a great depth (allegedly 60m) without an escape set, no life vest, and no means of support, he swam and trod water for 28hours solid, before he was picked up by HMIS Hiravati, not quite the 133 days Poon Lim’s record, but to survive a sinking sub, then swim and tred water for that period in waters that are notoriously high in sharks, I find it incredible, for his efforts, he was kept at his majesty’s pleasure as a POW for the remainder of the war, I’m sure a better fate than had befell his shipmates.

Early in my career as a Merchant Marine Deck Officer I had the privilege of working with a number of WW2 seaman whose ships had been lost. One AB on my watch had been sunk and much later picked up by a neutral vessel was Inturned in Spain. The government had paid his mother his life insurance and later tried unsuccessfully to recover it. Closer to home my grandfather and uncle survived the loss of the “Esso Boston “ sunk by U-130.

That is a hoot. "Good Morning" like it's nothing. The worst part is the idea you would float alone forever until death. Infinity.

Never cease to amaze me with the stories that you come up with. Another smash hit history guy!!

An excellent story about a man’s determination to survive. Wonderfully presented!

Everybody always talks about the big stories a big battles thank you for taking the time and energy to look into the the other stories that happened during that time of courage and perseverance

@wisconsinfarmer4742

Жыл бұрын

everybody?

Amazing that I hadn’t ever heard of this story. Thank and your son for doing these important pieces of history. Take care from Alaska

We were read this in school in 1985, I remember being pretty taken by the story. I didn't know he was still alive at the time. Amazing story, Poon Lim sure had a strong will. Thanks for the reminder.

What an amazing tale of survival. Such mental as well as physical toughness awe me.

Golly man... people's limitations are immeasurable in some instances, going beyond what any of us would think to survive ourselves. Like last night, I watched a video about the pilot who got sucked out from the window of his commercial airliner.....and he lived!!!!! It's an incredible story all together. It goes to show how extremely hard it is to measure the limits of what the human body can sometimes endure.

@TheHistoryGuyChannel

Жыл бұрын

Yes, Pilot Timothy Lancaster. That was BA flight 5390 in 1990. Quite a harrowing story,

Thank you for posting this. I had read a book about this years ago, but couldn't remember by whom, so I'm happy to be reacquainted with this amazing story of survival

@sandybarnes887

Жыл бұрын

Sole Survivor: A Story of Record Endurance at Sea by Ruthanne Lum McCunn? Edit: nevermind 😂 he mentioned it @4:19

With indelible spirits like his on this earth, it makes one proud to be counted among them. Being human is a thrill.

I read about this story as a child. What an amazing story.

Upon learning the story of Poon Lim, the skipper of the boat that saved him immediately offered the hand of his daughter in marriage. Poon Lim declined the offer

@fjb4932

Жыл бұрын

One tragedy in a lifetime is more than enough . . .

@hunterroberts9951

Жыл бұрын

They could have named their kid poon tang.

Truth, always stranger than fiction

The sacrifices of merchant seaman are typically forgotten and little rewarded. Little fanfare. No parades. No veterans benefits.

An amazing story! Thank you HG!

Thank You for sharing.

Great video, thank you!

One of your best, HG.

Thank you, Guy.

thank you, i enjoy everything you do.

Great story! Thanks!

Outstanding video and presentation.

Makes you think that our lives aren't so bad....

I appreciate you, thank you for making content.

What a great story-thanks!

As always great stuff.

Thank you, amazing story!

So much to learn from this man.

Thank you for telling this story. I love listening to you.

Thanks! Great story.

As always - nicely done.

As usual, thank you history guy. I love the learning here.❤

I first read about this story when I was merely 9 year-old, nearly 40 years ago! And I could only half believe this story. I always thought it was a novel “based on true story” only. Thank God for bringing this video to my attention! Thank YOU!

Loved this story!!

Another Great history story, Thank you

Uplifting end to my evening. Thank you

What a man! Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Great work Sir thank

Always great history on this channel and they all deserve to be remembered.

Now that's character building information. Thank You History Guy!

Awesome story thank you!!

WOW...That was a Very resourceful man!! 👍❤️👍

Thanks for another piece of history.

A fantastic story, beautifully told. Thank you.

What an amazing story.

Thank you

You never dissapoint HG, always on point.