A small-town teenager leaves high school to join the Marines and soon finds himself in the brutal island-hopping campaign of the Pacific during World War II. He returns home physically unharmed. The scars of war, however, run much deeper.
In this episode of the Ordinary Heroes Podcast we hear the story of one of the million of soldiers who lived through the war then fought another to return to a normal life after coming home.
Join Ron Eckberg, host of the ORDINARY HEROES PODCAST, in episode 8, the ORDINARY HEROES story of Gordon Larsen.
Why the Ordinary Heroes Project?
The Ordinary Heroes Project is the result of a promise I made to my father over a decade after he passed away.
A front-lines combat infantryman in Europe during the last year of World War II my father told me numerous times in his final years to remind his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and others to follow that “he was a soldier”. In spite of all he had done in his 84 years, those seven months on the “line” defined him.
On the plane home from visiting the D-Day beaches of France in 2018, I stared out the window and made a promise to my father. I promised him I would use whatever gifts, talents and abilities I might have been given to share my father’s story, the story of his generation—the “Greatest Generation”—and what they did in that extraordinary season of time to save the world from the grip of evil.
It’s taken a few years to come together but here it is; the Ordinary Heroes Project. My intention is simply to help people understand the triumph and the suffering of the times, the joys and heartaches that touched every community in America and around the world.
More than that, however, I want my audience to know that what was done—those incredible deeds of courage and sacrifice—was not done by a generation of super-humans. They were done by young men and women thrown into an extraordinary time and asked to do an extraordinary task.
And they did it, these Ordinary Heroes.
An Ordinary Hero
Hero: The Song
Later in life I began to hear bits and pieces about the war. I would come to know in time that Dad had indeed fought in World War II, that he had been a soldier. He didnt offer much information so whatever I knew I learned from my mother or simply deduced from the contents of the wooden army trunk that sat in the corner.
As I grew older I would learn more and more. Eventually Dad even started to tell me about some of his experiences. He didnt tell me much because his philosophy was always, If you talk about it, youre bragging. And anyone who knew my Dad knows he was no bragger.
Somewhere along the years I learned about that night, March 11, 1944. On a reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines Dads patrol came under enemy fire. One of his best friends, Joseph Panamas, was hit by machine gun fire and critically wounded. Dad and a second friend, James Renfro, carried the dying Panamas back to American lines. Panamas died 10 minutes after being carried to safety but for their heroic efforts, Dad and Renfro were awarded Bronze Stars.
As a child I believed my Dad to be a hero. The Bronze Star and the stories of that night and others like it only confirmed what my heart and mind already knew.
This page is dedicated to my Dad and to James Renfro and Joseph Panamas and the others men who fought alongside my dad and even died in the process. It is a modest attempt at keeping their memory and the memory of what they did, alive for all to know, understand, and appreciate.
Dad, proudly in uniform
Since you've opened this page you are probably listening right now to Hero. Jonathan and I hope you enjoy it but, more than that, we hope it inspires you to remember the wonderful people who sacrificed so much for us. If you like it, go ahead and download it as our gift to you and a livingmemorial to my Dad, the men of the 324th Infantry Regiment, and all the wonderful men and women who fought to preserve our freedom.
God Bless you all,
Ron Eckberg
Hero
Words and music by Jonathan David Eckberg
Copyright 2007 JDE Music
You can almost see his face
Set with just a trace
Knowing not what lies along his tale
Still he ran to add his name
When the first chance he had came
And proudly marched his way on down that trail
Ore the water he would cross
With an innocence soon lost
Hed witness more than any eye should see
But when that moment did arrive
All the courage penned inside
Was bursting forth to break the hero free
He said, I know you dont understand,
I did no more than any other man.
He said, I know you cant understand,
I did no more than any other man
From the farm he called his home
To this soil not his own
He made his way through the countryside of war
When duty called to choice
He answered strong in voice
With endeavors that could never ask for more
He said, I know you dont understand,
I did no more than any other man.
He said, I know you cant understand,
I did no more than any other man
The years they swiftly fade
With a family and a trade
Hed never breathe a word about that day
But thats the way it goes
With heroes, I suppose
They never claim the valor they display
He said, I know you dont understand,
I did no more than any other man.
He said, I know you cant understand,
I did no more than any other man
But you're not any other man.
Produced and recorded by Jonathan David Eckberg, vocal by Ron Eckberg