Taken from JRE #1894 w/Suzanne Santo:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6fyUVwkrIIFiUPY4jsF3VD?si=a9a43630690741b8

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.

And lately I've been so aware of my lineage, like my family tree, and my parents, my grandparents, my great-grandparents, and me, and then my stepdaughter.

And if we have more kids, where I sit in this line of generational personalities and habits and where I see the mistakes and where I wanna make corrections.

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 because I if I whatever I can do I want to give the best things to my children you know yeah You're trying to be a good person.

But I come from this really long line of hustlers.

My grandfather was a bookie and a prisoner of war for 2 years in World War II.

And he was a waist gunner, 1 of the most dangerous jobs you could have.

And he got captured and he survived an 82-day death march and made it back home to Cleveland.

And he married my grandmother, who was an excellent cook, and all the money he had from being a bookie, they built 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.

So he parachuted out and then he gets captured.

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.

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 in being a prisoner of war.

And I mean, it was, I mean, I was bawling.

It's like, makes me emotional just talking about it.

Like, he had finally had this moment where he felt like it was okay to tell everybody.

And it was like very polite and, and sanitized.

And, 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 1 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 and I like Actually shortly before he died I went to visit him and 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 any like look me in the eye And he was like you do not know filth.

And just being, like, if you stopped, they killed you.

And I remember this old man, because my parents used to send us to Florida, like in the summers where my grandparents lived.

And we'd spend like 2, 3 weeks with them.

And it was awesome, but you know, grandpa was usually watching The Sopranos with his headphones on, like doing his own thing.

But his old friend was all, I remember, I think it was, I don't want to butcher this, but I think it was his friend, Mr.

And they were friends till their very old age and you know they had this experience together this horrible experience 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 have a life after that.

And then I think about somebody posting their fucking video about working too long at Starbucks.


Speaker 0: The Jerogan 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 my parents, my grandparents, my great-grandparents, and me, and then my stepdaughter.

And if we have more kids, where I sit in this line of generational personalities and habits and where I see the mistakes and where I wanna 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 because I if I whatever I can do I want to give the best things to my children you know 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 2 years in World War II. He was shot down from an airplane. And he was a waist gunner, 1 of the most dangerous jobs you could have. And he got captured and he survived an 82-day death march and made it back home to Cleveland. And he married my grandmother, who was an excellent cook, and all the money he had from being a bookie, they built 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 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 1 day when I was in L.A. 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 in being a prisoner of war. And I mean, it was, I mean, I was bawling. It's like, makes me emotional just talking about it. Like, he had finally had this moment where he felt like it was okay to tell everybody.

And it was like very polite and, and sanitized. And, 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 1 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 and I like Actually shortly before he died I went to visit him and 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 any like look 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 1 of his friends, he carried him. And I remember this old man, because my parents used to send us to Florida, like in the summers where my grandparents lived. And we'd spend like 2, 3 weeks with them. And it was awesome, but you know, grandpa was usually watching The Sopranos with his headphones on, like doing his own thing.

But you know, They were so Italian. But his old friend was all, I remember, I think it was, I don't want to butcher this, but I think it was his friend, Mr. Dragonetti. And they were friends till their very old age and you know they had this experience together this horrible experience 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 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 gonna be fine. You know?

See all PowerfulJRE transcripts on Youtube

Suzanne Santo Shares Her Grandfather's Story of Being a WWII POW