Join us on Operation Insight as we host Private First Class Walter "Wally" Mayer!

As the sun sets this evening, Jewish people across the globe will begin celebrating Hanukkah. Despite its status as a "minor" holiday on the Jewish calendar, it has become one of the most widely recognized Jewish traditions. This is likely due to the use of the Menorah and the lighting of its eight candles. The act of lighting a candle each night during the dead of winter represents the miraculous flame that remained lit in a Jewish temple for eight straight days despite the shortage of oil.

Eight years after our guest Walter "Wally" Mayer was born into a German-Jewish family, an evil, tyrannical man would complete his usurpation of power and declare that der Vaterland had become das Dritte Reich...the Third Reich. The plight of Nazism would soon cascade upon neighboring countries, and a second World War would ensue. Miraculously, Wally and his family were about to escape before becoming victims of the Shoah...the Holocaust. As the family fled by train, Wally's father, a World War I veteran, tossed his military medals out the window and began to cry. Wally has never forgotten what his father said next: "We're never coming back."

The Mayer family eventually immigrated to the United States and found their way to St. Louis, Missouri. Shortly after finishing school, Wally was drafted into the Army and served in both Hawaii and the Pacific Theater during World War II. To put it lightly, Wally has experienced his fair share of hardships, and then some, but it is with humility, humor, and tremendous honesty that he reflects back on his life. We present this episode in honor of the millions of innocent lives lost during the Holocaust. We honor the memory of the Jewish men, women, and children forced into concentration camps and forced to stare death in the face. We are inspired by the numerous anecdotes of Jewish prisoners risking their lives to secretly celebrate Hanukkah. They courageously held to their faith and demonstrated that, despite the unimaginable darkness that surrounded them, their spirit and Jewish identity could not be extinguished.

(00:00) Disclaimer

(01:22) Introduction

(31:51) Secrets & Sun in Hawaii

(35:07) Entering the Pacific Theater

(39:28) Post-WWII

(48:29) Antisemitism

(49:33) Family

(51:38) Sharing Laughs

(53:44) Reflecting & Imparting Wisdom

(59:11) Closing