IN 1945, THE FAMOUS WRITER F. SCOTT FITZGERALD WROTE: "SHOW ME A HERO AND I’LL WRITE YOU A TRAGEDY."

WHICH MAKES US PONDER WHETHER OR NOT HIS FAMOUS QUOTE WAS INSPIRED BY A REAL NAVAL HERO IN 1945, CAPTAIN CHARLES BUTLER MCVAY III, WHOSE SHIP, THE USS INDIANAPOLIS, DELIVERED THE COMPONENTS OF THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMB WHICH EFFECTIVELY ENDED WORLD WAR II. THE TRAGEDY THAT ENSUED WHEN THE INDIANAPOLIS WAS SUNK, WITH THE LOSS OF 879 SAILORS AND MARINES AND THE SUBSEQUENT COURTS MARTIAL OF CAPTAIN McVAY, IS ONE OF HISTORY’S MILITARY MYSTERIES THAT PREVAILS TO THIS DAY.

WE DEDICATE THIS EPISODE TO A BRYCE MATTESON OF HAVEN, KANSAS. BRYCE WAS A FORMER JOURNALIST WHO NEVER FORGOT THE IMPACT OF THE LINKAGE BETWEEN HEROES AND TRAGEDIES. A LIFE LONG BEST FRIEND, BRYCE PASSED AWAY JUST BEFORE EASTER 2021.

HE WAS A HERO IN MANY, MANY WAYS AND HIS PASSING IS A TRAGEDY FOR MANY, MANY PEOPLE WHO KNEW AND LOVED HIM.