成人X站

Editor’s Note: Dori Monson’s recent passing reminded us of his relationship with World War II veteran Phil Sulman. This is Dori’s entire tribute to Sulman, shortly after learning of his death in April 2022.

Original story posted April 8, 2022:

I learned a long time ago that I鈥檓 a very emotional person 鈥� and if you鈥檙e a listener to The Dori Monson Show, you know that, too.

Painfully, this emotion is part of today鈥檚 broadcast. That鈥檚 because I lost my hero.

Just minutes before today鈥檚 show, I learned that Phil Sulman, 97, 鈥� Seattle鈥檚 1943 all-city track champion, humble World War II U.S. Army veteran, and proud Bellevue father and husband 鈥� died yesterday.

Right now, I鈥檓 crying with sorrow. But I am also crying because I鈥檓 honored. I am so filled with joy that I got to know this great man. To be my age and finally meet your hero? What a blessing Phil Sulman has been for me.

When I was a little kid, I thought my heroes were ballplayers. Brooks Robinson was the first. And then I started covering sports for a living and I realized professional athletes weren鈥檛 different from anyone else. Often, they were somewhat flawed.

Only after I got married and became a dad did I realize who my real heroes were.

In many cases, they were you. Listeners who lived their lives with dignity and respect. People who worked their butts off to provide for their families. Those who raised their kids to have a decent sense of values. Or people who didn鈥檛 raise kids at all – but did good things for other people. Those are the real heroes.

These days, it鈥檚 tough to recognize heroes. And yet it has never been more important, especially when all this stuff is being thrown at us 鈥� when people and issues want to tear us down emotionally and spiritually.

That is when heroes are needed the most. When their humanity becomes our lifeline. It is when we discover people who take great risks. It is when we find those who experience great accomplishments.

Several years ago, right when we were at the depths of emotionally and spiritually 鈥渇latlining鈥� during COVID鈥檚 stay-at-home shutdown, his daughter reached out to me. You should meet my dad, she told me. Eighty years ago, he had a vision to save the world, she said. Literally. From Hitler. From tyranny.

鈥淗e has good stories,鈥� Phil鈥檚 daughter told me. 鈥淎nd he鈥檚 a very good storyteller.鈥�

She was right. That鈥檚 when, every six weeks or so, I began visiting with my hero and began sharing him with our show鈥檚 listeners. Today, I cry when I talk and write about Phil 鈥� but I鈥檓 not going to apologize for my tears.

That鈥檚 because his life made a difference. Not just to me, but to countless others.

Let me tell you a little bit about Phil Sulman.

Phil graduated from Seattle鈥檚 Garfield High School in 1943, where he was an all-city track champion. Right after graduating, Phil gets a letter. He鈥檚 been drafted. He鈥檚 been assigned to basic training with the U.S. Army. Within a few weeks, Phil was off to Europe 鈥� along with countless young men from allied forces. Their mission? To save the world. Think about that: one of the fastest kids in Seattle, vaguely aware of the horrors of war, but not afraid of the horrors of war. These young men and women were ready because there was a selflessness about them. They were ready to fight for the survival of mankind.

When I first met Phil, his mind was as sharp as ever. He told my listeners stories about the Battle of the Bulge 鈥� the single bloodiest battle fought by the U.S. in WWII. How he stripped off his military dog tags and buried them during a deadly Nazi onslaught because he was Jewish 鈥� only to later return to the site days later and retrieve it. Phil talked about surviving 195 straight days of shelling and shooting while on the front lines. He described liberating a Nazi concentration camp. He wept while recalling the camp survivors 鈥� weak from imprisonment – who died after their release.

In later conversations, I learned about how Phil found joy again while sidewalk gambling with pennies for doughnuts against a young Frank Sinatra. How he met a yet-to-be-discovered Dolly Parton. How he married a wonderful woman and raised a strong family.

The late great Jim Valvano, iconic basketball coach at North Carolina State University, once said this about living: Every day you should laugh a little and you should cry a little. That鈥檚 what experiencing human emotion is about. That鈥檚 living, Valvano said. Even the great sorrows in life should be embraced, he continued, because when you feel such intensity of emotions, that鈥檚 when you know you鈥檙e alive.

That is why I both grieve and celebrate the life of Phil Sulman 鈥� a leader in the Greatest Generation and a great American hero.

Listener tributes via the textline:

鈥淚 am so sorry for the loss of this precious soul. I hope his stories live on and keep getting passed around to generations. People will never know the things that his generation has endured. I am crying like a baby over listening to these audio clips again. Keep on sharing. 鈾ワ笍鈥�

鈥淲ithin 30 seconds of your opening comments, I said, `Rest In Peace Phil鈥� with a tear in my eye.鈥�

鈥淣oooooooooooooo, we have lost a great American. `Soldiers don’t died though; they go to heaven to regroup.鈥� He served his time in hell; may he now find peace in heaven. Thank you for letting us meet this great man.鈥�

鈥淪ounds like Phil was in the same places as my father. My father made a deal with God that if he survived the war, he would spend the rest of his life working for peace and he did that.鈥�

鈥淗e is a true hero. I have truly enjoyed listening to him. And yes, he is from the best generation ever. God bless you and him as well as his family.鈥�

鈥淚 had a similar experience around 2014. I was taking a lunch break at a Subway sandwich shop. It was the North end of the Sammamish Plateau across from the Safeway. As I was sitting to eat my sandwich there was an older gentleman with his beautiful wife sitting in another booth. As I looked at him I noticed the hat he was wearing. It read “USS HORNET”. I had to ask him if he sailed on the Hornet. He looked at me and said `Son, I was on the Hornet when it was sunk.鈥� It was October 1942. A wave of emotion poured over me. I could only imagine the hell he survived. I was literally speechless. I went to the counter and bought a $50 Subway card for him. When I gave it to him all I could get out was `thank you.鈥� Truly these men were the greatest generation.鈥�

鈥淥MG Dori! People around me in a traffic jam are wondering why I’m crying. Prayers for the family and thank you for bringing his story to all of us. His story, history.鈥�

鈥淒ori, I can’t thank you enough for sharing Phil with all of us!!! He was a gem!!! What a Blessing!!! God Bless Phil & his family!!鈥�

鈥淭hank you for bringing Phil into all of our lives. He truly was a hero in so many ways. I made sure I was listening when you had him on your show because I appreciated his life experience and the fact that he was vulnerable when sharing his emotions. As we lose more people like Phil we truly are losing a great generation. Godspeed to him and prayers to, and for, his family and friends.鈥�

鈥淭hank you Dori, for sharing Phil’s story. He has enriched my life. Heaven is welcoming home a true gem of a human. A hero for sure.鈥�

鈥淭he segment about Phil was heartbreaking. I enjoyed his story about Dolly Parton a few weeks ago. I feel as if I too lost a friend. Perfect homage. I . . . had to pull over to listen to it all. Thank you for sharing and Godspeed Mr. Sulman. Be at rest with your friends.鈥�

鈥淭hank you for sharing that with us, Dori. I am not a person who wears my heart on my sleeve, but that made me tear up, hearing about his encountering a concentration camp. God bless the greatest generation, and the lifetime of sacrifice they made in WWII and the decades after for the survivors. Thank you again, and God bless you for sharing with us.鈥�

鈥淚’m so sorry for the loss. Even though we didn’t know Phil like you did we grew a connection and love for him just as you did. He was such a great person and beautiful soul. I know I looked forward to hearing Phil’s interviews each segment he was on the show. Just the sincerity in his voice and the love and pain in his voice put you in his shoes when he would tell a story. My heart is with Phil and his family as they grieve through this loss of SUCH a great man, soldier and friend to many many people he didn’t even get the chance to meet.鈥�

鈥淧hil took me with him with his wonderful ability to tell his heroic (unbeknown to him) life. He was a true hero and a gentleman. I will miss his voice very much.鈥�