Episode Transcript
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On the night of May 12th, 1945, during World War Two,
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a soldier lay half dead inside a trench in a pool of his own blood.
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He lost both his right hand and his right eye, among numerous other injuries.
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Not to mention his entire squad around him was also either already dead
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or dying as well. But as the sounds and footsteps of dozens of enemy soldiers
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quickly approached the severely wounded man's position.
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Although an overwhelming majority of people in his shoes would have just
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been completely paralyzed by the pain and given up, this man simply refused to.
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In his mind, he wasn't just some ordinary soldier.
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He was a Gurkha. And he was about to show them what exactly a Gurkha could do.
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Welcome back, guys. My name is Andy Chang, and this is it in stores
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towards the end of April, 1945, a 27 year old Gurkha rifle man named Lucky Gurung
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set off with his unit the eighth Gurkha rifles, to intercept a retreating force
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of Japanese soldiers in the town of Tung off Burma.
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Now, at the time, many parts of Burma were still firmly under Japanese occupation,
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since the country as a whole was located in an extremely strategically beneficial area.
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Over the past couple of years, Britain and Japan had been relentlessly
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and continuously fighting over Burmese territory, with countless casualties on both sides.
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Despite this horrific bloodshed, however, both armies refused to give up
1:31
and were desperately trying to hold on to the position in some especially critical regions.
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Every single small inch of territory was viciously fought over as a result,
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when that group of Japanese soldiers were finally trying to retreat back to the town of Tongo, Lockman Gurung
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and the eighth Gurkha rifles were immediately sent out to eliminate them once and for all
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before they could reunite with reinforcements.
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On that fateful night, May 12th, 1945, Lucky Mong and the two other Gurkhas
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and his unit were tasked with digging and manning a lookout trench at the very front of his platoon.
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But although everyone had just kind of assumed that they would be able
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to easily surround and overwhelm what they saw to be this sparse group
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of completely demoralized and exhausted Japanese soldiers,
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they had no way of anticipating what was in store for them.
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At around 1:20 a.m. that night, a lucky man was sleeping when he was suddenly jolted awake
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by one of his two comrades who was on lookout.
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This riflemen frantically informed him that the Japanese soldiers had launched a massive surprise attack on them
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and that he needed to get up now or they were all dead.
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Turns out, although a lucky man in the eighth Gurkha
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rifles had anticipated them surrounding the retreating Japanese soldiers,
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it's a view that underestimated the size of the enemy army.
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And suddenly they were now the ones being surrounded by more than 200
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enemy combatants since their trench was the very first line of defense against the Japanese soldiers
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before they would reach the rest of the eighth Gurkha rifles,
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who would be even more caught off guard and completely outnumbered.
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Lucky man and his comrades knew that they needed to try and take out
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as many of the enemy as they could to protect their fellow Gurkhas.
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And to minimize the number of casualties in their entire unit.
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A Japanese victory at that point would have been a huge setback for the British, a setback that they just couldn't afford.
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So lucky man and his comrades mentally prepare themselves for a brutal fight
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until the very end. But as they each begin to reach for their bolt action rifles, a life
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grenade suddenly landed into their trench right next to them.
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It was a split second decision. Without hesitation, Lukman immediately lunged towards the grenade, grabbed it
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and flung it back out towards the Japanese.
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He had no idea how long the Fuze had already been lit for,
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whether the grenade would have exploded in his own hand and killed him instantly.
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But still, even though he could have taken the relatively safer path of just diving out of the way large men
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chose to put his life on the line for his comrades, and extremely luckily,
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he just managed to send the grenade flying away before it exploded
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very close to them. But not actually hurting any of them.
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However, before any of the three Gurkhas could even process what had just happened,
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a second grenade suddenly landed inside the trench.
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Once again, Lukman bravely pounced on it and was just able to throw it out
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before it exploded. But when a third grenade then landed into the trench,
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his luck finally ran out, just as the grenade was leaving.
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Lucky months, fingers. It ignited right next to his hit.
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The explosion was devastating.
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Since it had happened so close to Lucky Man and immediately blew off his right
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hand, shattered his arm, nearly took off the right side of his face,
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and also sent deadly shrapnel flying into his body and his legs.
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Even his comrades who weren't nearly as close to the explosion as he was,
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were either severely wounded or instantly killed on the spot.
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As a lucky man, lay there on the ground, missing an eye and a hand shell shocked
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and an unimaginable pain.
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A pool of his own blood started forming underneath him, pouring out of his numerous wounds.
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But although anyone else in his position just wouldn't have been able to even move,
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much less drag themselves up and just keep on fighting.
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Lucky man Goodrum wasn't just anyone.
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Still, to this very day, the Google riflemen from Nepal are widely
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regarded as one of the most dangerous elite groups of warriors around the world.
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Although Gurkhas are often extremely humble and kind in general in battle,
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they are widely feared and respected for their shocking viciousness
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and unwavering courage. They've been described as being even more deadly than American Navy SEALs
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and our new legendary status in terms of their feats and accomplishments.
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All of which is to say that Gurkhas don't give up easily, if ever.
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Although Lucky Man was in absolutely no stage to keep on fighting,
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somehow he managed to muster up the unimaginable strength
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to sit up and grab his kukri knife, the signature weapon of the Gurkhas.
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Barely even fully conscious by this point. He jam the knife point first into the ground in front of him
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before roaring into the darkness. No one will pass here today.
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Now come and fight a Gurkha as Japanese soldier.
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After Japanese soldier approached them, lock him up methodically and precisely,
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sought each of them one by one, using his bolt action rifle, even
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while only having one hand and one eye since he was only four feet 11 inches.
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He cleverly used his size to his advantage, laying down in the transfer.
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No one could see him and then popping out and quickly gunning down enemies
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whenever they got too close before they could even react with the other two
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Gurkhas at his trench, either already dead or dying
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like him on knew that it was on him to take on the incoming
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Japanese army and to prevent them from massacring his entire unit.
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As such, despite experiencing excruciating levels of pain
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and not even being able to see or just think properly, like him,
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or just gritted teeth and forced himself to just keep on fighting
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for one more minute. And then another.
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And then another. Continuing to drop enemy soldier after enemy soldiers for four entire hours
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like him on steroids position inside his friends and did this a one man army.
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He would later say I had to fight because there was no other way.
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I felt I was going to die anyways, so I might as well have died standing on my feet.
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All I knew was that I had to go on and hold them back.
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By the time the battle was finally over and the Japanese were forced to retreat,
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to regroup. Out of the 87 enemy soldiers dead on the ground,
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31 of them lay in front of Lockman alone.
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The other riflemen in his unit were so inspired by his spirit and his courage
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that although they were still complete surrounded
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and outnumbered by Japanese forces for the next three days,
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they were able to hold off and defeat every single attack that the Japanese tried launching at them.
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As a result, against all odds, a good number of the eighth Gurkha
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rifles were able to make it back to friendly territory with their lives,
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but had lucky might not severely weakened the first Japanese surprise attack.
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It was very likely that the entirety of his unit
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would have been completely overwhelmed and killed
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and their territory would have been lost. Miraculously, despite his horrific wounds.
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Lucky man Gurung himself actually ended up surviving
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as well, despite having lost both an eye and an arm.
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However, incredibly, he refused to be sent back home
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and insisted that he be allowed to continue fighting with his unit.
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As a result, even though World War Two officially came to an end in September
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of that year, Lockdown continued serving with the Gurkhas
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for two more years before finally retiring in 1947.
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After the war, he was awarded Britain's rarest and most prestigious
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decoration, the Victoria Cross, for his actions in Tongo.
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Even in old age, like him on never lost his fighting spirit and resilience.
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In 2008, when Gurkha soldiers were told
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that they weren't allowed to live in Britain, even though they had fought and risk their lives under Britain and help them
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win the war. Lockman, who was 91 at the time, dragged himself all the way to the British
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High Court, covered in his medals and demanded that the law be repealed.
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In the end, his protest was accessible.
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Lucky man Gurung passed away at the age of 92 in 2010.
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