I really enjoy meeting with elderly citizens who can remember local events of historic significance and always make an effort to ask them where they were during critical national or international turning points in history.  But in the case of the man below, I’m not sure I could top his story. At the time this TV show was filmed in 1956, Mr. Samuel J. Seymour (1860-1856) had already lived through the Civil War, the financial depressions of the late 1800s, the Spanish American War, the invention of the automobile, the invention of flight, WWI (he was in his 50s when that happened), the jazz era, the Great Depression, WWII, the nuclear era, the beginning Korean War and McCarthyism. This guy had seen it all!

Although the contestants figured out his story pretty quickly, the story of his traveling to the show and his determination to tell his story are remarkable. Encounters with people who witnessed history like this are examples of what drives me to continue to take the time to chat with WWII veterans when I encounter them. With so few left, it’s important to just… talk to people. Mr. Seymour passed away only 63 days after his filming of the episode shown below. Enjoy.