Who Were the REAL Boys in the Boat? (and what happened after the Olympics)

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Want to learn how to explore your own family tree? Check out this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKaxp3WOrr54gM0

[@deenababie]

I can say that BigJim McMillin ended up spending his winters on the island of Kauai at the Wailua Bay View condos. We met him, heard his story and watched as tears fell down his face. I asked him where he kept his medal,expecting it to be in a special room, but to our surprise, he pulled out a little red velvet bag from his front pocket. We all got to hold it and take photos. My jaw was on the floor from all of it. This man invited four of us to come in and have snacks and visit with him on this day in March of 2001. His daughter called while we were there. His nurse told her he was entertaining two young couples and she said don’t interrupt his visit and let him have fun and to have him call back to her later. I was BLESSED to meet this amazing kind man and to hear his story before it was ever a book or movie. I am also blessed to have the photos from that day and to hold such a medal in my hands. I’m still in awe of him. ♥️

[@Fazzamania]

Wow! What a privilege.

[@lawrencelewkow152]

Joe Rantz’s story in the book is one of the most heroic true stories I have ever read. What he overcame to help row that team to a gold medal is truly inspiring!

[@jackiblair7932]

If you haven’t read this book, The Boys in the Boat, you are missing magnificent, courageous group of young men. Thank you for your input. It was fun to hear about them again.

[@nicolad8822]

What’s courageous about rowing?

[@lisabaginski9155]

That’s like saying what courageous about running or living. It’s the challenges in real life that we overcome to accomplish a goal, sweetie.

[@noodengr3three825]

Avid reader here. The Boys in the Boat is one of the best written books I have ever read. Very inspiring

[@noodengr3three825]

​@@nicolad8822rowing is one of the most physically demanding sports. Calories burned in a race are staggering

[@patriciaerickson7092]

@@nicolad8822Rowing, by itself, is not courageous. The story of these young men and the obstacles they overcame to reach, and ultimately win, at the 1936 Olympics is a premier example of courage and fortitude.

[@AppliedGenealogyInstitute]

Amy, what a great video! Thanks....I walked out of the movie and said to met husband, "I don't know why they didn't tell us what happened to them!" Count on a genealogist to answer that question!

[@Karen-p9t5g]

This book should be a must read book in every school in the USA and Canada. It represents what people went thru and what people can accomplish.

[@rjhyden]

I know there are tough, resilient people in our countries now, but I don't think there are enough of them to fill the shoes of people like Joe Rantz and the Depression Era young people of that time. That type of time will happen again. Probably sooner than later.

[@deborahmartyn97]

Bobby Moch was my husband's family lawyer. My hubby owns a George Pocock single rowing shell; so light, delicate and Fine!.Thanks for this , i will pass some of these histories on to my guy to ask hime what he remembers.

[@theseeingeye454]

Neither Ms. Johnson nor Mr. Clooney the director of the film thought to mention that the coxswain Mr. Mock was Jewish.. An interesting fact that could have heightened the drama that the one calling the shots on the boat was on Hitlers undesirable list.

[@MerryChristineBodywear]

My Grandpa Joe did not work for an oil company. He was a Chemical engineer at Boeing.

[@ljlou5746]

Hi Merry. You must be so proud of your grandpa Joe. I saw the movie last night. His character and fortitude were so inspiring to so many. All the best to you. Linda

[@patroberts5449]

The book was so awesome when I read it several years ago I had hoped it would become a movie, we need those stories to show what true sacrifice, hard work, determination and overcoming struggles are in the DNA of our great country. Glad you made this video

[@noodengr3three825]

I read it in 2013 and thought this would be an excellent movie. I reread the book after seeing the movie

[@chrisbrimhall1613]

Best sports documentary book I ever read….way better than the new movie

[@briesullivan883]

My grandpa knew the coach! He and his dad used to hangout at the boat house on weekends and go to the local races.

[@chrismoule7242]

Love this - thank you. Just see how much extra it is possible to get out by making sure that every possible record is found and examined closely.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

I’m glad you enjoyed it!

[@lolitajellyman1956]

Just finished the book, loved it, can’t wait to see the movie

[@johnluck1923]

Thanks for the back story, really enjoyed the movie.

[@davidlincolnbrooks]

Brava, Amy. Thanks for this!

[@robertjohnson4784]

I recently watched the movie and thoroughly enjoyed it and to top it off you're behind the scenes information and commentary was a added bonus thank you

[@MarylynnStrickland]

Thank you, Amy, for the after story on the boys. I would like to add a little before information for Herbert Roger Morris. I find it interesting that he went into the dredging business. His grandfather, John Morris, was one of the fatalities in the Franklin Mine Fire of August 24, 1894. I have done a little (very little) research on John Morris, mainly because I was looking for the location of the community of Cedar Mountain where he resided with his family and where he was buried.

[@pixter32]

This was such awesome information! Bravo to your skills and thanks for sharing!

[@mimiwhite1963]

I have read it twice. Wonderful book

[@leoniep.295]

This is very interesting and really 'fleshes' out the background of these men.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Thank you!

[@davidmccool2458]

Great book, movie was very well done.

[@DanaLeeds]

I haven't watched the movie, but loved the book! Thanks for sharing more of their stories.

[@jeanlovephoto7572]

J'ai regardé le film et je suis heureux de voir la suite de leur vie. Ayant fait de l'aviron, je me suis retrouvé des années en arrière. Quand on finit une course on est tétanisés au point de ne plus pouvoir se lever. Fantastics boys!!!.

[@danconnors8961]

thanks so much for the history of the team. I did wonder how many had served in the military for WWII. Interesting too that the families were small in number, I wonder if that was the social upheaval from the depression and impending war.

[@steveraymond6169]

Thank you for your research on these men. I just watched the film and wanted to know what happened to all of them. Great post, many thanks.

[@MrCabimero]

The book outshines the movie.

[@nthoj6510]

Thank you! What a wonderful summary of the boys on the boat!!! Great research skills too

[@hoagland1943]

Bobby Moch passed away on 1/18/2005 at the age of 90

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Yes, I looked at the wrong thing in my notes. Unfortunately KZbin won’t let you make an edit like that after a video is published.

[@ritchsmith2390]

interesting. almost all of this is in the book but the genealogy research confirms and expands

[@robertward553]

Great book, there was a book mobile come to my grandsons school and was giving away books. He went into the truck and grabbed two. Not long after we had a wind storm in our small town 50 miles from Seattle. We grabbed flashlights and he gave me "The Boys in the Boat".

[@wwrussell180]

Excellent video! Very well done!

[@kirklandphil]

Well done. Thanks for the information on the Boys. Great movie.

[@mich8261]

Thank you for doing this research

[@bentlyist]

Wait, where did you get that Joe Rantz went on to work in the oil industry? I had read that he worked for Boeing for his whole career. Did I have that wrong?

[@nicolad8822]

His 1940 Draft card had him working at the Union Oil Plant Oleum, Contra Costa Co, California. As with censuses, just a snapshot in time. He was with Boeing by 1950.

[@bentlyist]

@@nicolad8822 Thank you; that clarifies it for me. 👍

[@charlemagnesclock]

Joe did indeed become a chemical engineer, and he may have done some work in the oil industry for a while, but he put in over 30 years with Boeing.

[@nicolad8822]

Interesting family dynamic. Joe Rantz’s 15 years older brother Frederick married Thelma La Follette in 1919, 2 years later his father married her twin sister Thula.

[@jenh9361]

That's creepy...in an odd way! The step demon was a real piece of work!! Seem like with twins, there is a nice one and an evil one... thula was definitely the evil step mom!

[@comealongcomealong4480]

@nicolad8822 The fifteen year age gap between Frederick and Joe Rantz raises questions about any other pregnancies between the two boys. Their mother was around seventeen years old when Frederick was born. I wonder whether she experienced miscarriages, still births, or early infant mortality. Or perhaps it was too dangerous medically for her to bear another child. But Joe was born anyway. /I'd also like to ask why Frederick did not offer a home and care to Joe when he was left alone at age fourteen. Frederick was around twenty nine then. Perhaps noone told him?

[@nicolad8822]

⁠@@comealongcomealong4480He’d have left home by then, married at 20. He was a Science teacher seems to have had a good life. Joe did name one of his sons Alex.

[@comealongcomealong4480]

@@nicolad8822 Thanks. So, unlike Joe, Frederick had the advantage and stability of a mother in his formative years. He was around nineteen when she died.

[@VonL]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@nicolad8822 I just recently completed a deep dive on U Tube of available videos about the Book & film topic. One video reported that Al Ulbrickson was supposedly scouting the local High School for prospects. He observed Joe and asked someone who he was, the person responded that the kid was his brother Joe. There’s parts of Joe’s story before UW that despite compelling don’t make sense.

[@mozfonky]

thank you, i wondered about all this ever since i saw the docu.

[@infotime9151]

Excellent presentation, thank you for your effort. I found this interesting and informative.

[@jackcraker5486]

Read the book. Amazing story.

[@evamarierieck]

Thank you for doing this! It was a beautiful movie and I wondered about the lives of the characters.

[@davidlj53]

Thank you,read the book, it was a great read! Love knowing a little more a boy each of the guys.

[@cchaffincc]

The Boys in the Boat is one of my favorite books. The movie didn’t do it justice.

[@ricksmith4736]

Best book I have read in a while

[@frostylilfrog]

Bobby moch actually passed away in 2005. he was 90.

[@nicolad8822]

Another interesting thing. Joe’s parents were married by telephone 30 January 1899, Fred was born a few days later.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

I saw that! There were so many things I found about Joe and his parents, but I wanted to focus on what happened to everyone after the Olympics.

[@jenh9361]

Interesting information... Joe Rantz certainly overcame a smorgasbord of trials throughout his lifetime... But, in the end, Joe got the girl AND the engineering degree that he worked so darn hard to get!!! Congratulations, Joe, you were the quentisential Renaissance man! They all were, really...

[@seanwhitehall4652]

Good job on the research

[@kimmileusnic3249]

Thank you for this video. I just learned about them and was wondering what happened to them.

[@thingme9941]

Well done!

[@rogerserafin]

Thank you so much for this.

[@PIXELvoiz]

Camer here after watching the movie thanks for info.

[@Vincentschneider007]

Saw the movie, and with your presentation here will definitely buy and read the book. Great work on your part Amy. Thank you.

[@noodengr3three825]

Am excellent book I have now read it twice

[@willhicks2259]

The book should ❤be required reading for our " entitled " youth of today.

[@marycurry8307]

Not all youth are entitled but all, young and old, could benefit from this story.

[@jimmoore8951]

Just gifted it to my grandson after we watched the movie together…. Love for him to be inspired from our Seattle heritage.

[@davidcaruso3045]

Thank you for doing this.

[@davemilito1280]

Thank you.

[@loredana8716]

Bobby Moch didn’t die in 1991 but in 2005, per Wikipedia

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Good catch! I was looking at something else when I pulled those notes together.

[@loredana8716]

@@AmyJohnsonCrow I know because he was my lawyer for a while. Great guy!

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

@loredana8716 Very cool!

[@Fatblue246]

was definitely more common to go by a middle name back then. my grandfather is called “bob” short for “robert” but his first name is george. my parents also continued this naming convention with me though unfortunately it has aged quite poorly due to how records are much more stringent in the modern times in America and with how uncommon the convention has become

[@noodengr3three825]

Of my mom and her siblings born 1916 to 1937 , 3 of the 5 went by their middle names and mom went by both first and middle

[@johnpergiel9821]

Thank you!

[@nhhunter8705]

Bobby Moch passed away in 2005 not 1991!!

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Yes, I made a mistake on that. I looked at the wrong thing in my notes.

[@robcorn6049]

Bob Moch is my great uncle. He died in 2005 LOL. You killed him in 1991!

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

As I mentioned to another person who commented on that, I made a mistake on that. I was looking at something else in my notes when I did that part of the video. My apologies for that!

[@dinocollins720]

thank you!

[@SamaiyaMiller-lol]

I loved the movie it was so good ❤❤❤

[@brianlaurabradow1417]

Great book-- but I would argue that they WERE expected to medal given what Al Ulbrickson said leading up to the Olympics.

[@keithhoward6123]

Great movie

[@MostynARC]

The video starts saying "the Americans were not expected to medal let alone win". This is not true. The USA won the eights title at every Olympics from 1920 to 1956. Meaning the previous 4 titles had been won by the USA. The Washington crew did the fastest time in the semi-finals in Berlin. They were absolutely expected to win.

[@danielwiniger6284]

I love that Moch's Dad was Swiss. Not I am biased as a Swiss just saying.

[@SarahAnderson-cv6vu]

I can't find any information about Don Humes degree from the University of Washington. Did he not graduate??

[@Red__Penguin]

I have a family reunion coming up! There will be about 40 of us and I am going to ask some questions to the oldest and 2nd oldest generations. What type of questions should I ask? The eldest will be 98 and the youngest at 32

[@jimmoore8951]

My mom was a Seattle-area contemporary of the Boys in the Boat and lived to 100… I would’ve loved to listen to her memories of that era if I had known this story while she was alive. Take advantage of the opportunity while you can

[@paulbrasier372]

Great not good great book to read. Was given as a Christmas gift and had never heard of the boys. Wow what a story.

[@maewebster9377]

Interesting how when people post things such as this, people come out of the woodwork with, “My so and so worked with, went to school with, lived next door, stepped on my foot, blah blah”.

[@rekiyrawilliams498]

😂😂😂 so what!!! People have. Memories cruella! Let them live why don’t you. Don’t be a Scrooge.

[@kaitai5900]

Lots of engineering degrees. Intelligent young men, all.

[@sosofrog]

What language should be used for entering names of family members? What if their names were changed due to immigration to another country?

[@KristenK78]

I don’t know what is considered standard, but I will generally use the birth or earliest available record for the primary name. Any other variations, nicknames, etc I will put as “also known as” or similar notation. Example: Some of my mom’s relatives were born on the Hungarian/Austrian border. Most of them have Hungarian or Germanic names on their civil birth records. Some have the same name on Roman Catholic Church records; others have a Latinized form there. (Ferencz > Franciscus) Later, some immigrated to the United States; the same man would change his name to Frank in the US. I will generally use the vernacular version (Ferencz) as the primary name; this is how he likely was addressed in everyday terms. I would add Franciscus as an AKA or alternate name, in case there are other church records that use it. I would also add Frank as an AKA/alternative name, representative of how US records would refer to him.

[@sosofrog]

@@KristenK78 thanks a lot

[@jillackerman6047]

Inspiring story, and I look forward to the movie. However, since when has the word "medal" become a verb? I know they use it in all these competitions, but I'm so sad about the bastardization of the English language.

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

Your comment made me curious. According to Merriam-Webster, the first known use of “medal” as a verb was in 1979.

[@jillackerman6047]

Like most Canadians, I probably use Oxford, which acknowledges its popularity in the US as a verb. Many sportscasters in particular use it during the Olympics, but I just don't like it. I see it as right up there with "pre plan" LOL!@@AmyJohnsonCrow

[@bob456fk6]

In Texas we've used it as a verb for a long time. There are some similar words with different meanings: meddle and mettle.

[@SpencerReadsEverything]

I just finished this book in celebration of the Olympics. Thank you for your review! I appreciated your thoughts. Here is my own review of the book: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zn_WqISpf8yUmJI

[@mozfonky]

Joe had to have some real mental strength to overcome what he did. It would be easy to use that background to be a common drunk.

[@Searchforthestars]

Some of your facts are incorrect. Robert Moch died in 2000. He graduated from Harvard. I worked at the same law firm in the ‘90s.

[@wealthywithin222]

Did the crew ever earn any money????? Did they win cash?

[@nicolad8822]

To be in the Olympics you had to be an amateur, no prize money. Of course many “amateurs” ended up in jobs where their employer would give them time off.

[@robanks3895]

I thought they were all working class boys, doesnt sound like they had humble beginnings to me,

[@robertguerrero8009]

Thanks for sharing this information, we very much enjoyed this movie. However just don't quiet understand why they could not find or use all real American actors! Don't we here in The States have American actors that can act out our American parts speaking our American language!

[@nicolad8822]

A lot of it was filmed in England, and Callum Turner is a superb English actor.

[@nicolad8822]

You speak English not American.

[@robertguerrero8009]

@@nicolad8822 no senor We the People are not English, we settled that question decades ago. We speak American..

[@jenh9361]

​@robertguerrero8009 Semantics... "American" language, which is referred to as English on every questionnaire and legal document... in America... Yes!

[@robertguerrero8009]

@@jenh9361 for me it's American, just as in Ireland it's Irish yes!

[@rajivmurkejee7498]

Making Americans outsiders and underdogs in this event is a rather large stretch Check out Olympic history.

[@Freight_Train]

They were students from Washington university. Many of the other teams were professionals.

[@rajivmurkejee7498]

@@Freight_Train We're talking the 1930s . At that time the USA was the most professional Olympic team around with so called College sporting scholarships and full time professional coaches. The rest of the world had real amateur club based sport with volunteer coaches

[@Freight_Train]

@@rajivmurkejee7498 The Germans had won the first 5 shell races and none of them had jobs other than to train for the olympics.

[@rajivmurkejee7498]

And what about all the other countries? US college athletes selected for the Olympics didn't exactly have to work full-time They tended to be upper middle class who wanted for nothing. This is a bullshit hard luck reversing the odds story

[@AmyJohnsonCrow]

@rajivmurkejee7498 This team was from the University of Washington, which did not offer rowing scholarships at the time. Members of this team relied on part-time jobs to stay in school. They weren’t even expected to be at the Olympics; it was a shock to many that they made it.

[@Marcel_Audubon]

sappy movie - who cares?

[@GaryDouglas-lj5bz]

Joe Rantz' story alone is enough to make it inspiring----but then, you haven't cared enough to find out what that story is all about.

[@Marcel_Audubon]

@@GaryDouglas-lj5bz sappy movie

[@GaryDouglas-lj5bz]

@@Marcel_Audubon Obviously someone who wasn't sophisticated enough to read the book or learn the story.