As time goes by many of the stories of the “Greatest Generation” are being lost. But a few years ago there was one hero whose story was told after his daughter accidentally discovered it.
Ryszard Kossobudzki was a teenager in Warsaw, Poland when World War II broke out. He joined the resistance, becoming a key fighter in the Warsaw Uprising.
He was injured and eventually captured. He survived a Nazi POW camp and was eventually rescued by American forces.
When he came to the U.S. after the war, he changed his name to Richard Cosby, married, settled down, and had a daughter, who became an investigative reporter on television. Her name is Rita Cosby.
It was after her mother’s death nearly 20 years ago that Rita Cosby came across an old battered suitcase among her mother’s possessions. Opening that suitcase changed everything, for it contained the true story of her father’s life in Poland.
Rita Cosby then turned investigative reporter to find out about her own family. The result was her 2010 book, a bestseller called Quiet Hero. It was the story her father had never told anyone.
Rita and I met one afternoon in the summer of 2010 to talk about her book.
So here now, from 2010, Rita Cosby.
Richard Cosby died in 2012 at age 86. Rita Cosby will be 61 next month. She can be seen Saturday nights on Newsmax.