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Mike Leonard: How a simple question revealed a remarkable story

Some stories sneak up on you.This is one of them.James Hundley is a 63-year-old Chicago mailman whose route includes a large building where my two sons and a son-in-law have their video production office. Every three or four weeks I pay a visit, always hoping to run into Mr. Hundley.Some people are fountains, some are drains.James Hundley is a geyser.Never have I met a more friendly, polite, upbea
Mail carrier James Hundley, marching as part of the civil rights movement.
Mail carrier James Hundley, marching as part of the civil rights movement.TODAY / Today

Some stories sneak up on you.

Mail carrier James Hundley, marching as part of the civil rights movement.
Mail carrier James Hundley, marching as part of the civil rights movement.TODAY / Today

This is one of them.

James Hundley is a 63-year-old Chicago mailman whose route includes a large building where my two sons and a son-in-law have their video production office. Every three or four weeks I pay a visit, always hoping to run into Mr. Hundley.

Some people are fountains, some are drains.

James Hundley is a geyser.

Never have I met a more friendly, polite, upbeat person.

Today, Hundley brightens the Chicago area with his upbeat attitude.
Today, Hundley brightens the Chicago area with his upbeat attitude.TODAY / Today

But there's more to him than that, something I discovered a few weeks ago by asking a simple question.

"Where are you from?"

His answer triggered images in my mind, images from old black-and-white newsreels, some difficult to watch. 

I knew in an instant that James Hundley, the happy mailman, had seen humanity at its worst.

How he got through that...how we got through that...is a story for the ages. 

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