The REAL Sue Thomas F.B.Eye: Nothing But the Truth

Hey it's Bobby Bones. We had a great time recording this episode for you guys before heading to our iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas.

Thanks to Hyundai for making this possible. Here's a little taste. Let's play the game where I listen to artists and let's watch you sing one of their songs. Yes.

Oh boy, that's gonna be tough. Black Eyed Peas. I got a feeling tonight's gonna be a good good night.

Just stop, stop while you're here. Lionel Richie. You're beautiful. That's James Blunt. Okay.

Okay. Lionel Richie. Hello. No, that's Adele from the other side. Similar-ish but Lionel Richie was first. Pat Benatar. I'll give you the first word. Hit. Hit me baby one more time. Close, so close.

That's Britney Spears. This episode brought to you by the first ever fully electric Hyundai IONIQ 5. The thrill of forging your own path is powerful. Nissan is bringing that thrill to our community in collaboration with the Black Effect Podcast Network to create The Thrill of Possibility, a community impact program and summit curated to support HBCU students in science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics, or STEAM, and introduce them to exclusive opportunities. Nissan is committed to creating opportunity for the whole community and ensuring that black excellence is a part of the new future of automotive.

For more information about this program and how to apply, visit blackeffect.com slash Nissan. Hi, I'm Anahato Connor, a health columnist, and I'm passionate about learning and sharing how we can all sleep and live better. That's why I'm hosting Chasing Sleep, a brand new podcast from Mattress Firm and iHeartRadio, where we'll connect with the people who live, work, and perform in some of the most incredible environments, and we'll see how they adapt and use their sleep to perform at the highest level. Learn how you can sleep well to live well too. Listen to Chasing Sleep on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories, and we tell stories about everything here on this show from the arts to sports and from business to history and everything in between, including your stories.

Send them to OurAmericanStories.com. Sue Thomas became the first deaf person to work as an undercover specialist, doing lip reading of suspects for an elite surveillance team at the FBI. In 1990, Thomas wrote her autobiography entitled Silent Night, which became the basis for the TV series Sue Thomas F.B.I.E. The continuing story of her life is chronicled in Staying in the Race, where Thomas shares stories about living with multiple sclerosis. Here's Sue Thomas. Some of you might have remembered that TV show called Sue Thomas F.B.I.

It is a traveler around the country speaking. I find that I keep getting asked three most popular questions. Question number one, are you the real Sue Thomas? Question number two, how long did you work for the FBI? Only for three and a half years, just long enough to get a TV show out of it. And question number three, did you really run down the street catching the bad guys? Do I look like I ran down the street catching the bad guys?

It's been an awful lot of fun. You know, if you look back on my life, it has all the elements for Hollywood, the drama, the action, the intensity, the loss. And yet, when it came down to actually telling the real story of Sue Thomas, Hollywood wouldn't even touch him.

I'm going to share the story that Hollywood wouldn't even touch. That journey started out very early in my life at the age of 18 months, when very suddenly in the evening, I went profoundly deaf. There was never a cause known.

There was never a cause known. I wasn't sick. I just had my cure in one moment, and the next moment, I was walking the path of silence. Years were spent with a speech therapist in front of a mirror with my hand on her throat feeling the vibes and making those same vibes. At the same time, I would be looking in the mirror watching her form, her lips that made the word, and then for me to try to form my lips the same way. After years of speech therapy came voice lessons.

No, not for a professional singing, but only to get my voice to fluctuate, to go up and down and up and down, and after years, the voice came dramatic reading only for the articulation and enunciation of words. So many, many years has gone into this voice, and yet I know I still talk funny, and people say, oh, no, you don't, but I do. Well, how do you know that? Well, I can be at the airport, a restaurant, a hotel, any place at any time, and somebody will always come up to me and say, where are you from? You really have an accent.

It's just a little bit different, and I'm aware of that. I went to public school. Teacher put me in the first row, so I'd be able to read her lips as best as I could. I really didn't understand too much, but I tried to follow what the class was doing, and I remember that day as far as watching the students stand by their desk, and I finally figured it out, they were introducing themselves to their classmates. It became my turn that day, and I remember getting up and standing beside my desk and very proudly looking out at my classmates and saying something like, ah! And with that, the entire class erupted in laughter. Those kids were laughing so hard that day, I turned around to try to figure why everybody was laughing, and when I couldn't figure it out, I just sat down. But I came to realize that every time I was to open my mouth to speak, the entire class would erupt in laughter, and I got to the point where I wouldn't open my mouth. For 12 years, I sat in the silence, and never once did I open my mouth in that school.

The defining moment of having my teacher come up to me one day at my desk, and she looked awful sad that day, and she reached down and took my hands in hers, and she let go of me, and she let me out of the classroom. And that day, it seemed like with an awful long walk, and that was the day I entered another class. I entered what was known as the dummy class, and now all these kids have more ammunition to work with. I just didn't talk funny. I was not the dummy. There was three things in my life as a child that saved me from total despair. One, my parents went to church on Sundays, and they tried to instill in me that there was a God that did not make any mistakes. And you're listening to the voice of Sue Thomas, and my goodness, what a childhood it must have been.

I just didn't talk funny. I was the dummy, and I know we can all conjure up what that must have been like for her, because many of us may have been those kids laughing at her, or at least hurting for her and not standing up for her. And then she hears about this God that doesn't make mistakes. When we come back, more of Sue Thomas's story, a unique and beautiful voice here on Our American Stories. Folks, if you love the great American stories we tell and love America like we do, we're asking you to become a part of the Our American Stories family. If you agree that America is a good and great country, please make a donation. A monthly gift of $17.76 is fast becoming a favorite option for supporters. Go to OurAmericanStories.com now and go to the donate button and help us keep the great American stories coming.

That's OurAmericanStories.com. Such an exciting event like Wango Tango. It's true. I had one that night and I took my NerdTECH ODT and I was present and had an amazing time. Here's a little glimpse of our conversation with some of our closest friends. This episode was brought to you by NerdTECH ODT Remedapants 75 milligrams.

Life with migraine attacks can mean missing out on big moments with friends and family, but thankfully NerdTECH ODT Remedapants 75 milligrams is the only medication that is proven to treat a migraine attack and prevent episodic migraines in adults. So lively events like Wango Tango don't have to be missed. Soon millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year and UnitedHealthcare can help you feel confident about your choices. For those eligible, Medicare annual enrollment runs from October 15th through December 7th. If you're working past age 65, you might be able to delay Medicare enrollment depending on your employer coverage.

It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be. Visit UHCMedicareHealthPlans.com to learn more. UnitedHealthcare, helping people live healthier lives. I know everything there is to know about running a coffee shop, but for small business insurance, I need my State Farm agent. They make sure my business stays piping hot and I stay cool and confident. See, they're small business owners too, so they know how to help you best. State Farm is in your corner and on it. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

Call your local State Farm agent for a quote today. And we continue with our American stories and the story of Sue Thomas. They tried to tell me about his son named Jesus and that if I would hold on to his hand and allow him to lead me and guide me, that there wouldn't be anything that I couldn't do or anything that I couldn't become. Secondly, I had a son.

Did you get that? I had a son. No, I have no recollection of music, but I have a mother that loved music and she wanted to pass that love on to her only daughter, whether she could hear or not. And as a little kid, she would place me on her lap as she sat in the walking show, rocking back and forth, singing all of her favorite songs with my head on her shoulder as she sang. I could feel the vibrations. And if I really liked the song particularly well, my hand would sort of creep up and lay gently on his throat so that I could get all the vibes that I possibly could. It must have been around Christmas time because one of the first songs that my mom ever taught me was Silent Night. And I love that song. Now, as a little kid, it wasn't the words. The words had no meaning.

Rather, it was the rhythm and the flow of the bra for a tremendous piece. And I can remember after a long, lousy day of school, going home on the school bus, looking out the window with my nose all pressed up against the glass so nobody's seeing the tears flow down my cheek. Way down there, I would start singing Silent Night and I'd be okay. The only thing I ever wanted as a kid was a friend. Let's face it, who wants to be a friend to a dummy?

Who wants to be a friend to somebody that talks funny? And I never knew what the word friendship meant, at least not until I got to high school. By the time I went to high school, I met up with those crowds that was totally disrespectful, outright rebellion, and the alcohol and the drugs and everything. And it was my means of escape, at least trying to escape the world of silence. God's hand was upon me, for he brought in a teacher in my junior year that believed in me and began to work with me one-on-one. It was through her life I went to college. And even though I got to college, it took me eight years to leave the place.

Eight years passed. I thought the world couldn't wait to give me a job, but I found out the world could wait forever. There wasn't one person that was willing to give me a job simply because I couldn't use the telephone, or they thought that I would misunderstand what was being said. And I went back to the same hearing and speech center that taught me to speak, pounded on their doors, asking for a job. They felt sorry for me.

Why? They hired me even when they didn't have a job. I became like a gopher, a jack-of-all-trades doing whatever they wanted me to do. And I can remember some days taking paper clips out of one box, sticking those paper clips to another box, and then putting them in the closet.

I was only there for a few short months. You see, it was a friend of the hearing and speech center who in turn had a friend that lived in Washington, D.C., who in turn had a friend that worked for the Department of State, who in turn had a friend that worked for the FBI. FBI.

Are you following this? So a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend from Washington, D.C., to Youngstown, Ohio, I get wind that the FBI is looking for deaf people. And if you don't think that I panicked, I thought to myself, what did we do?

It took them a long time to calm me down that day. Basically, they said you didn't do anything. They just want to know if you want a job. I want a job. Somebody was finally going to hire me for who I was.

Scratch that. I'm going to Washington, D.C. That's awesome. But the more I realized it, the more I knew I was going to be with the FBI.

It just doesn't get any better. So off I go to Washington, D.C., and the first week is like a dream come true. They took me around. They introduced me to all the special agents. And after all the introductions was over, they took me downstairs to the firing range where all the agents practiced their target shooting. That was the very first mistake. The second mistake is when they handed me a Thompson 45 submachine gun. I shot up their entire shooting that day without even trying. It was a long time before they let me go back downstairs. And then I started my training to become what was known as the fingerprint examiner for the FBI.

Within the first five minutes, I realized they had made the greatest mistake of my life. Someday, when you don't have anything else to do, take a look at any one of your fingers really, really close. All those lines are fingerprints. It was my job to count every single one of those lines on that finger, eight hours a day, five days a week.

And I can honestly tell you, if you've seen one fingerprint, you've seen them all. One day, my supervisor comes running and she's all upset. She tells me I have to get to the front office right away. There's only two reasons a person goes to the front office of the FBI.

Either to be terminated from their job or to be interrogated by the FBI agents. I get to the front office, I walk in, and they tell me to sit down. And that day, the questions started, and they went something like this. Ms. Thomas, we understand that you read lips to communicate, and you do a very good job, but there's only one thing we want to know, just one thing. Do you watch TV? Do I watch TV?

That's all you guys want to know? Is it a federal crime to watch TV? I confess, I watch TV. Well, is it difficult for you, Ms. Thomas?

Do you get anything out of them? Yeah, I do. I mean, no, I don't. I mean, I don't know.

Do you know what I mean? You know, if the camera's on the person and I can see their lips, I can read them. But so many times, the camera's not on the person that I can't see anything, so I don't know when anything's being said. And you're listening to Sue Thomas, and what a voice. She owns it now, you can hear it, but as a young person, well, every time she opened her mouth, kids laughed. So for 12 years, as she said, she sat on the sidelines.

And my goodness, then the FBI, well, they're looking for deaf people. And what a sense of humor. What a life story. When we come back more with Sue Thomas, her story here on Our American Story. Hey, you guys, this is Tori and Jenny with the 90210MG podcast. We have such a special episode brought to you by NERTEC ODT. We recorded it at iHeartRadio's 10th poll event, Wango Tango. Did you know that NERTEC ODT Remedipant 75 milligrams can help migraine sufferers still attend such an exciting event like Wango Tango?

It's true. I had one that night and I took my NERTEC ODT and I was present and had an amazing time. Here's a little glimpse of our conversation with some of our closest friends. This episode was brought to you by NERTEC ODT Remedipant 75 milligrams. Life with migraine attacks can mean missing out on big moments with friends and family.

But thankfully, NERTEC ODT Remedipant 75 milligrams is the only medication that is proven to treat a migraine attack and prevent episodic migraines in adults. So lively events like Wango Tango don't have to be missed. Soon millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year and UnitedHealthcare can help you feel confident about your choices. For those eligible, Medicare annual enrollment runs from October 15th through December 7th. If you're working past age 65, you might be able to delay Medicare enrollment depending on your employer coverage.

It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be. Visit uhcmedicarehealthplans.com to learn more. UnitedHealthcare, helping people live healthier lives. I know everything there is to know about running a coffee shop, but for small business insurance, I need my State Farm agent. They make sure my business stays piping hot and I stay cool and confident. See, they're small business owners too, so they know how to help you best. State Farm is in your corner and on it. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

Call your local State Farm agent for a quote today. And we continue with our American stories and the story of Sue Thomas by Sue Thomas. Let's continue. Well, how about movies, Ms. Thomas? Do you go to movies? Is it any better for you? Oh, yes, I go to movies and it's a lot better. It really is, you know. It's the lips.

They're a lot bigger. On and on went the questions and I came to realize that the FBI had a huge problem. They were working on a case in which they video filmed the suspect, but when the camera activated the sound mechanism failed. They had all this film with the bad guys talking. They just couldn't hear it. They wanted to know if I was set and watched the film and write any words down that I could.

I said, sure, no problem. From that day on, I never went back to reading fingerprints. From that day on, I read lips for the FBI and they set up my job. I followed the bad guys around and I read their lips. Then I went and told the good guys what the bad guys were saying and they even paid me to do it, too. Overnight, like the snap of a finger, I finally made it in the world of sound. Good job.

Good solving. Somewhat of a novelty in Washington, where I began to be invited to the congressional and senators parties. And for three and a half years, I lived in the fast lane of Washington, D.C., celebrating my success.

I'm 35 years of age, while I'm at the prime of the FBI. And for 35 years, I have hated every step that I took. When I was young, my parents tried to instill in me that God never made a mistake. And in my youth, I believed them and I held them.

But supposedly with each passing year of getting older and supposedly wiser, I began to doubt them. But by the time I'm with the FBI, I totally doubted God. And I wanted to confront him once and for all. I wanted him to confess that yes, indeed, he had made a mistake. So I resigned from the FBI to go to Columbia International Seminary, CIU, in South Carolina, not to go there to become a preacher, and not to go there to become a missionary, but with only one objective, to confront God face to face, to ask him why he made a mistake. The mistake was minor.

It was major. I mean, after all, anybody that would know of the mistake would have consideration of why I had to do this. It wasn't enough that he created in me a heart that loves people. I love people. And that came by God's creation that he put within me. But it's compounded by the issue that even though he created that love and I want to be with people, he allowed the silence to overtake me, that it was physically impossible to be with people. That, my friends, is a mistake.

It's a whopper. You don't give somebody something and then remove it in a tangible way where they can't have it. Helen Carter said it best when she said blindness separates a person from things and objects. Deafness separates a person from people.

She's right. Oh yeah, I'm a good lip reader. In my prime, I could be in a high-rise building in New York City with a pair of field glasses looking across the street in another high-rise building and telling you word for word what was being said. I'm good.

Or I was. I'm so good I can even do two people. And that's like watching tennis. Somebody will talk, they'll stop. They'll talk, they'll stop.

They'll talk, they'll talk, they'll talk. I can get it. But you have a third person and a fourth person. I start deteriorating. I cannot function in a room. And my heart wants it so desperately and so badly. I love to party. I love to be with people. But I can't.

I can't. I got to seminary. God was waiting. You see, he didn't just give me one or two friends in seminary that I could relate to. He had 25 friends waiting for me.

25. I can't be with three people, let alone 25. And yet, every day, we go to class together. We would share meals together. We would study. We would pray.

We would sing. We were always together. And these people saw the outward shell of Sue Thomas, the party animal, happy-go-lucky, the lie. Because what they didn't know is that when I left their midst and I went back to my apartment, I totally destroyed everything that I could get my hands on. The bitterness and resentment started during the first year of first grade.

That puts me at six years old. From the age of six to the age of 35, that baggage was grown with each passing moment that I was a broken person. I was a resentful person. I despised there wasn't a shred of happiness within me.

And now I'm with 25 new friends. And what a story, folks. And my goodness, with each passing year, as I got older, I began to doubt that God doesn't make mistakes. At 35, I wanted to confront God once and for all.

And about one thing that, yes, he did make a mistake. Oh, my goodness, to hear her talk about her bitterness. The bitterness and resentment had started in the first year of first grade at the age of six. Right to the age of 35, that baggage was growing with each moment.

There wasn't a shred of happiness in me. When we come back, more of this remarkable confession, this beautiful confession, here on Our American Stories. Hey, you guys, this is Tori and Jennie with the 9021 OMG podcast. We have such a special episode brought to you by NerdTech ODT. We recorded it at iHeartRadio's 10th poll event, Wango Tango. Did you know that NerdTech ODT Remedipant 75 mg can help migraine sufferers still attend such an exciting event like Wango Tango? It's true. I had one that night and I took my NerdTech ODT and I was present and had an amazing time.

Here's a little glimpse of our conversation with some of our closest friends. This episode was brought to you by NerdTech ODT Remedipant 75 mg. Life with migraine attacks can mean missing out on big moments with friends and family, but thankfully NerdTech ODT Remedipant 75 mg is the only medication that is proven to treat a migraine attack and prevent episodic migraines in adults. So lively events like Wango Tango don't have to be missed. Soon millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year and UnitedHealthcare can help you feel confident about your choices. For those eligible, Medicare annual enrollment runs from October 15th through December 7th. If you're working past age 65, you might be able to delay Medicare enrollment depending on your employer coverage.

It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be. Visit uhcmedicarehealthplans.com to learn more. UnitedHealthcare, helping people live healthier lives. I know everything there is to know about running a coffee shop, but for small business insurance, I need my State Farm agent. They make sure my business stays piping hot and I stay cool and confident. See, they're small business owners too, so they know how to help you best. State Farm is in your corner and on it. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

Call your local State Farm agent for a quote today. And we continue here with our American stories and with Sue Thomas's story. And now here's the final part. So many times I cried out to God, please give me my hearing.

Please just let me hear. And it was always the same answer. The great silence. So I turned from God. I more or less gave up on him. I went to the one friend in seminary and I told her a lie. I told her that I had a terminal disease, that I was dying. Because in my warped mind, I thought if she believed me, she would want to spend as much time with me one on one.

And that's exactly what happened. But when I didn't realize the split second that I told that lie, that it would last for over seven months. And I had no idea that the first person I told that lie to, that would have fanned out for those 25 people. And surely, I had no idea that that lie would totally ensue me and destroy me.

Seven long months passed, and I was wasting away. And there came a time that I could not take it any longer, and I went to that same friend and I said, please, call my advisor at school. Tell him that I need to see him as soon as possible.

Tell him to have another faculty member with him. It's urgent. And I met with those two men. Tears streaming down my face. I confessed, I said, please, call my advisor at school. I confessed, I said. I knew that I would have to go to those 25 different people and then tell them the truth. And I was prepared to do that.

I wanted to do it. But what I didn't know is that I would have to stand before the entire academic committee of that committee. The night before I was to meet that committee was the longest, darkest, quietest night of my life. The shame and the guilt was so unbearable that I got my suitcase out and I began to pack to run away.

I couldn't face it. And while I'm packing, my Bible fell on the floor. And when I looked down, I sort of chuckled and I shook my head because I could not believe the pages that were staring back to me. I put the Bible on the bed and I went down on the floor, face down. And I cried out for God, for mercy, for forgiveness. And I told him that for 35 years, I went to church. I sat in the pew. I sang the hymn. I talked the talk and told people I was this Christian.

How dare I? The next morning, I stood before the entire academic committee, tears streaming down my face. And my speech was so garbled with the emotion.

I knew they had a hard time understanding me. The one thing that I remember more than anything on that day of my confession with that soul was one lone man sitting in a chair. His head was in his hands. And as he heard me speak, he shook his head back and forth. And as I watched him, the tears flowed down his face.

That man was Dr. Robinson McCorkin. In the days before that meeting, the emotions ran so hard. What will I say to him?

What can I say? And that day finally arrived. And wouldn't you know it, they sat me right next to him at a dinner table. He looked at me and the first word that he spoke was, sir, I'm so proud of you. I looked at him and the tears began to flow. And I choked him and I took my napkin and I placed him on the table and I said, you have to excuse me. And I walked out and I went outside and I kept thinking, God, he doesn't remember.

He can't remember. He said he was proud of me. So I regained my composure and I went back and I was able to finish the meal and at that time I said, Dr. McCorkin, I need to see you as soon as possible while you meet this man. And he said, yes, tomorrow morning. I looked at him and I said, did you ever kick anybody out? Did you at first as anybody? And he looked puzzled and he looked at me. He said, I don't think so, but I'm not sure. And then there was the great silence and he said, did we kick you out?

No, sir. But you could have and maybe you should have, but you didn't. Instead, you taught me of the love and the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. And you just didn't stop with the love. You walked me through the killing process and then you sent me. I don't know where I would have been had you kicked me out.

And yet, first of all, it was like the snap of a finger. All he had to do was a TV show called St. Thomas FBI. Here in the United States over 4 million people have watched it. Today, that show is being seen in 65 nations around the world.

Germany, South Africa, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singaporean, 65 nations. And the people write to me thinking they're writing this celebrity. And I have the opportunity to share celebrity now. God's greatest sinner, saved by grace. Yes. That is the real story of St. Thomas FBI. That is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help me God.

And does anyone doubt her? No. What a thing. What a story. What a lie. What a lie to tell. But she was just hurting and that's why she told it. He was just looking for attention. And what a cry for help that was. Lying about a terminal disease and having to go before your peers and then an academic committee and, well, face the pain. And she was gonna run away and that Bible fell out of the book and she threw herself on the threshing floor and she called out for forgiveness and grace.

And she got both. And we don't shy away from these things. And this show is open to believers, non-believers, your stories, all of them we want to hear. And my goodness, this may be one of the most profoundly told. Great Job as Always by Greg Hengler.

A great and beautiful God story through Thomas's story here on Our American Stories. I think it was, you know, it's scenic. There's like a big sundae. There's a huge thermometer. There's alien jerky. We're like googling, what is alien jerky?

So I felt like it was like we were on a museum. This episode is brought to you by the first ever fully electric Hyundai IONIQ 5. What's up, everybody?

It's us, the guys from Stuff They Don't Want You to Know. Intel is shaping the future of technology. And as we help people everywhere create wonderful, we'd like to invite you to iHeartland on Roblox. Powered by Intel, this is where entertainment and games come together. Here, you and your friends can experience events from your favorite artists and podcasters, like yours truly, and become music tycoons as you build your own radio station. And when you visit the Intel House of Wonder, you'll find upgrades, items, and emotes to help take your experience to the next level. So do something wonderful. Visit iHeartland on Roblox, powered by Intel.

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