World War II / Korea

Richard Burt, like many of his generation, volunteered when our nation entered World War II.  The Army decided he should be trained as a “Latrine Technician”.  However, recognizing the positive morale building effects of music, the Army also was standing up nearly 500 bands and this proved Richard Burt’s ticket out of permanent latrine duty. Burt was a very talented trumpet player and volunteered to deploy to the Pacific with the 746th Far East Air Force Band so that the [...]

Here I Am, Send Me documents a very special parachute jump conducted over Normandy on the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.  The film can be found on the Devinsupertramp YouTube channel. Two of the participants join us to share their thoughts and motivations. Scoti Domeij is the Gold Star mother of Army Ranger Sgt. 1st Class Kristoffer Domeij, the most deployed soldier in US history to be killed in action.  Matthew “Griff” Griffin served with Kristoffer and did four [...]

Stalag 17B was “home” for B-17 radio operator Walter Ram for two years. Stalag 17B was one of the Nazi regime’s most notorious POW camps. Walter lied about his age in order to enlist at the age of 16. One year later the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. His crew was assigned to the 94th Bombardment Group, 331st Squadron of the 8th Air Force.  He shares the humorous story of how his aircraft, the “Helno-Gal” came to be named. On his [...]

B-17 pilot Richard Bushong completed 28 combat missions over Europe during World War II.  He flew as a member of the 390th Bomb Group of the US 8th Air Force, the subject of the compelling documentary “The Cold Blue.” (L-R) BBG, Col. Richard Bushong, Alex Wright- 390th Memorial Museum Richard specifically requested to be a B-17 pilot. After completing combat training in Washington, he sailed to England aboard the Queen Mary. Some might consider this luxury travel but [...]

David Pyne Hitler could have changed the course of World War II had he made some different decisions. We have a “reverse lens” historic discussion with respected public policy commentator and national security advisor David Pyne. He has written a very interesting series of articles at Real History.com about how the outcomes of WWII may have been different. David hypothesizes that the Allies could have avoided war all together had they not insisted on the “Carthiginian Peace” of [...]

Easy Company was only one of the nine rifle companies that comprised the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II.  However, they became the best known thanks to Stephen Ambrose’s book and the HBO series “Band of Brothers”. Douglas Spain as Pvt. Tony Garcia Three guests join us to discuss Easy Company and their story; Suzanne Ryan has been fascinated with WWII history since the age of 12.  She has led historical tours of Normandy and helped [...]

“Rampage: McArthur, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manila” is James M. Scott’s fourth military history book and has been named a Best Book of 2018 by Amazon.  James is one of my favorite authors because his research is meticulous. Manila has been the scene of 12 battles, the first occurring in the year 1258.  The World War II battle began February 3rd and pitted two military leaders of great reputation.  For General Douglas McArthur, it was the fulfillment of his [...]

The Naval History and Heritage Command serves as the Navy’s institutional memory by preserving, acquiring, producing and disseminating Naval history information and artifacts.  Samuel Cox joins us to discuss the discovery of the remains of the USS Hornet – 76 years after she was sunk. Samuel became Director of the NHHC in 2014 after an illustrious 37 year career as in intelligence officer.  As a history major at the US Naval Academy, the opportunity to serve as Director of the [...]

Hell Below is a documentary series of the Smithsonian Channel describing submarine combat during the Second World War.  On today’s show we talk with James M. Scott, one of the experts featured in the series and retired Navy Rear Admiral Ron Morgan. James has written several excellent books about historical military events including Target Tokyo, Attack on the Liberty and The War Below.  Two of the submarines James highlights in The War Below are featured in the Hell Below series. [...]

President Truman presents Woody with the Medal of Honor Medal of Honor recipient Hershel “Woody” Williams had no interest in joining the military but like many patriotic Americans decided to volunteer following the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Woody would have to wait until he was old enough join and his first attempt at the Marine Corps was rejected because he was too small. He was trained in the use of demolitions and operating a flamethrower after being shipped [...]