EARLY: The Battle of Peleliu
The US Marines throw thousands of their men into a Japanese wood chipper because they don't feel like sharing glory with the US Army. All for no reason!
Sources:
Sledge, Eugene B. (1990). With the Old Breed: At Peleliu And Okinawa
Leckie, Robert, Helmet For My Pillow
Anderson, Charles R. Western Pacific. The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/unnecessary-hell-the-battle-of-peleliu/
Comments (13)
I’m looking forward to when Nick emerges from his tunnel and finally surrenders in 2025
Rockall
I want somebody to make a little encyclopedia titled Woodchipper: A story about hubris and literally dying on a hill.
great idea but it won’t be little. It will be a tome. Think of the number of times the first wave have been assured “it will be like a Sunday stroll. The bombardment has turned them all into compost. Off you go, lads!”….
One thing I have learned from this pod is that coral is a bitch.
I googled this Rupertus fella and found out he wrote the Rifleman’s Creed, thus inspiring 80% of the worst vet bro merchandise
The Reaper is just really bad at crane games
I am fully on Team Liam for vacation spots and my wife also hates that part of my personality. Shitty remote places are where you go when you don't want to be bothered and you want to miss home by the end of the vacation. I'm petitioning to go to a monastery for our next trip.
Off topic to the post, but maybe not to the podcast… In WWII, we know how horrible the POW were in German and Japan, but I’ve never heard anything about the conditions of war camps in other countries in the war. Are there any tales to be told?
Soviet camps weren't great. The Nazi invasion contributed to a low level famine. And PoW camps were fairly low in priority. A lot of German prisoners were just murdered. Other prisoners might be OK. From memory, Japanese prisoners from the border skirmishes had it fairly easy.
Glad to know I have yet another comrade who will die on the hill that The Pacific is better than Band of Brothers in every single way imaginable.
I spent a month on Svalbard back in 2009 and it is probably the most awe inspiring place I've been to. Good pizza too.
People have the same reaction to my homeland New Jersey as well. You should visit sometime