Warriors In Their Own Words | First Person War Stories

Today helicopters carry the firepower of an artillery battery and can strike deep behind every lines, flying day or night in any weather. But back in 1944 helicopters were a brand new technology. Aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky supplied the first primitive choppers to the US Army and four pilots were trained to fly the untested aircraft in the jungles of Burma. Carter Harman was one of those first courageous pilots and he performed the world's first helicopter combat rescue mission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Combat Medics courageously fought to save lives as the war raged around them in Vietnam. Helicopters became virtual hospitals in the air, buying the medic valuable time to heal the wounded. Max Cleland, a future US Senator from Georgia, lost three limbs when a grenade exploded in his hand. His life was saved by four beleaguered field medics. In this dramatic episode, Max Cleland recounts his story and we also hear from Clarence Sasser, who earned the Medal of Honor as a Combat Medic in Vietnam. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Tunnel Rats were courageous soldiers who performed underground search and destroy missions during the Vietnam War. American and Australian troops uncovered the enemy's intricate network of tunnels while conducting larger operations. Tunnel rats were tasked with gathering intelligence within them, and killing or capturing their occupants--often in conditions of close combat. CW Bowman, Gerry Schooler and Art Tejeda spent days maneuvering through the tunnels clearing lethal booby-traps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Military snipers were trained sharpshooters assigned to kill a man with one perfect shot. These highly disciplined marksman often stalked a target for days waiting for just the right moment to squeeze the trigger. Lurking in the shadows alone, the deadly stealth of the sniper made him the most feared man on the battlefield. As a young hunter, Chuck Mawhinney grew up with a gun in his hand. In October 1967, Mawhinney was just 19 years old when he made his first kill as a scout sniper in Vietnam. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Studies and Observations Group (SOG) was a highly classified, special ops unit that conducted unconventional warfare during the Vietnam War. SOG carried out the capture of enemy prisoners, rescued downed pilots, and conducted rescue operations to retrieve prisoners of war throughout Southeast Asia. The Task Force also engaged in clandestine intelligence, propaganda and psychological operations. J.D. Bath and Bill Deacy were members of this elite group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Wild Weasels of the United States Air Force were some of the most courageous pilots in Vietnam. In a deadly game of cat and mouse, they flew fighters like the F-100, F-105 and F-4s deep into hostile airspace to coax the enemy into opening fire with their surface to air missiles. Once the Weasels located the site, other fighter bombers were called in to destroy the installations. In this episode, Wild Weasels, Jerry Hoblit, Bill Sparks, Mike Gilroy and Tom Wilson tell their dramatic stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Easter Sunday, April 2, 1972, two EB-66 aircraft, call signs Bat 21 and Bat 22 were flying pathfinder escort for three B-52s, which were assigned to bomb the two primary access routes to the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos. Gene Hambleton, a navigator aboard Bat 21, was shot down behind North Vietnamese lines. His rescue became known as the largest, longest, and most complex search-and-rescue operation during the Vietnam War. In this episode, Gene Hambleton recounts his dramatic story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forward Air Controllers or FACs choreographed this skies over the battlefield in Vietnam. They courageously flew low, slow and unarmed over enemy territory in small, propeller driven aircraft like the Cessna 0-1 Bird Dog and 0-2 Skymaster. The FACs were experts at spotting an evasive, well camouflaged enemy and they often braved a battery of enemy ground fire to target the opposing force. In this episode, FACs William Platt and Bill Townsley tell their dramatic stories, In Their Own Words. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the Vietnam War, all too often the chaos of battle found Allied forces trapped and facing annihilation. The situation called for courageous men to carry out some of the deadliest missions in the history of warfare. Forward Observers, often alone, moved behind enemy lines to serve as the eyes of the artillery gunner in delivering rounds on vital targets. In this episode, Medal of Honor recipients Barney Barnum and Brian Thacker tell their dramatic stories, In Their Own Words. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The battle for Iwo Jima in World War II became the bloodiest in U. S. Marine Corps history. But for survivors like Chuck Tatum, it also represents the best, the Marines and the United States has to give. For despite the 23,000 U.S. casualties, including 5,400 dead, the flag atop Mount Suribachi, is a symbol of this nation's willingness to fight for freedom and liberty, no matter what the cost. This episode is an in-depth interview with Chuck Tatum. These are his experiences in his own words. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Marine Raiders were elite units established by the United States Marine Corp during World War II to conduct special amphibious assault missions, operating behind the lines. The Raiders were created by an order from President Franklin D. Roosevelt in February 1942. They are said to be the first U.S. special forces operations see combat in World War II. William Lansford was a member of the 2nd Raider Battalion during the Pacific campaigns. These are his dramatic stories told in his own words. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By 1943, the war in the Pacific burned in its full fury. On November 20th, the Allies launched the first amphibious assault against heavily defended beaches in US history. The 2nd division of the US Marine Corps, used amphibious tractors and assault boats to reach the beaches of the Tarawa atoll, an enemy stronghold protected by 5,000 hardened Imperial Japanese marines. Ed Moore and Tommy Reed were decorated veterans of the 2nd Marine Division during the island campaigns in the Pacific War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The unrelenting ferocity of the Pacific War was without a doubt the bloodiest and most savage of the two theaters of World War II. The memories of brutal battles like Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Midway and Iwo Jima are forever seared into minds of the courageous men who fought there. The island of Guadalcanal represented one of the last chances for the Allies to turn back the Japanese advance in the Pacific. Marine veteran Victor Croizat experienced the "hell of earth" of the battle for Guadalcanal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They are known as America's first military stealth aircraft. Under cover of darkness, the Waco CG-4A combat glider carried U.S. troops and materiel into battle during World War II. William Horn and Leo Cordier, pilots who flew these unarmed and un-powered planes, landed behind enemy lines before the invasion troops arrived in Europe on D-Day. Their courageous stories are a little known chapter in the Allied march to victory during WWII. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode features the dramatic role of the U.S Rangers on D-Day during World War II. Leonard Lomell and Sidney Salomon, from the 2nd Ranger Battalion, were among those who comprised America's first Special Forces group. They were part of the first wave landing on Omaha Beach on June 6th, 1944. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On June 6, 1944, the Allies launched the largest amphibious military assault in history known as D-Day. More than 150,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. Some of the first men to hit the beach on D-Day were the U.S. Navy Combat Demolition Unit. Jerry Markham and John Talton were members of this elite group. In this episode, these courageous veterans tell their dramatic stories, In Their Own Words. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

June 6th, 1944...D-Day. It was the greatest military assault ever staged. Code named Operation Overlord, the massive invasion of Normandy by the Allies involved more than a quarter of a million soldiers, sailors and airmen as well as 5000 ships and 3000 aircraft. Tom McCarthy and Francis Lamoureux were Parachute Infantrymen during the epic conflict. They tell their riveting first-hand accounts in this dramatic presentation, Airborne Assault on D-Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1944, the Allies fought their way from the beaches of Normandy towards German soil. Their sites were firmly set on pushing all the way to Hitler's capital Berlin and putting an end to WWII. Robert Weiss was a US Army forward observer. His mission was to move ahead of the troops and find targets for the artillery, but being out in front placed him closer to the enemy and a greater risk of being cut off from his comrades. These are his experiences In His Own Words. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toward the end of 1944, it was clear that Germany was losing WWII. Low on fuel, munitions and morale, the ability of the Nazis was slipping away. Still Hitler burned with a passion for one more mad assault. In December, 1944, 600,000 Germans surged into the western front. The stage was set for total Allied defeat. Hitler could count the thousands of guns, the tons of munitions and the hundreds of tanks, but he failed to grasp the most important element, the unfailing courage and valor of the Allied troops Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By 1942, the skies over Germany were aflame with German fighters battling Allied bombers for the survival of Europe and the free world. Central to victory were the fighter planes of the Allies. At first they were obsolete and woefully inadequate. But with the advent of aircraft like the P-47 Thunderbolt and the P-51 Mustang, the tide of war was about to change. In this episode we hear the words of fighter aces Clarence "Bud" Anderson in his revolutionary P-51 and Francis "Gabby" Gabreski, flying the P-47 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Warriors In Their Own Words, veterans of the 3rd Armored Division, Belton Cooper and Bertrand Close, transport us to the Race Across Europe in World War Two. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices