Key Battles of American History

In this episode Sean and James discuss Band of Brothers Episode 5: Crossroads. Winters writes an after-action report on Easy's actions during a German counter offensive on the Nijmegen salient; he is troubled by the fact that he shot an unarmed, teenage Waffen-SS soldier during the battle. Winters is promoted to battalion executive officer, and command of Easy is given to "Moose" Heyliger. Winters...

In this topical episode, commissioned by Early’s Raiders Major Ana Concepcion Castro, James discusses medical care in World War II, including the crucial role of combat medics, the various types of hospitals, and medical advances made during the war. If you would like to commission an episode on a topic of your choosing, you can do so by joining Early’s Raiders at the Major level or higher. For mo...

In this episode Sean and James discuss Band of Brothers Episode 4: Replacements. Replacements join Easy Company and struggle to be accepted by the veterans who fought at Normandy. Winters is promoted to captain, while Sobel becomes the regiment's new supply officer. The company parachutes into the Netherlands as part of Operation Market Garden and liberates Eindhoven. During combat in Nuenen, the...

The Septuagint is the most important Bible translation you’ve never heard of. In this episode of the 10th Anniversary of the History of the Papacy series, Steve Guerra and his special guest Garry Stevens lay out the basics of the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament. They talk about the issues of translation and the process of translation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

In this episode, James interviews professor, reenactor, and YouTuber Jared Frederick about his 2020 book (co-authored with Erik Dorr) Hang Tough: The WWII Letters and Artifacts of Major Dick Winters. Jared and James discuss the inspiring life and career of Dick Winters, a decorated officer in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II and the main character of the award-winning 2001 HBO minis...

In this episode Sean and James discuss Band of Brothers Episode 3: Carentan. Easy fights in the Battle of Carentan and loses several men. Rumors begin to circulate that Ronald Speirs killed a group of German prisoners. Private Albert Blithe, who has been struggling with shell shock, is finally spurred into action by Winters during the Battle of Bloody Gulch. Several days later, Blithe is shot thro...

In this topical episode, commissioned by Early’s Raiders Major Doug Pergram, James discusses Revolutionary War artillery, including types of artillery and shot, how artillery were fired, and how they were used by both sides during the war. If you would like to commission an episode on a topic of your choosing, you can do so by joining Early’s Raiders at the Major level or higher. For more informat...

In this episode Sean and James discuss Band of Brothers Episode 2: Day of Days. On June 6, 1944, Easy Company parachutes into Normandy but is scattered and many land miles away from their designated drop zones. Most of Easy reconnects, but its company commander, First Lieutenant Thomas Meehan, is missing and presumed dead, so Winters assumes command as its highest-ranking officer. He successfully...

After the fall of the Philippines to the Japanese in May 1942, many Allied servicemen became prisoners. Those who survived their captivity would remain prisoners of the Japanese for nearly three years. One of these prisoners, George Darling of Deming, New Mexico, went on to write a memoir of his and his brother Gerald’s captivity in the Philippines. In this episode, James is joined by Jay Robison,...

In this episode Sean and James introduce the award-winning Band of Brothers series and discuss Episode 1: Currahee. In 1942, Easy Company trains at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, under First Lieutenant Herbert Sobel, a strict disciplinarian who goes out of his way to find fault with his men. The company is shipped to England in September 1943, and as training progresses, Sobel's inadequacy as a leader in t...

In this episode, James interviews Elizabeth Varon, the Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History and Associate Director of the John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History at the University of Virginia, about her new book Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South. One of the Confederate Army’s most talented commanders, Longstreet was called “my old war horse” by Robert E....

November 22 marks the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. To commemorate this pivotal event in American history, learn more about Kennedy's 1963 Texas visit, reelection campaign, assassination, and legacy, with this excerpt from This American President. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, James interviews Philip Martin, author of From Orphan to High Flyer. In this book, Philip tells the story of his late friend Denis Eliot. Denis rose from the horrors of a Victorian-style British orphanage and brutal foster parents to command and pilot American-built RAF B-24 Liberators against the Japanese in Asia, then to fly RAF aircraft into the late 1950s during the Cold War,...

In this episode, Sean and James review the 1953 film Stalag 17, which tells the story of a group of American airmen confined with 40,000 prisoners in a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp "somewhere on the Danube". The film focuses on one particular barracks, where the men come to suspect that one of their number is an informant. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The experiences of Allied prisoners of war in Germany are relatively well-known, thanks in part to movies and television shows that tell their story. However, few Americans know that over 400,000 Axis prisoners of war were held in hundreds of camps scattered around the United States. In this episode, Sean and James discuss what life was like for Axis prisoners of war held in the U. S. See omnystud...

Join James and Sean as they discuss the 1963 classic The Great Escape, the thrilling story of the largest mass breakout from a POW camp ever in World War 2. Steve McQueen leads a truly all star cast with his iconic performance. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over 300,000 western Allied servicemen were captured and imprisoned by Nazi Germany during World War 2. Join Sean and James as they tell about the experiences of British, American, French, and other western Allied prisoners of war, including capture, camp life, work programs, escape, and liberation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Sean and James discuss The Tuskegee Airmen, a 1995 HBO television movie based on the exploits of the first African-American combat pilots in the United States Army Air Corps who fought in World War II. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, James interviews Dartmouth College professor and best-selling author Matthew F. Delmont about his excellent book Half American: The Epic Story of African-Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad . In the interview, Professor Delmont gives an excellent overview of the experience of Black Americans during the Second World War. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

One of the greatest films of all time, 1961’s Judgment at Nuremberg is a gripping courtroom drama about a small town American judge called to preside over the trial of German judges accused of crimes against humanity. Join Sean and James as they review this classic with one of the greatest ensemble casts ever. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During the Second World War, the Germans murdered 6 million Jews and about 5 million other so-called “undesirables” in what became known as the Holocaust. In this episode, Sean and James discuss this difficult but crucial topic. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Train narrates the gripping story of a German officer’s attempt to ship great masterpieces of art out of France by train ahead of the Allied advance and the efforts of the Resistance to prevent this from happening. Join James and Sean as they review John Frankenheimer’s taut 1960s war thriller, starring Burt Lancaster and Paul Schoefield. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In every nation that the Germans occupied, resistance movements emerged. In this episode, Sean and James discuss anti-German guerilla movements, focusing primarily on the resistance efforts in four nations: Norway, France, Yugoslavia, and the Soviet Union. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

America’s most decorated soldier of World War 2 was Texan Audie Murphy. When the time came for Hollywood to adapt his memoir into a film, there was no better star for the film than Murphy himself, who had become a matineé idol. Join Sean and James as they look at this surprisingly hard hitting and realistic 1955 film. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following another long-time KBAH tradition, Sean and James discuss the life and experience of the common soldier, sailor and air crewmen in the European Theater of Operations in World War II. For the sake of time, the discussion is limited to American servicemen. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.