The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War

This week Seth and Bill take a step back from Operation FORAGER to look at the invasion of Biak which occurred in May 1944. In this little-known operation, the 41st Infantry Division was tasked with invading the island off the coast of New Guinea in an effort to capture airfields for further support of the upcoming FORAGER and the push toward the Philippines. Due to a massive Allied intel failure,...

In this special episode, Seth takes you through the National WWII Museum's Road to Tokyo Pacific galleries. Seth was a chief historian at the WWII Museum for 15 years and was one of the key contributors to the construction of the WWII Museum's campus. In this special episode, he takes you on a quick 40,000 foot view of the Pacific side of the museum.

This week Seth, Bill and Jon Parshall tackle the second day of the Battle of the Philippine Sea, also known as the Mission Beyond Darkness. On Jun e20, 1944 Admiral Marc Mitscher made the bold decision to launch his aviators in a risky, long-distanced duck strike. In an attempt to get the killing blows on Ozawa's carrier force Mitscher sent an enormous strike of 240 aircraft. The strike, the first...

This week Seth, Bill and wingman Jon Parshall take a very deep dive into the first day of the Battle of the Philippine Sea, June 19, 1944, better known as The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. The trio looks at the Japanese plans, how they fell into American hands, and all the drama and intrigue between US Admirals as the largest Japanese fleet yet put to sea in the war heads straight for Task Force 58...

This week Seth and Bill welcome back good buddy Jon Parshall to complete the three-part discussion on the pivotal invasion of Saipan. The team goes into deep detail on the final Japanese martial act on Saipan, the infamous Gyokusai of July 7, 1944. During the Gyokusai, two regiments of the 27th Infantry Division's 105th Infantry Regiment are overrun in the largest banzai charge of the entire Pacif...

This week Seth and Bill are again joined by good pal Jon Parshall to discuss the evolving invasion of Saipan. After the Marines pushed off of the beachhead, the advance inland progressed nicely until the 27th Infantry Division ran into incredibly difficult terrain and vicious Japanese defense at Naftan Point and Death Valley. In the resulting mess of Death Valley, Marine General Holland Smith reli...

This week Seth and Bill welcome great pal Jon Parshall back to the show for a 3 episode run on the invasion of Saipan as part of Operation FORAGER. In this episode, the team discusses the pre-invasion bombardment, the first large deployment of the UDTs (forerunners of today's Navy SEALS), Draper Kaufmann, the landings by the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions, and the utter chaos of the beachhead. The g...

This week Seth and Bill dive into the preparation for Operation FORAGER, the American invasion of the Mariana Islands in June 1944. The team discusses the absolutely massive amount of materiel, men, ships and logistics involved as the largest amphibious operation mounted thus far in the Pacific, kicks off.

This week Seth and Bill dig into the battle history of The Big E, USS Enterprise (CV-6) starting in 1943 until the end of the war. Tune in and see what the team has to say about the second half of the Galloping Ghost of the Oahu Coast's war record.

This week Seth, Bill, and frequent and always welcome Wingman Jon Parshall take a look at the recently released underwater archaeological video footage of the wreck sites of AKAGI, YORKTOWN (CV-5), and KAGA. The trio breaks down what we see in the footage, how the damage shown relates to the battle, what happened in these historic locations, and much more. Tune in and see what the team has to say...

This week Seth and Bill welcome back guest John McManus to talk about the dual invasions of Hollandia and Aitape. The trio discusses the logistical issues that plagued the Americans once the initial successful assaults came off and the bitter fighting that occurred at and around Aitape after the operations were both "secure."

This week Seth and Bill take a look at the 1941-43 battle history of the Navy's most celebrated ship, the famous USS Enterprise (CV-6). The team breaks down some of The Big E's WWII battle history by diving into her actions from commissioning until 1943. Bill and Seth dive into her actions at Pearl Harbor, Midway, the Canal and others. Tune in and see the first part of a two-part mini-series this...

This week Seth and Bill welcome back guest and good friend Jon Parshall as the trio discusses Operation HAILSTONE, better known as the Carrier Raids on Truk. Following the opening portion of the Marshall Islands campaign, Admiral Spruance brings Marc Mitscher's fast carriers to Truk to absolutely wreak havoc on the supposed "Japanese Pearl Harbor". Tune in and see what the team has to say about th...

This week Seth and Bill welcome a new guest, fantastic historian, John McManus to the show to discuss Operation FLINTLOCK-The Marshall Islands Campaign. The next step in the road to Tokyo follows the Central Pacific Drive as it leaves the Gilberts and acquires positions in the Marshall Islands. Utilizing the lessons learned from Tarawa, the V Amphibious Corps stretches its legs and wipes out the M...

This week Seth and Bill take a look at Operation BACKHANDER, better known as the battle for Cape Gloucester that was fought from December 1943 through early 1944. The team examines the short but sharp fight executed by the jungle veterans of the 1st Marine Division as they endured yet another miserable, rain-soaked, hell hole of an island. Tune in and see what the team has to say about this oft-fo...

In this first episode of Season 3, Seth and Bill dive into the topic of leaders and leadership during 1943 in the Pacific. The team breaks down the decisions, performances, and personalities of several of the leading figures that factored into the success of 1943 before we get into the climactic year of 1944.

In this special (short) episode, Bill brings you to the house at Treasure Island where Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz died. He visits with Ellen Spruance Holscher and David Bogart, Admiral Spruance's grandchildren, to hear personal recollections of Spruance the man. And he visits the Richmond Kelly Turner, Charles Lockwood, Raymond Spruance, and Chester Nimitz gravesites at Golden Gate National Ceme...

This week Bill takes you on a tour of Pearl Harbor, to include USS Bowfin, the Pacific Submarine Force Museum, and the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. PS-- this is our version of "Operation Shoestring" where we try to do on location video podcasts on a shoestring budget, complete with audio problems! The good news is that we learned from this and future attempts will be better.

This week Bill takes you on a tour of Pearl Harbor, to include Admiral Kimmel's office (with a great revelation regarding Admiral Nimitz), the site of the HA-19 midget submarine grounding, the spot where midget submarine I-22 tau was sunk in Pearl Harbor, Lockwood Hall to include the Clean Sweep Bar and the Skipper's Lounge, the site of Station Hypo, USS Missouri, and various other sites at Pearl...

This week Bill and Seth wrap up the bloody battle for Betio as they go through days 2 and 3 of the historic fight for Tarawa. Then the team goes into the significance of the Battle of Tarawa and what it's implications held for the remainder of the war and even today.

In this special episode of "The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War" podcast, Bill brings us to the house Admiral Nimitz "retired" to and died in, he visits with the grandchildren of Admiral Raymond Spruance, and he brings you to the gravesites of Admirals Nimitz, Spruance, Lockwood, and Turner.

This week Seth and Bill dive into day 1 on Bloody Betio as the 2nd Marine Division assaults Tarawa atoll as part of Operation GALVANIC. The team discusses the absolute bloodbath that was D-Day ashore at Betio, the mistakes, the successes and the heroism of the common Marine. The team takes a deep dive into the personal stories that offer countless moments of inspiration.

This week Bill and Seth dig into the preparations for the operation that kicks off the mighty Central Pacific Drive, that being of course, Operation GALVANIC, specifically the invasion of Tarawa atoll and Betio island. The team discusses the planning that went into the operation, the leaders who would take part, the equipment, the opposition and just what was at stake during the operation that we...

This week we are stepping out of our chronological coverage of the war and jumping ahead to 1945 for this one episode as we acknowledge the 78th Anniversary of the day Japan surrendered, thus ending WWII. For this episode, Seth and Bill sit down with THE Pacific War historian Richard Frank to discuss the reasons why Japan surrendered in 1945. we often hear that watching or listening to our shows i...

This week Seth and Bill are recording the podcast together on July 6, 2023, from Benicia, California, in front of a live audience at the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) Reunion. They discuss the peacetime and wartime record of the Indy, and include Q&A from the audience at the end.