The "We're Not Lost, Private" Podcast

Send us Fan Mail In the fourth installment of our “Lore of the Battlefield” series, Joe looks at three ghost stories involving the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment during the Normandy Campaign. See how two Currahee troopers, killed early on D-Day, have interactions with three different 101st Airborne men, only well-after they had been killed in action. Learn who they were, details of their servic...

Send us Fan Mail It’s been a long time coming, but Joe finally got to sit down with Henry Sledge. Over the course of an hour, the pair discusses Henry’s father, Eugene “Sledgehammer” Sledge, his WWII classic memoir, With the Old Breed, Henry’s relationship with his father, Eugene’s relationship with the Marine Corps, Henry’s latest projects, and last but not least, Henry’s book, The Old Breed: The...

Send us Fan Mail I grew up with two grandfathers that had served in the Pacific Theater of Operations. One of them, my maternal grandfather Byron, was a crewman on the USS Ticonderoga. The Big “T” fought at Leyte, and in the South China Sea. She was kamikazed off of Formosa and my grandfather was there for all it. In this episode, I recount the Ticonderoga’s wartime history, it’s outstanding skipp...

Send us Fan Mail  What did you think of the first three episodes of World War II with Tom Hanks? Join Joe as he drops a few thoughts on this highly anticipated series.   If you'd like to become a Patreon supporter of The "We're Not Lost, Private" Podcast, check us out here: https://patreon.com/WereNotLostPrivatePodcast  You can check us out on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.co...

Send us Fan Mail I get asked all the time, “What are your favorite books about D-Day?” or “What are your D-Day book ‘must have’s’?” Well, with D-Day rapidly approaching, you can check in to find out what my indispensable D-Day book list looks like. I cover subjects such as the invasion beaches, airborne operations, special units, and then the broader picture of D-Day. There’s going to be a bunch o...

Send us Fan Mail The US 106th Infantry Division was star-crossed at best. Trained to a fine point, its regiments were raided by the U.S. Army to replace casualties suffered during the Battle of France. Its leadership lacked experience and a “hand’s on” approach to leading the Division’s men in battle. They were eventually isolated and two of its regiments were forced to surrender. It was the large...

Send us Fan Mail The second show in our Lore of the Battlefield series, Episode 60 focuses on a story that has been floating around since 1960. Not one, but two well-respected historians perpetuated the myth, one that spoke poorly of our Allied sailors. The second historian was even called out by a veteran who survived the landings on Omaha. Stop by to find out what SLAM Marshall and Stephen Ambro...

Send us Fan Mail Coming of age during the Great Depression, the American boys who fought in World War II had, through necessity, developed a unique brand of technological resourcefulness. Joe is joined by Bob Wettemann to discuss how American servicemen grew up in a society where the machine was ubiquitous—where enduring an unparalleled period of financial distress meant learning to keep their Mod...

Send us Fan Mail Back in July of 1942, the Army began constituting at Camp Toccoa what would become one of its most famous units, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Over the course of fourteen months, Company E of the 506th, would train in Toccoa, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky, before heading to New York for embarkation and eventually, England. While this period of Easy’s his...

Send us Fan Mail The first in our “Lore of the Battlefield” series, Joe looks at the legend of Eric Fisher Wood Jr., an artillery officer from the 589th Field Artillery Battalion. The 589th was assigned to the 106th Infantry Division, “Golden Lions,” and like much of the division, was largely overrun during the opening stages of the Battle of the Bulge. Wood Jr., cut off during his withdrawal, too...

Send us Fan Mail Fought between November 1942 and May 1943, the Second World War’s Tunisian Campaign has often been described as where the Allies ‘learned to fight’. The vital culmination of the conflict fought across the breadth of North Africa, as well as an important stepping-stone to the opening of a second front in Europe, Tunisia saw American, British, and French forces on air, land, and sea...

Send us Fan Mail D-Day has always been one of the most popular topics of World War II. As a result, it’s the smaller battles that occurred later in the campaign that oftentimes get overlooked. As US tank units landed and began moving inland at Utah Beach, they were directed to link up with the paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, and begin clearing German units out from the route...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever just wanted to grab a drink and sit down with a couple of like-minded folks and talk WWII history? Well, grab a pint and tuck in for this show as Joe is joined by old friends Paul Woodadge and Reg Jans as they discuss WWII history, battles, and veterans that they have met and befriended over the years. The only thing missing is the pub’s dartboard, countertop and sog...

Send us Fan Mail A day late and a dollar short, only we’re neither since the Battle of the Bulge officially ended on 25 January 1945. Join Joe and special guest, Reg Jans, as they examine the opening phase of the battle and some of the key fights that fueled the German offensive and the Americans’ response. They look at factors influencing the battle such as fuel and manpower shortages, as well as...

Send us Fan Mail Donald Hoobler, Easy Company stalwart, heavily featured in the miniseries Band of Brothers. There’s so much incorrect information out there about how he died. Between Wikipedia, guesswork, and the miniseries, it all contributes to the inaccuracy. Sit down with Joe for a quick hit episode that busts the myths surrounding the death of this extremely popular soldier. From his intervi...

Send us Fan Mail During World War II, Elzbieta Zawacka was the only woman to reach London as an emissary of the Polish Home Army command. In Britain, she became the only woman to join the Polish elite Special Forces, known as the "Silent Unseen.” She was secretly trained in the British countryside, and then she was the only female member of these forces to be parachuted back behind enemy line...

Send us Fan Mail Many of you have probably read about the Duplex Drive Shermans, one of “Hobart’s Funnies.” The myths and urban legends about their launching and deployment on D-Day have persisted for decades. Author and historian Charles Herrick joins the pod again, this time to lift the shroud from the mystery about how the orders and decisions made by almost every level of leadership led to the...

Send us Fan Mail Patreon supporter Andrew sent me a question about what happens to a paratrooper’s extra gear and dress uniforms when they are training or deployed on a combat operation. Check out this short to find out!  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Noncommissioned Officers, or NCOs, have long been considered the backbone of the Marine Corps. But the crucible of combat in World War II tested the NCO corps like no other event. They acted as the continuity, institutional knowledge and experience, and many times, the moral compass for the young Leathernecks in their charge. Steven McCloud returns to the pod to discuss with Joe t...

Send us Fan Mail The 101st Airborne left behind a legacy with their service in World War II and their actions gained them a fame that has continued to this day. Much attention has been focused on their storied combat actions like Normandy and Bastogne, while their time spent in England in 1943/44 is less well known. Through a wealth of sources, testimonies and period photographs, Matthew Pellett h...

Send us Fan Mail For years the United States Marine Corps has had a recruiting tool called the ‘Buddy Program.’ Using the program, you could join with a friend and essentially be guaranteed to go through recruit training together. During World War II, eight young men from Weslaco, Texas took that theory to the extreme, joining the Marine Corps to serve their nation. One of those young men was Iwo...

Send us Fan Mail Due to the popularity of John Basilone and the Battle of Alligator Creek, the Battle for Guadalcanal looms large in the public eye regarding World War II in the Pacific. The Pacific miniseries reinforced those popular images. But like most battles in the war, much more information is required to get a complete understanding of what happened. Dave Holland, through his popular “Guad...

Send us Fan Mail The 29th Infantry Division was one of the earliest National Guard units to be federalized after the attack on Pearl Harbor. They would soon ship to England where they would train until D-Day. After landing on France that fateful day, they would essentially remain ‘one the line’ until V-E Day. Joe is joined by esteemed author and historian, Joe Balkoski to help explore the combat m...

Send us Fan Mail When Marine Air Group 2 was stationed at Ewa Airfield on the island of Honolulu, none of the Marines there could have anticipated what would happen on the morning of December 7th, 1941. Join Joe and Josh Donohue as they examine significance of Ewa and the actions of both the Japanese attackers and Marine defenders on that fateful day. It’s an attack that has long been overshadowed...

Send us Fan Mail The seesaw fight for Le Ferme Delaunay and Les Droueries. Despite launching multiple concerted attacks against German positions, LTC Robert Ballard found himself and his 2nd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry in a death struggle. It was a test of will between the Americans and German grenadiers and Fallschirmjäger. Repeatedly taking and giving up ground and even being hit by thei...