War has played a key role in the history of the United States, from the nation's founding

right down to the present. War made the U.S. independent, kept it together, increased its

size, and established it as a global superpower. Understanding America's wars is essential for understanding American history.

Welcome to Key Battles of American History,

a podcast in which we discuss American history

through the lens of the most important battles of America's wars.

Here is your host, James Early.

Thank you. James Early.

Hello and welcome to another special bonus episode of Key Battles of the Pacific Theater of World War II.

This is your host, James, as always.

And I am beyond excited about this episode. This may be the most special one

I've ever done. Let me explain. I have to go back in time a little bit, back around the year

2008 or so. A friend of mine who was a U.S. history teacher at the high school that I used to teach at,

we taught together for a few years, but by this time I had moved on to a different position.

But he is, well, let me say this.

He had a friend who was named Delbert Englishby, or Del Englishby. Del Englishby was a journalist. He worked for a local

Houston area TV station. It's KPRC Channel 2. It's still around today. It's the NBC affiliate.

And Dell, this was back in the late 80s when this happened, but Del was a friend of my

fathers. Of course, you all know by now, but my father, Colonel Cleland-Early, fought in several

major battles in the Pacific Theater, including Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Iwojima, and Okinawa.

And my dad didn't talk about his experiences that much, but occasionally he would give

an interview or do a talk. He went and spoke to my friend's class one time, but he was also

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