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.

Music your host, James Early. Hello and welcome to this special bonus episode of Key Battles of American History,

the Pacific War.

In this episode, we are going to take a moment to discuss the history of one of the

critical but somewhat unsung weapons of World War II, the escort carrier, also known as

the baby flattop or the Jeep carrier. As most of my listeners know, people who subscribe to

the podcast via Patreon are given a commission in the elite unit known as Early's Raiders.

Those who give enough to be commissioned a major get to do some commissioning of their own.

They get to commission a mini episode on any topic of their choice, as long as it has to do with

U.S. military history. This episode was commissioned by Major Bogg McCullough, a founding member of Early's

Raiders whose father served on an escort carrier in the Pacific Theater of World War II.

Note that this episode was written by my good buddy Sean McIver. Sean is one of the co-hosts

of the excellent podcast Come and Take It, which is about all things Texas. I heartily recommend that you check that

one out. It's really great. Sean is also a frequent co-host on this show and is a major World War II

history enthusiast. So thanks Sean for writing this for me. He volunteered to do it. I didn't even have to

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