The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States.

This medal is for the men who went down that day.

It's for the families of those who didn't make it.

Recipients have done the improbable, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves.

On Medal of Honor, stories of courage, you'll hear about

these heroes and what their stories tell us about the nature of bravery. Listen to Medal of Honor

wherever you get your podcast. 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.

Hello and welcome to a special topical episode of Key Battles of American History. I'm your host, James Early, as always.

And joining me today is my good buddy, fellow Texan, fellow music enthusiasts, and fellow history buff, of course, Sean McIver.

Sean, how are you doing, sir?

Howdy, just getting over the stomach bug, but ready to talk some American history and more

than American history, I think.

Yeah, Allied history.

That kind of tips off what our topic is.

So I asked Sean to join me for this special episode before we jump into the next major series. And I asked Sean, how would you like to talk about World War II aircraft? And he was like, what is the Pope Catholic? Yes, of course, he would love to, he said.

So what we're going to do, we're going to have some fun.

This will be a fairly lighthearted episode, but also serious at the same time,

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