The US Army at Pearl Harbor with John McManus - Episode 527

The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War

Captain William Toti, USN

Naval History And Heritage Command, History, Imperial Japanese Navy, Sam Cox, Admiral King, Cruisers, Spruance, Fargo, Seth Paridon, Fighters, Pacific War, Stavridis, Cactus Air Force, December 7, Station Hypo, William Toti, Bombers, Bill Toti, Navy, Halsey, Submarines, Society & Culture, Education, Us Navy, Mush Morton, Cincpoa, Documentary, Guadalcanal, Imperial Japan, World War Ii, Midway, Aircraft Carriers, Cryptology, Wake Island, Nimitz, Cincpac, Macarthur, Pearl Harbor, Wahoo, Courses, Battleships, New Guinea

4.9 • 872 Ratings

🗓️ 4 November 2025

⏱️ 76 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, Seth Paridon and Jon Parshall welcome their mutual buddy, John McManus to the show to discuss the role of the US Army at Pearl Harbor. Everyone knows what the Navy and Marine Corps did and went through during the Japanese attack on Oahu, but do you know the role of the US Army? Tune in to this episode and you will find out. The guys get into such topics as the Coast Artillery, Army AAA during the raid, individual heroics, attacks on Schofield Barracks and Fort Shafter as well as the role of US Army doctors and nurses in treating the legions of wounded as a result of the attack. Finally, the guys get into a rare "what if" when they discuss what would have happened if the Japanese had actually tried to land on Oahu following the air raid. Interesting to say the least. Check it out! #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #essex #halsey #taskforce38 #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #mastersoftheair #8thairforce #mightyeighth #100thbombgroup #bloodyhundredth #b17 #boeing #airforce wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #oldbreed #1stMarineDivision #thepacific #Peleliu #army #marines #marinecorps #worldwar2 #worldwar #worldwarii #leytegulf #battleofleytegulf #rodserling #twilightzone #liberation #blacksheep #power #prisoner #prisonerofwar #typhoon #hurricane #weather #iwojima#bullhalsey #ace #p47 #p38 #fighter #fighterpilot #b29 #strategicstudying #tokyo #boeing #incendiary #usa #franklin #okinawa #yamato #kamikaze #Q&A #questions #questionsandanswers #history #jaws #atomicbomb #nuclear #nationalarchives #nara #johnford #hollywood #fdr #president #roosevelt #doolittle #doolittleraid #pearlharborattack #salvaged

Transcript

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0:00.0	The
0:07.0	The The
0:23.6	The Hello, welcome to episode 527 of the unauthorized history of Pacific War podcast.
0:46.9	My name is Seth Perid and historian and deputy director of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum.
0:50.3	And with me as always is my co-host, and author john partial hey you know what it wouldn't
0:57.7	be an intro if i didn't screw it up john that's right are you doing today i'm i'm great you know
1:03.6	grinding on the book uh it's all all good on my end so and as you can see we have a third guest with us today, yet another John, our buddy John McManus, who was not too long ago sitting in my living room before he jet set it off to Britain to go to the We Have Ways Fest.
1:24.6	Do you have a good time there?
1:26.2	I had a blast there. It was amazing. We had about, I mean, I don't even know how many thousand people there. Crazy stuff, big tents, lots of talks, lots of panels, a game show that I didn't humiliate myself in too much. I mean, only somewhat. Right. And I consider that a victory, of course, but yeah, it was a blast. Yeah. James Scott was out there, too, yeah? Yep, yep. Got to hang out a lot with James Scott. James and I actually did a panel with Saul David about the end of the war in Asia Pacific. And so that was a really interesting discussion. Talked a lot about the, yeah, about the fire bombing raids and, and, you know, Operation Downfall, the whole thing.
2:06.9	So it was, it's a really neat festival because people are just really into it.
2:11.9	They know their stuff.
2:13.7	And I've literally never met a jerk there.
2:17.6	The nicest people makes it a lot of fun.
2:21.2	Yeah, no doubt.
2:22.3	And you are deep in the weeds in your forthcoming book on Ridgeway, right?
2:27.2	I am.
2:28.0	I've written maybe about two-thirds of it, but there's still a heck of a lot to go.
2:32.7	Ridgeway is amazing.
2:33.8	He's just like his hands are in everything in the 20th century. It's, uh, he's, uh, you know, so obviously he's famous for the, the airborne dimension in World War II with good reason. Um, but actually his shining moment is probably in Korea when he's the eighth Army commander and helps author a pretty major turnaround.
2:52.2	Then he takes over for MacArthur after MacArthur gets fired. He takes over for for Ike,
2:56.5	when Ike decides to run for president. Ike had been like basically the NATO commander.
3:01.1	And then he becomes Army Chief of Staff. Before the wars, the Army's leading Latin American
	...

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