VMF-221: The Fighting Falcons in the Pacific War with guest Pete Owen - Episode 601

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

🗓️ 26 May 2026

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week Seth Paridon and Jon Parshall open up Season 6 with friend, author and historian Pete Owen. Pete, a retired United States Marine, and Naval Academy graduate, brings us the story of VMF-221's Pacific War odyssey. 221 first saw combat at Midway in June 1942, then went on to Guadalcanal after a lengthy rebuild. After the Canal, and flying the F4U Corsair, the Falcons flew in the Solomons before finally ending up aboard USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) in 1945. Pete gives us the low-down on the squadron and some of their personalities and training that are in his new book. Check out our first episode of Season 6--plenty more to come! NOTE: “Although Pete Owen is a retired Marine Corps officer, an adjunct faculty with Marine Corps University, and a federal civil servant, his remarks are his own and do not reflect the position of the US Government.” #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 #medalofhonor #tarawa #malayalam #singapore #guadalcanal #china #burma #oil #marinecorps

Transcript

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0:00.0	The
0:07.0	The Hello. Hello and welcome to episode 601 of the Unauthorized History of Pacific War podcast.
0:46.3	My name is Seth Periden, historian and deputy director of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum.
0:50.3	And with me as always is my co-host author historian good dude john partial how are you john
0:57.5	i'm i'm good i'm i'm a week back from um my latest trip out to the pacific with the
1:04.3	world war two museum and just wanted to give a give a quick shout out to some of the people
1:10.2	that are unauthorized watchers who came along with us.
1:14.5	Dennis and his son Doug Dennis, whose uncle was killed driving an Amtrak off of Agate Beach in Guam.
1:23.3	Pretty touching to be able to go there and also to see his uncle's name on the memorial wall there in Guam.
1:30.8	Yeah, that's just one of those things.
1:34.8	Dave and Tanya, who've traveled with me before, Steve Fisher, who's traveled with me three times.
1:40.2	What a glutton for punishment.
1:42.2	Jeff and George, Paul, and his lovely family, and then Emily as well.
1:48.3	Thanks to everyone who came along with us.
1:51.1	And I guess the other news on my end is that the book is done done.
1:56.0	Like it's shipped to Oxford and off to the printer.
1:59.4	So that's crazy.
2:00.7	But that's what's been going on with me.
2:03.0	And as you can see, yes, I don't hardly know what to do with myself, actually. They're sort of like,
2:09.5	huh? 17 years and it's done. What the hell? Anyway, that's not why we are here today. We are here
2:16.5	today to hang out with Pete Owen, who has just come out with a new book on VMF21.
2:25.1	I've met Pete at the SMH conference a couple years ago.
	...

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