What It Was Like to be a WW2 Paratrooper

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 20 June 2023

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When General Douglas MacArthur fled the Phillipines in the beginning of World War Two, he swore to return, and did so in 1944 in an epic battle in which the Allies faced banzai charges, jungle warfare, and the block-by-block battle to retake Manila. Critical players were the 11th Airborne Division, one of five of America’s paratrooper divisions, who battled a fanatical enemy but also the sweltering tropical landscape, insects, and disease. To share their story is today’s guest James Fenelon, author of Angels Against the Sun: A WWII Saga of Grunts, Grit, and Brotherhood. The Pacific theater of WWII pitted the 11th Airborne against the merciless Japanese army and the combined enemy of monsoons, swamps, mud, privation, and disease. These rowdy paratroopers, serving under General Joseph Swing answered the call and fought in some of the bloodiest campaigns of the Pacific War.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This guy here with another episode of the History Unplugged Podcast.
0:08.2	Parachroopers played a critical role in winning World War II in Europe, but what many
0:12.6	people don't know is that they are also key players in the Pacific Campaign, particularly
0:17.3	in the liberation of the Philippines.
0:19.5	The 11th Airborne Division, which was led by General Joseph Swing, bought the Japanese
0:23.5	Army in Monsunes, swamps, mud, preface andless Bonsai attacks.
0:28.5	Although they were trained as elite shock troops, the mounting American casualties forced
0:32.1	them to fight as infantrymen on the ground.
0:34.2	They engaged in jungle warfare and survived on air drop supplies and reinforcements.
0:38.8	Their maps were incredibly crude and incomplete, sometimes there were huge blank spots on
0:43.4	their maps, because the aerial reconnaissance flights that supply the intel might have
0:46.8	had pod cover that day.
0:48.5	Today's guest is James Femmelon, an author and former paratrooper who wrote angels against
0:52.6	the sun, a World War II saga of grunts, grit and brotherhood.
0:55.9	We look at the paratroopers daily lives, what it was like in the Philippines, the consequences
0:59.8	they reaped under good and bad command, and first he and accounts of their fights in
1:03.6	the rainforest of Laitay, the battles on Luzon, and their tragic combat in Mino.
1:08.4	This is largely forgotten but very important account of combat World War II, but overall
1:12.0	emphasizes how important paratroopers are to monitor warfare.
1:15.0	Hope you enjoyed this discussion with James Femmelon.
1:17.4	In one more thing before we get started with this episode, a quick break for word from
1:23.6	our sponsors.
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