20,000 American troops went into captivity after the fall of the Philippines in 1942. Recent scholarship indicates that half of those POWs did not survive captivity. Surviving the POW experience in the Philippines – including the hell ships and labor camps in Korea and Japan – was no easy feat. For those who did survive to liberation – how did the US Army medical system treat them? How were they reintegrated back into society? To examine the repatriation of these former POWs, the MacArthur Memorial Podcast spoke with Scott Woodard, Historian with the US Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage 

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Franklin Roosevelt, Douglas MacArthur, and Winston Churchill were all very different men, but they shared a few things. One thing they shared was a common ancestor – Sarah Barney Belcher – a woman born in Massachusetts in 1771. They also all had fascinating mothers who were instrumental in their careers. To explore the roles played by Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt, the MacArthur Memorial Podcast interviewed Charlotte Gray, author of Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons: The Lives of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt. 

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The US Army Veterinary Corps (VC) has a fascinating history. Created in 1916, by WWII its activities were chiefly centered on food inspection to ensure animal products going to feed the Army were being sanitarily procured, produced, and transported. The VC also had responsibility across theatres for about 56,000 horses and mules, thousands of war dogs, and pigeons used by the Signal Corps. On December 8, 1941, there were 12 VC officers stationed in the Philippines. As the Japanese invaded the islands, they played an important role in trying to feed the beleaguered defenders, as well as caring for military animals and even human patients. When the Philippines fell to the Japanese in the spring of 1942, these men went into captivity – applying their unique skillset to the challenges of the POW experience. To share these stories, the MacArthur Memorial Podcast hosted Jon Frank, the son of Charles B. Frank, a VC officer who survived the POW experience in the Philippines. 

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In 1942, US Army dental officer, Roy L. Bodine, became a POW when Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.  He spent 41 months as a POW - surviving the Bataan Death March, POW camps, Hell Ships, and labor camps. One month after VJ Day, he was liberated from a labor camp in Korea. Throughout his captivity, he kept a diary which was later used as evidence in war crimes trials after WWII. 
To discuss Bodine's POW experience and later life, MacArthur Memorial Archivist Jim Zobel interviewed Major General Patrick Sculley (USA, Retired). General Sculley knew Bodine and has spent many years researching Bodine's POW experience.  

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Throughout World War II, Allied leaders met in a series of conferences to discuss and decide joint military and political goals. The Casablanca Conference, held in Casablanca, French Morocco, from January 14-24, 1943, was the third of these meetings. And as with the other conferences, the personalities, the debates, and the eventual agreements are absolutely fascinating.  To explore the Casablanca Conference, the MacArthur Memorial hosted James B. Conroy, author of The Devils Will Get No Rest: FDR, Churchill, and the Plan that Won the War.

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When the Philippines fell to the Japanese in the spring of 1942, tens of thousands of American and Filipino troops became POWs. Approximately 1 in 3 (possibly more) of the Americans did not survive captivity. Their treatment by their captors and their limited access to medical care/supplies is often highlighted by historians. To discuss this in more depth and to highlight the experiences of US Army medical personnel held captive in the Philippines, Andy Watson, Chief of the U.S. Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage, joined the MacArthur Memorial Podcast.

Learn more about US Army Medical history and heritage:  Home | AMEDD Center of History & Heritage (army.mil)

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On June 6, 1944, the Allied invasion of Normandy began. D-Day, as the first phase of this invasion has come to be known, was a critical moment in the liberation of Europe. It did not mark the end of the war, but 11 months later, the sacrifices of June 6 would lead to the total defeat of Nazi Germany.

John Long, Director of Education at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA joined the MacArthur Memorial Podcast to provide an overview of D-Day and "The Bedford Boys."

Learn more about the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA. 

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Between 1943-1945, the US Navy operated Naval Air Station Wildwood in Cape May, NJ as a training center for dive bomber squadrons. Thousands of pilots were trained there and during the peak training months of mid 1944 – early 1945, the air station was home to over 200 warplanes. From a historical perspective, NAS Wildwood is a fascinating study in American mobilization and US naval warfare doctrine. Jim Krombach, a naval aviation historian and a member of the Board of Trustees for NAS Wildwood, joined the MacArthur Podcast to share the story of NAS Wildwood.

Learn more about the NAS Wildwood Aviation Museum: NAS Wildwood Aviation Museum | (usnasw.org)

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World War II was a total war. That required it to also be a media war. Media coverage mattered. The opinions and impressions of citizens on the home front and of citizen soldiers on battlefield had to be considered. But exactly how did the nexus of media and public opinion effect military decision making during the war? Did media coverage fundamentally shape Allied strategy? Was media a tool for commanders, or did it encourage commanders to pursue prestige prizes over better military objectives?  To answer these questions, the MacArthur Memorial Podcast hosted Dr. Alexander Lovelace, a Scholar in Residence at the Contemporary History Institute, Ohio University and the author of The Media Offensive: How the Allied Press and Public Opinion Shaped Allied Strategy during World War II. 

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The Greatest Generation has many female heroines – women and girls who stepped out of line to serve their countries and their communities in the darkest days of World War II.  Many of them remain relatively unknown. To discuss some of their stories, the MacArthur Memorial Podcast hosted Major General (Ret.) Mari K. Eder, author of The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line: Untold Stories of the Women Who Changed the Course of World War II. 

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