War Stories

In July 2004, our War Stories documentary team returned to Iraq to cover what everyone hoped would be the beginning of the end of the war against Saddam Hussein's regime. It was a false hope. This podcast is about the courage and perseverance of the American heroes who hoped to bring democracy to the "land between the rivers" in Mesopotamia. The men of 2nd Battalion 4th Marines, affectionately known as "The Magnificent Bastards", claim a lineage dating back to battlefields of the Pacific during World War II. In July, 2004 - 60 years after their forebears stormed ashore in the Pacific, the Marines of 2/4 were up against an equally well-armed, brutal and often suicidal enemy in gun fights on the streets of Ramadi, Iraq. It was then known as the bloodiest place on the planet earth. In this War Stories podcast, you'll learn of the enemy they faced every day. Listen carefully to eyewitness participants as they describe how they deal with improvised explosive devices or IEDs. .audioplayer_container {display:none;} Check out these other free FOX News podcasts! Perino & Stirewalt: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Find the complete list of free podcasts here.

After a shaky victory in North Africa during the dark days of World War II, the Allies debated where to launch their next offensive. In the spring of 1943, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt met at the Casablanca Conference to decide if the Allies should stay in the Mediterranean. After much debate, the Italian island of Sicily was finally selected as the gateway into Hitler's so called "Fortress Europe." Operation Husky was born. The Sicily Campaign was the first joint amphibious operation of World War II, and brought together commanders like George S. Patton, Bernard Montgomery, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Harold Alexander - men whose leadership ultimately won the war. But you'll learn how the infighting between these men threatened the success of the invasion right from the start. In this compelling episode of "War Stories with Oliver North," you'll learn what happened during the first American airborne invasion of World War II. You'll meet courageous paratroopers like Edwin Sayre, Timothy Dyas, and Delbert Kuehl who fought off German tanks but tragically saw 81 fellow paratroopers and 60 C-47 pilots and crewmen shot down in one of the worst friendly fire incidents in history. It would take 38 days of non-stop fighting in some of the roughest terrain of the European Theater to secure the island of Sicily. But this Allied victory was bittersweet. In what is regarded as one of the biggest blunders in military history, you'll see how 120,000 German and Italian troops under the command of Field Marshal Albert Kesselring escaped right under the Allies' noses across the Messina Strait. These enemy troops lived to fight another day in the Italian Campaign and extended the bloodshed in World War II. .audioplayer_container {display:none;} Check out these other free FOX News podcasts! Perino & Stirewalt: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Find the complete list of free podcasts here.

In the summer of 1942, in the dead of night, eight Nazi saboteurs landed by submarine on the eastern shores of the United States. Sent by Hitler himself, the invaders planned to blow up industrial targets and spread fear and panic throughout the country. The Nazi dictator intended to strike a second blow to an America still reeling from the attacks at Pearl Harbor just six months earlier. But the U.S. Coast Guard and the FBI uncovered the plot and tracked down the enemy agents. These saboteurs met their fate in a secret military trial that is still controversial to this day. This group of saboteurs was not the first Nazi agents discovered on American soil. In New York in 1941, 44 men and women were arrested as part of a spy ring that sent American military secrets back to Germany. What is shocking about these two episodes of sabotage is that all the men and women working for Hitler lived here in America. They spoke English, worked in American factories and businesses, many were American citizens. Yet they believed in Nazi Germany and many were involved in a sinister pro-Hitler organization based right here in America called the German American Bund. They seemed like Americans, but they came to kill. In this episode of "War Stories With Oliver North," you'll hear the fascinating tales of enemy agents infiltrating the United States. You'll meet the U.S. Coast Guardsman and FBI agents who worked together to stop these acts of sabotage. This is the story of the men who invaded our country and those who stopped them. .audioplayer_container {display:none;} Check out these other free FOX News podcasts! Perino & Stirewalt: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Find the complete list of free podcasts here.

Say "D-Day" and most people will think of the Normandy invasion in June of 1944. But many remarkable amphibious landings played out during World War II. During the same month "Operation Overlord" unfolded in Europe, another massive armada began. "Operation Forager" stood ready to storm the beaches of the Mariana Islands. 3700 miles from Hawaii, the Mariana Islands were the main Pacific outpost for the Japanese Empire. Fiercely defended by over 70,000 Japanese troops, the island airfields on Saipan, Guam and Tinian were "must have pieces of real estate." If taken, swarms of our massive four engine B-29 bombers would be able to devastate mainland Japan and stop the war machine in its tracks. On these tiny islands, the 100,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines faced a determined enemy. The Japanese defenders had been given a simple order...absolutely no surrender. Our victory would come at a very high price. This chilling episode of "War Stories with Oliver North" brings you onto the "white sands of hell." You'll hear of an enemy 4,000 strong in a "banzai" charge. You will also hear the actual recording of an amphibious landing of Marines hitting the beach. And you will witness how thousands of Japanese civilians took their own lives at "Suicide Gulch." From the "Great Mariana's Turkey Shoot" you will meet legendary Navy ace pilot Alex Vraciu. He shot down six Japanese bombers in less than eight minutes. .audioplayer_container {display:none;} Check out these other free FOX News podcasts! Perino & Stirewalt: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Find the complete list of free podcasts here.

On that morning of June 6th 1944, the waters of the English Channel along Omaha Beach ran red with the blood of those who fought to free Europe from Nazi domination. Eventually, two million brave Allied servicemen -many just teenagers- would cross the beaches under blistering enemy fire. In this riveting episode of "War Stories with Oliver North," you'll hear from men who slogged through water up to their necks while wedged down by more than 100 pounds of gear. You'll meet those who parachuted behind enemy lines in the midst of bullets and anti-aircraft fire. From the beaches of Normandy and the D-Day museum in New Orleans, Oliver North pays tribute to those you can't hear from: the 29,000 troops who gave their lives to preserve America's freedoms and liberate Europe from Adolf Hitler. This, too, is their story. .audioplayer_container {display:none;} Check out these other free FOX News podcasts! Perino & Stirewalt: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Find the complete list of free podcasts here.

For the sailors, airmen and Marines who survived it, the epic Battle of Midway in June 1942 is forever seared in their memories. Though they didn't know it at the time, it was the turning point in our fight against the Japanese during World War II. It took brilliant intelligence work, expert battle planning and the leadership of a determined Admiral named Chester W. Nimitz to defeat the Japanese, who were at their strongest militarily. They had won every battle in the South Pacific, while a substantial portion of our Navy lay at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. In this exciting episode of "War Stories with Oliver North," you'll hear how an intelligence unit called "Station Hypo" ingeniously broke the Japanese code and steered us to victory in the Pacific. You'll meet two pilots - one Japanese, the other American - who tell how they bombed each other's ships. This was a war of nerves between two legendary admirals - Chester W. Nimitz and Isoroku Yamamoto. Together, they squared off in the Pacific to fight what history named "The Battle of the Century." .audioplayer_container {display:none;} Check out these other free FOX News podcasts! Perino & Stirewalt: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Find the complete list of free podcasts here.

It was called MacArthur's masterstroke - a daring amphibious assault - deep behind enemy lines - and it changed the course of the Korean War. In June of 1950 the North Korean People's Army - backed by the Soviet Union - invaded South Korea. By August - American and South Korean troops had been pushed back into a tiny perimeter on the peninsula's southern coast. It was a desperate situation - requiring a bold, daring solution and Douglas MacArthur had one: place 70,000 U.S. & South Korean marines and soldiers on 320 ships, have them navigate the treacherous 30-foot tides to scale the seawall at Inchon - and then fight their way inland to liberate Seoul, South Korea's capital. In this powerful episode of "War Stories with Oliver North", you'll meet the extraordinary men - Americans and Korean - who fought those terrible battles - and accomplished what few believed could ever be done. To show you how their courage still inspires a new generation of American and South Korean troops today, we went to Inchon, Seoul - and the DMZ - the demilitarized zone that separates the democratic south from the communist north. Join us in this podcast - as we visit the battlefields where MacArthur's masterstroke was fought - and see if you aren't inspired as well. .audioplayer_container {display:none;} Check out these other free FOX News podcasts! Perino & Stirewalt: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Find the complete list of free podcasts here.

Medical personnel who are at the side of every injured soldier, sailor, airman and Marine are often overlooked in the annals of war. Ask any fighting man or woman and they'll tell you they're eternally grateful to the nurses, medics and corpsmen that provided comfort in the most desperate of times. While they may not remember a name, they all remember that friendly face or the voice of the person who nursed them back to health. In this poignant podcast of "War Stories with Oliver North," you'll hear the stories of nurses who served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War. Learn how one nurse became a Japanese prisoner of war. You'll also hear the harrowing account of a Navy corpsman that saved his Marine commander's life during an ambush attack in Operation Iraqi Freedom. .audioplayer_container {display:none;} Check out these other free FOX News podcasts! Perino & Stirewalt: iTunes | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Red Eye: iTunes | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Hemmer Time: iTunes | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Talkenomics: iTunes | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Find the complete list of free podcasts here.

The Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" and B-24 "Flying Boxcar" dropped more than a million tons of bombs over Nazi targets in Europe from 1942 to 1945. Missions to the oil fields of Romania and the rail yards and Messerschmidt plants of Germany targeted the Nazi war machine and its ability to make war. But, these missions weren't without a price. The young bomber boys would fly their aircraft through skies thick with anti-aircraft fire, called flak, and the dreaded German fighters of the Luftwaffe. If their plane was downed, they usually faced two options: death or capture. Almost half of those who took off from bases in England, North Africa, and Italy didn't make it back. You'll hear the riveting story of a 21-year-old pilot named George McGovern who crashed his plane three times and lived to become part of our history. In this exciting podcast of "War Stories with Oliver North", you'll learn about the story of the other front line... the skies over Europe. This is where the pilots, navigators, gunners and bombardiers of the Army Air Corps stared death in the face on every mission they flew. .audioplayer_container {display:none;} Check out these other free FOX News podcasts! Perino & Stirewalt: iTunes | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Red Eye: iTunes | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Hemmer Time: iTunes | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Talkenomics: iTunes | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Find the complete list of free podcasts here.

They infiltrated Hitler's Third Reich. In the Cold War they penetrated the Iron Curtain. There are thousands of nameless and faceless men and women who have dedicated their lives to serving our country's clandestine services. They don't come home to march in a ticker-tape parade and their heroics are often unknown even to their own families. In this fascinating podcast of "War Stories with Oliver North" you'll meet some of the first women to serve in the OSS, the predecessor to the CIA. Learn how they helped defeat the Germans and Japanese in World War II. You'll hear the son of U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers describe how the shoot down of his father's spy plane quickly developed into a huge international incident. And the CIA's first counter-terrorism chief Duane "Dewey" Clarridge gives you the inside story of how he captured one of the world's most notorious terrorists in a dramatic sting operation. With Spies!, "War Stories with Oliver North" pays tribute to the unsung heroes who serve undercover to protect America's freedom and make the world a safer place for us all. .audioplayer_container {display:none;} Check out these other free FOX News podcasts! Perino & Stirewalt: iTunes | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Red Eye: iTunes | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Hemmer Time: iTunes | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Talkenomics: iTunes | Google Play | TuneIn | Stitcher Find the complete list of free podcasts here.