Why We Fight ~ 1944

The conclusion of the Battle of Ortona with Dr. Lee Windsor and Major Jayson Geroux, and also the conclusion of the Why We Fight ~ 1943 series :)

In this last 2-part episode of the 1943 series, Canadian Army Major Jayson Geroux and Dr. Lee Windsor (University of New Brunswick, Gregg Centre) join me to talk about this important urban warfare battle that took place in December 1943. Part II will be out shortly and then we will dive into the 1944 series.

***Trigger Warning***

For anyone who might be sensitive to it, this episode does include talk of sexual assault at one point and I wouldn't want anyone to stumble upon that unexpectedly.

Dr. Ben Schneider joins me again to help answer a question that came up in the previous episode: to what extent was the US Army able to use the Military Justice System to protect civilian populations from crimes and exploitation at the hands of some of the American service members? It's complicated and this will require more episodes as we advance in the series but this is a great start to a very important topic.

In this episode, Dr. Cindy Brown (University of New Brunswick, The Gregg Centre) and Dr. Greg Hospodor (US Army TRADOC) help me talk about the Allied Military Government and Civil Affairs in Sicily and Italy, including some of the challenges faced when trying to stabilize and secure occupied territory while simultaneously fighting the Second World War and as Italy erupts in its own Civil War. Things get complicated, but this is an important part of the story that we need to understand is going on all while we are fighting up the "boot" and preparing to invade France in multiple operations.

Joining me again is Dr. Ryan Wadle, suckered into another episode after I saw a short video on YouTube about the USS Kidd and had to include the story in the 1943 series. We talk about the history of the USS Kidd, the US Navy's tradition of gedunks and especially ice cream, and the connection to pirates that this vessel and the two subsequent vessels of the same name have had.

Links

USS Kidd (https://www.usskidd.com/explore-the-kidd/ship-history/)

In this episode I'm joined by Troy Lewis, a member of the Army University Press Combat Studies Institute Staff Ride Team, and we talk about the US Army at Bougainville in late 1943. Although the story doesn't really pick up until nearly Spring 1944, this was a good start and Troy will be back to continue. If you missed it, the episode before this one featured Kater Miller, curator for the Marine Corps Museum, talking about the Marines at Bougainville.

Links

Northern Solomons (https://history.army.mil/html/books/072/72-10/CMH_Pub_72-10.pdf)

The War in the Pacific - CARTWHEEL: The Reduction of Rebaul (https://history.army.mil/html/books/005/5-5/CMH_Pub_5-5.pdf)

"Fight Now" performed by the III Marine Expeditionary Force Band (https://www.dvidshub.net/video/817588/fight-now-iii-marine-expeditionary-force-band)

In this episode, Jon Bernstein, the Arms & Armor Curator at the National Museum of the United States Marine Corps, joins me to talk about USMC Sherman Tanks and Alligators used at Tarawa, including the first "hot tank on tank action" involving Marine Shermans in the Pacific Theater.

Links

Tanks in Hell: A Marine Corps Tank Company on Tarawa (https://www.amazon.com/Tanks-Hell-Marine-Company-Tarawa/dp/1612003036)

Coral and Brass (https://www.amazon.com/Coral-Brass-Holland-M-Smith/dp/1548048631/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1H7OR5B9SMY3T&keywords=coral+and+brass+holland+smith&qid=1705250898&s=books&sprefix=coral+and+bra%2Cstripbooks%2C181&sr=1-1)

History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume 7: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1941 - April 1944 (https://www.usni.org/press/books/aleutians-gilberts-and-marshalls-june-1941-april-1944)

Galvanic: Beyond the Reef - Tarawa and the Gilberts, November 1943 (https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/publications/publication-508-pdf/Galvanic-booklet-508%20A.pdf)

"With the Marines at Tarawa" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JolhiCbU_u8)

"Fight Now" performed by the III Marine Expeditionary Force Band (https://www.dvidshub.net/video/817588/fight-now-iii-marine-expeditionary-force-band)

In his final episode for the 1943 series, Lt. Col. Brian Kerg returns to tell the story of the Marines at Tarawa in November 1943 and the lessons we learned and can still learn from this costly battle.

Links

Tanks in Hell: A Marine Corps Tank Company on Tarawa (https://www.amazon.com/Tanks-Hell-Marine-Company-Tarawa/dp/1612003036)

Coral and Brass (https://www.amazon.com/Coral-Brass-Holland-M-Smith/dp/1548048631/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1H7OR5B9SMY3T&keywords=coral+and+brass+holland+smith&qid=1705250898&s=books&sprefix=coral+and+bra%2Cstripbooks%2C181&sr=1-1)

History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume 7: Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls, June 1941 - April 1944 (https://www.usni.org/press/books/aleutians-gilberts-and-marshalls-june-1941-april-1944)

Galvanic: Beyond the Reef - Tarawa and the Gilberts, November 1943 (https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/publications/publication-508-pdf/Galvanic-booklet-508%20A.pdf)

"With the Marines at Tarawa" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JolhiCbU_u8)

"Fight Now" performed by the III Marine Expeditionary Force Band (https://www.dvidshub.net/video/817588/fight-now-iii-marine-expeditionary-force-band)

Joining me again is Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage historian Dr. Sanders Marble, this time to talk about some of the medical issues troubling American forces in Italy in the late Fall and Winter of 1943, and the preventive medicine efforts the US Army took at the time to mitigate the situation. There was a bit of confusion at the time as to who was actually responsible for preventive medicine, with fingers pointed back and forth between the G1 and G3, with it ultimately coming to the conclusion that preventive medicine is a command responsibility.

Dr. Marble will be back to talk more Army Medicine in 1944.