Jim Downey
speaker
621 appearances
1 recordings
1 series
first heard Jul 2026
last heard 13 Jul
Jim Downey’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 1.
Appearances
Didn't someone somewhere teach you better than to tell men under your command as they go into battle that you've got no faith in them?
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It gets worse.
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The admiral then tells the gathered officers that instead of their requested five days to land troops, they get two days with his carriers.
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Sonny Jim will later write that in this moment, my Dutch blood was beginning to boil, but I forced myself to remain calm while explaining that the days of landing a small force and leaving were over.
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No one leaves the conference happy.
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Who can blame them?
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The planning is too rushed.
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The men aren't prepared.
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Their commanders are still not quite sure what's even happening.
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And the cherry on top, they're generally relying on old plantation maps made by the island's longtime colonial rulers, the British.
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It's on account of all these resource and time failures that the Marines will, in their characteristically dark humor way, call Operation Watchtower by a new nickname.
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Operation Shoestring.
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Ultimately, though, none of these qualms matter.
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The fleet sets sail for the Solomon Islands, and boots splash into what should be paradisiacal waters in less than two weeks.
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It's dawn, around 7.30 in the morning, August 7th, 1942.
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Clean-shaven and baby-faced 21-year-old Robert Leckie, or just Lucky, as his Marines in Howe Company call him, is aboard the George F. Elliott, a troop transport headed to the on-fire beaches of Guadalcanal.
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Lucky thought the fires would be bigger with the massive ongoing bombardment.
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But what he's really upset about right now is that he didn't get an orange from the mess for breakfast.
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But no time to ruminate on his citrus disappointments.
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The gunnery sergeant calls out, First platoon, over the side, down those cargo nets.
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Showing 221–240 of 621 · page 12 of 32
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