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 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 1.

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History That Doesn't Suck · 208: The Pacific War, 1942–43: Guadalcanal, the Aleutians, and Operation Vengeance · 13 Jul 2026 podcast

Thanks to coast watchers giving early warnings, the Americans are aware of the coming onslaught, but onslaught it still is. matched

Ace pilots Nishizawa Hiroyoshi and Sakai Saburo are especially successful. matched

In a daring dogfight through the Pacific skies, Sakai takes on American Navy pilot Lieutenant James Sutherland, or Pug, to use his nickname from his boxing days. matched

Pug's skill with his Saratoga F4F shocks the Japanese pilot. matched

Nonetheless, Sakai puts plenty of holes in the American's inferior aircraft, forcing Pug to bail out. matched

Shortly after, though, Sakai is hit by the rear gun of an American SDB dive bomber. matched

The bullets scratch his skull, forcing the Japanese ace out of the battle, too. matched

It costs him an eye, but he'll fly against the Americans again. matched

Meanwhile, American Marines on Guadalcanal are finding abandoned camps, and at other surrounding islands, like the due north island of Tulagi, the Japanese dig in and hold their positions with snipers and machine guns. matched

Bloody fighting ensues, and Japanese troops remain on the far west end of Guadalcanal, even if, as night falls on August 7th, the Americans are largely in control of the island. matched

With the fighting mostly under control, focus turns to occupation. matched

Marines and sailors get busy unloading everything from barrels of oil and crates of ammunition to typewriters. matched

Rear Admiral Richmond Turner calls the senior staff to a meeting on his flagship for a conference. matched

It's bad news. matched

Admiral Black Jack Fletcher is taking the carriers. matched

He considers them too valuable to leave open to attack. matched

So much for two days. matched

Gee, what a guy. matched

More bad news soon follows as the dark night of August 8th gives way to the still dark morning hours of August 9th. matched

A Japanese counterattack arrives at 1.30 a.m. matched

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