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

Then the line goes dead. matched

And as it does, somewhere in the impenetrable dark, John can hear Japanese soldiers cutting the barbed wire defenses. matched

Sounds like this fight is going to get up close and personal, fast. matched

The Marines' machine guns flash brilliantly as they fire incessantly, hitting Japanese soldiers swarming toward them. matched

The Americans are met with grenades and Japanese bodies. matched

John will later be quoted as saying, I could see the Japs leaping as they were smacked by our bullets, screaming, yelling, and dying all at the same time. matched

Even with one wave decimated, the Imperial soldiers continue on, finding and assaulting John and his men again and again, only to be shot dead on top of their comrades. matched

Some nearly reached the American line, dropping but a mere five feet in front of the Marines. matched

As John will later recall, one thing you've got to hand the Japanese, they were not afraid to die. matched

And believe me, they did. matched

John's everywhere. matched

Running from one pit to the next, he forgoes the tripod, lifting his heavy Brownie machine gun into his arms and lets it rip. matched

Japanese soldiers fall as the rapid-firing gun singes his arms. matched

Arriving at the next position, John finds five men dead and two injured, trying to fight with two jammed machine guns. matched

Relying on rifles and John's Brownie, the three of them repel yet another wave of attackers. matched

But this can't endure. matched

John has got to get these guns firing. matched

It's pitch black. matched

Yet, that won't prove a problem for this sergeant. matched

This is precisely why John has learned to take guns apart and put them back together blindfolded, and despite not having a lick of sight, he soon has one up and firing. matched

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