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

His arms are charred. matched

The man is feeling a thousand pains and countless discomforts. matched

But John ignores it all as he drapes himself in cartridge belts and roughly 100 pounds of ammunition. matched

And in that laden condition, John again runs a football field-length gauntlet of Japanese fire. matched

The only thing more incredible than his daring is that he pulls this off. matched

Back with his fellow Marines, John keeps the machine guns roaring, spitting ammo into the black morning. matched

Japanese bodies literally pile on top of each other. matched

Their own dead provide cover as the next wave of Imperial soldiers climb over for the next bonsai attack. matched

And so the fight continues. matched

And so John continues, fixing guns and making yet another ammo run. matched

Right until dawn. matched

38. matched

That's how many dead Japanese soldiers are incontestably ascribed to John Bassalone personally. matched

But with roughly a thousand corpses piled up and lining the perimeter that he dashed about all night long, nearly one-third of the entire attacking force, it's hard to imagine the sergeant didn't send many more to their jungle graves. matched

For this night of defense, Sergeant John Bassalone will receive the Medal of Honor, the Marines' first enlisted man to receive it in World War II. matched

While the Marines bleed for every inch of Guadalcanal, the Navy is fighting a desperate battle of its own several hundred miles to the east. matched

At the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, American and Japanese carrier forces tear into each other, and the price is steep. matched

Uncle Sam loses the Hornet. matched

Yes, that legendary aircraft carrier that, in past episodes, we saw launch the Doolittle raid and sacrifice so nobly at Midway. matched

With her gone, the U.S. matched

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