Author: Mark

442: Make Peace, You Fools

Mark Podcast
Campaign poster from 1944.

In Normandy, combat raged, though progress was slow.

In the United States, the Democratic Party nominated Franklin Roosevelt for a fourth term as President.

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Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“The Washington Post”
Composed in 1889 by John Philip Sousa. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

441: The Plot to Assassinate Hitler

Mark Podcast
The meeting room after the bomb exploded.

High-ranking officers in the German Army had been discussing getting rid of Hitler since 1938, though it was mostly idle talk.

But as the war turned against Germany, disaffection in the Army grew, until finally an attempt was made to assassinate Hitler and overthrow the Nazi government.

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Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

String Quartet No. 13 in A minor.
Composed in 1824 by Franz Schubert. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

440: The Destruction of Army Group Center

Mark Podcast
Lt. General Friedrich Gollwitzer (standing), German commander at Vitebsk, is interrogated by Soviet commanders, including Marshal Vasilevsky (seated center), following his capture.

The Soviet offensive of summer 1944, codenamed “Operation Bagration” was huge in scope and devastating in effect.

The German Army Group Center was virtually annihilated.

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Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

A Thousand and One Nights
Music composed in 1906 by Johann Strauss II. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

439: Doctor Win-the-War

Mark Podcast
The audacious Operation Bagration.

Franklin Roosevelt’s health was deteriorating, even as he was contemplating running for a fourth term as President.

In Eastern Europe, the Soviet Red Army springs a huge trap.

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Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Mazeppa
Music composed in 1851 by Franz Liszt. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

438: A Bill of Goods

Mark Podcast
The Japanese plan to seize control of a rail corridor between Manchukuo (erroneously labeled “Mongolia” here) and French Indochina. Airbases used by the US are indicated on the map.

With cargo ship losses mounting, the Japanese plan to link Manchukuo to Southeast Asia by rail.

The Burma Railway was a similar project, built to reduce shipping time in 1943. By 1944, the Japanese felt ready to resume their offensive against India.

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Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Dance to the Spirits of Fire” from The Perfect Fool
Music composed in 1922 by Gustav Holst. Public domain.
Performed by Stellar Brass of the United States Air Force Academy Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

437: Where Do We Go from Here?

Mark Podcast
US Marines confront one of the many caves in the mountains of northern Saipan.

As American soldiers moved northward in their quest to secure Saipan, Japanese soldiers resisted with every means available to them, while hundreds of Japanese civilians chose death before capture.

Afterward, Franklin Roosevelt traveled to Hawaii to consult with Chester Nimitz and Douglas MacArthur and consider the question, “Where do we go from here?”

  • Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Fugue in B Minor
Music composed ca. 1715 by Johann Sebastian Bach. Public domain.
Performed by Gunnar Johansen. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

436: Too Good to Be True

Mark Podcast
Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku (upper center) and two destroyers take evasive action as American bombers attack on the second day of the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

The Americans invaded Saipan, because they could use it as an airbase from which they could bomb Japanese cities, including Tokyo.

The Japanese anticipated this move and sent their fleet in the hope of forcing the decisive naval battle they’d been trying to wage for more than two years.

  • Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“The Marines’ Hymn”
Music composed in 1867 by Jacques Offenbach. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Marine Corps Band. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

435: D Plus One

Mark Podcast
Caen Canal Bridge with British paratroopers. This drawbridge was one of their first objectives. Note the glider on the ground on the opposite side of the canal.

At Normandy, Allied forces struggled to expand and link their beachheads against the gathering German defenders.

Adolf Hitler was surprisingly calm upon hearing the news of the landings and confident the Allies would be defeated.

  • Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Fantaisie
Composed in 1898 by Gabriel Fauré. Public domain.
Performed by Lydia Roth, flute, and Gwen Varineau, piano. Used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

434: The Longest Day III

Mark Podcast
US soldiers leave a landing craft and wade toward Omaha Beach on the morning of June 6, 1944.

In this episode, we conclude our look at the Normandy landings.

The most difficult invasion site was Omaha Beach, where cliffs overlook the beach. The defending German soldiers were able to rake the approaching Americans with deadly machine-gun fire.

  • Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Invercargill March
Composed in 1909 by Alex Lithgow. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Air Force Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

433: The Longest Day II

Mark Podcast
African-American soldiers guarding German POWs in a barbed-wire enclosure on Utah Beach.

The Normandy landings took place on five designated beaches—three for British and Canadian forces and two for the Americans.

The American landings on Utah Beach went relatively smoothly, although the rough seas caused hundreds of deaths before the force made it ashore.

  • Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Symphony No. 94 in G, “Surprise”
Composed in 1791 by Franz Josef Haydn. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.