This episode tells the full story of how the Philippines became a battleground—and how Marines found themselves at the center of the storm. From the Treaty of Paris to the first Marine killed in the Philippines, we’ll break down the political missteps, flawed assumptions, and raw courage that defined those early days. Bombs fell, ships burned, and Marines fought back with machine guns, pistols, and pure stubbornness.

The attack on Pearl Harbor lit the fuse, but Japan’s offensive reached far beyond Hawaii. In this episode, we cover the Marines on Guam, who fought with almost nothing, the defenders on Johnston and Palmyra, who gave the enemy more than they expected, and the crushing defeat in the Philippines that reshaped the war. These early losses hurt, but they also hardened American resolve. For the Marines scattered across the Pacific, this was the start of a long, brutal road to payback.

In this episode, we return to Wake Island. After surviving air raids and mounting an incredible defense, the Marines now face Japan’s full invasion force. This is the story of wrecked planes rebuilt by hand, shore batteries lighting up destroyers, and a final, desperate stand around a single operational gun. We’ll also meet the Marines who kept fighting long after they were ordered to stop, and the father who went to war to honor his fallen son. 

Pearl Harbor wasn't Japan’s only target. In this episode, we cover the first Marine fights of World War II at Midway and Wake. From radar pings at night to shellfire by flashlight, the Marines at Midway were ready when the Japanese came. At Wake, outnumbered and outgunned, Marines and civilian contractors built defenses by hand and refused to give up ground. 

In this episode, we cover the lead-up to one of the most infamous mornings in American history.

We follow the secret build-up to Pearl Harbor, the pilots preparing for the attack, and the Marine detachments stationed across Oahu as everything changed in an instant. 

This is the second episode covering the global unraveling that led to America’s full entry into World War II. After Germany invaded Poland, Europe spiraled into chaos. Hitler pushed for control of Norway to secure critical resources and the lightning-fast German invasion of France exposed the flaws in Allied assumptions and defenses.

With France collapsed and Britain barely holding on, Hitler turned east, launching the largest land invasion in history against the Soviet Union. At the same time, Italy entered the war, expanding the conflict to North Africa and the Mediterranean.

While Europe burned, Japan eyed Southeast Asia’s oil-rich territories. Roosevelt’s oil embargo pushed Japan closer to war, and the U.S. began preparing its Pacific defenses. By the end of 1941, Axis forces held most of Europe and were advancing across Asia. This episode lays out how the global conflict widened and set the stage for Pearl Harbor, the fall of the Philippines, and the brutal Pacific campaign that followed.

This episode marks the beginning of our World War II series. This episode breaks down how the Great Depression wrecked economies, empowered dictators, and turned public desperation into political firepower. In Germany, that meant Hitler. In Japan, it meant military rule. In Italy, Mussolini. From Manchuria to the Sudetenland to Poland, we cover the flashpoints that pulled the world into war and why America couldn’t stay on the sidelines for long.