This episode covers one of the Marine Corps’ most overlooked, but bloodiest battles of World War I: Blanc Mont Ridge.

After their success at Saint Mihiel, the 2nd Division was called up again, this time to break through heavily fortified German positions in Champagne. Lejeune fought to keep the division intact and led them into nightmarish terrain, even by WWI standards. We follow the 5th and 6th Marines as they charge uphill through open fields, tangled trenches, and relentless machine-gun fire. It was a brutal fight, with chaos, heroism, Medal of Honor moments, and a full-blown retreat. 

This episode covers how Marines rebuilt after Soissons and spearheaded a surprise assault that shattered German lines. We’ll look at how tight coordination, solid intelligence, and raw grit helped the 4th Brigade seize critical ground with minimal losses. 

This episode covers the Marines’ brutal second day at Soissons. After the 5th Marines took heavy losses on day one, the 6th stepped up to face entrenched German divisions across open wheat fields with almost no cover. What followed was chaos: shattered units, mounting casualties, and desperate pushes just to stay alive.

We track Marines like Cates, Overton, and Gulberg as they navigate the worst combat they’ve ever seen. By the end of the battle, more than half the 6th Regiment was gone, but the line held.

This episode picks up after Belleau Wood, as the Marines shift from defense to offense in the Aisne-Marne Offensive. With hard-won respect from Army and Allied commanders, the 4th Marine Brigade joined the push to crush Germany’s last major offensive. Planning was a mess. Units were scattered, orders came late, and Marines headed into battle with missing gear and barely any water. Still, they hit the line right on time, under cover of a short but brutal artillery barrage. A chaotic, multi-national charge follows through open fields, tangled forests, and fortified German positions. It’s Belleau Wood all over again, just bigger.

This episode covers the battle that etched the Marine Corps into the history books: Belleau Wood. On June 6, 1918, Marines charged across open wheat fields into German machine guns, taking horrific losses. What followed was nearly a month of brutal, close-quarters fighting through tangled forest and fortified trenches.

We’ll walk through the chaos, the hand-to-hand combat, the infamous gas attacks, and the heroic actions of Marines like Dan Daly, Alfred Noble, and Edward Cole. You’ll hear how Belleau Wood became a proving ground for the Corps, and how its legend was forged, even if some parts, don’t hold up to history.

This episode marks the beginning of the Marine Corps’ legendary role in World War I. After months of training and frustration, the 4th Marine Brigade was finally called into action. We follow them through the trenches near Verdun, into the chaos of the German Spring Offensive, and up to the doorstep of Paris.

Outnumbered and outgunned, Marines held the line against Germany’s elite forces. As the Germans pushed hard toward Paris, the Marines dug in and counterpunched. What followed was Hill 142 and the opening of Belleau Wood, a brutal fight that would forever define the Marine Corps.

In 1916, the Marine Corps was small, scattered, and barely on the Navy’s radar for large-scale war. This episode shows how that changed. We dive into the Corps’ explosive growth, the birth of its aviation wing, and the fight for combat relevance in Europe. From Parris Island tents to French trenches, we track how thousands of volunteers turned into hardened Marines. We also look at the tension between Navy leadership and the Corps over where Marines should serve, and how that tension shaped everything from battlefield assignments to post-war legacy.

This episode breaks down the long fuse that burned for decades before 1914. Revolutions, collapsing empires, new ideologies, and a ruthless arms race made war inevitable. We follow the political dominoes from the Revolutions of 1848 to the Balkan wars and trace how Prussia, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire kept escalating tensions. By 1914, one shot was all it took to ignite the explosion.