Ghosts of Arlington Podcast

15/12/2025

There are many legends from the Civil War surrounding drummer boys on the battlefield. Arguably, the most famous of these is about Johnny Shiloh, who gave the ultimate sacrifice on the Shiloh battlefield in Tennessee. The problem with this legend is that it is probably based on a boy named John Clem, who not only didn't in battle, he wasn't even at Shiloh. He did make a name for himself at Chickamauga, though, and became the youngest sergeant in the history of the US Army.
https://www.ghostsofarlingtonpodcast.com/2025/12/episode-152-legend-of-johnny-shiloh.html

15/12/2025

My newest podcasts drops tomorrow, but while I was recording it I realized it gave me the perfect set up for a classic Christmas movie reference. Take a listen.

08/12/2025

This week we wrap up this tale of two soldier with Brigadier General Smith and Lieutenant Colonl Littleton Waller, and it ends with a court martial... but it's probably not for who and think it should be for and not for what you think it should be for.

This week, we conclude this tale of two soldiers - of Brigadier General Smith and Lieutenant Colonel Waller - with a court martial, but surp...

24/11/2025

I started a new story arc last week but was busy and didn't post about it online - today, inthe second episode in a Tale of Two Soldiers, we see Army Brigadier General Jacob Hurd Smith ordering genocide against the Filipinos, while Marine Corps Major Littleton "Tony" Waller does all he can to save innocent lives; but the massacre of a Army infantry company makes preventing genocide that much harder.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1771187/episodes/18188431-149-a-tale-of-two-soldiers-part-i.mp3?download=true
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1771187/episodes/18241713-150-a-tale-of-two-soldiers-part-ii.mp3?download=true

10/11/2025

After several months off for a cross-country move, I'm back! During the hiatus, we lost another NASA legend so this week we honor astronaut and and Navy Captain James Lovell, Jr., the storied commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission (and veteran of three previous Gemini and Apollo missions) passed away at age 97.

I updates about new honors given to the 369th Harlem Hellfighters and seven 442nd Regimental Combat Team Nisei soldiers.

After more months that I thought it would take, I am back! While I was away, we lost another Space Race pioneer: Navy Captain James Lovell, ...

04/07/2025

Oh beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife
Who more than self, their country loved
And mercy more than life

Washington, DC fireworks over Section 68, July 4, 2006 (photo credit: Dave Black Photography)

20/01/2025

This week we finally see the end of the Mayaguez Incident play out but not before a chaotic evacuation casuses Marines to be abandoned and left behind on the battlefield. An incidnet that still causes embarrassment today.

https://www.ghostsofarlingtonpodcast.com/2025/01/episode-147-mayaguez-incident-last.html

In the years following the Mayaguez Incident, several memorials have popped up. As is was considered the final combat action of the Vietnam ...

13/01/2025

The crew of the SS Mayaguez is released by the Khmer Rouge, but it was too late to stop the US rescue attempt. Now President Ford wants to pull out the troops, but since information flowed a lot slower in 1975 than it does in 2025, the second wave of US Marines was already on site. Will they follow presidential orders or will they disregard their commander-in-chief and extricate their comrades under siege in enemy territory?

The crew of the SS Mayaguez is released by the Khmer Rouge, but it is too late to stop the US rescue attempt. Now President Ford wants to...

02/01/2025

Today's return trip to the ER almost certainly means no new episode next Monday either. Happy New Year all the same!

25/12/2024

Well, next week's episode will probably be delayed. An emergency appendectomy will do that. Not how I envisioned my Christmas eve but at least they're saying I should go home today. Merry Christmas!

16/12/2024

Bad intelligence plus bad timing equals a bad plan. Last week we saw the bad intelligence when no photos of the objective were available so the Marine making the plan flew over the site at 4500 feet with his personal 35mm camera. This week we see the bad timing I've been eluding to. The bad intelligence and bad timing come together for a disastrous first fifteen minutes of the battle for the and her crew. https://www.ghostsofarlingtonpodcast.com/2024/12/episode-144-mayaguez-incident-last.html

09/12/2024

US reconnaissance planes lost track of the Mayaguez crew when the trawler they were on arrived at the port of Kompong Som on mainland Cambodia. Because of that, US planners continued to plan for a rescue under the assumption that the crew was split between the Mayaguez itself and Koh Tang island and their estimate of how many Khmer soldier were on Koh Tang was off by 90%. Both of which led to a rescue plan that would not be well suited for the reality on the ground.

Oh, and the reconnaissance photos the Marines used to plan the operation was taken with one of their officer's personal 35-mm camera from 4500 feet above the island because apparently no other photos of Koh Tang existed in Thailand where the planning was taking place. https://www.ghostsofarlingtonpodcast.com/2024/12/episode-143-mayaguez-incident-last.html