@@mattywanders I know. I'm a Canadian Army Brat. I grew up around infantry, artillery, SAR techs, tankers and whatever other trade that His Majesty's armed forces fields (My dad was a Signalman, so he got posted everywhere, army, navy, air force, what have you), and to a man (and woman, Canada's armed forces are equal opportunity when it comes to combat roles since the early 90s), they are teddy bears at heart when it comes to children, especially babies. Something like this would have wrecked my Dad, and he would have moved heaven and earth to make sure that baby was ok.
That last part brought me to tears. I served in Iraq and fought in fallujah. People call us monsters on the battlefield. But in the end we're just young men doing what needs to be done. We fight because we care about life and we hate those who trample it. I'd never cry for an enemy but I'll cry for any innocent who was harmed by my actions
I wish I could recall his name but a medal of honor recipient said “You fight not because you hate what’s in front of you, but because you love what’s behind you” (prolly not word for word)
That “biggest, best looking paratrooper” was my great uncle LTC Henry A. Burgess, the man who not only commanded the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 11th Airborne, but personally coordinated the attack and led the entire 11th into combat that day. He was in the LVT at the front of the formation because he hated being in gliders, since he broke his legs when his glider crashed during training. It should also be noted that he stole, or as he said, “liberated” Lieutenant General Joseph Swing’s mini fridge just before the raid. He brought it home with him to America. I think his daughter, my cousin Tyler, might still have it! Thank you so much for telling the story of his raid! If you have any questions about the war and his time in New Guinea, or the details of the actual battle at Los Baños and the firefight, feel free to ask! I have quite a few personal anecdotes from and about him that I’ve never seen mentioned in any history books or anywhere online. Some pretty crazy stuff.
Bro spent a whole-ass 10 dollars just to say "my grandfather is cooler than yours, fuck you and here's why" and I respect the hell out of that mentality.
That was the unit I was in. While we the lower enlisted were not told why, I’m pretty sure we were reactivated due to the new trade routes emerging in the Arctic, as a counter to the increased Russian and Chinese presence in the region. That’s just my guess, take it with a spoon of salt.
My grandfather was 11th airborne. He was there from the units beginning. He was on this raid. He only spoke about it one time. Even then, I'm not sure he meant to talk about it with the 12-year-old kid sitting in front of him me. When my grandfather passed, Filipino gentleman called and said if we had a funeral he wanted to attend because he was in that internment camp and he was living north of us here in Washington state. I was the only one in the family that knew about it. My grandfather will speak about the war a lot, just like most of these men didn't. My grandfather is also one of my biggest heroes. To see one of my favorite TH-camrs cover an event that one of my favorite people had a hand in makes me really excited. My grandfather passed him 2008 complications with lung cancer, I miss him everyday.
I'm not going to lie. The ending of this video brought me a grown man to tears. That's not something that happens. But the fact that Dwight Clark called the little girl one day to check on her did.
It's like a lost chapter of the Book of Judges or something. ...side note: highly recommend reading that book just for amusement's sake. Noncredible Defense level shenanigans ensue
Dear God. Sir, you are America's historian. I'm a Gulf War vet and former history teacher and you are one of your generations greatest voices. God bless you and thank you for all you do
Never really was into war history, but this guy's delivery is badass and has become what my construction crew puts on the radio during the ride to the jobsite and on lunch.
Great video like usual. I watch a lot of Military history channels and videos, but you do a magnificent job of telling the story with enthusiasm. I feel like I’m drinking a beer, and listening to my fellow vets tell me a tale of their exploits. Keep up the great work!!! #USARMY #Battles #GreatestGeneration P.S. I love the S.T.E.A.L!!! Civilians have no clue the amount of stuff that soldiers “acquire” for their unit or for themselves while in the military. We learned early on to tell the soldiers to acquire this or that, and when asked where we got something we just “found it”. Great times and good memories.
As a filipino i will say this if its for revenge, there is no war crime if theres no body, witnesses and whistleblowers. Thanks fat electrician for honoring filipino everytime you had philippines content.
i live in SF, which just barely south of me is Daly City. its said that Daly City, CA is the largest and densest grouping of Filipinos "outside of Manila", and i believe it. I went to high school with tons of Filipinos, ive worked with them and shared huge personal moments with them and their families. theyre some of the most loving, fun and resilient people ive ever known. Im proud to know the Filipino people and that they became one of the backbones of my area and as America as a whole. this video champions that.
@@domshooter934What a great compliment. No silver spoons, no gimmes. I imagine they worked hard to keep their families together and to make it. Grit. I like it.
I’ve known this story my whole life because my grandfather was one of the Amphibious Tractor drivers. He only made one trip back and forth across the lake because his Amphibious Tractor took fire and lost all the oil out of the engine. In the years after he met someone who had been rescued from that camp. I think they were missionaries who came to his church. …One of my last memories with my grandfather is watching a documentary on the raid. After it was over I looked at him and said, “you’re a hero”. He said, “no, I was just told to drive, so I drove.” …Thanks for telling this story.
@@TheCobra114-o5eThank goodness we had a whole generation of men like him. My dad was navy, never spoke of it. My Mom was literally repairing ships as "Velma the Machinist" in Mare Island shipyard. The greatest generation indeed.
My grandfather never spoke about his time as a soldier. My mom always said that he was a weasel when he went off to the war. And came back a battle worn weasel. (Not sure if you can tell, but my grandfather was a weasel.. 😊) But my great-uncled, they were great men. And they spoke of some battles. I didn't appreciate what they were talking about, and I wish I had listened more. And asked questions. I wish I would have written it all down. Thanks for telling the stories feom the greatest generation. ❤
My father was one of the villagers & made contact with many vets many years later, when we immigrated to America. He had an amazing story about crossing the lagoon in one of the amphibious tractors.
My dad was in the 11th and was part of the Los Banos libration. He was in the 457th parachute division, field artillery, D battery. He was so proud of that his whole life. He was in a battle on Luzon where he was awarded the silver star, but he was more proud of the libration and they didn’t loose one prisoner. After he came home and my parents established themselves, he dedicated the rest of his life to volunteer work - 37 years as a fireman, search and rescue, hospice work, etc. He passed away in 2014 at 94 years old. The greatest generation ❤️
My name is Jason Nieves and I would like to thank you for doing a piece on this. My grandfather was Ruban E. Nieves of the New Mexico national guard and spent 3 years in that jungle as a forward observer and guerilla fighter. He is our personal hero, but unsung, honorable and a giant.
That's badass. My grandfather Elsworth Hanson was an underwater welder on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific. Pacific boys don't get the acclaim they deserve.
I love your videos and the last thing i expected was to be sitting here tearing up at the end of this one. Awesome ending from an incredible storyteller. Thank you
Thank you for telling this story. My Grandfather, PVT Gerald Welliver, 11th ABN DIV, talked around this story for years but could never tell me the whole story. He was worried that if he told me the whole story it would be too much for me. He passed away in October, 2014 after a great life.
My grandfather fought in the 11th as well. He passed December 2000. I remember he still had shrapnel in his arm that I asked him about. He never talked about it. 15 years after he and my Nana passed we found his medals and dog tags. We thought they were lost in a fire. I wish I knew more about his personal service. I'm sure this episode meant a lot to you as it did me.
Thank you for doing this story! My father was 14 years old when the 11th Airborne freed his village, Los Banos. I grew up with stories of the Angels of Los Banos. How he would only get a handful of watered down rice daily, how they snuck food to the guerrillas and missionaries who hid in the jungle, etc. ALSO, the story of Dwight Clark & Lois, my dad, Dr. Jorge P. Juliano Sr. was on that boat & witnessed it. He was the one who connected Dwight and Lois after the war. At the time of reconnect, she had moved to the states and become a doctor! God bless America and its troops!
Wow now that's a story u need to pass down to ur grandkids n there grandkids. Ur dad must have been a tough man. And btw that's beautiful how ur people were feeding other men even though they didn't have much food themselves. So I'd say ur people deserve as much respect and love as the Americans get in this story.
I'm a grown ass man listening to this at work. After hearing about Clark asking if he scarred her face and didn't, I started to cry. I'm a meat cutter covered in blood from work and I'm crying. This was a great video.
My great grandfather served in the US Army and fought in New Guinea and got shrapnel in his eye and recovered just fine and later got orders to the 82nd Airborne Division and served at Fort Bragg NC until the 1970s because the Army wanted him out because he originally joined in 1942 and served for 30 years total. He unfortunately died in 1984 after a 2nd stroke.
Then you find out that the members of unit 721 or whatever the hell it was weren't tried for war crimes because they handed over the documentation they had on the various atrocities they committed. Men that were as bad if not worse than the sadistic son of a bitch that tortured the internees in this video. And they were allowed to walk free. All because of some operation paperclip type bullshit. Nukes are a political tool. Two was enough. The number of Japanese war criminals that got to walk free, if it had only been one person, it was two people too many. And there were hundreds. There's a reason that the Pacific and the European theaters were thought of as two completely separate wars. Nic's gone over this before. Europe at least still had some level of that European gentlemanly warfare type mentality. The Pacific was a war of extermination.
Reminders of how brutal the Japanese were is necessary. As brutal as the Nazis were, as bad as the POW camps were... the Japs found a way to make them particularly hellish, through capriciousness.
As a Filipino, thank you for covering the 11th airborne, Vanderpool's guerilla, and the absolutely mad mission they did. I love this story and people really do need to know more about it
Longer, shorter, doesn't matter JUST MAKE IT FUN! I studied WW2 for my own fun and took a high school history class. NEVER HEARD OF THESE GUYS, thank you for fixing that.
@@Lettumkno I'm a registered Democrat thank you very much fuck Stick, I've always drawn to WW ii since I could remember, politics had nothing to do with it, get fucked stay fucked.
I love hearing these stories....my great grandparents grew up in the depression on a north ga farm, dropped out of school in elementary... went on to work for Lockheed during the war building planes.great grandma was a welder...the ww2 Gen inspires me so much... Thank you nick for these stories
Vanderpool mentioned. You need to talk about how he strapped guns, rockets, and B29 turrets to helicopters in 1957. I have some documents that you may not be able to find on the internet.
The fact that the possibility that that hero worried about scaring a baby's face while defending her life is something extremely rare and a Supreme example of what a human being is supposed to be. May God bless them both.
Not trying to be a correcty Karen but just sharing some wonderful memories. It actually was not that rare for that generation of men. I was very fortunate to get to participate in collecting their stories for a WWII Conflict Resolution Center library that was compiling their stories before they were all passed. It was one of the most powerful and aweinspiring honors of my life. They were a different breed of men than most of what we have today but their blood still runs in our veins and I hope we can rise up to honor their sacrifices.
Thank you for posting this.. My Father spoke very little of his service in WW2. He was Inducted at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. He served in the 11th Airborne until 1946, and was also part of the Army of the occupation. He was Stationed in Sendai Japan. He came back to Iowa raised a family and was a wonderful father. Thanks Brother!
I have only recently discovered your channel and I can’t tell you how much I love it. I try to watch at least one video a day, and will some day catch up. You are informative, entertaining, and full of pride for our military. Thank you for doing these, I have learned so much.
My grandfather was in the 11th Airborne and participated in this mission. He rarely ever talked about the war despite me constantly prying him to do so, but this was the one thing he did discuss. He was part of the collective that was pulled off of the front lines from Manila and placed in a prison, then sent over the next day on the floatilla to round up POWs and transport them back across the lake. Walt called it "the day we actually got to do something nice." Later, Walt ended up being selected as private security detail to escort Gen. McCarthur to the USS Missouri for the signing of Japan's surrender -- you can see him right next to McCarthur in all the photos/newsreels.
I feel like the "My Angels would never do that!" was the only thing that was bouncing in the MPs helmets as they were walking through the literal motor pool/Improvised museum 11th AD made trying to figure out what was supposed to go where.
Seeing this video on my feed makes me so happy my great grandfather was a paratrooper for the 11th airborne and I always loved listening to his stories I miss that old man he was a badass
From one minute tik-toks, to half an hour videos and now hour long documentaries. Damn man it been amazing to watch! We love every one of you videos my dude!
I currently am stationed in Alaska, 3-509, 2-11th Airborne Division, and watching this with a buddy of mine just now, made us really happy to wear and serve in the same unit as these men
It took a video for you to enjoy being an artic angel instead of being proud about being the only artic airborne unit learning about unit history of your own?
I'm a 63 year old man. I haven't shed tears since my father, a WWII vet passed away. Until now. Don't apologize for the length of the video. Your in-depth presentation of this amazing story was perfect, your missus: perfect , the story: perfect: Hell, even the ad was perfect. Bravo Zulu.
My great uncle was part of the 11th airborne. He dropped into the phillipines behind enemy lines, and got yellow fever. The locals found him wandering the jungle, took him in and nursed him back to health until the end of the war. Thank you for making a video about them!
That little baby didn't get burns on her face because an angel swooped in and swiped that casing away. It's such an incredible story. Bravo, good sir. Bravo.
If only Americans still cared like that man did. It’s disgusting where we are today as a society. Now we need angels to come destroy what we’ve become.
Thank you for your clear explanation of just how wonderful our service men and women are. As the proud Mom and Grandma of U.S. Navy personnel, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Both my parents were in the Army just after WW2. I joined the Air Force during Vietnam. We need more people like you to show Americans what we are made of . Thank you again.
To think that one of the heaviest things to weigh on this man's conscience after years of combat was whether or not he had harmed a baby. That is true honor and compassion.
This wasn't just a video; it was a documentary. One that was well done and informative. That ending brought pleasant tears to my eyes, knowing that Dwight's greatest fear was unfounded and, likely, brought him a lot of closure. Brilliant work and I hope we get more documentaries from you.
@@r0br33r big words coming from someone who has gaming content on his channel, likely never making more because absolutely nobody cared to watch it and it broke your spirit, and now copes with his inability to do something with himself on TH-cam by…talking shit about someone who simply complimented the use of a famous line from a video game? Save all the “I’m more successful, I make more money, I am better than you because blah blah blah”, I literally don’t give a shit. You took something that was simply a compliment/callback to one of the most influential games of its time, so badly, and can’t justify it. The only other comment I found when looking at your channel, was also negative…figures your channel is simply to talk shit, nothing more.
Bruh, it’s AWESOME that you’re using your platform to educate ppl on why America introducing Godzilla [twice] to Imperial Japan was the best outcome possible
My wife had a teacher (history I think she said) at Bluefield High School that survived both A-bomb explosions. After Hiroshima he was sent to Nagasaki to live with relatives. If I remember correctly he was in a basement several miles from the epicenter of the first explosion, which collapsed that structure onto him. In the second explosion he was three or four miles from the center, he could see the bomb coming down, he dove into a ditch and pulled some kind of debris over himself and lived to tell about it again. After the occupation he was able to immigrate to the US and become a teacher. That’s about all I remember hearing about him. Fascinating though.
My father Vince Call was a member of recon platoon and was one of two US soldiers wounded in the Las Banos rail. Thank you so much for telling their story.
I would love to hear more from both of you. These stories are important to our country. Especially right now. My grandmother met my grandfather as a nurse and he was a wounded soldier. That's all I know and no one is left to tell me more . I wish I would have asked about it when I had the chance. All I remember is my grandpa was scary and my grandma was a stoic rock. The only woman I ever truly admired. He died way before her so I never really got to know him well.
Baby Lois is proof that even the biggest baddest men in the US military has a heart of gold and it's soft on the inside. If I could thank each and every serviceman that served I would. Thank you for the good things in my life, thank you for protecting them.
Just made a 6.5 hour drive back home from GA to KY and listened to your videos the entire way, even checking out some reaction videos to your videos. I already love the videos, and I got my Marine Corp Vet (‘86-‘92) dad hooked on your videos, but the fact that you go out of your way to make these amazing videos and ask reactors to check more of them out and give their opinion on it says a lot about who you are. I’m calling it now, you’ll go down as the greatest overall TH-camr of all time. Thank you for your service, and thank you for the best storytelling in the entertainment industry!
Don't you dare apologize for the length of this history lesson. Thank you for every single thing you do to get these stories out there. Thank you very much. Congratulations on your new boy too brother...
I find it disgusting that youtube does not recommend your videos. I guess they know you'll incite and awaken that patriotism and love that every true American has for our country! 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲✝️✝️✝️✝️
My uncle died on Feb. 23d 1945. He was injured during the fighting near Manila. He was in the 187th Para Glider Infantry under the 11th Airborne. He was not in the Los Banos raid, but his unit liberated Los Banos. I am told that the 187th Para Glider Infantry were the first boots on the ground on Mainland Japan. Thanks for a great video.
Damn, that's quite a story and I have to tell you I think that your Uncle is a hero! Talk about dangerous duty, oh my God what were the chances of survival? Thanks a lot for sharing your story. And I'm sorry for your loss.💖🇺🇲🙏💯
Nick, my first Bachelors Degree is in History. I had a U.S. Military History instructor name Dr. Christman, he was the greatest history teacher I ever had. His ability to tell history stories and his pride in the U.S.A. Has never been matched, until your channel. Thank you for highlighting the awesomeness that is America and the depth of courage, devotion and compassion that set our armed forces above the rest of the world.
I'm currently crying like a baby in my car on the way home from work. I just had a daughter, my first child, in January. The story of Lois hit different. Thank you for not only sharing and creating all of this incredible content with these stories, while being entertaining as all get out, but also for taking the time to touch on the human factor.
Guess we have the same thought process, only I don't have a kid. Just imagining trying to save thousands of people, putting your life on the line and so many other things, just for it to result in hurting a baby, I'm happy he got closure and didn't end up hurting more than superficial
It also shows just how much those troopers cared about this particular mission and about these people that amidst an active warzone, only seconds (if even that) after taking fire, that man had the heart to feel regret for hurting a child in the process of saving them❤
You are ONE Hell of a Story Teller. I'm a Vietnam Era Paratrooper Co. C 1/508th 3rdBDE 82nd Airborne. My Dad(Gen. Attilio Pedroli) then a Major, was the First BAT21 who was the Navigator on the only EB-66(Preview 01) to be shot down by a MIG-21 in 1968. At the time, Dad held the AF record for EE in North Vietnam without being captured. I have a suggestion for you that would be perfect for your style of story telling. Dad had a Wing Commander when he flew B-52s who flew the ""Bloody Sunday"" raid on the Romanian oil facility at Ploesti in WWII. FIVE Medal of Honors and 56 Distinguished Service Crosses were awarded as a postscript to Operation Tidal Wave.
Pete Pedroli 82nd Airborne Alumnus EB-66C Shoot Down West of Hanoi by a MIG-21 by Ned Colburn On 14 January 1968, an EB-66C (Preview 01) was shot down west of Hanoi by a MIG-21. Major Pollard [Sonny] Mercer was the pilot, Attilio [Pete] Pedroli the Instructor Navigator, Irby Terrell the Navigator with the following EWOs: Thomas Sumpter, Ronald Lebert, Hubert Walker and Jim Thompson. All 7 ejected, but Sonny Mercer’s legs were broken in the ejection. Jim Thompson was the only EWO rescued. The other 3 EWOs were captured and spent the rest of the war as POWs. Mercer, Pedroli and Thompson were rescued several days after the shoot-down. Mercer was air-evacuated to the Philippines where he died in the hospital from a blood clot to the brain. Pete Pedroli and Jim Thompson went on to complete their combat tours at Takhli. The EB-66 Mission was a Real ""Gunslinger"" Op only the Guys in the White Hats had NO Bullets. Dad was shot down between 2 Flight escorts...F-102s and F-4s and yea the Fricking Comms were so screwed that nobody could talk to each other so I think the 2nd Leading ACE of the North Vietnamese Air Force used an AA missile. The impact was critical but the pilot Maj. "Sonny" Mercer was able to keep control so everyone could eject. This story is told with the Title ".The story of the North Vietnamese MiG-21 Fishbed fighters tasked to attack USAF EB-66 Destroyer electronic attack aircraft" In the comments I gave the author more information on this mission.
[Based on Ned Colburn’s recollection of events and what Pete Pedroli and Jim Thompson related to me]. Rivet Top [EC-121] had just arrived in theater for Operational Suitability Testing and was so successful that it remained in SEA rather than return to the U.S. for modification. River Top had intercept gear that reportedly did the impossible of showing on a PPI exactly what the N. Vietnamese radar controllers saw on their ground scopes. On or about 12 January 1968, Rivet Top observed and reported to Saigon what they correctly deemed was preparation to shoot down a B-66, since we were the first on station preceding a bomb strike and flew unescorted without fighter cover. The B-66 always got its share of attention since there was time for one MIG sweep into the B-66 orbit area, before the Fighter Bombers arrived. Following the completion of Rolling Thunder operations for the afternoon and after all USAF & USN activity ceased over North Vietnam, Rivet Top observed MIGs taxi and take-off without any radio transmissions whatsoever during the entire flight profile. Prior to this time, the usual radio calls were made to Ground Control, Tower and GCI as the MIGs called for Taxi-Take Off, with IFF on and the mission controlled by GCI Radar Operators. The MIGs taxied out, took-off and flew with their transponders off, tracked 240 from Hanoi and then started a climbing turn into the orbit area and altitude that the B-66s flew West of Hanoi. Rivet Top passed the information to Saigon with the correct analysis that a B-66 shoot-down was being rehearsed - with not a peep from Hanoi relayed as a warning to Takhli. On 14 January 1968, Sonny Mercer(Preview 01) and crew arrived on station and began their orbit to perform their dual mission of jamming and missile threat warning - when, without any warning, the right engine was hit by an air-to-air infrared heat seeking missile. All 7 successfully ejected. Sonny Mercer, Jim Thompson and Pete Pedroli landed in the jungle on a mountain - with Irby Terrell, Tom Sumpter, Ronald Lebert and Hubert Walker landing in a valley where they were immediately captured by the North Vietnamese Army and held as POWs for the duration of the war. Pete Pedroli drifted toward the valley and was saved from becoming a POW when his chute snagged the only tree that grew out over a cliff. One of Pete’s arms was completely numb and useless from his shoulder and arm being injured in the ejection. The NVA started shooting at Pete but never hit him as he tied stair-steps in his shroud lines to climb up into the tree - proving that necessity is truly the Mother of Invention when it is virtually impossible to tie knots in string with only one good hand. Once into the tree, Pete faced the dilemma of how to get to the jungle floor perhaps 200 feet below him. He found 2 growths of bamboo that were parallel to one another and curved down toward the ground. Sitting on the lower bamboo limb, Pete got his bad arm draped over the top branch of bamboo and grabbed the bad arm with his good hand as he shimmied down the bamboo inch by inch. Eventually the bamboo went straight down, and at this point no doubt totally exhausted, Pete let go and went crashing to the jungle floor - 100 or more feet below him. Pete told us how everything was pitch black in the jungle foliage, with vegetation so dense that you couldn’t possibly hack your way through such jungle to escape and evade - so he had no option but to stay put in an area about 8’ x 8’ until he was rescued. Sonny Mercer, Pete Pedroli and Jim Thompson all made radio contact with airborne friendlies - and settled down for their first night in North Vietnam. Preview 1, a single EB-66, was launched for a selective jamming mission in support of an afternoon strike mission in Route Package VIA. The orbit point was approximately 50 nautical miles WNW of Than Hoa near the Laotian border. The 7AF CC first became aware that Preview was down at 1805H as a result of beeper signals reported by Crown aircraft. Later checks revealed that no GCI sites or Ethan Allen aircraft had received distress calls. Other ECM aircraft had made calls to Preview without receiving a response. SAR activities on the day of the downing were restricted due to adverse weather and approaching darkness but voice contact was established with 4 of the 7 downed crewmen. The survivors were advised that pick-up would be attempted early on the morning of 15 January. The following day adverse weather precluded first light pick-up but a flight of A-1 Sandies re-established voice contact with the survivors. A flight of 4 F-4s provided continuous RESCAP by cycling elements between the CAP station and a tanker, Later in the afternoon, Jolly Green 20, an HH-3 searching for the survivors of Preview, was operating between cloud layers at 6 000 feet. The aircraft descended through an opening to VFR conditions with poor visibility. While descending, a power loss was experienced. Recovery could not be accomplished before ground impact; however, a flare-out was made which reduced the ground impact. The aircraft received major damage but there were no crew fatalities. Immediately, Jolly Green 15 and 72 were launched from Lima Site 36 in an attempt to pick up 1 the crew of #20, The 2 rescue helicopters encountered cloud cover near the crashisite of #20 and could not proceed further. While attempting to cross a ridge small arms fire was encountered which struck #15. Due to approaching darkness, weather, and ground fire, the rescue forces were withdrawn from the area. The entire crew of Jolly Green 20, downed 15 January at 1723H was successfully recovered by Jolly Green 71 on 17 January at 1550H hours. During egress from the area. #71 was hit by ground fire which caused the loss of the #1 engine but he was able to proceed to Lima Site 36 where the crew of #20 was transferred to another helicopter and taken to Udorn for medical attention, All but 2 of the crewmen were in good condition; a broken leg and another a broken arm. On the same date 3 crewmen of Preview were recovered by Jolly Green 69. 1 of these crewmen also had a broken leg. More beepers from the remaining crewmen of Preview were identified but search efforts were suspended due to darkness. Subsequent searches failed to locate any beepers or survivors and the search for the remaining survivors was finally suspended. Also on the ground in the same vicinity was an F-4 crew who had likewise made contact and were awaiting Search and Rescue. As the rescue helicopter went in the next day, they crashed in heavy rains and low visibility - and now, there was a multitude of unfortunates awaiting rescue. A day or so later when the weather cleared, an HH-53 and Sandys arrived, first picking up the downed helicopter crew and then the F-4 crew before beginning the recovery of the B-66 crew. The rescue chopper reestablished radio contact with Mercer, Pedroli & Thompson and had them mark their positions with orange smoke flares. Mercer and Pedroli were picked-up, but when they went to Jim Thompson’s smoke he wasn’t anywhere to be found. It seems that Jim put thirst ahead of rescue, had left his hiding place and headed for a nearby stream for a drink. The helicopter came under hostile fire, and as they were exiting the area, someone saw Jim Thompson who was quickly scooped-up and they headed for friendly territory. After intelligence debriefing, a happy Pete Pedroli was surrounded by everyone in the officer’s club as we welcomed one of the greatest guys ever back into our midst. Pete repeatedly muttered “Why Me?” - which knowing Pete Pedroli, only meant “Why was I rescued and not the others?” Pete went on to complete his 100 missions over North Vietnam - and was still at Takhli several weeks after he should have rotated, when ***Colonel Giraudo saw Pete in the officer club and asked why he was still at Takhli. When Pete replied that he didn’t have an assignment, Colonel Giraudo got on the phone to MPC and was told that Pete Pedroli was MIA. Pete’s classification was quickly cleared-up, with the phone handed to Pete to state his assignment preference to MPC - Mather AFB. ***Maj. Gen. John C. Giraudo... Prisoner of War Medal (2) Not the Medal you want to be awarded TWICE!
Thank you for covering this unit. This one is actually near dear to my heart as my grandfather was one of the original angels. He also took part in the raid. He was a man of very few words, but he could tell a story in just those couple words. Many of which I thought were fictional growing up because of how insane they sounded. That man was reason I had enlisted in the United States army and became a paratrooper. I want to be just like him in every single way possible. Sadly we lost him May 17th 2020 to COVID. He contracted it in his VA nursing home via one of the nurses and passed away approximately two and a half weeks after words. Again, thank you for covering this.
Thank you, Sir, and your Grandfather for your service to our Nation and Her Constitution. All war truly is Hell, but the Pacific Campaign….there aren’t adequate words. I had the Honor and pleasure of knowing some of those men, Korea too. I heard a few stories, none of them flash or heroic. All of them grim. Those men and women are almost gone now, none of them should have ever been trifled with. I wish I had learned more from them, never would I respect 🫡 less. The things they saw and lived……and endured, as Eisenhower said to the ETO members on 6 June 1944…”to save the world from tyranny and oppression.” Very noble a goal and task, noble indeed.
God bless your grandfather and his family. I'd have loved to have heard him tell his stories. What a precious memory you have there. And thank you for your service!
My grandfather was in the 11th airbon and took place in this raid!! Live the video!!! His name was Herbert Williams and got a soldier's medal for saving another soldier from drowning
Love the love for the gliders. My grandfather, Captain Samuel Somervill, was a C-47 pilot during D-Day, dropping Airborne into Normandy, and later towing gliders. He left the Army Air Corp after WWII, and was a high-school shop teacher. He lived long enough for me to have joined the Air Force. He was a good man, and a hero.
My dad was in the 64th Troop Carrier Squadron. I still have his flight logbook. He landed in Tokyo two weeks after the surrender. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64th_Air_Refueling_Squadron#World_War_II
@@mariaharris8077🙄 OK Karen.... Sorry but everything doesn't fit into a nice neat 15 minute package for those that are attention deficient. It was a fantastic video, and there's always the option not to watch it if it's too long for your attention span😂
Dam "do you have scars on your face" had me in tears of joy and pride. That man carried the guilt of that for years. Glad she was ok, and glad he got a resolution to his guilt. A great man and a hero.
My great grandfather, great uncle, and great aunt were imprisoned in San Tomas. They never had much love for the Japanese after that experience. One thing that did make it back was a letter opener carved by one of the prisoners. One one side is "Such is Prison Life" and on the other "San Tomas". I have it around here somewhere. Thank you for telling this story so well.
Dwight Clark - man, Nick, I'm almost 70 and you hit me right in the feels. This was a powerful story, and you have done it justice. I applaud you for tackling a story with so many elements. It was beautifully done, sir. Side note - my father was a Navy Hospital Corpsman. In 1953 when he went to Corps school, one of his instructors was a nurse who was at Los Banos. Small world.
These videos should be part of high school curriculum. So many Valuable lessons: the sacrifices of generations past, the horror of war, the necessity to fight, and the responsibility that comes with being the good guys. I think that the generation of men and women who served in WWII were one of the brightest generations in our history
Just because you find these videos relevant to your personal interests doesn't mean the history is any more important than the curriculum currently being taught. I swear some of you walnuts would have kids watching nothing but youtube videos about tiny slivers of history as their entire education.
@@Skinflaps_Meatslapper part (noun) - 1. a piece or segment of something such as an object, activity, or period of time, which *combined with other pieces makes up the whole* You walnut
Finally someone covered "the angels". My grand father served in that unit. He only spoke of it once so ive been told. I had no idea till this video how much of a badass my grandfather and his brothers in arms really were... Thank you so much for bringing their story to light.🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Definitely the most gangster line, "I hope it blows on the way back." As a bad person, Sadiki should have lived a very long life of absolute misery. Trying to type through tears though with that ending. 48 yo man and you conveyed how he felt so well I got really choked up over it.
filipino here who had filipino grandparents who lived through the japanese occupation as kids about the part that you said about the slightly charitable part and living conditions varied, its true and this is why the old folks here love the americans so much. i immediately remembered one of the stories that my grandfathers and grandmothers told me when there were only filipinos living amongst the japanese at the northern philippines. one that stood out was that weird punishment that they did to my grandma from my father's side and their group at that time was being forced to stand in the sun while kneeling on beans and being tempted to name drop the one stealing the food and that was on a hot afternoon, its painful to the knees if you are skin and bones. and the other one was the japanese caught what they thought were rebel leaders, asked where their rebel hideout were, never name dropped, they were tied to the pole of the house, poured gas over them and burned the house for not complying. the house that got burned was a house from one of our uncles supposedly. and how at the end of the japanese occupation my grandma (this time from my mom's side of the family) telling the story of how my grandfather fought for his life avoiding the bombs and dumping the truck that he was driving in the nearest ditch and going to the nearest hole when the bombs finally fell.
Dwight Clark might be my favorite soldier out of WW2. His phone call in 98 says more about his character and heart than any other story I've heard. I hope he was able to get genuine rest once that phone call was finished.
Dude you need to get all of your stories on Spotify! I listen to you when I’m trying to fall asleep, and I feel like that’d be something that a lot of people would like!
You, sir, are an incredible teacher. Dwight's phone call at the end was the perfect wrap to drive home the sheer humanity of the men and women serving in war.
I was told part of this story by an army vet back in the 60s who had a friend that was rescued from Los Banos POW camp. He spoke of the 11th Airborne Angels with a sincere reverence. He said he was in disbelief at first when he learned that the 11th successfully rescued every single prisoner in that camp. He said his friend looked like a scarecrow, but he was smiling. I'm really glad I got to learn the whole story. Thank you for this video. It is a story that should be told over and over.
I freaking love all of these videos. They don't depress me for what i haven't done. They give me a better comprehension of what can be done. What is humanly possible? All of the above.
Not me as a Marine laughing my ass off about the young lady dreaming about being rescued by a Marine, and then crying like a child for the humanity and kindness Dwight Clark displayed. Thank you Nick for all you do. I try to watch everything you out! God Bless!
My philliapina daughter turns 14 on may 17 and lives in luzon with her family. I met her mother while serving aboard USS McCampbell, she was working in tokyo as a housesitter for my skippers brother and his family. I hope to share this amazing story with her someday and I'll be forever grateful to the 11th airborne Angels for my sweet baby girl. Thank you for sharing this with everyone and god bless
I did know about the gliders of WWII because of some game I played as a kid on the PS2. I think Medal of Honor Frontline or Vanguard. A mission has you land in one of those gliders at the start. Just unlocked core childhood gameplay memories for me, so thanks for that. It's probably why I'm such a WWII nerd as a young adult and always have been. One of my coworkers who is 43 told me that I'm supposed to get into WWII history around his age lmao. Your channel has been a goldmine for me. Between the mix of humor and actual knowledge, and just how many times I've found out that people fucked with our boats and we got real proportional.
My father was a member of the 11th in the Pacific. He was very proud of his service. Thank you for this video that I can share with my kids and grandchildren. We have a huge debt.
In my personal opinion, that was the best way to end a video covering that topic. That Airborne veteran definitely deserved that closure and I’m glad he can at least put that behind him knowing he did not permanently disfigure a person before their life really began.
I 10000% agree I just wish that wonderful soldier didnt have to live with that on his mind for 40 years. You can tell by the conversation that haunted him. Glad he got closure, for his mental health I wish it would have come sooner.
G'day, Mike, Australian navy and army veteran retired. All I would like to say is that all your personal comments in this video I agree with. We do stuff in the military to win, not to get woke approval. Love you work and your misses.❤😊
as a former paratrooper, Thank you. I've known about this mission, but brother you nailed it in a way that I could never imagine. Thank you for also including the file footage at the end. Lastly, we have seen your cry for help, but cannot afford the losses to attempt your rescue. Suggest that you bow down to your wife! B-Co 3/504PIR 82nd ABN
I am so glad this operation is getting covered because not enough people know about it, how perfectly executed, and about the Philippines! Thank you from a Philippine-American US Veteran!
I think there was a magazine called "WWII History," at one time. I read about this operation, there, and finding the level of command and coordination, was for me, off the charts.
Probably your best video yet. At the risk of being cheesy I feel the need to thank you Nick for your hard work and tireless research to tell these criminally undertold stories particularly about the Pacific theater and Korea. Keep up your outstanding work!
Longest video ever sorry it took so long lemme know what you think.
Im happy it's long, love these stories
You should make a video about the time that pirates got smoked by seals over 2 people
If it’s a video by you it’ll feel like 5 minutes. You perfectly blend history with comedy and that’s why your my favorite history channel
Let's gooooooooo!
I bet it’s pretty good I just wanted to get my Bob Hoover video request in early😂
"Do you have scars on your face?"
This 38 year old man is crying right now.
Fuck, dude. Right in the feels.
Not just you bro. Someone be cutting onions around here or something.
I'm glad he included that, because that was the only question I came away with.
Same. I'm almost 47.
@@mattywanders I know. I'm a Canadian Army Brat. I grew up around infantry, artillery, SAR techs, tankers and whatever other trade that His Majesty's armed forces fields (My dad was a Signalman, so he got posted everywhere, army, navy, air force, what have you), and to a man (and woman, Canada's armed forces are equal opportunity when it comes to combat roles since the early 90s), they are teddy bears at heart when it comes to children, especially babies.
Something like this would have wrecked my Dad, and he would have moved heaven and earth to make sure that baby was ok.
I was have a great time and then he hits with that I started crying in the kitchen
Nick sat down and thought "These guys are awesome? Why aren't they more famous? Fine. I'll do it myself."
Trying to
BDE, Big Dad Energy.
Everyone else on YT wait in the car.
I feel like thats his mentality on a lot of the newer videos, and i appreciate his initiative and resolve
Have you thought about doing “The Great Escape” the story that the movie is based on cause the true story is pretty crazy
@@the_fat_electriciansucceeding. Thank you.
That last part brought me to tears. I served in Iraq and fought in fallujah. People call us monsters on the battlefield. But in the end we're just young men doing what needs to be done. We fight because we care about life and we hate those who trample it. I'd never cry for an enemy but I'll cry for any innocent who was harmed by my actions
I wish I could recall his name but a medal of honor recipient said “You fight not because you hate what’s in front of you, but because you love what’s behind you” (prolly not word for word)
Same here Marine!! Right there, wit' ya, bruh!!
Thank you for your service and I pray for your safety and health
Ugh. Just do your job and shut up
That “biggest, best looking paratrooper” was my great uncle LTC Henry A. Burgess, the man who not only commanded the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 11th Airborne, but personally coordinated the attack and led the entire 11th into combat that day. He was in the LVT at the front of the formation because he hated being in gliders, since he broke his legs when his glider crashed during training. It should also be noted that he stole, or as he said, “liberated” Lieutenant General Joseph Swing’s mini fridge just before the raid. He brought it home with him to America. I think his daughter, my cousin Tyler, might still have it! Thank you so much for telling the story of his raid! If you have any questions about the war and his time in New Guinea, or the details of the actual battle at Los Baños and the firefight, feel free to ask! I have quite a few personal anecdotes from and about him that I’ve never seen mentioned in any history books or anywhere online. Some pretty crazy stuff.
That's badass
Pretty awesome. Thanks for sharing
Survived all those fights and all those flights just to get shot down by an unarmed girl.
@@Skinflaps_MeatslapperOh, believe me, she had weapons..,
Bro spent a whole-ass 10 dollars just to say "my grandfather is cooler than yours, fuck you and here's why" and I respect the hell out of that mentality.
The 11th Airborne Division lives on. The Division was reactivated May 5, 2022 in Alaska. They are now known as the “Arctic Angels”.
That was the unit I was in. While we the lower enlisted were not told why, I’m pretty sure we were reactivated due to the new trade routes emerging in the Arctic, as a counter to the increased Russian and Chinese presence in the region. That’s just my guess, take it with a spoon of salt.
Lot of AAs showing up in the military lol
That goes, so, unbelievably hard!
From real hot and wet, to real cold and snow... ooft
And there I was thinking Snow Angels
An almost hour long Fat Electrician video, a true dream come true
You forgot to add wet.
My lil pee pee is happy.
And yet I still find myself at the end of the video saying "awe man, it's over already?!" 😢
YES
Right just makes me wanna get my full back size American flag tattoo re colored just because i watched this merica babbbbbbbyyyy!!!!
My grandfather was 11th airborne. He was there from the units beginning. He was on this raid. He only spoke about it one time. Even then, I'm not sure he meant to talk about it with the 12-year-old kid sitting in front of him me. When my grandfather passed, Filipino gentleman called and said if we had a funeral he wanted to attend because he was in that internment camp and he was living north of us here in Washington state. I was the only one in the family that knew about it. My grandfather will speak about the war a lot, just like most of these men didn't. My grandfather is also one of my biggest heroes. To see one of my favorite TH-camrs cover an event that one of my favorite people had a hand in makes me really excited. My grandfather passed him 2008 complications with lung cancer, I miss him everyday.
I'm not going to lie. The ending of this video brought me a grown man to tears. That's not something that happens. But the fact that Dwight Clark called the little girl one day to check on her did.
I teared up too
I'm glad I wasn't the only one!
Same here bro
Fuckin got me too. Right in the feels good mans.
If that doesn't bring a tear to your eye, I'm not sure your human.
Nun: "God's gonna have to send the Angels"
God, looking at the 11th airborne's nickname: "Bet."
God has a strange sense of humor and works in mysterious ways.
@@SupersuMC You're telling me...
"They shall be my finest warriors."
It's like a lost chapter of the Book of Judges or something.
...side note: highly recommend reading that book just for amusement's sake. Noncredible Defense level shenanigans ensue
It's weird how many coincidences like that actually happen in history lol
Dear God. Sir, you are America's historian. I'm a Gulf War vet and former history teacher and you are one of your generations greatest voices. God bless you and thank you for all you do
Allow this humble South African to say...
Thank you for your service, sir.
thanks for your service sir.
Thank you for your service sir!
And that's a fact!
thank u sir for ur service my father is also a Persian gulf War vet of both operations shield and storm
Never really was into war history, but this guy's delivery is badass and has become what my construction crew puts on the radio during the ride to the jobsite and on lunch.
Nic literally has taught more Americans 1000xs more history than the school system. Thank you Nic and keep up the awesome work.
i loved history in school they just taught us ww2 3 times over it felt like
@@EvilMcfluffinyea, WW2 is important but so many history books hit revolution, civil war, WW2 and not much else between those high points.
Brother you don’t know how true your statement is
Only if you never paid attention in school
But the people most in need or understanding the message are the least likely to watch this video.
Whoa whoa whoa does that time bar say fifty eight minutes?! thank you Nic and Fluck
Okay... that's really fucking cool dude! 😂
Love the emotea
Oh lawd the great gods have blessed this day
Dude! How did you get his head and hand as emojis
@@Adroit1911He’s a member of the channel
Mrs. Quackbang showing up is becoming a fantastic bit. Y’all’s humor together is cute, wishing y’all the best
She's hot too. Respectfully F.E, lol
Great video like usual. I watch a lot of Military history channels and videos, but you do a magnificent job of telling the story with enthusiasm. I feel like I’m drinking a beer, and listening to my fellow vets tell me a tale of their exploits. Keep up the great work!!! #USARMY #Battles #GreatestGeneration
P.S. I love the S.T.E.A.L!!! Civilians have no clue the amount of stuff that soldiers “acquire” for their unit or for themselves while in the military. We learned early on to tell the soldiers to acquire this or that, and when asked where we got something we just “found it”. Great times and good memories.
As a filipino i will say this if its for revenge, there is no war crime if theres no body, witnesses and whistleblowers. Thanks fat electrician for honoring filipino everytime you had philippines content.
i live in SF, which just barely south of me is Daly City. its said that Daly City, CA is the largest and densest grouping of Filipinos "outside of Manila", and i believe it. I went to high school with tons of Filipinos, ive worked with them and shared huge personal moments with them and their families. theyre some of the most loving, fun and resilient people ive ever known. Im proud to know the Filipino people and that they became one of the backbones of my area and as America as a whole. this video champions that.
@@domshooter934What a great compliment. No silver spoons, no gimmes. I imagine they worked hard to keep their families together and to make it. Grit. I like it.
WWII Filipino Scouts are among the fiercest warriors to ever exist. No one will ever change my mind on this.🇺🇸🇵🇭
@@jimreilly917 scout rangers though
@@dwaynev6593 thanks.
I’ve known this story my whole life because my grandfather was one of the Amphibious Tractor drivers. He only made one trip back and forth across the lake because his Amphibious Tractor took fire and lost all the oil out of the engine. In the years after he met someone who had been rescued from that camp. I think they were missionaries who came to his church. …One of my last memories with my grandfather is watching a documentary on the raid. After it was over I looked at him and said, “you’re a hero”. He said, “no, I was just told to drive, so I drove.” …Thanks for telling this story.
What a chad, just another “I drive” story 😂 thank goodness we had men like him
@@TheCobra114-o5eThank goodness we had a whole generation of men like him. My dad was navy, never spoke of it. My Mom was literally repairing ships as "Velma the Machinist" in Mare Island shipyard. The greatest generation indeed.
My grandfather never spoke about his time as a soldier. My mom always said that he was a weasel when he went off to the war. And came back a battle worn weasel. (Not sure if you can tell, but my grandfather was a weasel.. 😊)
But my great-uncled, they were great men. And they spoke of some battles. I didn't appreciate what they were talking about, and I wish I had listened more. And asked questions. I wish I would have written it all down.
Thanks for telling the stories feom the greatest generation. ❤
RIP and DID I HEAR OIL???!!! THAT SHIT MINE!!!
My father was one of the villagers & made contact with many vets many years later, when we immigrated to America. He had an amazing story about crossing the lagoon in one of the amphibious tractors.
I get off work, kick back with a beer, open TH-cam and see this. Proof that Mondays don't always suck
Amen, was just thinking the same damned thing
Facts💯
Same homie
If it was less the 75 degrees then i wuld agree but i second you opinion
This Monday… indeed.. does NOT suck!!
My dad was in the 11th and was part of the Los Banos libration. He was in the 457th parachute division, field artillery, D battery. He was so proud of that his whole life. He was in a battle on Luzon where he was awarded the silver star, but he was more proud of the libration and they didn’t loose one prisoner. After he came home and my parents established themselves, he dedicated the rest of his life to volunteer work - 37 years as a fireman, search and rescue, hospice work, etc. He passed away in 2014 at 94 years old. The greatest generation ❤️
Your dad sounds like an amazing man.
A group of nuns riding "the impatient virgin" is the funniest thing I've heard.
I busted out laughing knowing service members warped sense of humor even at the most stressful times it was more than likely done on purpose 😂
@@bmriverrat11most definitely was 😂
The told the nuns to "get inside" the impatient virgin and that just cracks me up😂
The veteran worried that he scarred that baby for over 40 years part got me in tears.
Excellent ending.
That brought me to tears. An amazing group of US Army soldiers were truly angels, and, yes the ending was the best. ♥️🇺🇸♥️
I'm holding it back
Yep. Some tears came out lol
My name is Jason Nieves and I would like to thank you for doing a piece on this. My grandfather was Ruban E. Nieves of the New Mexico national guard and spent 3 years in that jungle as a forward observer and guerilla fighter. He is our personal hero, but unsung, honorable and a giant.
That's badass. My grandfather Elsworth Hanson was an underwater welder on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific.
Pacific boys don't get the acclaim they deserve.
Filipino here, I respect your gramps a lot for how he sacrificed to save us. Much love from your Pacific cousins!
I love your videos and the last thing i expected was to be sitting here tearing up at the end of this one. Awesome ending from an incredible storyteller. Thank you
Thank you for telling this story. My Grandfather, PVT Gerald Welliver, 11th ABN DIV, talked around this story for years but could never tell me the whole story. He was worried that if he told me the whole story it would be too much for me. He passed away in October, 2014 after a great life.
It was you from the podcast he talked about I had Been waiting to hear this story very well worth the wait
He finally got his true "Angel" wings
My grandfather fought in the 11th as well. He passed December 2000. I remember he still had shrapnel in his arm that I asked him about. He never talked about it. 15 years after he and my Nana passed we found his medals and dog tags. We thought they were lost in a fire. I wish I knew more about his personal service. I'm sure this episode meant a lot to you as it did me.
Thank you for doing this story! My father was 14 years old when the 11th Airborne freed his village, Los Banos. I grew up with stories of the Angels of Los Banos. How he would only get a handful of watered down rice daily, how they snuck food to the guerrillas and missionaries who hid in the jungle, etc.
ALSO, the story of Dwight Clark & Lois, my dad, Dr. Jorge P. Juliano Sr. was on that boat & witnessed it. He was the one who connected Dwight and Lois after the war. At the time of reconnect, she had moved to the states and become a doctor! God bless America and its troops!
Wow now that's a story u need to pass down to ur grandkids n there grandkids. Ur dad must have been a tough man. And btw that's beautiful how ur people were feeding other men even though they didn't have much food themselves. So I'd say ur people deserve as much respect and love as the Americans get in this story.
That is awesome!
Great addition to the story!!!
I'm a grown ass man listening to this at work. After hearing about Clark asking if he scarred her face and didn't, I started to cry. I'm a meat cutter covered in blood from work and I'm crying. This was a great video.
It seems we were affected the same way
Yeah brothers, me three.
Trucker, combat medic, outlaw biker here.
I cried too.
Same 😢
Same
My great grandfather served in the US Army and fought in New Guinea and got shrapnel in his eye and recovered just fine and later got orders to the 82nd Airborne Division and served at Fort Bragg NC until the 1970s because the Army wanted him out because he originally joined in 1942 and served for 30 years total.
He unfortunately died in 1984 after a 2nd stroke.
god, great story, but have you heard of a comma?
Ya know... sometimes you think to yourself "did we really need to nuke them twice?"
Then you hear this and think "Was 2 enough?"
Then you find out that the members of unit 721 or whatever the hell it was weren't tried for war crimes because they handed over the documentation they had on the various atrocities they committed. Men that were as bad if not worse than the sadistic son of a bitch that tortured the internees in this video. And they were allowed to walk free. All because of some operation paperclip type bullshit. Nukes are a political tool. Two was enough. The number of Japanese war criminals that got to walk free, if it had only been one person, it was two people too many. And there were hundreds. There's a reason that the Pacific and the European theaters were thought of as two completely separate wars. Nic's gone over this before. Europe at least still had some level of that European gentlemanly warfare type mentality. The Pacific was a war of extermination.
Reminders of how brutal the Japanese were is necessary. As brutal as the Nazis were, as bad as the POW camps were... the Japs found a way to make them particularly hellish, through capriciousness.
I still say we should have gone for the 3peat just for the Japs in the back who didnt see the first 2 shots.
Never judge a whole group for the actions of a few roaches, but I get where you're coming from.
@@judgem0rt1s23that is a very hard one to do and would take a better man than myself if i was there at that time.
As a Filipino, thank you for covering the 11th airborne, Vanderpool's guerilla, and the absolutely mad mission they did. I love this story and people really do need to know more about it
Longer, shorter, doesn't matter JUST MAKE IT FUN! I studied WW2 for my own fun and took a high school history class. NEVER HEARD OF THESE GUYS, thank you for fixing that.
Early onset Republican symptoms detected
@@Lettumknowhy we gotta bring politics into everything
@@Lettumkno I'm a registered Democrat thank you very much fuck Stick, I've always drawn to WW ii since I could remember, politics had nothing to do with it, get fucked stay fucked.
@@tigerbatman7881 It’s just a Shane Gillis bit, nothing serious.
Your name is sniperwolf?
Please don’t doxx us.
I love hearing these stories....my great grandparents grew up in the depression on a north ga farm, dropped out of school in elementary... went on to work for Lockheed during the war building planes.great grandma was a welder...the ww2 Gen inspires me so much...
Thank you nick for these stories
Vanderpool mentioned. You need to talk about how he strapped guns, rockets, and B29 turrets to helicopters in 1957. I have some documents that you may not be able to find on the internet.
Email them to me. Email is on my website
@@the_fat_electricianwarthunder moment
@@unclejoethemolester For real. lets hope these docs arent still classified if they were classified
@@the_fat_electrician bro rlly said "gib"
The fact that the possibility that that hero worried about scaring a baby's face while defending her life is something extremely rare and a Supreme example of what a human being is supposed to be. May God bless them both.
Not trying to be a correcty Karen but just sharing some wonderful memories.
It actually was not that rare for that generation of men. I was very fortunate to get to participate in collecting their stories for a WWII Conflict Resolution Center library that was compiling their stories before they were all passed. It was one of the most powerful and aweinspiring honors of my life. They were a different breed of men than most of what we have today but their blood still runs in our veins and I hope we can rise up to honor their sacrifices.
Not going to lie if I was behind that gun in the same situation I'd feel like shit too.
Thank you for posting this.. My Father spoke very little of his service in WW2. He was Inducted at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. He served in the 11th Airborne until 1946, and was also part of the Army of the occupation. He was Stationed in Sendai Japan. He came back to Iowa raised a family and was a wonderful father. Thanks Brother!
Iowa. Home !
I have only recently discovered your channel and I can’t tell you how much I love it. I try to watch at least one video a day, and will some day catch up. You are informative, entertaining, and full of pride for our military. Thank you for doing these, I have learned so much.
My grandfather was in the 11th Airborne and participated in this mission. He rarely ever talked about the war despite me constantly prying him to do so, but this was the one thing he did discuss. He was part of the collective that was pulled off of the front lines from Manila and placed in a prison, then sent over the next day on the floatilla to round up POWs and transport them back across the lake.
Walt called it "the day we actually got to do something nice."
Later, Walt ended up being selected as private security detail to escort Gen. McCarthur to the USS Missouri for the signing of Japan's surrender -- you can see him right next to McCarthur in all the photos/newsreels.
Thank you for sharing
My mother was one of the POW's that was rescued from Los Banos that day. She was forever grateful for those men
Salamat for your granpa
@@dorothywhitney7332 l hope she got to attend 511th PIR Assn
& 11th AB Division Assn reunions
I don't think you quite understand how happy seeing an hour long video makes me, please keep teaching us history the right way.
Same here. Absolutely.
Huzzah, TFE! Keep 'em comin'!
I feel like the "My Angels would never do that!" was the only thing that was bouncing in the MPs helmets as they were walking through the literal motor pool/Improvised museum 11th AD made trying to figure out what was supposed to go where.
I was in the 82nd ABN for 13 years & I have never heard of these guys ever. Thank you for sharing this story!
Seeing this video on my feed makes me so happy my great grandfather was a paratrooper for the 11th airborne and I always loved listening to his stories I miss that old man he was a badass
From one minute tik-toks, to half an hour videos and now hour long documentaries. Damn man it been amazing to watch! We love every one of you videos my dude!
I currently am stationed in Alaska, 3-509, 2-11th Airborne Division, and watching this with a buddy of mine just now, made us really happy to wear and serve in the same unit as these men
God Bless You... 🇺🇸
God Bless America 🇺🇸
Freedom !!! 🇺🇸
Amen brother 🇺🇲🫡
JBER? because my dad works there
@@VicChief05 yes
It took a video for you to enjoy being an artic angel instead of being proud about being the only artic airborne unit learning about unit history of your own?
Thanks!
I'm a 63 year old man. I haven't shed tears since my father, a WWII vet passed away. Until now. Don't apologize for the length of the video. Your in-depth presentation of this amazing story was perfect, your missus: perfect , the story: perfect: Hell, even the ad was perfect. Bravo Zulu.
BZ indeed.
My great uncle was part of the 11th airborne. He dropped into the phillipines behind enemy lines, and got yellow fever. The locals found him wandering the jungle, took him in and nursed him back to health until the end of the war. Thank you for making a video about them!
Sounds like another story he needs to cover as an addendum!
These gents need more press!
Absolutely! The stories that man had were unbelievable. I wish I got to talk to him more
Not gonna lie. When I read “he got yellow fever” I didn’t think you Meant that literally.
Mine too!
Except he was a glider pilot
That little baby didn't get burns on her face because an angel swooped in and swiped that casing away. It's such an incredible story. Bravo, good sir. Bravo.
If only Americans still cared like that man did. It’s disgusting where we are today as a society. Now we need angels to come destroy what we’ve become.
Thank you for your clear explanation of just how wonderful our service men and women are. As the proud Mom and Grandma of U.S. Navy personnel, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Both my parents were in the Army just after WW2. I joined the Air Force during Vietnam. We need more people like you to show Americans what we are made of . Thank you again.
To think that one of the heaviest things to weigh on this man's conscience after years of combat was whether or not he had harmed a baby. That is true honor and compassion.
Innocence is a noble thing to protect.
This wasn't just a video; it was a documentary. One that was well done and informative. That ending brought pleasant tears to my eyes, knowing that Dwight's greatest fear was unfounded and, likely, brought him a lot of closure.
Brilliant work and I hope we get more documentaries from you.
When the Chubby Electron guy hits you with the Deckard Cain
"Stay a while and listen!"
That D2 reference is amazing, one of my favorite games (I make D2R content), and this comment on one of my favorite channels is awesome.
@@switch209gaming You play videogames and COPE about it somehow not being a waste of your time* (it is)
@@r0br33r big words coming from someone who has gaming content on his channel, likely never making more because absolutely nobody cared to watch it and it broke your spirit, and now copes with his inability to do something with himself on TH-cam by…talking shit about someone who simply complimented the use of a famous line from a video game?
Save all the “I’m more successful, I make more money, I am better than you because blah blah blah”, I literally don’t give a shit. You took something that was simply a compliment/callback to one of the most influential games of its time, so badly, and can’t justify it. The only other comment I found when looking at your channel, was also negative…figures your channel is simply to talk shit, nothing more.
as a patriotic American I want to say thank you for this story and all the others are amazing !!!!!!
you are helping make America proud again !!!
Bruh, it’s AWESOME that you’re using your platform to educate ppl on why America introducing Godzilla [twice] to Imperial Japan was the best outcome possible
dude the more i learn about Imperial Japan the more i understand the USA bringing down the sun twice smh
And yet there are still people out there who believe they were huge victims who didn’t do anything to deserve the sun being dropped on their heads.
My wife had a teacher (history I think she said) at Bluefield High School that survived both A-bomb explosions. After Hiroshima he was sent to Nagasaki to live with relatives. If I remember correctly he was in a basement several miles from the epicenter of the first explosion, which collapsed that structure onto him. In the second explosion he was three or four miles from the center, he could see the bomb coming down, he dove into a ditch and pulled some kind of debris over himself and lived to tell about it again. After the occupation he was able to immigrate to the US and become a teacher. That’s about all I remember hearing about him. Fascinating though.
@@ronaldlollis8895it's rare to hear of double bomb survivors, thanks for the comment
To many dont even realize the bombs werent all that destructive in comparison to the litteral firebombing being done beforehand.
My father Vince Call was a member of recon platoon and was one of two US soldiers wounded in the Las Banos rail. Thank you so much for telling their story.
I would love to hear more from both of you. These stories are important to our country. Especially right now. My grandmother met my grandfather as a nurse and he was a wounded soldier. That's all I know and no one is left to tell me more . I wish I would have asked about it when I had the chance. All I remember is my grandpa was scary and my grandma was a stoic rock. The only woman I ever truly admired. He died way before her so I never really got to know him well.
"Ñ"
Baby Lois is proof that even the biggest baddest men in the US military has a heart of gold and it's soft on the inside.
If I could thank each and every serviceman that served I would.
Thank you for the good things in my life, thank you for protecting them.
You were worth it! Thank you
Just made a 6.5 hour drive back home from GA to KY and listened to your videos the entire way, even checking out some reaction videos to your videos. I already love the videos, and I got my Marine Corp Vet (‘86-‘92) dad hooked on your videos, but the fact that you go out of your way to make these amazing videos and ask reactors to check more of them out and give their opinion on it says a lot about who you are. I’m calling it now, you’ll go down as the greatest overall TH-camr of all time. Thank you for your service, and thank you for the best storytelling in the entertainment industry!
"Do you have scars on your face?" Bro that shit hit me right in those pesky emotions, how dare you sir.
Don't you dare apologize for the length of this history lesson.
Thank you for every single thing you do to get these stories out there.
Thank you very much.
Congratulations on your new boy too brother...
That Japanese early warning dude that was asleep, I salute him as a true Shamurai
Get your like and get out
I'm over here thinking, "Yes, he got lucky with the guerrillas and Americans, but when anyone on his side finds out he was asleep on watch..."
@diqweed69 He brought donor to his famary and must now commit sepuku
Shamefur dispray
Damn.
Amazing video sir. Well done to you and to all that made it possible. Thank you!
✝️🇺🇲💪
I find it disgusting that youtube does not recommend your videos. I guess they know you'll incite and awaken that patriotism and love that every true American has for our country! 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲✝️✝️✝️✝️
My uncle died on Feb. 23d 1945. He was injured during the fighting near Manila. He was in the 187th Para Glider Infantry under the 11th Airborne. He was not in the Los Banos raid, but his unit liberated Los Banos. I am told that the 187th Para Glider Infantry were the first boots on the ground on Mainland Japan. Thanks for a great video.
Damn, that's quite a story and I have to tell you I think that your Uncle is a hero! Talk about dangerous duty, oh my God what were the chances of survival? Thanks a lot for sharing your story. And I'm sorry for your loss.💖🇺🇲🙏💯
Nick, my first Bachelors Degree is in History. I had a U.S. Military History instructor name Dr. Christman, he was the greatest history teacher I ever had. His ability to tell history stories and his pride in the U.S.A. Has never been matched, until your channel. Thank you for highlighting the awesomeness that is America and the depth of courage, devotion and compassion that set our armed forces above the rest of the world.
I'm currently crying like a baby in my car on the way home from work. I just had a daughter, my first child, in January. The story of Lois hit different. Thank you for not only sharing and creating all of this incredible content with these stories, while being entertaining as all get out, but also for taking the time to touch on the human factor.
Guess we have the same thought process, only I don't have a kid. Just imagining trying to save thousands of people, putting your life on the line and so many other things, just for it to result in hurting a baby, I'm happy he got closure and didn't end up hurting more than superficial
It also shows just how much those troopers cared about this particular mission and about these people that amidst an active warzone, only seconds (if even that) after taking fire, that man had the heart to feel regret for hurting a child in the process of saving them❤
You are ONE Hell of a Story Teller. I'm a Vietnam Era Paratrooper Co. C 1/508th 3rdBDE 82nd Airborne. My Dad(Gen. Attilio Pedroli) then a Major, was the First BAT21 who was the Navigator on the only EB-66(Preview 01) to be shot down by a MIG-21 in 1968. At the time, Dad held the AF record for EE in North Vietnam without being captured. I have a suggestion for you that would be perfect for your style of story telling. Dad had a Wing Commander when he flew B-52s who flew the ""Bloody Sunday"" raid on the Romanian oil facility at Ploesti in WWII. FIVE Medal of Honors and 56 Distinguished Service Crosses were awarded as a postscript to Operation Tidal Wave.
Pete Pedroli
82nd Airborne Alumnus
EB-66C Shoot Down West of Hanoi by a MIG-21
by Ned Colburn
On 14 January 1968, an EB-66C (Preview 01) was shot down west of Hanoi by a MIG-21. Major Pollard [Sonny] Mercer was the pilot, Attilio [Pete] Pedroli the Instructor Navigator, Irby Terrell the Navigator with the following EWOs: Thomas Sumpter, Ronald Lebert, Hubert Walker and Jim Thompson. All 7 ejected, but Sonny Mercer’s legs were broken in the ejection. Jim Thompson was the only EWO rescued. The other 3 EWOs were captured and spent the rest of the war as POWs. Mercer, Pedroli and Thompson were rescued several days after the shoot-down. Mercer was air-evacuated to the Philippines where he died in the hospital from a blood clot to the brain. Pete Pedroli and Jim Thompson went on to complete their combat tours at Takhli.
The EB-66 Mission was a Real ""Gunslinger"" Op only the Guys in the White Hats had NO Bullets. Dad was shot down between 2 Flight escorts...F-102s and F-4s and yea the Fricking Comms were so screwed that nobody could talk to each other so I think the 2nd Leading ACE of the North Vietnamese Air Force used an AA missile. The impact was critical but the pilot Maj. "Sonny" Mercer was able to keep control so everyone could eject.
This story is told with the Title ".The story of the North Vietnamese MiG-21 Fishbed fighters tasked to attack USAF EB-66 Destroyer electronic attack aircraft" In the comments I gave the author more information on this mission.
[Based on Ned Colburn’s recollection of events and what Pete Pedroli and Jim Thompson related to me]. Rivet Top [EC-121] had just arrived in theater for Operational Suitability Testing and was so successful that it remained in SEA rather than return to the U.S. for modification. River Top had intercept gear that reportedly did the impossible of showing on a PPI exactly what the N. Vietnamese radar controllers saw on their ground scopes.
On or about 12 January 1968, Rivet Top observed and reported to Saigon what they correctly deemed was preparation to shoot down a B-66, since we were the first on station preceding a bomb strike and flew unescorted without fighter cover. The B-66 always got its share of attention since there was time for one MIG sweep into the B-66 orbit area, before the Fighter Bombers arrived.
Following the completion of Rolling Thunder operations for the afternoon and after all USAF & USN activity ceased over North Vietnam, Rivet Top observed MIGs taxi and take-off without any radio transmissions whatsoever during the entire flight profile. Prior to this time, the usual radio calls were made to Ground Control, Tower and GCI as the MIGs called for Taxi-Take Off, with IFF on and the mission controlled by GCI Radar Operators. The MIGs taxied out, took-off and flew with their transponders off, tracked 240 from Hanoi and then started a climbing turn into the orbit area and altitude that the B-66s flew West of Hanoi. Rivet Top passed the information to Saigon with the correct analysis that a B-66 shoot-down was being rehearsed - with not a peep from Hanoi relayed as a warning to Takhli.
On 14 January 1968, Sonny Mercer(Preview 01) and crew arrived on station and began their orbit to perform their dual mission of jamming and missile threat warning - when, without any warning, the right engine was hit by an air-to-air infrared heat seeking missile. All 7 successfully ejected. Sonny Mercer, Jim Thompson and Pete Pedroli landed in the jungle on a mountain - with Irby Terrell, Tom Sumpter, Ronald Lebert and Hubert Walker landing in a valley where they were immediately captured by the North Vietnamese Army and held as POWs for the duration of the war. Pete Pedroli drifted toward the valley and was saved from becoming a POW when his chute snagged the only tree that grew out over a cliff. One of Pete’s arms was completely numb and useless from his shoulder and arm being injured in the ejection. The NVA started shooting at Pete but never hit him as he tied stair-steps in his shroud lines to climb up into the tree - proving that necessity is truly the Mother of Invention when it is virtually impossible to tie knots in string with only one good hand. Once into the tree, Pete faced the dilemma of how to get to the jungle floor perhaps 200 feet below him. He found 2 growths of bamboo that were parallel to one another and curved down toward the ground. Sitting on the lower bamboo limb, Pete got his bad arm draped over the top branch of bamboo and grabbed the bad arm with his good hand as he shimmied down the bamboo inch by inch. Eventually the bamboo went straight down, and at this point no doubt totally exhausted, Pete let go and went crashing to the jungle floor - 100 or more feet below him. Pete told us how everything was pitch black in the jungle foliage, with vegetation so dense that you couldn’t possibly hack your way through such jungle to escape and evade - so he had no option but to stay put in an area about 8’ x 8’ until he was rescued. Sonny Mercer, Pete Pedroli and Jim Thompson all made radio contact with airborne friendlies - and settled down for their first night in North Vietnam.
Preview 1, a single EB-66, was launched for a selective jamming mission in support of an afternoon strike mission in Route Package VIA. The orbit point was approximately 50 nautical miles WNW of Than Hoa near the Laotian border.
The 7AF CC first became aware that Preview was down at 1805H as a result of beeper signals reported by Crown aircraft. Later checks revealed that no GCI sites or Ethan Allen aircraft had received distress calls. Other ECM aircraft had made calls to Preview without receiving a response. SAR activities on the day of the downing were restricted due to adverse weather and approaching darkness but voice contact was established with 4 of the 7 downed crewmen. The survivors were advised that pick-up would be attempted early on the morning of 15 January. The following day adverse weather precluded first light pick-up but a flight of A-1 Sandies re-established voice contact with the survivors. A flight of 4 F-4s provided continuous RESCAP by cycling elements between the CAP station and a tanker, Later in the afternoon, Jolly Green 20, an HH-3 searching for the survivors of Preview, was operating between cloud layers at 6 000 feet. The aircraft descended through an opening to VFR conditions with poor visibility. While descending, a power loss was experienced. Recovery could not be accomplished before ground impact; however, a flare-out was made which reduced the ground impact. The aircraft received major damage but there were no crew fatalities. Immediately, Jolly Green 15 and 72 were launched from Lima Site 36 in an attempt to pick up 1 the crew of #20, The 2 rescue helicopters encountered cloud cover near the crashisite of #20 and could not proceed further. While attempting to cross a ridge small arms fire was encountered which struck #15. Due to approaching darkness, weather, and ground fire, the rescue forces were withdrawn from the area. The entire crew of Jolly Green 20, downed 15 January at 1723H was successfully recovered by Jolly Green 71 on 17 January at 1550H hours. During egress from the area. #71 was hit by ground fire which caused the loss of the #1 engine but he was able to proceed to Lima Site 36 where the crew of #20 was transferred to another helicopter and taken to Udorn for medical attention, All but 2 of the crewmen were in good condition; a broken leg and another a broken arm. On the same date 3 crewmen of Preview were recovered by Jolly Green 69. 1 of these crewmen also had a broken leg. More beepers from the remaining crewmen of Preview were identified but search efforts were suspended due to darkness. Subsequent searches failed to locate any beepers or survivors and the search for the remaining survivors was finally suspended.
Also on the ground in the same vicinity was an F-4 crew who had likewise made contact and were awaiting Search and Rescue. As the rescue helicopter went in the next day, they crashed in heavy rains and low visibility - and now, there was a multitude of unfortunates awaiting rescue. A day or so later when the weather cleared, an HH-53 and Sandys arrived, first picking up the downed helicopter crew and then the F-4 crew before beginning the recovery of the B-66 crew. The rescue chopper reestablished radio contact with Mercer, Pedroli & Thompson and had them mark their positions with orange smoke flares. Mercer and Pedroli were picked-up, but when they went to Jim Thompson’s smoke he wasn’t anywhere to be found. It seems that Jim put thirst ahead of rescue, had left his hiding place and headed for a nearby stream for a drink. The helicopter came under hostile fire, and as they were exiting the area, someone saw Jim Thompson who was quickly scooped-up and they headed for friendly territory. After intelligence debriefing, a happy Pete Pedroli was surrounded by everyone in the officer’s club as we welcomed one of the greatest guys ever back into our midst. Pete repeatedly muttered “Why Me?” - which knowing Pete Pedroli, only meant “Why was I rescued and not the others?” Pete went on to complete his 100 missions over North Vietnam - and was still at Takhli several weeks after he should have rotated, when ***Colonel Giraudo saw Pete in the officer club and asked why he was still at Takhli. When Pete replied that he didn’t have an assignment, Colonel Giraudo got on the phone to MPC and was told that Pete Pedroli was MIA. Pete’s classification was quickly cleared-up, with the phone handed to Pete to state his assignment preference to MPC - Mather AFB.
***Maj. Gen. John C. Giraudo... Prisoner of War Medal (2) Not the Medal you want to be awarded TWICE!
Thank you for covering this unit. This one is actually near dear to my heart as my grandfather was one of the original angels. He also took part in the raid. He was a man of very few words, but he could tell a story in just those couple words. Many of which I thought were fictional growing up because of how insane they sounded.
That man was reason I had enlisted in the United States army and became a paratrooper. I want to be just like him in every single way possible.
Sadly we lost him May 17th 2020 to COVID. He contracted it in his VA nursing home via one of the nurses and passed away approximately two and a half weeks after words.
Again, thank you for covering this.
I am sorry for your loss. The world lost a hero that day.
Thank you, Sir, and your Grandfather for your service to our Nation and Her Constitution. All war truly is Hell, but the Pacific Campaign….there aren’t adequate words. I had the Honor and pleasure of knowing some of those men, Korea too. I heard a few stories, none of them flash or heroic. All of them grim. Those men and women are almost gone now, none of them should have ever been trifled with. I wish I had learned more from them, never would I respect 🫡 less. The things they saw and lived……and endured, as Eisenhower said to the ETO members on 6 June 1944…”to save the world from tyranny and oppression.” Very noble a goal and task, noble indeed.
o7
Sorry to hear of your family’s loss. Now that 11th division angel is watching over you and your family as a real guardian angel.
God bless your grandfather and his family. I'd have loved to have heard him tell his stories. What a precious memory you have there. And thank you for your service!
Jeremy Holm is actually my uncle!! I’m gonna have to ask him what it was like helping you out with this video! ❤😂
My grandfather was in the 11th airbon and took place in this raid!! Live the video!!! His name was Herbert Williams and got a soldier's medal for saving another soldier from drowning
"Do you have scars on your face?"
INSTANT water works.
(Also: "Help Me" LOL)
It was enough to make a grown man cry
Agreed. I was cooking on the BBQ when I saw the video show up. Definitely freaked out in excitement been a while!
Myself included. Last time that happened, I was watching little house on the prairie😢😅
100 percent single tear
He set the Onion Cutting Ninjas on us again!
Love the love for the gliders. My grandfather, Captain Samuel Somervill, was a C-47 pilot during D-Day, dropping Airborne into Normandy, and later towing gliders. He left the Army Air Corp after WWII, and was a high-school shop teacher. He lived long enough for me to have joined the Air Force. He was a good man, and a hero.
My shop teacher couldn't be drafted shot eye out with bebe gun as kid. God bless the guys that teach kids life skills. Rip Jack Dyer
My dad was in the 64th Troop Carrier Squadron. I still have his flight logbook. He landed in Tokyo two weeks after the surrender. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64th_Air_Refueling_Squadron#World_War_II
that ad time... damn xD "its always easy to do my job until you actually have to do MY JOB" such a good line
I was thinking the same thing 😂 what a LEGENDARY line
Love everything you do, but it was a tad bit long. The story didn't really have the punch you normally do.
@@mariaharris8077kinda a different topic than usual
@@mariaharris8077🙄 OK Karen....
Sorry but everything doesn't fit into a nice neat 15 minute package for those that are attention deficient. It was a fantastic video, and there's always the option not to watch it if it's too long for your attention span😂
@@E3742Onot at all it was just a bigger subject
"and we're fixing that shit right now" priceless! I'm going to make my kids watch your channel for history class during homeschooling!!!
"Dear violent and mischievous hooligans, otherwise known as the 11th,
Go break Tojo's shit.
Love, Mac"
~MacArthur's orders, probably
yessssssssssssssssssss!
👍🏼
Truly a "Tojo's head (BALD) slapped in court" moment
Macarthur orders where either 28pages long plan and orders for every single soldier or:"go get em tiger I believe in you"
The story about Dwight Clark brought a tear to my eye. An upstanding gentleman.
Dam "do you have scars on your face" had me in tears of joy and pride. That man carried the guilt of that for years. Glad she was ok, and glad he got a resolution to his guilt. A great man and a hero.
My great grandfather, great uncle, and great aunt were imprisoned in San Tomas. They never had much love for the Japanese after that experience. One thing that did make it back was a letter opener carved by one of the prisoners. One one side is "Such is Prison Life" and on the other "San Tomas". I have it around here somewhere. Thank you for telling this story so well.
Dwight Clark - man, Nick, I'm almost 70 and you hit me right in the feels. This was a powerful story, and you have done it justice. I applaud you for tackling a story with so many elements. It was beautifully done, sir. Side note - my father was a Navy Hospital Corpsman. In 1953 when he went to Corps school, one of his instructors was a nurse who was at Los Banos. Small world.
These videos should be part of high school curriculum. So many Valuable lessons: the sacrifices of generations past, the horror of war, the necessity to fight, and the responsibility that comes with being the good guys. I think that the generation of men and women who served in WWII were one of the brightest generations in our history
Just because you find these videos relevant to your personal interests doesn't mean the history is any more important than the curriculum currently being taught. I swear some of you walnuts would have kids watching nothing but youtube videos about tiny slivers of history as their entire education.
@@Skinflaps_Meatslapper because modern education states the us is evil. We beg to differ.
@@Skinflaps_MeatslapperI'm pretty sure he said that it should be apart not more important you walnut.
@@Skinflaps_Meatslapper what, so we should allow the indoctrination of our kids for moronic woke causes and scientifically wrong causes? bite me
@@Skinflaps_Meatslapper part (noun) - 1. a piece or segment of something such as an object, activity, or period of time, which *combined with other pieces makes up the whole*
You walnut
Finally someone covered "the angels". My grand father served in that unit. He only spoke of it once so ive been told. I had no idea till this video how much of a badass my grandfather and his brothers in arms really were... Thank you so much for bringing their story to light.🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Down from Heaven comes 11 and there's hell to pay below, shout Geronimo! Geronimo!
Miss you Pop, you earned both sets of wings.
Definitely the most gangster line, "I hope it blows on the way back."
As a bad person, Sadiki should have lived a very long life of absolute misery.
Trying to type through tears though with that ending. 48 yo man and you conveyed how he felt so well I got really choked up over it.
Same lots of onion cutting over that phone call.
Should've pulled from that scene from the first Iron Man movie and just toss him to the guerilla fighters.
filipino here who had filipino grandparents who lived through the japanese occupation as kids
about the part that you said about the slightly charitable part and living conditions varied, its true and this is why the old folks here love the americans so much.
i immediately remembered one of the stories that my grandfathers and grandmothers told me when there were only filipinos living amongst the japanese at the northern philippines.
one that stood out was that weird punishment that they did to my grandma from my father's side and their group at that time was being forced to stand in the sun while kneeling on beans and being tempted to name drop the one stealing the food and that was on a hot afternoon, its painful to the knees if you are skin and bones.
and the other one was the japanese caught what they thought were rebel leaders, asked where their rebel hideout were, never name dropped, they were tied to the pole of the house, poured gas over them and burned the house for not complying. the house that got burned was a house from one of our uncles supposedly.
and how at the end of the japanese occupation my grandma (this time from my mom's side of the family) telling the story of how my grandfather fought for his life avoiding the bombs and dumping the truck that he was driving in the nearest ditch and going to the nearest hole when the bombs finally fell.
Dwight Clark might be my favorite soldier out of WW2. His phone call in 98 says more about his character and heart than any other story I've heard. I hope he was able to get genuine rest once that phone call was finished.
Dude you need to get all of your stories on Spotify! I listen to you when I’m trying to fall asleep, and I feel like that’d be something that a lot of people would like!
You, sir, are an incredible teacher. Dwight's phone call at the end was the perfect wrap to drive home the sheer humanity of the men and women serving in war.
I was told part of this story by an army vet back in the 60s who had a friend that was rescued from Los Banos POW camp. He spoke of the 11th Airborne Angels with a sincere reverence. He said he was in disbelief at first when he learned that the 11th successfully rescued every single prisoner in that camp. He said his friend looked like a scarecrow, but he was smiling. I'm really glad I got to learn the whole story. Thank you for this video. It is a story that should be told over and over.
The Purple "QUACKBANG" was epic! 😂
I want one too!!
Yeah my daughter's want one for both pickups now. Drive with a pretty devil duck 😈🦆
If this hits the merch shop buying a couple for my daughters with Jeeps
@@diverdanc1 Ditto! Might even toss a spare in one of mine
I freaking love all of these videos. They don't depress me for what i haven't done. They give me a better comprehension of what can be done. What is humanly possible? All of the above.
Not me as a Marine laughing my ass off about the young lady dreaming about being rescued by a Marine, and then crying like a child for the humanity and kindness Dwight Clark displayed. Thank you Nick for all you do. I try to watch everything you out! God Bless!
My philliapina daughter turns 14 on may 17 and lives in luzon with her family. I met her mother while serving aboard USS McCampbell, she was working in tokyo as a housesitter for my skippers brother and his family. I hope to share this amazing story with her someday and I'll be forever grateful to the 11th airborne Angels for my sweet baby girl. Thank you for sharing this with everyone and god bless
Filipina.
I legitimately teared up during the "Do you have scars on your face?" moment.
I did know about the gliders of WWII because of some game I played as a kid on the PS2. I think Medal of Honor Frontline or Vanguard. A mission has you land in one of those gliders at the start. Just unlocked core childhood gameplay memories for me, so thanks for that. It's probably why I'm such a WWII nerd as a young adult and always have been. One of my coworkers who is 43 told me that I'm supposed to get into WWII history around his age lmao.
Your channel has been a goldmine for me. Between the mix of humor and actual knowledge, and just how many times I've found out that people fucked with our boats and we got real proportional.
Bro, keep the long stories coming because many stories require a lot of time to tell and you’re the perfect person to do it
I Fully Agree !!!
My father was a member of the 11th in the Pacific. He was very proud of his service. Thank you for this video that I can share with my kids and grandchildren. We have a huge debt.
In my personal opinion, that was the best way to end a video covering that topic. That Airborne veteran definitely deserved that closure and I’m glad he can at least put that behind him knowing he did not permanently disfigure a person before their life really began.
I 10000% agree I just wish that wonderful soldier didnt have to live with that on his mind for 40 years. You can tell by the conversation that haunted him. Glad he got closure, for his mental health I wish it would have come sooner.
G'day,
Mike, Australian navy and army veteran retired.
All I would like to say is that all your personal comments in this video I agree with. We do stuff in the military to win, not to get woke approval.
Love you work and your misses.❤😊
as a former paratrooper, Thank you. I've known about this mission, but brother you nailed it in a way that I could never imagine. Thank you for also including the file footage at the end. Lastly, we have seen your cry for help, but cannot afford the losses to attempt your rescue. Suggest that you bow down to your wife!
B-Co 3/504PIR 82nd ABN
B. Co. 1/325. Across Ardennes from the museum 86-90
Yes, Mrs. Quackbang is clearly a formidable force!!
I am so glad this operation is getting covered because not enough people know about it, how perfectly executed, and about the Philippines! Thank you from a Philippine-American US Veteran!
The Philipino military guys are the true Rambo guys 😂 I'd love to see more coverage of them. Absolute savages in the best way possible!
I think there was a magazine called "WWII History," at one time. I read about this operation, there, and finding the level of command and coordination, was for me, off the charts.
Probably your best video yet. At the risk of being cheesy I feel the need to thank you Nick for your hard work and tireless research to tell these criminally undertold stories particularly about the Pacific theater and Korea. Keep up your outstanding work!
I had heard of the Los Banos raid and freeing of prisoners but until your retelling I never realised how crazy and epic it was, thank you.
This is probably the earliest I've arrived to a video after it's release. Ever.
My wife would be familiar with me arriving in two minutes 😂
@@joecentral-o9984 Well at least you're willing to laugh about it you poor bastard.
I know lmao
@joecentral-o9984 Damn. I'm sorry, homie.