I still can’t imagine the horror these guys witnessed during the pacific campaign and knowing my grandfather endured this, he truly was and STILL is my personal hero! Thanks JD for documenting their legacy and making new history for the future to witness and never forget!!!
My thoughts as well. My grandfather was at Tarawa. Knowing people on that island wanted to harm him and his brothers is an odd feeling. God bless those courageous men.
I literally laughed out loud when you described those first two tanks as "non-operational" and "well ventilated". 😂I'd say that's a fair assessment JD! Excellent episode!
ive seen enough of your videos that when you said the doors were small I said to myself "Well, he's gonna bump his head any second now" Good work! Keep it up! I love this channel.
Man I could clearly hear it when you hit your head. One last casualty of the Japanese bunker. I hope you didn't scramble your eggs too badly. Thanks for powering through and making another fantastic video. And kudos for not searing a blue streak when you knocked your noggin.
That Island is beautiful!! The trees are gorgeous! It’s nice to see that it hasn’t been ruined by commercialism and the tourist trade. The fact that you can go in and out of the bunkers and see the old tanks shows that the people who live here aren’t afraid to show and share their history.Loved the🌈
no twenty dollar parking or admissions either to see things and places we already paid for...in blood. Unlike this country where your squeezed for every penny
Thank you so much for doing this! My Grandfather fought with the 27th infantry and fought on Saipan as well as Okinawa. Seeing what these guys went through gives us a fresh perspective on the horrors of war
I used to visit an elderly woman in a nursing home, “Annie”, who lost her son on Saipan. Thanks for sharing! Gives me a picture of where he served and gave his final, full devotion.
My father was in the US navy, South Pacific during World War ii. He was aboard several ships but his favorite was the USS Robinson which was a Fletcher class destroyer DD 562. His memories of Saipan was that it was pure hell on Earth and they felt like no amount of shelling of that Island was going to make any difference. Imagine that for a minute. The sheer tonnage of shells from destroyers to battleships that laid waste to that Island and my father still felt like the fight had only just begun, which in fact was the truth. My dad was and still is the biggest hero of my life and not a day goes by that I don't miss him. Rest in peace dad! As always JD,, just a wonderful presentation and an important one at that. Thank you for keeping history alive and the memories of our Fathers and Grandfathers, Uncles and Brothers as well.
Now we talked about this before. I think you need to get one of those tank helmets like Telly Savalas wore in the Battle of the Bulge. Hope your head feels better and thanks for another great video. 👍👍👍👍👍
Another awesome video, it's great that they have left these historical artifacts standing. I don't think I would have been to excited about being a tanker in the Japanese army.
Just amazing…. The war in the pacific does not get the coverage like the war in Europe with D-Day , The battle of the bugle and etc. Thanks for taking us there.
JD stands for Just Dynamite. As in this and many of your episodes. Very well researched as usual. Thanks, take care of your head! I have a flame tree on my front yard in the Philippines!
really enjoy all these and wanted to call out that the runway construction on Saipan (and Okinawa) also included Army Aviation Engineering Battalions, not just Seabees. I'm a navy guy, but my grandad was in the 805th AEB and helped repair and expand the old coral runways on those and other smaller islands in 1944 and 1945. Really enjoy the work and somewhat envious that you get to see all these fascinating historical places.
I was waiting for it. Then BUMP goes the head. Dude I hope it isn't bad. These bunkers are small. Just look at the battle damage. Wow. Great video and thank you.
I'm 99% sure at 12 mins that tank is Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank and had a crew of 4. Just discovered your channel it's awesome , Cheers from Australia, keep the awesome work coming love it 🙂
I live in Saipan and I'm very interested in the battle of Saipan. It was said that the largest banzi charge in north of Saipan somewhere in Marpi point. And very recently there was a excavation of a dog tag last month in front of the san Jose church in San Jose, Saipan.
The air field area was very interesting and the island has a lot of beautiful scenery including the fire trees. And bless your heart, you bumped that head good this time. Could literally hear the impact in the soundtrack, that had to hurt and am sure left a pretty good bump. Thank goodness you had the old faithful black cap on to protect your head just a bit. Thank you for another wonderful video.
Excellent episode as ever JD, thanks for sharing it with us all, in many ways you are fulfilling some of my bucket list for me, I always wanted to do what you are doing, Pearl Harbour and the taking back of the Japanese occupied islands tour, unfortunately for me it can’t happen but you doing it and sharing it is the next best thing, so a heartfelt thanks for your wonderful work, and I am glad that, unlike me, you haven’t left it to late to do. 😀👍🇬🇧🏴🇺🇸🇺🇦
What an awesome experience you had in the south Pacific. Thanks for bringing it home to the rest of of us. So glad you did not run into anything slithering on it's belly. I would have had to pass on the rest of of the video after finding a therapist. Lol
I had 2 great uncles in Pearl Harbor. Both survived. I have always been interested in Pearl Harbor and World War II just because of the stories I heard when I was a child.
Still watching some of the older videoz. You sure do have a way of making us feel like we are there. I would love to go check out saipan , I am dreaming
I own a 7.7MM Japanese rifle captured in battle on Saipan. It was brought home by the father of a close friend, who isn’t a gun nut and wanted it to find a good home when his father passed. It’s a proud part of my WW2 collection. Another friend’s father was a Marine wounded on Saipan. When the veteran died his last wish was to be buried in the Beaufort, SC National Cemetary near Parris Island. He told his son that he wanted to spend eternity close to other Marines.
You deserve a purple heart for the amount of times you bump your head 😄 Bunkers, Submarines, Trees...Love your videos! (not for the head bumping, but the History :)
You mwnyioned Guam. I met the man who was stranded on that island through the war. He was tv repairman here in Grants Pass, Oregon! I took my tv to him and discovered his indentity quite by accident!
ummmm.....You need to get a hard hat Brother! I felt your pain and I live in Michigan!!! Anything that is a bunker, boat (Ship) Submarine, Tunnel, should be mandatory to protect your noggin !!!!! Great video, love the history, I'm learning with each episode! Thank you for all that you are doing to share with us and teach future generations! God Bless!
Great video! Do you always go on these trips/tours on your own? Both my Grandpa's were in the Navy in the Pacific, always been a major interest of mine, happy you were finally able to go!
My uncle Ralph Lewis was a Seabee that landed on Saipan in June 1944. When I was a kid he showed me souvenirs he brought back with him, a sword he took from a dead Japanese officer, and battle flag, along with pictures you would never see in Life magazine. In 1975-76 I visited Saipan twice. This was only thirty years after the war ended, and I met Siapanese who remembered the Japanese occupation and the American invasion. The entire island was a battlefield in June 1944. Saipan is one of the most memorable places I have ever visited.
Some real easy to read books that cover these battles are by Osprey Publishing "Saipan and Tinian" and "USMC Sherman vs Japanese Type 95 Ha-go". If you geo locate the tank battle, it seems that a McDonalds on Middle Road just at the foot of the mountain now marks the spot of the fighting. Hope you get to visit Tinian and Guam!
Wow !!... amazing that so many of the structures and equipment are still there . The Japanese intended to stay a long time. I wish now that I had asked Mr. Gerald Cornett more questions about Saipan.
I can’t wait for the day you are able to make it to the pacific war museum in Fredricksburg Texas. I have been there and it is incredible plus President Lyndon B. Johnsons grave and home is not too far from there either.
That’s my home town. I worked at the museum for a long time. I did the combat reenactments and re-painted the interior of the midget sub there. It would be awesome if came here!
This is a fascinating series of blogs on the Pacific war well done Are you planning to visit other islands.? Compared to the Normandy coast line which I have visited many times there seems, from your video to be a strange eeriness about the island.
I thank for risking yourself to show us this part of history that no one hardly mentions. I would say be careful in some of those areas because of the possibility of snakes. The ones on the Pacific islands are not good to be around.
Great video mate you I was watching document about was during we2 they took out radio station and th ey took out supplies trunks and has pups they put tnt on trunks really can't wait for the next video mate 👍🔥
My father got his first Purple Heart on Saipan with the 4th Marine Division. His first battle was on Tarawa with the 2nd Marine Division where he is seen in the combat footage. He had just turned 19. He got his second Purple Heart on Iwo Jima with the 4th Marine Division. My father was one of the Marines that fought at the airfield on Saipan.
Have you been to Wilmington N.C. yet? There is the battleship USS North Carolina,Fort Fisher and Moore’s Creek Battleground. There is a beautiful house called the Burgwin - Wright House also called The Cornwallis House. You would love it the history covers WW2, The Civil War& The Revolutionary War. That will make for some really interesting videos. My father worked at the North Carolina Shipyard and became a welder . They built Liberty Ships there. As a child I remember seeing a mothballed fleet of Liberty ships docked along the Cape Fear River . It looked like there were between 100 to 200 ships along the riverbank.
Woow! I love these kind of videos, i am a big japanese militaria collector myself. Love to see the history and bunkers! Love your channel so much! Watch every video man! You have a very good content, cutting en editing style video. High quality like watching a documentary on tv. 100% down!!! I’ve learned so much! My field is swords and bayonets. Anyway,.. paused the video to write this down. I put it on play now 😛
You need a helmet when you go into these bunkers and low hanging beams. I pretty sure you a galaxy of starts orbiting around your head! I am 6'3", I would have probably flatten my face if I ran into these obstacles! This is very interesting series. Loved the European theater series and now I get to enjoy the Pacific theater series. Are you going by the historical points that was fought in WWII or just to different islands that you can have access to? Great video by the way! Stay safe and protect your noggin!
Thanks. I try to keep them a bit on the short side so that schools can use them but if you go to the playlist tab on the main page, you can string them all together and it’s basically like watching a 4 hour video. 😅
Looking at the battle damage to the bunker, I'm surprised the Japanese didn't use sand or ground coral to protect the lower part. I've watched footage of Tarawa Atoll, where they seem to have protected bunkers with sand held in situ by revetments made from palm tree logs. 👍
Depending on how soon they had to throw the island together. A couple of the closer to Japan they had to throw together some of this stuff. I think.. long day I could be off
Those tanks are called Banzi tanks three man crew great video its been a while since you hit your head last time i think was tge church in Normandy. Best Rob
