212 - Invisible Generals

In June 1944, as the Allied armies fought to break out from the Normandy beachhead, attention turned to a series of heavily defended German positions west of Caen. Among them was Rauray Spur, a vital piece of high ground that overlooked much of the surrounding countryside and off ...  Show more

In this episode, we turn our attention to the final months of the war in Europe and one of the Allied armies' most famous and controversial commanders, General George S. Patton. At the start of 1945, Patton's Third Army was fighting on Germany's western frontier in the aftermath ...  Show more

Bullard is often described as the first Black American fighter pilot – which is true – but he also had a full and fascinating life beyond that. This episode covers his travels before WWI and his military career. 

Research:

Wednesday, February 24, 2021 Hoover Institution In this special episode of Battlegrounds in honor of Black History Month, H.R. McMaster and Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Robinson, US Army (Retired), son of General Roscoe Robinson Jr., the first African American four-star general in th ...  Show more

In honor of Memorial Day, we observe the contributions of Black service members like The Harlem Hellfighters and the Tuskegee Airmen. In this episode, host Roy Wood Jr. chats with the cofounder of the Black Veterans Project, Richard Brookshire and the author of Half American: The ...  Show more

January 11, 2022. Lt. Col. James Harvey arrives at Nellis Air Force base in Nevada for the first time in 73 years. He’s there to accept a plaque celebrating the last time he was there—for the Air Force’s first ever weapons competition. Back then, Harvey and the other Tuskegee Air ...  Show more