Preparations for Operation FORAGER- Episode 309

Comments · 338

• JO

  @JohnnySmithWhite-wd4ey · 2 years ago (edited)

  Once again you guys have done a magnificent job. &nbsp;Thank you.<br>Captain Toti hang in there. &nbsp;Healing takes time.

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• SE

  @seanquigley3605 · 2 years ago

  Thanks for covering West Loch. I have a direct connection with the disaster. Covering what is essentially an ammunition ship with fuel barrels shows just what kind of rush they were in to get everything ready. I do know from direct contact with a survivor and this was later reinforced after he passed that he and others were interviewed and told the entire disaster was not to be talked about whatsoever if it got out they would be put in prison. <br><br>He took what he saw to the grave with him, however he did talk slightly about it during a very heated argument over what history of the Pacific War made it into books(this was the early 90&apos;s) and talked with his Brother in Law prior to that when he was suffering from PTSD pretty badly.(His brother in law was a Infantry veteran of the Italian campaign.) After the disaster he was reassigned to USS Elliot DMS 4 at Pearl Harbor until being sent home almost a year later in a catatonic state due to his final breakdown and discharged. I&apos;m sure alot of other survivors had similar experience but also never spoke of it because as I mentioned they considered it as something that could still land them in prison even decades later as the Navy never contacted them to say the accident had been declassified or publicly admitted to.

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• MA

  @marsupial196 · 2 years ago

  I&apos;ve heard the name Keith Renstrom mentioned a few times and it brought me back to 1980 when my friend got me involved in a local Civil War reinacting group. &nbsp;We were getting ready to march in the Provo, Ut 4th of July parade when a barrell chested man in a Union Army uniform wearing sergeant major stripes came up with 3 or four younger kids to march with us in the parade. &nbsp;Most of us didn&apos;t know who he was and one guy went up to our &quot;colonel&quot; to complain about this guy coming up to march with us wearing all the stripes. &nbsp;He said &quot;heck, he&apos;s the only one here that deserves to wear any rank!, that&apos;s Keith Renstrom and he was a marine that was on Iwo Jima!&quot; &nbsp;That shut the guy up! &nbsp;I best remember Keith as the owner with his wife of the Valley Center Playhouse; a community theater that brought a lot of joy to a lot of people. &nbsp;Keith would always start off the the play with his booming voice: &quot;WELCOME to the Valley Center Playhouse! Enjoy the show!&quot; &nbsp;being a student of WWII I often thought about the hell he lived through and often contemplated the contrast of his current life and the joy he had by providing entertainment to the community. &nbsp;What a great man and thank you for mentioning his name.

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• CU

  @CutGlassMan-CTI · 2 years ago

  My dad talked about Garipan on one of the few times he spoke about his Marine time.

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• DO

  @douglasturner6153 · 2 years ago

  Nimitz was a clever deep thinker. Supporting Mac may&apos;ve been an effort to clearly put the monkey back on King and JCS after the terrible casualties at Betio. &nbsp;Not to mention constant flak from Mac. &nbsp;He knew what King&apos;s reaction would be. &nbsp;So he ended up being ordered to do what he likely supported all along. &nbsp;While also being friendly to Mac. 😊👍

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• BI

  @billbaker4519 · 2 years ago

  I hardly have to say how much I enjoy the episodes. Capt. Toti, We almost had medical treatment at the same time. From Nov. 7 through 18, I was in for urine retention, uti,, and acidophilous, and a slight case of kidneys not up to snuff. <br><br>I April,1972 our destroyer went up West Lock to unload our magazines after Westpac. I held a 5-inch shell during the proceedings that said Sept, 1939! Talk about a survivor. Looking across the water we saw the bow of an LST sticking out of the water on the far shore. Some of our history lovers gave me a concise history of the event. So I have kept my mind on the lookout for any new info on it. Fast forward to fairly recently, and I read about some expedition looking over a shallow just outside the pearl entrance. They found the dumping ground from the clean-up of the West Lock that had been done in wartime secrecy. They found what looked like a partial tank(water?). Subsequent thought seems like it was half of one of the Midget subs. In the channel they found Wards sub with the shot hole exactly where they said it should be. I hope you enjoy these small points of trivia.

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• JO

  @johnstanley5681 · 2 years ago

  You should get Richard B. Frank back on for a interview on the Japanese Army troop losses to USN submarines. &nbsp;Mr. Frank did an article on the troop losses, published in the last three years, on the numbers of Japanese troops lost at sea. &nbsp;The numbers of Japanese troops lost is staggering to imagine.

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• US

  @USSBB62 · 2 years ago

  Captain you had me crying with laughter and I rolled out of my chair. That&apos;s absolutely my favorite line from any Movie. &quot; Federallies ? &nbsp;We are not Federallies ! &nbsp;I Don&apos;t Have to Show You No Stinken Badges&quot; &nbsp;Quote by Alfonso Badouya in &quot;The Treasure of the Sierra Madre&apos; &quot; &nbsp; &nbsp;Single Up ! &nbsp;Cap, &nbsp;and get that Shoulder Ready to Get Underway.

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• JE

  @jeffreymartin8448 · 2 years ago

  Wishing Capt. Toti a spready recovery with minimum pain. What a drag it is getting old (sometimes).

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• GR

  @gravelydiggs2139 · 2 years ago (edited)

  Wow was up sick with the flu, just rewatched &quot;night the giants rode&quot; and this episode just dropped! Ty Seth and Bill, assorted guests for your uploads. From a signalman 2nd class plankowner of USS Tarawa LHA -1.

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• MI

  @mikethomas3231 · 2 years ago

  Tuesday has become my favorite day of the week. &nbsp; These episodes have become great companions on long walks. &nbsp;Great job, Seth and Bill. &nbsp;We appreciate all the work you do.

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• SH

  @shawnmoore7666 · 2 years ago

  “I’m not sure that Nimitz would have approved of the word fungus to describe the 5th fleet…” ha ha <br><br>Im sorry that you are having pain Bill but, you’re sharing some of that with me. Pain from laughing.<br><br>Happy Thanksgiving

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