Odin & Aesop

Bill Redman & Tony Faust
  • 4.8 (25)
  • HISTORY
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

Interested in military history?  Please join Join Bill Redman and Tony Faust two retired Marines as they review military history books and provide a unique look at how the book’s contents relate to current trends in military operations.  Each episode provides a detailed book discussion along with some recommendations for related reading on the topic.”

  1. DEC 11

    A Shau

    The A Shau Valley is in the mountainous northwest corner of what used to be South Vietnam.  It is right across the border from Laos.  Because of its location, the A Shau formed a natural hub for the North Vietnamese Army to move their units and supplies into South Vietnam and threaten the more heavily populated coastal plains.  The United States tried multiple times and multiple ways to disrupt what the North Vietnamese were doing.  Some of the Vietnam War's heaviest combat ensued.  Jay Phillips tells the story in "A Shau: Crucible of the Vietnam War"

    1h 33m

  2. NOV 11

    Crete 1941

    The island of Crete sits in the Eastern Mediterranean.  In 1941 the Germans decided to seize Crete, “As a base for air warfare against Great Britain in the Eastern Mediterranean”.  The elite paratroopers of Germany’s 7th Air Division were assigned to lead the attack.  They would be reinforced by more troops arriving by sea and air.  It was Germany’s biggest airborne operation of the war by far.  The German attack started on May 20th, 1941.  Approximately German 8,060 troops jumped into Crete or flew in by glider.   Crete’s British, Australian, New Zealand, and Greek defenders knew the Germans were coming.  Antony Beevor tells the story of what happened in “Crete 1941: The Battle and the Resistance”.

    1h 21m

  3. OCT 11

    Targeted Beirut

    The 24th Marine Amphibious Unit (MAU) landed in Beirut Lebanon on May 29th, 1983, as part of a peacekeeping force during Lebanon’s Civil War.  Once ashore, the MAU’s battalion landing team, BLT 1/8, took up positions around Beirut International Airport.  Things escalated and the Marines began regularly taking fire.  They suffered their first deaths on August 29th when Staff Sergeant Alexander Ortega and Second Lieutenant George Losey were killed by mortar fire.  Then on October 23rd, the Marine barracks was attacked by a suicide truck bomber.  241 U.S. personnel were killed.  This attack remains the single deadliest day in Marine Corps’ history since Iwo Jima.  Jack Carr and James Scott tell the story in “Targeted: Beirut”.

    1h 16m

  4. SEP 11

    Target Tokyo

    Japan devastated the United States’ fleet with a surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7th, 1941.  The Japanese followed up on their Pearl Harbor attack by seizing Guam, Wake Island, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippines.  The Japanese seemed almost unstoppable while the United States asked itself, “What are we going to do, or what can we do, now?”  With direction from President Roosevelt to strike Japan, the United States came up with a plan.   On April 18, 1942, sixteen U.S. Army bombers took off from the USS Hornet on a one-way mission to bomb Japan.  James Scott explains how this raid was planned and executed in “Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid that Avenged Pearl Harbor.”  Equally important, Scott explains the outsized impact of the raid on United States’ morale and Japan’s sense of security.

    1h 31m

  5. AUG 11

    The Rhodesian War

    Rhodesia, now called the Republic of Zimbabwe, used to be a self-governing British colony.   In November 1965, the Cabinet of Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence from Britain in an effort to preserve white minority rule.   The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Rhodesian Civil War, followed.  It lasted until December 1979.  This protracted guerilla war pitted Rhodesia’s globally isolated government against the African nationalist Zimbabwe African Nationalist Union (ZANU) and Zimbabwe African People’s Union.  Eventually ZANU prevailed and its leader, Robert Mugabe, was elected Prime Minister in February 1980.   Paul Moorcraft and Peter MacLaughlin tell the story in “The Rhodesian War Fifty Years On”.

    1h 38m

  6. JUL 11

    Brown Water Black Berets

    South Vietnam has a long coastline and lots of waterways, particularly in the Mekong River Delta at the southern tip of the country.  In 1968 U.S. Naval Forces Vietnam had roughly 38,000 sailors serving in country.  Their main tasks were to prevent supplies from reaching the Viet Cong, stopping Viet Cong movements, helping move U.S. Army units along the water, and guarding ports and harbors.  It was dangerous work.  1,631 sailors were killed in action, 935 died from other causes, and 4,178 were wounded.  Lieutenant Commander Thomas Cutler served in Vietnam and tells the story.

    1h 28m

  7. JUN 11

    The Battle Of The Tanks

    The Germans launched “Operation Citadel” on July 5th, 1943.  They wanted to encircle and destroy Soviet forces in a salient centered on the city of Kursk.  The Soviets knew they were coming and had spent months preparing.  What followed was the greatest land battle in history.  About two million men with 6,000 tanks, 35,000 guns, and 5,000 aircraft fought into late August.  Despite horrific losses, the Soviets stood their ground.  Lloyd Clark tells the story in “The Battle of the Tanks: Kursk 1943”.

    1h 41m

  8. MAY 11

    On The Border With Crook

    John G. Bourke won the Medal of Honor during the American Civil War.  He stayed in the army and graduated from West Point in 1869.  Between 1869 and 1883, Bourke served on the frontier with much of that time spent as an aide to General George Crook.  Bourke saw action in the Apache Wars and Great Sioux War.  He clashed with Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Geronimo.  Bourke was a keen observer and chronicled his varied experiences.  He published them in 1892 under the title of "On the Border With Crook."  This book is a raw, insightful, and fascinating firsthand account of life in America's Old West.

    1h 36m
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4.8
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About

Interested in military history?  Please join Join Bill Redman and Tony Faust two retired Marines as they review military history books and provide a unique look at how the book’s contents relate to current trends in military operations.  Each episode provides a detailed book discussion along with some recommendations for related reading on the topic.”

Information

  • Creator
    Bill Redman & Tony Faust
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    61
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Odin & Aesop
  • Show Website
    Odin & Aesop