The Greatest Generation Live Podcast

Glenn Flickinger, with guests Marilyn Walton and Nancy Putnam share the history of the liberation of the two POW camps where their fathers where imprisoned, Stalag Luft I and Stalag Luft III/VIIA in the closing weeks of World War II. Marilyn was the historical POW consultant to “Masters of the Air”, and the author of several books on the subject. Nancy has been a key leader of the 100th Bomb Group foundation for many years. Both kn...

We welcome our own Naval Academy-bound Trey Burman on the program to discuss the history of the WWII Liberty Ship. Trey has volunteered on the SS John W. Brown for years and will share the history and details he’s learned on board the ship.

During World War II, the United States faced an urgent need to transport troops, equipment, and supplies across oceans under threat from enemy submarines. The solution came in the form of the Li...

Glenn Flickinger and Scott Masters welcome liberators of Nazi concentration camps in the spring of 1945 to share their stories. 

Frank Cohn, a Holocaust survivor, fled Nazi Germany with his mother in 1938, just before Kristallnacht. He later served in the US Army during World War II, becoming a member of the 12th Army Group Intelligence Unit, returning to Europe to fight the Nazis. Cohn’s experiences in Nazi Germany and his subsequ...

Glenn Flickinger and Scott Masters welcome a large group of World War II veterans to share memories of V-E Day, Victory in Europe, on May 8, 1945. The veterans include George Rubin, Joe Peterburs, Brenda Reid, and Mary Owen.

Brenda Reid served from 1943 to 1945 in the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (officially known as the Wrens).  She trained in LORAN (long range navigation) in Connecticut. With her new skills, she was sent ...

Glenn Flickinger welcomes David W. Hogan, Jr., former Director of Histories at the U.S. Army Center of Military History, to talk about the end of World War II in Europe. 

Russ Freeburg also joins us too share this story and insights. Russ served in the 8th Armored Division, 9th Army and is a retired journalist and author of "Oil & War: How the Deadly Struggle for Fuel in WWII Meant Victory or Defeat." 

The book is a detailed hi...

Glenn Flickinger leads a conversation about the Battle of Okinawa, the last great battle of the Pacific War that began 80 years ago this week. Joining Glenn is Seth Paridon, Deputy Director of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum, former Historian  at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, and producer and host of the “Unauthorized History of the Pacific War Podcast.” The discussion will focus on the role of the US Army.

T...

​During the Vietnam War, American civilians played pivotal roles in supporting both military operations and humanitarian efforts, working through government agencies and nonprofit organizations. Thousands of these civilians were women, and we talk with several of them tonight!

Ann Kelsey was a UCLA graduate when she volunteered for the Army Special Services to serve in Vietnam as a civilian librarian. ​In Vietnam, Kelsey managed th...

Glenn Flickinger leads a conversation with experts and historians on the final push into Germany in World War II, including the crossing of the Rhine at Remagen 80 years ago in March.

By March 1945, World War II in Europe was reaching its final phase. The Allies had advanced deep into Germany, and the last major natural barrier between them and the heart of the Reich was the Rhine River. The unexpected capture of the Ludendorff Bri...

We talk about the “Flying Coffins” of World War II that silently transported troops, weapons, and equipment behind enemy lines . . . getting lots of troops killed and wounded in the process.

Glider warfare experts Monique Taylor, author of Suicide Jockeys: The Making of the World War II Combat Glider Pilot, and Bill Bonnamy, creator of the 319 Gliderman website, devoted to the WWII 319th Glider Field Artillery of the 82nd Airborne ...

We are proud to welcome two amateur historians who have changed our understanding of one of the most iconic images in Americans history. Eric Krelle and Brent Westemeyer, through expert and diligent research, uncovered the true identities of the men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima, an act forever enshrined in American memory as a result of Joe Rosenthal's famous photograph.

The flag-raising photograph taken by Rosenthal on February...

We welcome 99-year-old WWII veteran George Rubin, a veteran of the 8th Air Force, 486th Bomb Group, 835th Squadron.

George graduated high school in 1943 and was drafted soon after, initially training as a pilot before being reassigned as a B-17 armorer and waist gunner. At just 19 years old, he joined his crew at Sudbury in the fall of 1944 and flew 18 missions before being shot down over Munich on February 25, 1945. His aircraft, ...

Iwo Jima Marine Bob Brutinel joined us near his 100th birthday to share his story of service. "I don't believe in medals," was his response when we asked him about the Silver Star he received for valor on Iwo.

Private First Class Robert C. Brutinel, born in El Paso, Texas, and later residing in Clifton, Arizona, served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He was assigned to Company H, 3rd Battalion, 27th Marines, ...

Glenn Flickinger marks the 80th anniversary of the Yalta Conference with a conversation with experts and historians. Yalta was held from February 4 to 11, 1945, and it was a pivotal meeting during World War II between the Allied leaders: Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States, Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom, and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union. Taking place in the Livadia Palace near Yalta in Crimea, the conference a...

Nick Cressy and Josh Muri join us to share two amazing WWII B-26 Marauder stories from WWII.

On June 4, 1942, during the pivotal Battle of Midway, Josh’s grandfather Lt. James P. Muri piloted  “Susie-Q,” into history with an audacious attack on the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi. Muri and his crew were part of a daring mission to halt the Japanese fleet’s advance toward Midway Atoll. Their objective: deliver a torpedo strike again...

World War II historians Colin Heaton and Marilyn Walton join us to share remarkable stories of courage, mercy, and humanity on the part of those who fought on the other side, the Axis powers of Germany and Japan.

Stories include:

Captain Werner Hartenstein: On September 12, 1942, the German submarine U-156, commanded by Hartenstein, torpedoed the British RMS Laconia in the Atlantic. The Laconia, a military target, carried British t...

Navy veteran and photographer Richard Sherman joins us with former US Secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission, Maj. Gen. Bill Matz, to talk about his new book, Never Home: Remembering the Military Heroes Who Never Returned.

The book presents a deeply moving tribute to the American soldiers who rest in the 23 overseas military cemeteries from World War I and World War II. This work, the culmination of eight trips acros...

Our friend from St Lucia and creator of the WWII Log Book Project, Nick Devaux, joins us to talk about a truly forgotten front of World War II, the Caribbean Basin.

During World War II, the Caribbean played a significant but often overlooked role in the broader conflict. Its strategic position made it a critical area for military operations.

The Caribbean bordered vital sea lanes connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through t...

We discuss the experiences of German POWS held during World War II in the United States with Carole Popchock and others who have researched and written about the subject.

During World War II, the United States became home to over 400,000 German prisoners of war (POWs) held in camps across the country. The influx of these POWs began in 1943, as the Allies gained the upper hand in North Africa and Europe, capturing large numbers of G...

On its 80th anniversary, we discuss the Battle of the Bulge, fought between December 16, 1944, and January 25, 1945. It was the largest and bloodiest single battle fought by American forces during World War II. It also represented Nazi Germany’s last major offensive on the Western Front, a desperate bid to reverse the Allies’ advance toward Germany.

By late 1944, the tide of World War II had definitively turned against Germany. The...