Kamikazes off Okinawa with Jon Parshall-Episode 425

[@JohnnySmithWhite-wd4ey]

My dad told me that as an Army guy being transported by the Navy in the Pacific during World War 2. The 5 inch/ 38's going off as anti aircraft guns didn't scare him too much. But as they began shooting the 40 mm guns you started to worry. And as the 20mm sprang to life. Then you really began to be terrified.

[@waynesmith8431]

This entire podcast series needs to be in the National Archives for posterity! These gentlemen have done yeoman's work in preserving our national history!

[@curtisweaver3682]

Hear hear.

[@robertcrowe1269]

Yes, indeed

[@dianeduffcroop8158]

My dad sailed aboard the USS Montpelier from early 1944 to the end of the war. He was 17 years old when he first boarded the Montpelier in early 1944. In November of 1944, the Montpelier was attacked by kamikazes at Leyte Gulf and was hit by one plane and then, in return, shot down another four planes that were incoming on them. From what my dad said, they dealt with kamikazes until the end of the war, with the worst being off Okinawa. So not only did they do defensive Shore battery work, offensive work against Japan's navy, but they had to be hyper aware and alert of the Kamikaze threat. This is what caused my father his PTSD that affected him for the rest of his life. Rest in peace, dad. You did your job, and you did it well!🇺🇲⚓️🙏💯💖

[@michaelrotman8523]

You must read Pacific War diary by James Fahey who is on the Montpelier great narrative read it as a kid for the first time

[@robertwatson9359]

Thank you for doing this story, my Dad suffered for years from the fear of Kamikazes and at the same time felt guilty for the few hours of the attacks scaring him when many soldiers who had fought 40-60 days at the front 24 hours a day, so he could not talk about it.

[@patricknix5975]

Great news, Jon! Great to be announced on the Podcast with your good friends, Seth and Bill!

[@normanthomas5438]

Appreciate that you don't use a different platform. Wouldn't be able to watch as can't afford to do so. Been with y'all since 2nd podcast. Hope this educational look at S Pacific keeps going. So much left to see and learn. Saved all podcasts. Go back to refresh knowledge. Keep on trucking. Thanks more than you know gentlemen.😊

[@markpaul-ym5wg]

The first thing on my feed at 4.30 am.Thank Bill and Seth.

[@Archibald_von_Munch]

Bill, Seth, and Jon, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and I hope you all have very Merry Christmas’! These lectures/discussions are the best! You’ve given me a much better insight to what my father dealt with during the war and the extent of the overall campaign in the Pacific.

[@docspacedad]

Anyone that can’t recite Bill’s full intro from memory just hasn’t watched enough episodes of this podcast yet.

[@PalleRasmussen]

Yes, Jonathan Ferguson's is harder.

[@jayparker4562]

I can’t wait to recite Seth’s intro for Capt Toti, if I ever meet him!!!

[@johnwilson9364]

The production quality in these podcasts is first rate. These guys do it so smoothly and so well. Compulsive viewing on You Tube.

[@BillSimpson-d7b]

My father, Joe Simpson, was an EM3 on May 11th. He and some other electrician mates were sent below to reverse the fans that were pulling smoke into the engine rooms. He was over come by smoke and tagged for dead by asphyxiation. He revived and found himself among dead sailors.

[@briancooper2112]

Wow.

[@fishaddict2]

I'm very much looking forward to getting Jon's book! Congrats to Mr. Parshall.

[@johnwalsh9839]

Congrats to Mr Parshall on getting to publish 1942! Looking forward to reading it, put my email on the mailing list soon as I heard

[@donaldhambright969]

You guys rock....thank you for all the time effort and soul that you have placed in this series...incredible...

[@collinwood6573]

Thanks again for telling the story of the smaller ships of the war. My great grandfather was a gunners mate on the Fletcher class destroyer USS Howorth (one of the 13 ships mentioned at 43:00) which among other missions was a radar picket ship off Okinawa. His ship was hit by a single kamikaze and luckily didn’t sustain major damage but 7 men were killed. He didn’t talk much about it because he was in turret 2 (which on Fletchers had the best field of fire) and the kamikaze hit the bridge right behind them, so he felt it was his job to shoot that plane down and that he failed to save his shipmates.

[@Chief-Solarize]

425! Thats crazy man I always hope Bill says "im delightful" again like he did that time when Seth asks how everyoneis doing. The weirdest stuff sticks in my mind. Thanks guys.

[@jacqueschouette7474]

1:30:57 One of the ships hit by a kamikaze on May 4, 1945 was also the USS Birmingham. My sainted father was served on-board the Birmingham during the entire war and unlike other veterans, he had no problem talking about the war. He was a boatswains mate and his battle station was a quad 40mm mount on the starboard side. He didn't get into all the specific details but he did give us an overall idea of what he experienced in World War II. It's been 20 years since he passed on and it's unfortunate that we didn't have KZbin around then so that I could ask him more about his experiences.

[@encpre]

1:09:49 To be fair to the British if American carriers had to operate in the Mediterranean they would have been torn apart, by land based aircraft which was their biggest concern

[@grahamtravers4522]

Jon, I just caught the video of your presentation at the 35th Annual Admiral Nimitz Symposium. It's rare to find an author who is prepared to take a global view, and try to understand and relay the worldwide interplay between theatres of war. I'm really looking forward very much to the publication of your book. Bon Chance !

[@bwcdevices3028]

Published just before I board a 2 hour flight... awsome😊😊 Thanks guys...

[@markpaul-ym5wg]

On the DVD series called WORLD AT WAR, their was a portion that talked about the divine wind.A navy gunner was being interviewed about an officer who said how beautiful of a day it had been when after saying that he jumped overboard, never to be seen again.He jumped during a short break in the action.That is how stressful it was fighting off these planes.Thanks for the video.

[@richardmardis2492]

I remember that now- use to watch Victory at Sea every chance I got 👍

[@jgfina]

I remember the interview. The gunner wanted to stress that every man has a breaking point.

[@markpaul-ym5wg]

Yes, that is exactly right.Thank you.

[@slimeydon]

Great episode as always guys. My father's ship USS Estes was in the middle of Kikusui 1, it shot down several of aircraft, one conventional i guess because they observed a chute, one that was diving on the USS Witchita and one that only missed them by a few hundred yards. My father said it came right over them and he hit the deck and screamed for my grandmother.

[@KSparks80]

My Grandpa was on the Witchita at that time as an RDM3 (radar). He served on her from Jan.1944 until Dec. 1945. I never heard him talk about his service at all while he was alive. My Mom passed a few weeks ago, and in going through her things here we have come across some mementos of his service and time on the Witchita. I also found an Elgin pocket watch made in 1925 that had belonged to Grandpas brother. His brother had it with him when he was killed in a plane crash in Oct. 1942. He was a flight instructor in the USAAF flying a Vultee BT-13A. He and a student were killed when they went down somewhere near Minter Field in Shafter, California. The watch probably hadn't seen the light of day for 45 years or so until about a week ago. I wound it, and it took right off. Seems to keep pretty decent time, too. Really neat to see and handle these things. A note with the watch said it had been given to him by his father (my Great Grandpa). Judging by the dates, we think it was given to him possibly when he graduated High School.

[@michaelrotman8523]

Thanks!

[@scottcarmichael1328]

Congrats on the book deal Jon! Looking forward to its release!

[@Vito_Tuxedo]

Congratulations on landing the publisher Jon! Looking forward to the release of your book.

[@stephenmelton2532]

A good friend of mine, Dale Rawson, was on the USS Robley Evans when she was hit. He was a 20mm gunner stationed behind the aft 5" gun mount. He said they were doing good until they switched the guns to local control. When the first kamikaze hit he was reloading his gun. He got his gun loaded and spotted another kamikaze following their wake 10 feet high. He said he was really mad that nobody was shooting at him. He tried to fire his gun but it jammed. Cleared and tried again with another jam. Then he realized the first hit had blown quite a few sailors overboard. He had tears in his eyes and said thank God for the jammed gun. "I would have killed those guys if my gun had fired." He always sang the praises of the marine corsair pilots that stuck around, out of ammo beating the Japanese off of them. He is truly missed.

[@xflyingtiger]

Starting my morning with a cup of Jo and the UHPW podcast. Thank you gentlemen.

[@waynesmith8431]

Me too!

[@at1212b]

Can't wait for the book. Love the podcast. The focus on the Pacific is often an overlooked part of the war.

[@douglaskillock3537]

Another excellent episode. Thank you gentlemen. As a Brit I'm not going to blindly wade into the armoured flight deck debate on the British side. However, some fundamental points are missing in the discussion in this episode. The design and concept of American carriers was vastly different to the British ships for many reasons not least of which the theatres in which they were expected to operate. One of the main reasons the British adopted the armoured flight deck was that it was always envisaged that our the fleet would be operating primarily within the range of land based enemy aircraft. Achieving even local air supremacy with carrier based aircraft was extremely challenging. The armoured deck was a defence against losing a ship to shore based aircraft. The American carriers could obviously have had a big impact in the European theatre. However, it is interesting to speculate how many might have been lost in operations had they been deployed in areas such as the Mediterranean. The American fleet could project an awesome amount of air power but it would not have suppressed the Luftwaffe. Given the eventual size of the American groups they could have defended themselves well and covered a battle fleet. The Brits didn't have the industrial resources to produce sufficient carriers to deploy them (and lose them) in the way America did. There weren't enough large shipyards to do it and virtually all the steel would have had to be shipped in

[@JA-gj7mw]

Tuesdays are the best day of the week. Long story but all three of my grandfathers served In the pacific theater. I even now possess a pocket watch with a 7th AirForce Sunsetters Iwo Jima engraving on it. It’s priceless to me. Grandpa Amos Wallace Beck was not a pilot but served on Iwo in a support capacity. .

[@markjohnson-ku5xc]

My Great-Grandfather was on USS William C. Cole (DE-641) off of Okinawa. Cole participated in the air defense in early April, but was directly attacked later on May 24th by two kamikazes off of Le Shima. The first one missed Cole by inches, and bent the spoon of a torpedo tube. The second only missed due to the quick actions of Captain and crew. He did not tell many stories about his service to my family, but he did tell that story, and brought home one of the kamikaze's pins.

[@curtisweaver3682]

About 1:02 the guys mention the Japanese Oka. If you are near Dayton, OH, the Natl Mus. Of the USAF has a practice version of it. It is next to B29 Bockscar. Worth the trip. That is a 2 day museum visit .

[@daverobinson6110]

My wife came in and woke me up in the middle of the night. I’m like what? She said you were laughing hysterically. I was asleep. I said oh that was probably captain Bill cracking me up again. She looked at me like maybe I need some mental help or something? Most of this stuff is just not funny. The insanity meter has pegged many times for me on many of these episodes. We’d go crazy if we could not temper this with some laughter. Captain Bill thanks for keeping us sane!

[@OMMgreenshirt]

Now watching for the second time. To make note of Seth mentioning the pilots killed from the ready room out into the corridor. I was about 15 years old when listening to my father sharing a story with his best friend war buddy. Dad said the worst duty he ever had was helping to remove pilots bodies from a corridor. Dad said the medical staff was overwhelmed so the Captain asked for volunteers of which my father did.

[@tombarton348]

Have been following your Podcast since almost the beginning, well done and thank you! I thought you might find this of interest: I am looking at a "zippo" style lighter on my desk that was made by a USN Machinist Mate off Okinawa in 1945. It is fabricated from aluminum from a downed Kamikaze. It was sent by my Great Uncle, John C. Daniel, then a Captain commanding of a destroyer division on picket duty off Okinawa to his Brother-in-Law Thomas C. Barton. It is inscribed; "JCD to TCB Thanks for "VT" on other side; Kamikaze Okinawa May 1945". My Grand Father, Thomas C. Barton was Managing Director of the Johns Hopkins, Applied Physics Lab from 1943-1946, responsible for the development of the Proximity Fuse. - Tom Barton III

[@ramal5708]

Would be nice if you include the British Pacific Fleet into the Okinawa series by inviting Dr. Alex Clarke and Drachinifel.

[@ph89787]

Drach has done a video of the BPF's first operation and the logistics behind it. Speaking of which, about a few weeks ago, I was digging through my Granddad's service records and found out his deployment on the HMAS Lismore (a Bathurst-Class Corvette) was when it was with the BPF.

[@crobert79]

Just Drach would be good IMO

[@gbcb8853]

@@James-hd4ms worthless responding to this

[@OMMgreenshirt]

Outstanding news about Jon's book. And now time to hear about USS Bunker Hill. My father was on board as a signalman (skivvy waver) at that time.

[@therampanthamster]

thanks guys, looking forward to this.

[@dummre83]

Oh shit another Tuesday. Another episode and I’ll be listening to this on repeat all day at my work.

[@rrrancher1287]

Great news on your book Jon! Looking forward to diving into it when it arrives!

[@stephenwilliams8361]

Congratulations John

[@richardbennett1856]

Congratulations, John. If it's half as good as Shattered Sword, it will be a masterwork.. .

[@Sarabelle58]

Son of a veteran of LCS(L) 75 "The Fightin' Sixbits". I was ecstatic that the LCS(L) Association were able to bring the 102 "Yankee Dollar" home. I visited her in 2017.

[@neilgin1]

Congrats Jon!!!!

[@richreed9927]

THE Oxford University Press? Excellent, Jon, congratulations!

[@johnstewart7022]

I repeat: Bravo Zulu the broadcast. You guys are the best. I can't hear about this combat and emerge happy. However, I am enlightened. Thank you.

[@richardbennett1856]

Seth gave us a tease to Damage Control, possibly with Tony Tully. There are so many episodes you had to skip over. God Bless America.

[@robertcrowe1269]

This episode was eye opening. Your research and presentation are in a class of thier own. Congratulations to Jon Parshall, look forward to using his book as a door stop after spending years devouring his wisdom.

[@carrabellefl]

Thanks!

[@genelowry5666]

Thank you, very informative. Good job folks.

[@wrightsublette1701]

Awesome news John ! I can't wait to order it.

[@ganndeber1621]

As always an informative and well presented video, nice one.

[@dave3156]

Wow. How to dig into this. Well, first of all, congratulations on achieving 40K subscribers. You guys certainly deserve that and much more. Very sad episode to listen to with the losses sustained by USN and Marines on the fleet, as well as knowing the kind of losses going on in the ground combat. With all our superiority of firepower, aircraft, ships, Air Forces, etc., it is a shame some strategy was not able to be reached to minimize these losses. And people wonder why Hiroshima and Nagasaki took place--not too hard to figure out. Thanks for another excellent program Seth, Bill, and Jon (out of uniform again Jon--incorrect camo pattern again). Thanks to all for the hard work you put into these programs--it shows!

[@therectorkid9708]

Another great episode, thank you.

[@SamAlley-l9j]

Thank you Bill Seth and Jon.

[@briancooper2112]

Great episode. Thank you!

[@RY-TIOUSRY]

Jon Parshall is a man of all seasons. I love the guy! Minnesota Jon. confidant. mellow. always smiling. Profession: Renown author and accomplished historian of Pacific theatre WWII, social media influencer, luau organizer, Polynesian party consultant, tiki torch safety advisor.

[@sundiver137]

Earned a Bs.c in geology as well. Harry Hess (Rear Admiral USNR), one of the geologists involved in the development of plate tectonics, thought geologists made the best intelligence officers. They know how to get the most from limited data.

[@RY-TIOUSRY]

@sundiver137. like Da Vinci approached his canvas:

[@davidbrian2570]

Good morning from SC! I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving!

[@clippership8381]

Outstanding Episode. Was surprised at the number of Tokkō (Toku be tsu Kō geki tai) raids and the huge number of sunk and damaged ships. It was hair raising watching you guys do the same math the Japanese Admirals & Generals undoubtedly did.

[@verysilentmouse]

Well done Jon

[@johnmarlin4661]

Go see the USS LAUFEY IN Charleton SC . She is next to the carrier CVA-10, go inside the aft 5 inch 38 mount and Thank God for the crew that was lost there .

[@smanderville1]

Great episode!!!

[@markmclaughlin2690]

I truly enjoy listening to y’all. Each time I learn something new and it’s truly appreciated. My Father Kenneth McLaughlin served on USS Gambier Bay and survived the sinking.

[@bssn9469]

Outstanding content, thank you!

[@jammininthepast]

Seth, Captain Toti and Jon, thanks much, appreciated.

[@chuckhillier4153]

My grandfather certainly helped build the USS Mannert L. Abele at Bath Iron Works here in Maine.

[@tomhutchins7495]

Arleigh Burke does indeed sound like the real deal. Just like Captain Toti.

[@mkt6060]

Congrats on the book contract Jon!!

[@billechols7136]

Great show gentlemen.

[@alganhar1]

I suspect that the reasons behind the distinct design philosophies between the British Armoured Carriers, and US Fleet Carriers were essentially down to the Displacement restrictions on Carriers in the inter war years. I have two reasons for this belief. First the UK did build a limited number of Fleet carriers with large air groups and unarmoured flight decks, HMS Ark Royal being one of them. SO they were not just building the Armoured carriers, though they did concentrate on the latter. The second reason is the similarities between the CV-01 design (Malta Class) and the immediate post war US carrier designs. They were very similar in concept, with similar displacements, and melded both armoured flight decks with large hangers. As a result I suspect that both navies would have loved large carriers combining both an armoured flight deck and large hanger pre war, but being limited by strict displacement limits had to choose one or the other. They simply could not have both on the displacement limits and maintain the kind of speed carriers required. EDIT: While I agree with Jon's assessment of the utility of British Armoured Carriers in the Pacific given the nature of the war, I would posit that US carriers in the Mediterranean would have suffered far higher loss rates than the armoured carriers did. There is not a single WWII Japanese or US Carrier that could have taken the bomb hits HMS Illustrious did and remained afloat, let alone manage to reach port under her own power. As well as the 3 1000 pounders, and three 500 pounders, she took a 2000 pound armour piercing bomb, and that hit alone would have sunk any US or IJN Fleet Carrier of the time. There is even evidence to suggest that one of those 1000 pounder *may* have been a second 2000 pounder.... The Axis aircraft attacking those ships may have been doing so in smaller numbers, but were also doing so from far lower ranges, and carrying much heavier ordnance than was typical for IJN strike aircraft, with the exception of torpedoes.

[@SpiritOfMontgomery]

Plus you don’t see any USN CV saying “fuck it, we ball” and joining the battle line like Formidable did at Matapan.

[@anthonycorona9435]

Congratulations John!

[@A_Donaldson]

HMSs Implacable and Indefatigable carried 80 aircraft. Bigger than Jon says. It's the pre-war British carriers that topped out at around 55. Fundamentally, those aircraft carriers were intended for ops in the European continental shelf and Mediterranean. They expected to be under attack from land based air power all the time. So they built them to be survivable in those environments. Wouldn't've worked in the Pacific in 42, but that's not what they were built for. Different strokes.

[@gbcb8853]

@@James-hd4msIt is possible that, on very particular points of knowledge, other people may know slightly more than even the most esteemed expert. Note that we have yet to hear about the RN contribution to the Pacific war.

[@markjohnson8963]

Not enough praise has been given to USN personnel in the Pacific. Please do not forget these heroes. My thanks to the discovery of the many ships which have been discovered. Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it. That day is growing nearer, unfortunately.

[@patrickshanley4466]

I have been reading stories and watching tv about the divine wind for over SIX DECADES. Best show yet guys. 👍

[@donaldkepple4927]

Way to go John can't wait to read it

[@CutGlassMan-CTI]

Thank you 🙏

[@babychuma1]

Oxford University Press. Does this mean I have to drink a "cuppa" with my pinky extended when I read it?

[@tomhutchins7495]

While wearing a top hat and monocle, yes.

[@babychuma1]

@tomhutchins7495 Indubitably, my good man. Oh no, it's already happening!

[@davejohndrow1323]

Can't thank you guys enough!

[@vernmeyerotto255]

On US Navy shipboard radar and fighter direction effectiveness: In the Philippines, search radar effectiveness was emasculated by ground clutter, making airborne target detection much less probable before the attack run. Yet as the numbers show, special attack tactics were effective there. Contrast this with Okinawa... shipboard radar had a clear view of the incoming strikes, and even with the outlying radar picket network, the sheer numbers overwhelmed the USNs best efforts to provide an impenetrable anti-aircraft shield. Local opening because of fighters out of place because of the pace of the action, reaching fuel or ammunition exhaustion allowed strikers through, and the ability of the 20mm and even the 40mm weapons were being shown to be ineffective in bringing down a Kamikaze already established in a terminal dive. The weather also became an ally to the Kamikaze, allowing a form of stealth approach shielding the aircraft until it was ready to execute the terminal dive. Analog fire control computers need a specific period of steady tracking before the computed solution becomes accurate, decreasing the time available to put ordinance on the rapidly approaching target. As John mentioned, the ability of antiaircraft fire control directors to resolve the incoming closure rates were beginning to be reached during this phase of the war. The fact is, the USNs ability to defend the Fleet was being saturated by the Kamikaze tactics, without the masking effect of terrain being added in.

[@helenel4126]

My late father said what frightened him and his fellow sailors most were the kamikaze attacks. Before listening to this episode, I envisioned single plane assaults- serial attacks. Now I know much better. I don't recall my father having ptsd, but honestly, I don't know how every sailor didn't. May they all rest in peace.

[@chuckhillier4153]

Great point, I think, about the inconclusive resolution of WW I affecting the unconditional surrender policy in WW II.

[@drexelringbloom7731]

I had a good friend (RIP Warren) who served on the Cabot at Okinawa. He said he was operating a gun on the fantail when the kamikaze hit the ship. He said he had his station moved to the opposite end of thr carrier the next day.

[@paularchibald7734]

6:30AM and my treat for the week was published! And it's about the real fight at Okinawa: the Navy v. the Kamikaze. I remember the class on this in boot camp, and it scared the bejesus out of me then. And that was before I realized that gators are made of mild steel, which might stop a spent 5.56 round, but that an RPG would wind up sitting in my lap at dressing station 1, centerline, 1 deck. Gators rule!

[@waynesmith8431]

Old gentleman I grew up with was on a carrier that was hit by a kamikaze, don't recall which one, during this period. He said it was pure hell. At the time, I was 16, I didn't appreciate what he and his shipmates endured.

[@charlesmarino2027]

My grandfather was on the Nassau and the Makassar Strait, but didn't see combat on the Nassau, and we didn't find out about his service on Nassau until after he died.

[@CutGlassMan-CTI]

Thank you

[@MrElliotc02]

Are you 64, Jon? If so, you look FABULOUS.

[@mister_fjk1972]

My father served as a signalman onboard the USS Purdy (DD-734) during the Okinawa campaign. On April 12th 1945, Purdy was assigned to Radar Picket Station #1 along with USS Cassin Young (DD-793) where the action was the most intense. On this day, both Cassin Young and Purdy fought off multiple incoming raids by kamikazes. When Raid #8 came that day, it was on attack run #7 -- the final attack --- that an Aichi D3A Val dive bomber got through the anti-aircraft fire smoking and splashed 20 feet off Purdy's starboard bow. It impacted the ship where the bomb broke loose from the plane and penetrated around Frame #63 and exploded killing 15, seriously wounding 25, and causing extensive damage. Purdy made it back to Kerama Retto, underwent temporary repairs there and at Guam, and arrived at San Francisco 28 May. My father said he saw the Japanese pilot before the plane splashed and that he was lucky not to be in that part of the ship where his berthing was. He never was gleeful when recounting this experience to me.

[@bradleykoenig4048]

If that was the 4th busiest air battle on a single day, what were the top 3? That is an incredible amount of planes involved on both sides!

[@Antmann71]

Gentlemen, again we meet.. always a pleasure..

[@kyleolson8977]

Field Day: Growing up in the in the 1980's, one of the last days of elementary school each year (frequently the second to last) was a fun day where we were outside playing on the play fields in organized events the whole time. This day was called a "Field Day". I don't know if that's the origin of "Field Day", but I think that makes more sense than cleaning ships, since ship cleaning day doesn't sound like a great day.

[@MarkWest-om6cp]

My dad was on Okinawa. On April 7th 1945 he saw a Kamikazes hit the USS Maryland. He saw some shit there. All this after he’d been on Peleliu in the fall of 1944.

[@johnwagner2550]

Good morning to all.

[@tomcarr1358]

Bill's jokes are usually good and often as dry asides but Oxford is like Harvard without an agenda is his best so far. Endearing trio coping with some grim events leavened by comments on the behaviour of senior officers.

[@JohnBianchi]

Thank you, gentlemen, for yet another excellent episode. I am wracking my brain to come up with an example of a poetic tool, but all the puns seem out of reach this morning.

[@CutGlassMan-CTI]

The British carrier is designed to operate within range landbased air of Europe not the far ranging distances of the pacific.

[@richardmardis2492]

Here I am👋🏻

[@terrylawrence7498]

Great show. Rock on.

[@adamstrange7884]

Could you guys do an episode on seaplane operations?

[@ald1144]

Seconded! I've got a Black Cat PBY that's on deck for my next plastic model build.

[@denniswiemer72]

Started watching earlier, so looking forward to seeing the rest.