I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here Just a quick update on where I'm at with the move that has forced the podcast into its current hiatus. The introduction and transition music heard on the podcast is composed and recorded by the eldest Ghosts of Arlington, Jr. While the rest of his catalogue is quite different from what he's performed for me, you can find his music on bandcamp.com under the names Caladrius and Bloodfeather. As always, a very special thanks to the Comm...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here This week we finally see the end of the Mayaguez Incident play out but not before a chaotic evacuation causes Marines to be abandoned on the battlefield. An incident that still causes embarrassment today. The introduction and transition music heard on the podcast is composed and recorded by the eldest Ghosts of Arlington, Jr. While the rest of his catalogue is quite different from what he's performed for me, you can find his music on bandc...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here The crew of the SS Mayaguez is released by the Khmer Rouge, but it was too late to stop the US rescue attempt. Now President Ford wants to full out the troops, but since information flowed a lot slower in 1975 than it does in 2025, the second wave of US Marines was already on site. Will they follow presidential orders or will they disregard their commander-in-chief to extricate their comrades under siege in enemy territory? The i...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here Surgery on Christmas Eve is never fun - unexpected emergency surgery on Christmas Eve is even worse. Listen for more. Happy New Year, everyone! The introduction and transition music heard on the podcast is composed and recorded by the eldest Ghosts of Arlington, Jr. While the rest of his catalogue is quite different from what he's performed for me, you can find his music on bandcamp.com under the names Caladrius and Bloodfeather. As alway...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here As things get worse on the beaches, we'll look at what was going on with the crew, the ship itself, and the folks back in Washington, DC trying to run the show from there. If you said Ford was probably trying to run the ordeal in the midst of a state dinner for the Dutch prime minister as a joke. Well, I've got some bad news for you... The introduction and transition music heard on the podcast is composed and recorded by the eldest Ghosts ...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here Bad intelligence plus bad timing equals a bad plan. Last week we saw the bad intelligence when no photos of the objective were available so the Marine making the plan flew over the site at 4500 feet with his personal 35mm camera. This week we see the bad timing I've been eluding to. The bad intelligence and bad timing come together for a disastrous first fifteen minutes of the battle for the Mayaguez and her crew. The introduction and tran...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here US reconnaissance planes lost track of the Mayaguez crew when the trawler they were on arrived at the port of Kompong Som on mainland Cambodia. Because of that, US planners continued to plan for a rescue under the assumption that the crew was split between the Mayaguez itself and Koh Tang island and their estimate of how many Khmer soldier were on Koh Tang was off by 90%. Both of which led to a rescue plan that would not be well s...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here As the first day of the Mayaguez Incident was coming to a close, US officials were gathering Marines from The Philippines and Okinawa for a potential rescue attempt. The Seventh Air Force commander, on the ground in Thailand, tried to include his airmen but that... well, that did not go well. As the second day of the incident dawned in Southeast Asia, the Air Force did all in its power, with the use of fighters and attack aircraft, to prev...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here The last US combat units left South Vietnam on March 29, 1973. The last US embassy personnel were dramatically evacuated on April 30, 1975, the same day that the People's Army of Vietnam entered the city, signaling the defeat of South Vietnam and the reunification of the country by the Northern communists. But those considered the final American casualties of the Vietnam War died the following month in neighboring Cambodia fighting soldier...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is the federal agency responsible for recovering the remains of previously missing in action service members and identifying them and each year DPAA strikes hundreds of names from the rolls of the missing. This weeks Ghosts of Arlington are: Army Private First Class Alfred Bordeau - Memorial Section L, Cenotaph 88Army Lieutenant Colonel Addison Baker - Section 78, Grave 403Navy Seaman Firs...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here Glenn Miller was only in charge of the Army Air Forces band for a little over a year and a half, but in that time he changed the way people thought about military bands, challenged the way traditional marches were performed, and above all else, went out of his way to bring a little bit of home to US military personnel that were so far away from their loved ones and fighting in the European Theater of Operation. His tragic and unexpected dea...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here After several months talking about the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, this week we return full time to Arlington. For the next two podcasts I will be talking about someone I have wanted to cover for some time. That desire was rekindled when I saw the exhibit on him at the National Museum of the United States Air Force this summer in Dayton, OH - Big Band superstar Glenn Miller. In less than five short years, Miller pro...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here After representing Hawaii as an officer in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Daniel Inouye went on to serve Hawaii in the US Senate for nearly 50 years, becoming the second-longest serving Senator in that chambers history. During that time, his Distinguished Service Cross from World War II was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. This week's Ghost of the Pacific is Army Captain and US Senator Daniel Inouye - Section D, Grave 391-A. Next week, ...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here Danny Inouye wanted to be a doctor when he grew up - specifically, he wanted to be a surgeon. When he was a senior in high school he was a Red Cross volunteer. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor he saw the planes flying over Honolulu and rushed to an aid station where he treated civilians injured by falling anti-aircraft shells. As soon as he could, Danny enlisted in the army and was sent to Italy with the 442nd Regimental Combat Tea...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here A native of Kauai who put his live on the line to serve his country as a member of the 100th Infantry Battalion, and who then dedicated the remainder of his life serving Hawaii, first as a state legislator, then a US representative, and finally a US Senator, Spark Matsunaga earned his epitaph as a Son of Hawaii. Today's Ghosts of the Pacific is US Senator and Army Lieutenant Colonel Spark Masayuki Matsunaga - Section V, Grave 334-B. The G...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here This week we get the first Nisei General Officer in both the Army National Guard and the Army Reserves and a humble Medal of Honor recipient who didn't tell his family about the medal (or his battlefield promotion and two subsequent promotions). This week's Ghosts of Pacific are: 1. Army Brigadier General Francis Shigeo Takemoto - Columbarium Court 3, Row 300, Niche 304 2. Army Captain Allan Masaharu Ohata - Section III, Grave 474 ...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here Today's episode covers the lives of eight men named Nakada. The first seven were all brothers who served in the Army in World War II - the most of any family in the United States. The final Nakada, Captain Pershing Nakada, was the senior Nisei officer and only Nisei commander in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. He commanded and along with his seven Nisei lieutenants led the 442nd's 232rd Combat Engineer Company. All eight of these men sur...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here After losing a leg, two fingers, and the site in one eye, Ken Otagaki tries to return to his life before the war, hopes that his girlfriend will still be there for him, and tries to figure out how to support himself despite his severe injuries. This week's Ghost of Pacific is Army Corporal Dr. Kenneth Kengo Otagaki, Columbarium Court 7, Row C, Neche 512. The Ghosts of the Pacific Theme is Ukulele and Love Birds by emjaydabayou, with a few...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here Ken Otagaki grew up poor on a sugar cane plantation on Hawaii's Big Island, but after seeing how oppressed his father was by the overseers, he vowed that he would make his own way in the world and, despite cultural and familial expectations, he would not follow in his father's footsteps. In his early teens he moved by himself to Oahu, put himself through high school and the University of Hawaii, and more-or-less laid the foundations for th...

I'd love to hear your thoughts - send me a text here We recently lost another pioneer of the space race so the episode begins with a eulogy for astronaut Bill Anders, who took one of the most famous photographs in history, and ends with the life of Isaac Akinawa, arguably the most respected medic in the 100th Infantry Battalion. This week's Ghosts of the Pacific are: Ambassador & Air Force Major General William Anders - burial information TBDArmy Technician Fourth Grade Isaac Akinaka -...