Mired not only in the jungles of Southeast Asia but, worse, mired in outdated, rigid doctrine, fossilized tactics, and declining morale, a light can be made out in the middle of America’s darkest night. A swaggering fighter jock, married to a movie star, turns a demoralized, under-trained and under-led group of dispirited American flyers into a snarling Wolfpack that pulls off a supersonic ambush in one of the greatest military operations of all time.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the continued loosening of the leash of fear in the Soviet Union can be felt by what its citizens have to joke about. But in Prague, the hopeful spring of liberal reforms gets crushed by a Russian bear that remains in full possession of a nasty set of teeth and claws.
Hear Bill Whittle’s entire series, The Cold War: What We Saw
8 replies on “The Cold War: What We Saw | The Jaws Of Defeat – Episode 11”
Got to listen to this episode the Saturday before Memorial Day as I was tending to house and yard in preparation for the festivities. I didn’t realize I was so engrossed in it until I caught an image of myself in the bathroom mirror, toilet brush in hand, tears streaming down my face and an ear to ear grin. I was just so damn proud of Americans, military men who were serious heroes. But also sad because too many of us don’t remember them like we should. Thanks Bill for the awesome series. Have already recommended it to multiple people who all report back that they are loving it too!
That’s fascinating about Cronkite standing on a map of Vietnam in the studio. I didn’t know that. Fascinating because one enduring memory I have to the run up to the Gulf War in ‘91 was of Dan Rather talking about the battle hardened state of the art, Iraqi Military that will surely engulf American forces in a quagmire. He staid that while standing on a studio sized map of Iraq and the Persian Gulf.
Hmmm….
Here’s a Vietnam ROE FUBAR for you. My dad didn’t fly C-130s but he did fly P-3s in Vietnam. He flew ASW patrol for the carriers off the coast. And carried nuclear tipped torpedos in case the Soviet subs got frisky. Since they were there, mostly not doing much, the P-3s were often ordered to check out sampams sailing right off the N. Vietnam coast. This meant a low slow flyby of the vessel to see what they were up to. And often the sailors would pull out thier AK-47 and start shooting at the ungainly 4 engine, prop airliner. W/ the very real probability of getting shot down in Indian territory, P-3 crews requested to be allowed to carry sidearms. The request was denied. The Navy considered the aircrews too irresponsible and would likely just shoot their own airplane.
My dad, who flew C-130s, though not in Vietnam, always called them Herky Birds.
While the storytelling is excellent, the audio-only nature of it makes the often technical details overwhelming. There are too many instances of tech specs and comparisons of soviet and US weapons to the point where it detracts from the story flow. You are right Bill that the series needs visuals, not least to help when the necessary technicalities work against intelligibility (to use a word that contradicts its own meaning by its complexity.) Visuals would also humanize it when you talk about the crucial individuals in the story, such as Kelly Johnson, John Boyd, the soviet guys who prevented WW3 etc. It would be a tragic shame if this, the most detailed definitive history of the Cold War I know of, was not done full justice to with visuals like the masterpiece that was the Apollo series.
Really enjoying this series. I’ve learned some interesting and very usefull stuff. I’d always been sceptical of the usual narrative on Vietnam, now I have some ammo.
Bill really nails the narration. I’m used to the sponsor adds, anyone worth their salt online needs them as they’re de-monetised, nevertheless, they’re usually mildly irksome. Not so here, Bill’s style and humour manages to make even the adds worth listening to.
Bravo
Absolutely outstanding, Bill. I listened to the entire thing without a break of any kind. I especially loved the first two thirds of your narrative dealing with the air war in Vietnam. Even though I was a Marine F-4 Pilot, Robin Olds I’d one of my heroes. And, I got a kick out of your description of the F-4 J-79 engine black smoking … problem. I once spotted a fellow pilot at a distance of nearly 50 miles by tracing that smoke trail! A real vulnerability issue!
Another amazing episode. It was great hearing about Robin Olds and Chappie James; I was a member of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing (Wolf Pack) while it was stationed at Kunsan AB in South Korea.
And the section on Russian humor was worth the price of admission all by itself. Thank you!