Yesterday we announced the launch of The Doomsday Clock, an original 18th Airborne Corps podcast series telling the incredible story of the Corps' Cold War history.

Today we're going to tell you more about some of the guests who will appear on the program.

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Of course, we'll have John Lewis Gaddis, the dean of Cold War historians about the start and end of American confrontation with the Soviets (Episode 16: April 27).
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We'll also have the great H.W. Brands to talk about the Korean War and the stare down between Truman and MacArthur (Episode 7: February 23).
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Podcast king Dan Carlin joins us for a deep, dark journey into the philosophy of the Soviet Union (Episode 9: March 9).
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You know Sir Max Hastings as the great historian, but long before that he was a war reporter. That's him on the right in Vietnam in 1968.

He joins us to talk about American escalation in the Vietnam War (Episode 10: March 16).
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Adam Higginbotham is the author of a book about Chernobyl that served as the basis for the HBO series. He joins us to talk about the impact of that disaster on the viability of the Soviet Union (Episode 18: May 11).
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Joe Scarborough joins us to talk about the legacy of the Truman Doctrine (Episode 15: April 20).
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Serhii Plokhii grew up on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Now he's a professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard University and a prolific writer about the Cold War. He joins us for Episode 17 (May 4).
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AJ Bacevich joins us to talk about the Army's Pentomic restructuring under Chief of Staff Maxwell Taylor (Episode 5: February 9).
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These are the biggest historians in the country, fascinating discussions, and stories you've never heard.

The program is available beginning one week from today on iTunes!

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More from @18airbornecorps

6 Jan
[1 of 9]

So on Tuesday our podcast, The Doomsday Clock, launches on iTunes.

The podcast tells the wildest stories from the Cold War, here defined as 1949 - 1989. Image
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So, what kind of stories are we going to tell?

Well, here's a preview. Image
[3 of 9]

That time a Matthew Broderick movie changed national security policy [and we're not talking about Ferris Bueller's Day Off] Image
Read 9 tweets
4 Jan
[1 of 7]

Back to the Battle of the Bulge

The counterpunch begins

Jan 4th 1945: Patton launches an assault with 1st & 3rd Armies from the South across the waist of the bulge at Houffalize (North of Bastogne).
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The counterattack, which is led by 3rd Army [organized by this guy, Troy Middleton] with III and VIII Corps.
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Remember, Patton NEVER wanted to counterattack in this manner! He wanted to sever the base of the salient & trap the enemy from behind.

However, Montgomery's caution won out and Patton was forced into this more prudent counterstrike.
Read 7 tweets
2 Jan
[1 of 5]

January 2, 1945.

It is around this time in the fight that the proximity fuze (a highly guarded secret developed through British/US cooperation in the early stages of WWII) saw it first use against German ground troops in the Battle of the Bulge.
[2 of 5]

The fuze allowed our artillery greater effectiveness against troops in the open.

The proximity (or "VT") fuze exploded at a preset distance in the air, allowing gunners to fire shells to explode over German positions, showering them with deadly shell fragments.
[3 of 5]

Patton in a letter to the War Department during the Battle of the Bulge: "The new shell with the funny fuze is devastating. I'm glad you all thought of it first."
Read 5 tweets
1 Jan
[1 of 15]

New Year's Day, 1945: THE HANGOVER

The Battle of the Bulge continues....
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On the morning of January 1, 1945, Hitler launches Operation Bodenplatte (Baseplate), an aerial assault by more than 900 Luftwaffe [Looft-wah-fah] planes flying at treetop altitude against Allied planes parked on airfields.

[Luftwaffe = aerial branch of the Wehrmacht]
[3 of 15]

Keep in mind that by this time, the Luftwaffe was neutralized by Allied air superiority and had lost a sizable chunk of its trained pilots to Allied air strikes.

The Germans had no control over the skies.
Read 15 tweets
31 Dec 20
[1 of 4]

New Year's Eve in the Battle of the Bulge.

It snows all day. Patton thought the Germans might take advantage of the bad weather and attack when we can't take advantage of our air superiority.

Good news: the boys receive a desperately-needed resupply of boots!
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Around this time (~5PM, which was about last light) American observers see German artillery moving forward into new gun pits.
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As a result, some planned New Year's celebrations were cancelled and the boys are placed on high alert.

It was freezing. It was an absolutely miserable New Year.

The American and British boys wait for an attack that never manifests.
Read 4 tweets
31 Dec 20
1914. 1945. 1968.

Some years are so eventful, they are immediately recognized as pivotal to American history.

The year 2020 is certain to join the list.

Together, we'll revisit a chaotic, heartbreaking, inspirational journey in 21 tweets.

Let's do 2020 in 21.

[1 of 21]
[2 of 21]

The year was gutting for many Americans.

Yet it was a time when we persevered together, when the true character of the Nation revealed itself.
[3 of 21]

It started with a crisis. It would not be the last.

On January 1st, while most Americans were celebrating the dawn of a promising year, hundreds of Corps Soldiers were deploying to Iraq in response to inflamed passions in that country's capital.
Read 21 tweets

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