KZfaq just recommended it to me out of the blue. Thanks for your work, very informative.

Make MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!

MOAR VIDS PLZ! Seriously, you're doing a great job. I imagine that these take a good while to produce, but please keep at it!

You did a great job, on the video. It was recommended by KZfaq. Looks like it may be going viral, you deserve it.

Just please kindly slow down a bit with words in videos. I have no wish of making drastic adjustment to speed of playing the video.

Greg Kerr I’ve Heard roomers of officers who rose from the ranks facing friction from their fellow officers. Not sure how true this is, but if indeed true, all credit to your dad for working with colleagues who may have not wanted him there.

@@robin_5099 Yes, he did face some friction from fellow officers and commanders during his career. Some officers who were graduates of one military academy or other likely thought he had no business commanding anyone. Dad had a low bullshit threshold and little tolerance to what he referred to as "chicken shit". His career was probably saved in 1964 by a Colonel who was like minded. The Colonel was his regimental commander and gave Dad command of a battalion. Dad was a Captain at that time and had been one since 1952. Dad had had a commander who who had written him several bad evals that had caused him to be passed over for major. Army evals cannot be untruthful in regards actual physical aspects of job performance, but a commander can ruin a man's career through nuanced words indicating that although the officer performed his duties flawlessly, that he may have reached his maximum level of capability . If you can't rise in rank after x number of years the Army let's you got. The Colonel who gave Dad command of the battalion did so over the heads of several majors and one LTCol and managed to push a promotion through to Major once they hit Vietnam. During the nine months before Vietnam, my Dad was the lowest ranking officer to command a battalion in the entire U.S. Army. The finest accolade I ever heard concerning my Dad, came from the Sergeant Major of the battalion he commanded. The Sgt Major was also a vet of WW2 AND kOREA AND vIETNAM with an impressive amount of fruit salad on his chest. He got me aside in 1966 and told me I should always be proud of my Dad as he was the finest officer the Sgt Major had ever served with. In many ways...I think especially in today's world...the best officers don't necessarily rise to the top, but many of those that do, just play the political game better. Sad but true. As far as I know, the military no longer issues battlefield promotions and all officers must be college graduates at minimum. Imagine a 2nd lt grad of some academy like West Point shipping over to Afghanistan or somewhere like that, and being in command of an SFC or some other senior NCO who has six combat tours under his belt. I think in very rare cases the Army will send an enlisted man through OCS and then station him somewhere where he attends a four year college degree program before being placed back into regular duty. Heck, maybe they don't even do that anymore!

@@gregkerr725 wow that is awesome , my grandfather always talk about how the american effectively artillery demoralized his troop (PLA side)

Greg Kerr I mean, some jobs within the military definitely need higher education. Namely the medical and law fields. However when it comes to combat commands, i’m more inclined to believe the old adage of experience being a better teacher than classroom training. That’s not to say that academies don’t produce exceptional officers in their own right, as history can attest to, but the military’s insistence on following a prescribed path to officer status definitely loses them good leaders. However, acting as my own devils advocate here, I can definitely see their point of view in needing every officer to have a common denominator in their education. It allows them a degree of control and responsibility for ensuring there is a basic level of ability for every officer. Which makes your dad‘s story even more remarkable. If you’re interested on a story of a soldier rising to the very top of the military, look up field Marshall Robertson of the British Army. In an era of even more stratification in class, (1877-1920) his meteoric rise from Private to Field Marshal is incredible. Politics was undoubtedly involved, but nevertheless his rise to the very top when being of a certain class (gentleman) was required in order to be an officer is remarkable.

i guess political game in the army is kinda universal thing , in 1964 there are 3 commie side the nationalist ,hcm and le duan. chose the right one you will sent behide chose the wrong one you will be sent to the tet offensive , and we all know how those guys sent to tet offensive end up shorly after that hcm die

Had me rolling dude lol

LOL! I sure hope people get the joke…

Given that the Germans went 'all ze machineguns' in WW1 (I'm serious, by the end of the 1st World War, the Germans had 288 MGs per division or 56 men per MG) and being on the receiving end, it was natural that there would be a replication on the US side. This is especially true when the US encountered the world's first GMGs (MG-34s and MG-42s).

I think he said 14 BARs per that specific Company.

1944 USMC TO&E had nine BARs per platoon by default.

@@MatthewBaileyBeAfraid it's mentioned in the video that a particular platoon had 14 B.A.Rs, he then goes on to mention that another platoon had 0 B.A.Rs (having given them away).

>GMGs an mg-42 is not a GMG

Ironic, since that’s around the time that the US military began implementing its Squad Designated Marksman program due to troop experience in Iraq an Afghanistan…..

We had several 1918 BAR's in our inventory at Husky in VN. They were much used and appreciated as they cut bush down better than the M4

Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

I'm irritated that I attempt to approach military history from the company level (and looking all the way to squad and team tactics) because they fascinate me almost as much as weapons design, only to be stifled by the intellectual "establishment" around the subject(s): endless chattering about massive divisions and the rear-area-dwelling politicians (flag officers) who are most focused on by historians/scholars.

Same lol

Oh, the humanity! ;)

BOB is my annual Memorial Day binge watch.

Kinda off topic but also make sure to check out "the Pacific" it's made by the same people and I found myself enjoying it more then BOB

@@ericsilver9401 I enjoy some aspects more.. Definitly. Leckie is my favourite, no doubt.

With feedback that positive, how can I quit? Thank you very much.

Wow. Thank you very much for taking the time to comment. I really appreciate it. I don't get a ton of views, but I'm glad these videos are at least finding the right eyeballs.

Thank you very much. I really do appreciate it. I don't upload for praise, but if the work went entirely unnoticed it would be pretty demoralizing. Comments like yours keep this channel going.

Which company? That's much more important.

"The best possible way" is the only way to take that. I know my videos can be wall-of-text heavy at times, but I make them for people who want to see what the primary sources have to say. I know how frustrating it can be when sources ARE cited...but have been out of print for 75 years. I'm aware not every interested viewer has copies of obscure contemporaneous professional journals handy.

Thank you very much! I really appreciate it. You can bet whenever I finally get around to the infantry battalion's headquarters company, I will cover the A&P platoon. Quite a few videos to get through before then...

Thank you very much. Though, if your platoon ever looked exactly like this you've been in the army a VERY long time!

Thank you. It's very much appreciated.

Excellent! By the time I'm finished with a new video I'm so sick of it I never want to watch it again.

Thank you. I really appreciate it. I assure you this channel may be dormant but it is not dead. (I swore last time it would not be two years between videos, but here we are...) I promised a video on the organization of the weapons platoon next, and that is still the plan.

@@G.I.HistoryHandbook glad to hear it and looking forward

Thank you very much. I'll gladly accept all the viewers you can send my way! Much appreciated.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.

Thanks. Yes, platoon formations and tactics is next. The weapons platoon will either be covered in the video right before, or the video right after, platoon tactics.

Thank you so much. I appreciate that. What's funny is the comment just before yours said my videos were, "kind of on the anal side," and an aspect of this video was long winded. Then, right after, you say you appreciate the detail and concise presentation. If I've learned one thing making these videos its that it's impossible to please everyone...

I always appreciate being appreciated. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll do what I can as long as I can!

Per dad’s notes: 28th Infantry Division 112th Infantry Regiment 1st Battalion 2nd Battalion 3rd Battalion (Three Rifle Companies (I,K,L Companies) & One Heavy Weapons Company M-Company). I-Company (Four Platoons, three rifle platoons & one weapons platoon) Platoon Support Personnel: Mess (Master Sgt. & two Buck-Sgts.) Company Master Sgt. Company Bugler Supply Sgt. Mess Officer (Lieutenant) 1st Platoon (Rifle) (48 men total, Headquarters Platoon (5-men), 3 squads of 12 men each + 7-support) 2nd Platoon (Rifle) 3rd Platoon (Rifle) (Dad was the Platoon Guide but Platoon Leader LT. Pendleton got wounded & T/Sgt. Carl Smith either wounded or killed so dad was in line for a field promotion to T/Sgt. when he got shot on August 11th, 1944 near St. Lo, France. Consisted of the following: Platoon Leader Lt. Pendleton Platoon Sgt. T/Sgt. Carl Smith Platoon Guide S/Sgt. Lewis Brady Seneca Falls, NY Platoon Messengers/Runners: Anthony (Tiny) Imburgia, Company to Platoon Runner ROCHESTER, NY Gerald Wipfli, Platoon to Company Runner Nekoosa, WI 1st Squad (12 men, 1-S.Sgt (Squad Leader), 2-3 Buck-Sgts. (Assistant Squad Leaders), the rest were Privates) 2nd Squad 3rd Squad 4th Platoon (Weapons) S/Sgt. Louis Mizak K - Company (Rifle) L - Company (Rifle) M - Company (Heavy Weapons) Three Squad Leaders in the Platoon were: Sgt. Larry Glanz. Sgt. Ross, Sgt. Alex Horishini. Some of the Assistant Squad Leader were: Casey Wojack, Earl Smith. Lt. Col. Houghton was the Company Commander.

@@Manvillebrady Broadly speaking, why do popular culture (think about Wikipedia articles on the subject) and military historians act as though the operational level (massive regiments and divisions) and generals is/are all that matters? They ignore weapons and equipment designs, combat unit tactics, the supply situation, etc. in favor of terminology like "Rommel took Africa, and was the greatest German general..."? I find it silly.

@@reidparker1848 Wondering why you're asking me this question? I have no idea. I do know this video filled in the blanks to some question that have hung over my head since my dad is no longer around to answer those questions. This video and the graphics depicting the rifle platoon hierarchy have proved priceless to me. It's filled in a lot of blanks for me after failing to find answers elsewhere online, for a long time.

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/q7ecmpComsDaYHU.html Zoomed in video capture of the 28th Infantry Division, 112th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion I-Company Photo WWII (circa 1942 ???)

Fantastic comment! Thank you, sir!You may not get new video notifications often, but I try to make it worth the wait.

He needs his own episode of something.

Thank you for watching and letting me know.

Thank you. And...That figures... The most consistent complaint the channel gets is: "You talk way too fast! Slow down!" So, I tried to slow down a bit in my latest video. You win some, you lose some.

Glad to be of service!

Thank you. Glad you liked it.

I appreciate that. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much.

Thank you. The SCR-300 will be covered whenever I get around to making a rifle company organization video.

G.I. History Handbook can’t wait to watch it!

Thank you! I appreciate that.

Thanks a lot. It's appreciated.

It's not for everyone, so it's always great to hear from viewers who got what they came for.

Thank you! I'm glad you found this channel too! Tell all your friends!

Thank you. I appreciate the comment.

Thanks a lot. I've got a few videos to go before I get to the rifle company, but it's in the queue.

Thank you very much. More views would be nice, but it's heartening that the people who do watch it tend to appreciate the effort.

Thank you! This channel is very much alive. (I, too, wish there were more videos!) The bad news is I lost most of my latest video about a month ago. The good news is I'm hard at work remaking it, and making good progress. (The audio has all been re-recorded. It's just the tedious illustrations that need to be completed, but I'm knee deep in those now.)

@@G.I.HistoryHandbook good to hear

Thank you very much!

Thank you! Will do.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. It's always gratifying to hear from someone who appreciates the effort.

Thank you. I appreciate it.

Thanks a lot. I have plenty more planned; it's just the question of when I'll have the time to put them together. I also need to get organized. I had some things I wanted to add to this video, but it was only after it was published that I came across some long-forgotten notes I'd jotted down. I'll have to work that stuff into future videos, but I'm still mad about it!

G.I. History Handbook What is your scope as far as these videos? Just organisation and tactics of various units?

Just organization and tactics for now. (I want to get into the tactics of various "special operations" but I have to get through the basics first.) I can imagine covering uniforms and equipment one day. I also have a rant or two brewing on topics such as radio procedure, but I may work those into other videos. I don't plan on making documentaries of specific battles. Did you have something in mind?

G.I. History Handbook well I’m doing research on K Rats and I’m planning to make a set as authentically as possible to do a video on. What’s in them, development, deployment, and etc. I wasn’t sure if you had a plan for them or not.

There are no ration videos in my future.

"small" unit. You mean a combat unit. The company is the largest formation relevant to combat, in my personal opinion. The battalion serves as something of a "depot" echelon to directly allocate armor, air, etc assets from the "regiment"/"division" to the combat companies on downwards. Oh boy, General Pershing had the bright idea to make infantrymen wear divisional insignia on their sleeve, that must make it the most important. The statement "X echelon is the basic unit of a military" is fundamentally wrong. You can "start" anywhere you want.

I was there in 66 and the one in charge was the Platoon Commander with the other two as D.I.There were also company and series commanders but we never saw them.

Glad to hear. Much appreciated.

Thank you very much.