Americal Division
Military unitWikipedia
10
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6
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PODCASTS
Search complete. 10 mentions across 6 episodes found for "Americal Division".
Oct 11, 2026
James EalingHOST
What are the tactical difficulties in assaulting well-prepared defensive positions in mountainous jungle terrain? We look at the Americal Division's 132nd Regiment's assault on the GIFU at Mount Austin.
speaker_1NARRATOR
This is the Principles of War podcast, professional military education for junior officers and senior NCOs.
James EalingHOST
Welcome back to the show.
James EalingHOST
This episode, number 154, looks at the Battle of the Gifu.
James EalingHOST
We see the committing of the 3rd and final regiment of the Americal Division as it's entered into the Guadalcanal Campaign.
James EalingHOST
We had the 164th Infantry Regiment, that's North Dakota National Guard, and they fought in the Battle of Henderson Field in October.
James EalingHOST
The 182nd Infantry Regiment, Massachusetts National Guard, they fought in actions west of the Matanikau in late November.
James EalingHOST
That's about five miles.
Thomas777GUEST
And it was presumed that, you know, anybody within the free fire zone, once it was declared to be, uh, such, you know, was, was, was, w- was at least sympathetic to the enemy, you know, the National Liberation Front.
Thomas777GUEST
So, you know, US Army, uh, infantry elements like the Americal Division, they were deployed to exterminate everybody within these free fire zones who had been so identified.
Thomas777GUEST
And, you know, Lyndon Johnson, owing to his hatred of Vietnamese people and his hatred of communism, you know, he plotted this genocide and, you know, so did, uh, so did Robert McNamara, you know, and so did, uh, so did the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Thomas777GUEST
You know, in the Pentagon, you know, when, when they talked about the body count, what they were really talking about was the genocide of the Vietnamese people.
ThomasGUEST
And it was presumed that, you know, anybody within the free fire zone, once it was declared to be, uh, such, you know, was, was, was, was at least sympathetic to the enemy, you know, the National Liberation Front.
ThomasGUEST
So, you know, US Army, uh, infantry elements like the Americal Division, they were deployed to exterminate everybody within these free fire zones who had been so identified.
ThomasGUEST
And, you know, Lyndon Johnson, owing to his hatred of Vietnamese people and his hatred of communism, you know, he plotted this genocide and, you know, so did, uh, so did Robert McNamara, you know, and so did, uh, so did the Joint Chiefs of Staff, you know, and the Pentagon, you know, when, when they talked about the body count, what they were really talking about was the genocide of the Vietnamese people.
ThomasGUEST
And you've got to, you know, you've got to look within, you know, the, the euphemism, you, you got to look at the demeaning of the euphemisms they employed within their own internal bureaucratic language.
James EalingHOST
That decision took time to enact, but we are now starting to see the results.
James EalingHOST
The Americal Division is on Guadalcanal.
James EalingHOST
The 25th Infantry Division, Tropic Lightning, that is on its way and will start landing in late December.
James EalingHOST
We've also got the 8th Marines coming in.
Thomas777GUEST
Look at this great body count at My Lai.
Thomas777GUEST
Go Americal Division.
Thomas777GUEST
This wasn't a secret.
Thomas777GUEST
That was a free fire zone.
Dennis HillGUEST
So then I finally get the orders to what unit I'm going to be assigned to.
Dennis HillGUEST
It's going to be the Americal Division up in the I Corps near July.
Dennis HillGUEST
And so they have these fire bases that they have.
Dennis HillGUEST
And so they drop you off at this fire base, and it's always a hill, because it's always elevated.