Lions Led By Donkeys Podcast

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON:
patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys

Once upon a time, during WWII, an artillery-spotting pilot looked at his tiny Piper Cub and wondered, "What if I strapped a bunch of rocket launchers to it?"

SOURCES:

Busha, James. Carpenter, Carol. Bazooka Charlie: The Unbelievable Story of Major Charles Carpenter and Rosie the Rocketer

What's New in Aviation: Piper Cub Tank Buster, Popular Science, Vol. 146 No. 2

Gallagher, Wes, Major Charles Carpenter, Once History Teacher, Now Legend in Patton's Army, The Rock Island Argus, 26 September 1944

"Bazooka Charles Goes After Nazis". Lawrence Journal-World. Associated Press. 1944-10-03

https://vintageaviationnews.com/warbird-articles/bazooka-charlie-the-audacious-pilot-who-took-on-german-tanks.html

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON!
patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys

Palace coups, scheming brothers, the British, and a guy faking illness to get out of exile all converge in an imperial war of conquest.

SOURCES:

Tarapot, Phanjoubam (2003), Bleeding Manipur

Majumdar, R. C. (1960), "Rebellion in Manipur, 1891"

Majumdar, R. C. (2002), British Paramountcy and Indian Renaissance, Part I

Yumkhaibam Shyam Singh. 1891 Anglo-Manipuri War And Rarely Known Manipuri Heroes. Journal of Positive School Psychology. History Department Imphal College.

Get the whole episode and the entire bonus back catalogue by becoming a patreon supporter:
https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys/posts/bonus-episode-of-173011217?pr=true

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys

During the US Civil War, a group of men with some of the strangest names we've ever heard on the show accidentally fight a battle over a stagnant pond while their commanders were somewhere else.

SOURCES:

Breiner, Thomas L. "The Battle of Perryville: Bragg's Kentucky Invasion"

Eicher, David J. The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War

Hafendorfer, Kenneth A. Perryville: Battle for Kentucky.

Harrison, Lowell Hayes. The Civil War in Kentucky.

Sanders, Stuart W. "Carnage in Kentucky's Hills"

Shepherd, Joshua. "The Battle of Perryville: Death on a Dry River."

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys

A decades-long saga involving a failed military weapons project, carnies, stuntmen, methheads, a possible international drug smuggler, a murder, and, of course, a jet pack.

SOURCES:

Brown, Paul (2009). The Rocketbelt Caper: A True Tale of Invention, Obsession and Murder

Mullins, Justin (October 2005) "The Ups and Downs of Jet Packs. New Scientist. No. 2519

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/the-rocketbelt-caper-56202480/

https://rocketbelts.americanrocketman.com/history.html

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-apr-26-me-23415-story.html

https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/03/where-eagles-dare-the-jetpack-mystery.html

https://www.deseret.com/1999/7/28/19457763/rocket-belt-still-missing-but-feud-lives-on/

Get the whole episode on Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys/posts/llbd-live-in-171666271

We did in fact go to Ireland and we used this special moment to talk about a guy who got so into posting on Discord that he got charged under the Espionage Act. Thank you so much to our wonderful audience! This was an absolute blast.

BUY JOE'S BOOK HERE! https://a.co/d/05B4y1rj

BUY NATE'S BAND'S ALBUM HERE! https://secondhomes.bandcamp.com/

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON:
patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys

Joe and Nate discuss the 1944 airborne insertion in Normandy, the absolute chaos on the ground, and a very strangely cobbled-together American unit that somehow wound up holding off a German division in a small town called Graignes.

SOURCES REFERENCED:

Morgan, Martin K.A. Down to Earth: The 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Normandy,
Ibid. Battle of Graignes: An HQ Company Heroic Last Stand in Normandy. WWII Quarterly. Vol 5, no 3

O'Leary, Margaret R.; O'Leary, Dennis S. (24 February 2011). Tragedy at Graignes: The Bud Sophian Story

Rabe SG. The Longest Day in Graignes. In: The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy: A Story of Resistance, Courage, and Solidarity in a French Village.

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/battle-of-graignes.html
https://www.normandyamericanheroes.com/blog/graignes-bloody-sunday

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON:
patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys

BUY JOE'S BOOK

https://www.amazon.com/Highlands-Burn-Foundling-Brigade-Saga-ebook/dp/B0GSG5CNXX/

In 1945, after the nuclear weapons were already dropped, the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan. A front of the war the Japanese believed would hold on for years, crumbled in only a few weeks all in the middle of a cloud of confusion, various orders to surrender from the Emperor, and more than one ignored ceasefire.

SOURCES:

Glantz (February 1983), "August Storm: The Soviet 1945 Strategic Offensive in Manchuria". Leavenworth Papers No. 7, Combat Studies Institute, Fort Leavenworth Kansas.

Nathan N. Prefer. The Soviet Invasion of Manchuria led to Japan’s Greatest Defeat. WWII Quarterly. Vol 9, No. 3.

Tillman, Barrett. When the Shooting Stopped: August 1945. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Boris Nikolaevich Slavinskiĭ, The Japanese-Soviet Neutrality Pact: A Diplomatic History 1941–1945, Translated by Geoffrey Jukes

Stephenson, Charles. Stalin’s War on Japan: The Red Army’s Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation, 1945

This is a preview. To listen to the episode become a patreon supporter:
https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys/posts/bonus-episode-of-170378941?pr=true

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON:
https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys

COME SEE US LIVE SEPTEMBER 26TH IN CORK, IRELAND
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-tickets-1993823733459

Nate, Joe, and Tom discuss the time where, under the auspices of "internationalizing" the Vietnam War, the US paid huge sums for South Korea to deploy troops to combat. On one hand, Park Chung-Hee secured the bag. On the other...there were some war crimes. A lot of them.

SOURCES:
Tae Yang Kwak (Spring–Summer 2003). "The Nixon Doctrine and the Yusin Reforms: American Foreign Policy, the Vietnam War, and the Rise of Authoritarianism in Korea, 1968—1973". The Journal of American-East Asian Relations

Blackburn, Robert M. (1994). Mercenaries and Lyndon Johnson's "more flags": the hiring of Korean, Filipino, and Thai soldiers in the Vietnam War. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland Publishing

Shulimson, Jack (1997). U.S. Marines in Vietnam: The Defining Year, 1968

Jang HG. People’s Tribunal on War Crimes by South Korean Troops during the Vietnam War. Asia-Pacific Journal

Armstrong, Charles (2001). Critical Asian Studies: America's Korea, Korea's Vietnam.

https://www.newmandala.org/politics-of-denial-south-korean-war-crimes-in-vietnam/

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/south-korea-vietnam-war-sexual-violence-women-b1806764.html

https://www.npr.org/2023/04/12/1167951366/south-korea-vietnam-war-massacre-court-case

We continue our exploration of the first republic!

GET THE COMPLETE EPISODE ON PATREON HERE! https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys/posts/history-of-life-169692876

COME SEE US LIVE IN CORK, IRELAND SEPTEMBER 26TH

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-tickets-1993823733459

CANT MAKE IT? WE'RE LIVESTREAMING IT!

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/livestream-lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-2026-tickets-1993900928351

BUY JOE'S BOOK

https://www.amazon.com/Highlands-Burn-Foundling-Brigade-Saga-ebook/dp/B0GSG5CNXX/

DON'T WANT TO BUY FROM AMAZON? NO PROBLEM:

https://www.llbdpodcast.com/products/the-highlands-burn-epub

PART 6/6

COME SEE US LIVE IN CORK, IRELAND SEPTEMBER 26TH

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-tickets-1993823733459

GET YOUR LIVESTREAM TICKETS HERE:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/livestream-lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-2026-tickets-1993900928351

BUY JOE'S BOOK

https://www.amazon.com/Highlands-Burn-Fo%E2%80%A6ok/dp/B0GSG5CNXX/

The conclusion to our series on The Imjin War!

This is a preview. Listen to the entire episode on patreon
https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys/posts/bonus-episode-q-169065345?pr=true

Enjoying the series? Get the conclusion right now!
https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys/posts/early-episode-6-168790323?pr=true

COME SEE US LIVE SEPTEMBER 26TH IN CORK, IRELAND
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-tickets-1993823733459

CAN'T MAKE IT? GET YOUR LIVESTREAM TICKETS HERE
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/livestream-lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-2026-tickets-1993900928351

BUY JOE'S BOOK
https://www.amazon.com/Highlands-Burn-Fo%E2%80%A6ok/dp/B0GSG5CNXX/

Part 5/6

Get the whole episode on Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys/posts/lions-led-by-31-168423686

COME SEE US LIVE SEPTEMBER 26TH IN CORK, IRELAND

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-tickets-1993823733459

CAN'T MAKE IT? GET LIVESTREAM TICKETS!

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/livestream-lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-2026-tickets-1993900928351

BUY JOE'S BOOK

https://www.amazon.com/Highlands-Burn-Fo%E2%80%A6ok/dp/B0GSG5CNXX/

Tattoo pain, jacked gorillas, shaving squires, shorts on stage, and Barry The Chopper's urge to butcher his own body.

PART 4/6

ENJOYING THE SERIES? GET THE NEXT EPISODE RIGHT NOW:
https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys/posts/early-episode-5-168127865

COME SEE US LIVE SEPTEMBER 26TH IN CORK, IRELAND
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-tickets-1993823733459

CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE SHOW? NO PROBLEM! WE'RE LIVESTREAMING IT!
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/livestream-lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-2026-tickets-1993900928351

BUY JOE'S BOOK DIRECTLY FROM US
https://www.llbdpodcast.com/products/the-highlands-burn-epub

THIS IS A PREVIEW. GET THE ENTIRE EPISODE ON PATREON:
https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys/posts/history-of-life-167750770?pr=true

Enjoying the series? Get the next episode right now by becoming a patreon subscriber!
https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys/posts/early-episode-4-167492137?pr=true

COME SEE US LIVE SEPTEMBER 26TH IN CORK, IRELAND
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-tickets-1993823733459

CAN'T MAKE IT TO CORK? NO PROBLEM! WE'RE LIVESTREAMING IT!
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/livestream-lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-2026-tickets-1993900928351

BUY JOE'S BOOK
https://www.amazon.com/Highlands-Burn-Fo%E2%80%A6ok/dp/B0GSG5CNXX/

GET THE WHOLE EPISODE HERE
https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys/posts/bonus-french-of-167128694?pr=true

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON AND GET PART 3 RIGHT NOW:
https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys/posts/early-episode-3-166863952

COME SEE US LIVE SEPTEMBER 26TH IN CORK, IRELAND
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-tickets-1993823733459
WE'RE ALSO LIVESTREAMING IT!
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/livestream-lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-2026-tickets-1993900928351

Like gunpowder weapons and magic? BUY JOE'S BOOK
https://www.amazon.com/Highlands-Burn-Fo%E2%80%A6ok/dp/B0GSG5CNXX/

Part 2/6