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Interview with Holy Cross students who visited Normandy, France, over Spring Break. Hear the students' thoughts on seeing the various sites of D-Day in person.

In 1942, Reinhard Heydrich was at the height of his power. In charge of the SD and Ensetgruppen, he spearheaded the planning for the final solution and held a firm grip over the SS. His life would come to a dramatic end when he was ambushed in Prague by Czech resistance fighters who were airdropped into Europe by the British in what would be the highest-level assassination of the war.

Unit 731 was an experimental unit in the Japanese occupation of China. Throughout the occupation, the group conducted human experiments on Chinese civilians and POWs. While not as widely known as events in Europe, Unit 731 is an example of the widespread atrocities committed by countries during WWII.

In this episode, the students will discuss Auschwitz from various perspectives. One of our guests will explain the power of his visit there last November, and how it changed his views on the event. This episode presents a glimpse of a horrific topic as seen through the eyes of High School students. There are reflections on first-hand accounts, literature, and much more.

In this episode, the group will discuss the fabled "Ghost Army" of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troop. Learn how a group of artists, authors, and other non-traditional combat personnel helped win the intelligence war for the Allies.

In this episode, the students will talk about the Battle of Anzio in the Italian campaign. When most people think of invasions from the sea, they think of D-Day in Normandy, France. However, months before that, when the allies were stuck going up the "blood boot" in Italy, an operation was designed to break them free of a stalemate. Believed to be a move that would force the Germans into a quick retreat, Anzio was anything but easy. Stuck on the beach for weeks, Allied soldiers would have to fight for every foot to dislodge the German defenders.

Season 6 kicks off with an episode on the Bataan Death March. In this episode, the boys will examine and discuss the struggles of soldiers captured by the Japanese in 1942 during the Philippine Islands Campaign.

On Saturday, November 30, 35 members of the Holy Cross family, including 20 students, and I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland after spending the past six days in Berlin, Warsaw, and Krakow. Following a large group discussion, a few of the boys wanted to stay around and make this recording. This special episode, recorded less than 12 hours after our visit in Krakow, highlights the impact this visit had on the boys.

Season 5 of Tigers by the Fire is here! In this episode, the boys will be talking about Pointe du Hoc. One of the members of the team, Josh Adams, visited Pointe du Hoc in June of 2024. He shares his thoughts on the experience.

This episode looks into Double Cross and the various counterintelligence programs centered around the D-Day landings in 1944.

In this episode, the boys explore the impact of War during baseball. The students will discus both national and local stories of baseball at war.

In this week's episode, the guys will discuss the Japanese invasion of China. They will dive into Pan-Asaianism and the horrors of the Sino-Japanese War. Most Americans have little understanding of the Chinese part of WWII, in this podcast we hope to explore the causes and deadly consequences of the largest conflict in Asian history.

How close were the Nazis to getting an atomic bomb?  It's hard to say, but in the early 1940's the British Government, along with Norwegian resistance, wanted to stop German experiments on heavy water in Norway. This week's episode will tell the story of Norwegian commandos sabotaging a Nazi Research Facility.

In the desert of North Africa, the only thing which stands between the Axis powers and dominance over the Mediterranean is the British Army.  This week's episode focuses on the first and second battles of El Alamein. Culminating in a British victory that would eventually push the Axis armies across North Africa in 1942, the Battle of El Alamein was crucial in halting the Nazi advances and drained supplies from the Axis powers as they struggled in the desert.

This week's episode of Tigers by the Fire centers around the 442nd, a combat regiment comprised of Japanese-Americans who fought in Italy and Western Europe. From being put into incarceration camps to fighting on the front lines of Europe, the 442nd became one of the most decorated units in the entire US Army.