WW2 in the Pacific Was INSANE!! Shane GIllis & Matt McCusker MSSP

Mario Tanelli was a Notre Dame running back, a Chicago Cardinals starter, and one of the 70,000 men who surrendered at Bataan in April 1942 — the largest US capitulation since Harper's Ferry. What followed was 65 miles of hell, a Japanese officer who'd seen him play in the Coliseum, and one of the strangest survival stories of the Pacific War. We dig into the full Bataan Death March — Pearl Harbor, MacArthur's collapsing defense, the cavalry charge that ate its own horses, General Homma fainting under pressure, Masanobu Tsuji's escape to Thailand and his eventual Cold War career, the buddy-system executions at Cabanatuan, and the moment a USC-educated Japanese officer handed Mario his Notre Dame class ring back. Equal parts brutal, absurd, and weirdly moving — the way these stories usually go when you actually look at them. Sources & further listening: 📚 Bataan Death March: A Soldier's Story by Jim Bolich 🎙️ Jocko Podcast — full series on Bolich's account 🎙️ Hardcore History (Dan Carlin) — Supernova in the East (Pacific theater) #WWII #BataanDeathMarch #PacificWar #History #NotreDame Chapters (YouTube format)00:00 Pearl Harbor & Mario's Wake-Up Call 02:00 Japan Conquers Asia 04:30 Banzai Charges & Psychological Warfare 07:00 The Italians Flip / Churchill's Sleep of the Saved 10:30 Plague Bombs & The Surrender Culture 13:00 MacArthur Takes the Stage 15:00 General Homma & The Filipino "Uber Driver" Army 18:30 The 26th Cavalry Charge & Eating the Horses 20:00 The Baby Monkey Scene 22:00 Surrender at Bataan & The Death March Begins 26:00 Sun Treatment & The Pontingan River Massacre 29:00 Masanobu Tsuji's Escape to Thailand 31:00 Mario's Notre Dame Ring 35:00 "I Guess He Probably Didn't Make It" 37:00 Dysentery & The Tree of Life 39:30 Cabanatuan & The Buddy System 41:00 Australia, Canada & The Closer #mssp #mssp #comedy #history #shanegillis #mattmccusker #podcast WW2 in the Pacific Was Crazy As F*ck!! Shane GIllis & Louis CK