{"id":3613,"date":"2025-09-07T17:47:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T17:47:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsthescuddlebutt.com\/?page_id=3613"},"modified":"2025-09-18T11:46:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T11:46:18","slug":"ep-217","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/ep-217\/","title":{"rendered":"EP-217"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Fifty-Three Days on Starvation Island with John Bruning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/whatsthescuddlebutt.com\/podcast\/download.php?filename=2025-09-06_2025-09-06_2025-09-06_2025-09-05_2025-09-05_wtsp-ep217-john-bruning.mp3\">Listen \/ Download<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Fifty-Three-Days-Starvation-Island-Aviation\/dp\/0316508659\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3BX3RM2UIE3OV&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.10DZJX7QevlOkznyAgB-o-az7myuu98aE8xF98lJSYA.7hlDkTcUUV1G3jJaegMOdQHx7fAZDDkOiiBIvvjSHJs&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=53+days+on+starvation+island&amp;qid=1757267202&amp;sprefix=53+day%2Caps%2C137&amp;sr=8-1\">Book<\/a>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/john_r_bruning\/?hl=en\">John&#8217;s IG<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Fifty-Three Days on Starvation Island with John Bruning (W.T.S.P. EP217)\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/W2wh2Tjfy8U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This week, we are joined by best-selling author John Bruning to talk about his new book, Fifty-Three Days on Starvation Island: The World War II Battle That Saved Marine Corps Aviation. John discusses the importance of the Battle of Guadalcanal and the Marine pilots and airmen who helped win the epic battle that began in August 1942. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"923\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/whatsthescuddlebutt.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/539594885_1339744978151437_8847745754687748298_n-923x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3614\" style=\"width:374px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/539594885_1339744978151437_8847745754687748298_n-923x1024.jpg 923w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/539594885_1339744978151437_8847745754687748298_n-270x300.jpg 270w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/539594885_1339744978151437_8847745754687748298_n-768x852.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/539594885_1339744978151437_8847745754687748298_n-1384x1536.jpg 1384w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/539594885_1339744978151437_8847745754687748298_n-1140x1265.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/539594885_1339744978151437_8847745754687748298_n.jpg 1494w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 923px) 100vw, 923px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>John tells us all about John L. Smith, Marion Carl, and Dick Mangrum, which are the three U.S. Marines that his book focuses on. He also talks about his interviews with the Marine veterans who lived to tell about it, how he researched such an incredible tale, his inspiration for writing, and much more! <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"958\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/whatsthescuddlebutt.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3615\" style=\"width:616px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed-1.jpg 958w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed-1-768x770.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed-1-75x75.jpg 75w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 958px) 100vw, 958px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>For those who follow John on social media, John&#8217;s &#8220;writing cat&#8221; also makes a special guest appearance on the podcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"978\" data-id=\"3617\" src=\"https:\/\/whatsthescuddlebutt.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed-2-1024x978.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3617\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed-2-1024x978.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed-2-300x286.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed-2-768x733.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed-2-1140x1088.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed-2.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"568\" height=\"568\" data-id=\"3616\" src=\"https:\/\/whatsthescuddlebutt.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3616\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed.jpg 568w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed-75x75.jpg 75w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 568px) 100vw, 568px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fifty-Three Days on Starvation Island with John Bruning Listen \/ Download Book John&#8217;s IG This week, we are joined by best-selling author John Bruning to talk about his new book, Fifty-Three Days on Starvation Island: The World War II Battle That Saved Marine Corps Aviation. John discusses the importance of the Battle of Guadalcanal and the Marine pilots and airmen who helped win the epic battle that began in August 1942. John tells us all about John L. Smith, Marion Carl, and Dick Mangrum, which are the three U.S. Marines that his book focuses on. He also talks about his interviews with the Marine veterans who lived to tell about it, how he researched such an incredible tale, his inspiration for writing, and much more! For those who follow John on social media, John&#8217;s &#8220;writing cat&#8221; also makes a special guest appearance on the podcast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3613","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3613"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3629,"href":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3613\/revisions\/3629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}