Chapter 13: The Long War
From History of the Marine Corps by Robert Estrada
November 26, 2025 · 1h 18m · Season 250 · Episode 13
About this episode
This episode discusses the various missions of the Marines following the Cold War, leading up to and including the events of 9/11.
The Cold War ended, but crises kept coming. This episode opens in the Balkans, where Yugoslavia's breakup pulls Marines into a different mission. Offshore in the Adriatic, they fly strikes, launch rescues, and put infantry ashore as refugee camps, no-fly zones, and patrols blur the line between war and relief. From there, the story follows deployments to Haiti, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Albania, and East Timor, where Marines secure embassies, evacuate civilians, and support coalitions trying to hold together collapsing states. Then 9/11 hits, and the long war begins. Task Force 58 pushes hundreds of miles inland to seize Rhino and Kandahar, proving sea-based Marines can operate inside a landlocked country. The chapter ends in Helmand, in places like Garmsir, Now Zad, and the Ganjgal Valley, where patrol bases, IEDs, and hard lessons define a war with no clean finish. Support the Series Listen ad-free and a week early on historyofthemarinecorps.supercast.com Donate directly at historyofthemarinecorps.com Try a free 30-day Audible trial at audibletrial.com/marinehistory Social Media Instagram - @historyofthemarines Facebook - @marinehistory Twitter - @marinehistory
People in this episode
Host: Robert Estrada
Topics covered
- Cold War
- Marines missions
- humanitarian efforts
- 9/11
- military operations
- international conflicts
- evacuations
Keywords
- Marines
- Cold War
- Yugoslavia
- Haiti
- 9/11
- military operations
- evacuations
- humanitarian aid
- Task Force 58
- Helmand
Sponsors
Audible
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: historyofthemarinecorps.supercast.com, historyofthemarinecorps.com
Places: Balkans, Yugoslavia, Adriatic, Haiti, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Albania, East Timor, Helmand, Garmsir
More episodes of History of the Marine Corps
- WWII E165 - Demilitarizing a Defeated Empire · January 12, 2026 · 31 min
- WWII E164 - Into The Empire: Marines Enter Japan · December 29, 2025 · 38 min
- WWII E163 - Waiting for X-Day: Marines in the Shadow of Downfall · December 8, 2025 · 33 min
- Chapter 15: The Long Thread of Fidelity · November 28, 2025 · 1h 14m
- Chapter 14: Beyond the Euphrates · November 27, 2025 · 1h 27m
- Chapter 12: The Burden of Good Intentions · November 25, 2025 · 1h 28m
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