Webcasts of VHP Panel Discussions at the 2007 National Book Festival

Saturday, September 29, 2007

View Webcast :The Library of Congress World War II Companion
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Margaret E. Wagner, Susan Reyburn, and Linda Barrett Osborne will discuss this definitive reference work on the 20th century’s most significant event. The Companion draws on the collections of the Library of Congress, as well as those of libraries, museums and archives around the world to paint a total picture of this conflict. Veteran History Project historian Tom Wiener will moderate a discussion on the creation of the book and why it supersedes all previous one-volume books on the subject. The authors will sign their book at the conclusion of the discussion.

View Webcast: The War
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Based on the new PBS documentary film directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, The War offers a ground-level view of World War II, intertwining stories of service from four American towns: Waterbury, Connecticut; Mobile, Alabama; Luverne, Minnesota; and Sacramento, California. Lynn Novick and two veterans featured in the film will participate in a panel discussion. The veterans, Ward Chamberlin, who drove an ambulance with the American Field Service, and Joseph Vaghi, who served with the U.S. Navy in the European and Pacific Theaters, will talk about their experiences in the war and about filming with Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Chamberlin and Vaghi will sign copies of The War at the conclusion of the program.

View Webcast: The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War
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Journalist and historian David Halberstam’s final book, completed just before he died in April, is a sweeping re-examination of a war too easily forgotten by many Americans. Among the veterans Halberstam interviewed were Lawrence Farnum, Richard Raybould, Paul McGee, Charles Hayward, and Ralph Hockley. They will recount their experiences and memories of working with him in a panel discussion led by Daun Van Ee of the Library’s Manuscript Division, himself a veteran of the Vietnam War. Copies of The Coldest Winter will be signed at the conclusion of the program.

View Webcast: Forever a Soldier: The Veterans History Project 2008 Calendar
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Five veterans featured in this wall calendar, packed with information and richly illustrated with items from the Veterans History Project and Library of Congress collections, will talk about their wartime experiences. Jose Mares, a veteran of the Korean War and a POW during that conflict; Brian and Jeanne Markle, who were married and then served together during the Vietnam War; Walter Morris, the leader of the first African American parachute battalion during World War II; and Tracy Sugarman, a Naval officer who landed on the beach at Normandy in June 1944, will be led in a discussion by Tom Wiener. Copies of the calendar will be signed after the presentation.

View Webcast: Veterans History Project in the Classroom
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Marty Potts with colleagues Diana Miner and Leslie Bower of the Loudon Valley High School in Purcellville, Virginia, will share their experiences using the VHP collections as a teaching tool. Two of their students will conduct a demonstration interview with Joe Ichiuji, a veteran of World War II who served with the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team.