Perspectives in Military History Lecture Series
The U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center sponsors a monthly public lecture series, "Perspectives in Military History," which provides a historical dimension to the exercise of generalship, strategic leadership, and the war fighting institutions of land power.
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Gods of Diyala: Transfer of Command in Iraq
MAJ Greg Tomlin Ph.D. |
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Fighting for MacArthur: The Navy and Marine Corps' Desperate Defense of the Philippines
John Gordon |
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Combat Ready, The Eighth U.S. Army on the Eve of the Korean War
LTC Thomas E. Hanson, Ph.D |
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Growing Up Patton: Reflections on Heroes, History and Family Wisdom
Benjamin Patton
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The Grand Design: Strategy and the U.S. Civil War
Dr. Donald J. Stoker
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We Always Understood Each Other So Well, McClellan, Lee, and the War in the East
Dr. Ethan Rafuse Ethan S. Rafuse earned his Ph.D. in history and political science at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. A former park ranger at Manassas National Battlefield and Harry S Truman National Historic Site, in 2001-03 he taught military history at the United States Military Academy at West Point and since 2004 has been a member of the faculty at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, where he is a professor of military history. He is the author, editor, or co-editor of several books, including McClellan's War: The Failure of Moderation in the Struggle for the Union, Robert E. Lee and the Fall of the Confederacy, 1863-1865, and the forthcoming Army War College Guide to the Richmond and Petersburg Campaign of 1864-65. Length: 73 Minutes
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Transforming the Army of the 90's: Strategic Leadership in Challenging Times
General of the Army Omar N. Bradley Memorial Lecture
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America's School for War: Fort Leavenworth, Officer Education, and Victory in World War II
Dr. Peter Schifferle Dr. Peter J. Schifferle is a graduate of the U.S. Army Armor Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the School of Advanced Military Studies. He holds Masters Degrees from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in German History, and the School of Advanced Military Studies in Theater Operations. He was awarded a Ph.D. in American History from the University of Kansas in 2002. He is the author of America's School for War: Fort Leavenworth, Officer Education, and Victory in World War II (Kansas, 2010), several journal articles in Military Review and Armor, as well as numerous book reviews. Length: 74 Minutes
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Woman's War in China: The World War II Letters of an American Red Cross Director in Yunnan Province
Judy Barrett Litoff, PhD
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No Sure Victory: Measuring U.S. Army Effectiveness and Progress in the Vietnam War
COL Gregory Daddis
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Torchbearers of Democracy: African Americans in the World War I Era
Dr. Chad Williams
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Over the Beach: U.S. Army Amphibious Operations in the Korean War
COL (Ret) Donald W. Boose
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Inside Hitler's High Command
Dr. Geoffrey Megargee
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Reconstructing Iraq: Regime Change, Jay Garner, and the OHRA
Dr. Gordon W. Rudd
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Fort Henry & Donelson Campaign
Mr. Ed Bearss
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Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam
Dr. Lewis Sorley
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How We Fight: Crusades, Quagmires, and the American Way of War
Dr. Dominic Tierney Americans hate war. Our leaders rush us into conflicts without knowing the facts or understanding the consequences. Korea, Vietnam, and now Iraq and Afghanistan define who we are as a nation and a people. Why are we so often at war? Do we fight conflicts in a uniquely American way? Why do we win and lose? Tierney has created a secret history of American foreign policy and a frank and insightful look at how Americans respond to the ultimate challenge. Dominic Tierney is assistant professor of political science at Swarthmore College, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and a correspondent at The Atlantic. He completed his PhD in international politics at Oxford University in 2003, and has held fellowships at the Olin Institute and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. His latest book is How We Fight, which Ambassador James Dobbins, former Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, described as, "A great theme, beautifully written and compellingly organized, it's an important contribution to a national debate over the war in Afghanistan which is only gathering steam." Tierney is also the author of FDR and the Spanish Civil War: Neutrality and Commitment in the Struggle that Divided America, and Failing to Win: Perceptions of Victory and Defeat in International Politics, with Dominic Johnson, which won the International Studies Association award for the best book of the year, and was nominated for the best book of the decade. Tierney's work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Economist, and on NPR. Length: 61 Minutes
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Preparing for Victory: Thomas Holcomb and the Making of the Modern Marine Corps, 1936-1943
Dr. David J. Ulbrich Although a visionary leader, shrewd publicist, meticulous planner, and progressive manager, he has been ignored or given short shrift in most histories of the Corps. This presentation will write Holcomb back in the history of the Second World War. It will evaluate him as a manager using such case studies as the development of amphibious warfare, the reorganization of Headquarters Marine Corps, and the introduction of women and African Americans into the Corps. Ultimately, Commandant Holcomb did more than any other Leatherneck to transform the Marine Corps into the modern force-in-readiness that would help win the Pacific War and see action during the Cold War and more recent conflicts. Length: 68 Minutes
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West Pointers in the Civil War
Dr. Wayne Hsieh
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Rabble in Arms: Massachusetts Towns and Militiamen During King Philip's War
Dr. Kyle F. Zelner
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The Generalship of Ulysses S. Grant and the American Civil War
Dr. Richard J. Sommers
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Steel and Blood: South Vietnamese Armour and the War for Southeast Asia
Col. Ha Mai Viet, ARVN
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From Engineer Lieutenant to Corps Commander: The Civil War Career of Godfrey Weitzel
Dr. Arthur W. Bergeron, Jr.
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Military Transformation: The Japanese Army during the 1920s and 1930s
Dr. Edward Drea The Imperial Army’s story of military transformation involves more than weapons procurement and acquisition policies. It was a twenty-year struggle for the soul of the Army. The officer education and promotion systems played central roles in the drama because these determined the choice assignments for future advancement and high command. Between the early 1920s and the mid-1930s, multiple transformative initiatives faltered until one brilliant but eccentric Army colonel seemed on the cusp of achieving the Army’s goal of a national mobilization state. Length: 66 Minutes
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Perspective on Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Earle G. Wheeler
LTC Mark A. Viney
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Quarterhorse in Bosnia: A Case Study of American Stability Operations in the Post-Cold War Era
LTC Mark A. Viney
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Outbreak of War in 1914: A New Look at an Old Problem
Dr. Michael Neiberg
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Architect of Soviet Victory in World War II: The Life and Theories of G.S. Isserson
Dr. Richard Harrison
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Uncommon Defense, Indian Allies in the Black Hawk War
Dr. John W. Hall
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Berlin Airlift, Air Bridge to Freedom
Col (Ret.) Lee Burcham
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The Role of the Constitution in the Civil War
Dr. Mark E. Neely, Jr.
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Death of the Wehrmacht: The German Campaigns of 1942
Dr. Robert Citino In Death of the Wehrmacht, military historian Robert Citino offers not only a detailed analysis of the German campaigns in the Soviet Union and North Africa, but also ties them into the traditional pattern of German operations extending back hundreds of years. In a major reevaluation of the campaigns of 1942, Citino shows how the German army’s emerging woes were rooted as much in its addiction to the "war of movement" as they were in Hitler’s deeply flawed management of the war. Citino examines how one of history’s most powerful armies began to founder in its quest for world domination. Length: 78 Minutes
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Vietnam’s Forgotten Army: Heroism and Betrayal in the ARVN
Dr. Andrew A. Wiest
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Ending the Pacific War: Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King and the New History
Richard B. Frank
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Harp and Eagle: Irish-American Volunteers and the Union Army, 1861-1865
Dr. Susannah J. Ural
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Corps Commanders of the Bulge: Six American Generals and Victory in the Ardennes
Dr. Harold R. Winton
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Virginia Campaign, May-June 1964
Mark Grimsley, Ph.D Professor Grimsley is currently on leave from The Ohio State University where he teaches American military history with an emphasis on the Civil War. He is the author of The Hard Hand of War: Union Military Policy Toward Southern Civilians, 1861-1865 (1995), which won the Lincoln Prize. His other work includes Warfare in the Western World; Civilians in the Path of War (2002) (with Clifford J. Rogers); The Collapse of the Confederacy (2001) (with Brooks D. Simpson); And Keep Moving On: The Virginia Campaign, May-June 1864 (2002), Gettysburg: A Battlefield Guide (1999) (with Brooks D. Simpson), and Shiloh: A Battlefield Guide (2006) (with Steven E. Woodworth). He is currently writing a book on the connections between the 1864 military and political campaigns for the "Pivotal Moments in American History" series, published by Oxford University Press. Length: 60 Minutes
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The Fourth Star: Four Generals and the Epic Struggle for the Future of the United States Army
Greg Jaffe They were four exceptional soldiers, a new generation asked to save an army that had been hollowed out after Vietnam. They survived the military's brutal winnowing to reach its top echelon. They became the Army's most influential generals in the crucible of Iraq. Collectively, their lives tell the story of the Army over the last four decades and illuminate the path it must travel to protect the nation over the next century. Theirs is a story of successes and failures, of ambitions achieved and thwarted, of the responsibilities and perils of command. The careers of this elite quartet show how the most powerful military force in the world entered a major war unprepared, and how the Army, drawing on a reservoir of talent that few thought it possessed, saved itself from crushing defeat against a ruthless, low-tech foe. In The Fourth Star, you'll follow:
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Bodies of War: World War I and the Politics of Commemoration in America, 1919-1933
Lisa M. Budreau, Ph.D.
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Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq
Colonel (Ret.) Peter R. Mansoor, Ph.D.
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Why the French & Indian War is Worth Remembering, The Ironies of a Decisive Victory
Dr. Fred Anderson Histories of the American Revolution tend to start in 1763, the end of the Seven Years’ War, a worldwide struggle for empire that pitted France against England in North America, Europe, and Asia. Among its surprising results was the disruption of the British empire as a political system; indeed, within a dozen years that empire fell into the civil war that produced in the American Revolution. Fred Anderson, Professor of History at the University of Colorado at Boulder, will seek to explain the significance of the American phase of the Seven Years’ War – commonly called the French and Indian War -- in American history, affirming that the best way to understand the Revolution is as part of a 40-year-long attempt to assert imperial control over the Forks of the Ohio, where Pittsburgh now stands. He will argue in favor of the perhaps surprising proposition that winning an imperial war in a decisive way may ultimately carry consequences more harmful to the victor than the vanquished. Length: 70 Minutes
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Magnificent Desolation: The Long Road Home from the Moon
Dr. Buzz Aldrin Forty years ago, Buzz Aldrin became the second human, minutes after Neil Armstrong, to set foot on a celestial body other than the Earth. The event remains one of mankind's greatest achievements and was witnessed by the largest worldwide television audience in history. In the years since, millions more have had their Earth-centric perspective unalterably changed by the iconic photograph of Aldrin standing on the surface of the moon, the blackness of space behind him and his fellow explorer and the Eagle reflected in his visor. Describing the alien world he was walking upon, he uttered the words "magnificent desolation." And as the astronauts later sat in the Eagle, waiting to begin their journey back home, knowing that they were doomed unless every system and part on board worked flawlessly, it was Aldrin who responded to Mission Control's clearance to take off with the quip, "Roger. Understand. We're number one on the runway." Length: 81 Minutes
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The First Way of War: American War Making on the Frontier, 1607 - 1814
Dr. John Grenier
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The Devil's own Work: The Civil War draft Riots and the fight to reconstruct America
Barnet Schecter Historian Lecture Date: July 15, 2009 On July 4, 1863, Robert E. Lee and his Confederate army retreated in tatters from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and the Union began its march to ultimate victory in the Civil War. Nine days later, the largest riots in American history broke out on the streets of New York City, nearly destroying in four days the financial, industrial, and commercial hub of the nation. Northerners suspected a Confederate plot, carried out by local "Copperhead" sympathizers; however, the reality was more complex and far-reaching, exposing fault lines of race and class still present in America today. Barnet Schecter argues that the cataclysm in New York was anything but an isolated incident; rather, it was a microcosm-within the borders of the supposedly loyal northern states-of the larger Civil War between the North and South. The riots erupted over the same polarizing issues--of slavery versus freedom for African Americans and the scope of federal authority over states and individuals--that had torn the nation apart. The riots' aftermath foreshadowed the compromises that would bedevil Reconstruction and delay the process of integration for the next 100 years.Length: 73 Minutes
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Wings, Women, and War: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat
Dr. Reina Pennington Associate Professor of History Norwich University Lecture Date: Nov. 14, 2007 The Soviet Union was the first nation to allow women pilots to fly combat missions. During World War II the Red Air Force formed three all-female units--grouped into separate fighter, dive bomber, and night bomber regiments--while also recruiting other women to fly with mostly male units. Their amazing story, fully recounted for the first time by Reina Pennington, honors a group of fearless and determined women whose exploits have not yet received the recognition they deserve. Pennington chronicles the creation, organization, and leadership of these regiments, as well as the experiences of the pilots, navigators, bomb loaders, mechanics, and others who made up their ranks, all within the context of the Soviet air war on the Eastern Front. These regiments flew a combined total of more than 30,000 combat sorties, produced at least thirty Heroes of the Soviet Union, and included at least two fighter aces.Length: 52 Minutes
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Cold War Pioneers: The U.S. Military Liason Mission, 1947 - 1990
Dr. Stephen V. Hoyt Eastern Washington University Lecture Date: may 20, 2009 From its inception in 1947 until the late 1970s the primary missions of the United States Military Liaison Mission (USMLM) involved maintaining a presence in East Germany for confidence building measures and reporting on items related to indicators and warnings of hostilities initiated by the Soviet Army. There are some who believe that USMLM was responsible for the United States and Russia not waging a nuclear war. Stephen V. Hoyt served two tours at USMLM. His Ph.D. dissertation involved analyzing the intersection of ideology and literature in East Germany. He has written more than 60 articles on a variety of topics and is currently an assistant professor of English at Eastern Washington University.Length: 65 Minutes
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Across the Elbe River with the Thunderbolt Division
Tony Vaccaro WWII Veteran Lecture Date: July 31, 2008 The present historical end of World War II in Europe in American history books is this: "...When World War II was over in Europe the Americans were on the west bank of the Elbe River." Tony Vaccaro, a veteran of 83rd Infantry Division in World War II argues that is incorrect. That is where the fun begins, as he documents with personal photographs the 83rd Infantry Division's operations on the way to Berlin. While the other units celebrated V-E Day west of the Elbe, the 83rd Infantry Division and the 2nd Armored Division stopped nearly at the Gate of Charlottenburg of Berlin. In other words, World War II needs a coda, an end- the historical ending chapter. Vaccaro provides that ending through his photography and reminiscences of the last days of World War II.Length: 87 Minutes |
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Vietnam: A Personal Journey
Quang X. Pham Independent Scholar Lecture Date: Apr. 22, 2009 In 1964, Hoa Pham, a South Vietnamese fighter pilot, was shot down by Viet Cong antiaircraft fire while flying in support of American advisers and ARVN troops. When Saigon fell to the communists, his 10-year-old son, Quang, escaped with his mother and three sisters to America. Thirty years later, Quang, now a U.S. Marine pilot turned successful entrepreneur, retraces a uniquely spirited yet agonizing journey from the Vietnam War to peace, from blame to forgiveness, and an eventual surprise reunion with his father who survived twelve years in post-war prison camps. Quang explores the inner conflicts of a young man caught in the often contradictory forces of national identity, loyalty, truth and trust in the aftermath of America's most divisive war. It reveals the turmoil of a family torn apart and reunited by the fortunes of war. It is an American journey like no other.Length: 68 Minutes |
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Why the Civil Rights Movement was an Insurgency, and Why it Matters
Mark S. Grimsley, Ph.D. Harold K. Johnson Visiting Professor of Military History, U.S. Army War College Lecture Date: Mar. 18, 2009 Most Americans fail to appreciate that the Civil Rights movement was about the overthrow of an entrenched political order in each of the Southern states, that the segregationists who controlled this order did not hesitate to employ violence (law enforcement, paramilitary, mob) to preserve it, and that for nearly a century the federal government tacitly or overtly supported the segregationist state governments. That the Civil Rights movement employed nonviolent tactics should fool us no more than it did the segregationists, who correctly saw themselves as being at war. Significant change was never going to occur within the political system: it had to be forced. The aim of the segregationists was to keep the federal government on the sidelines. The aim of the Civil Rights movement was to "capture" the federal government-to get it to apply its weight against the Southern states. As to why it matters: a major reason we were slow to grasp the emergence and extent of the insurgency in Iraq is that it didn't-and doesn't-look like a classic insurgency. In fact, the official Department of Defense definition of insurgency still reflects a Vietnam era understanding of the term. Looking at the Civil Rights movement as an insurgency is useful because it assists in thinking more comprehensively about the phenomenon of insurgency and assists in a more complete-and therefore more useful-definition of the term.Length: 91 Minutes
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The G. I. Experience in the Korean War: A Precursor to Vietnam?
Dr. Peter S. Kindsvatter Command Historian, U.S. Army Ordnance Center and School Lecture Date: Feb. 18, 2009 Kindsvatter examines the Korean War soldier's experiences to show how something akin to "mass disaffection" did indeed take hold during the Korean War, a pattern repeated over the course of the Vietnam War. He addresses the soldier's faltering belief in the cause, the perceived lack of home front awareness or concern, the G. I.'s lack of faith in their South Korean allies, and the increasing challenges for junior leaders tasked to prosecute a war that their soldiers increasingly believed, as one put it, "was being fought for nothing."Length: 52 Minutes |
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General William E. DePuy: Preparing the Army for Modern War
COL (Ret) Henry Gole. Ph.D. Independent Scholar Lecture Date: Jan. 21, 2008 From the late 1960s to the late 1970s, the United States Army was a demoralized institution in a country in the midst of a social revolution. The war in Vietnam had gone badly and public attitudes about it shifted from indifference, to acceptance, to protest. Army Chief of Staff General Creighton Abrams directed a major reorganization of the Army and appointed William E. DePuy commander of the newly established Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), in 1973. DePuy already had a distinguished record in positions of trust and high responsibility: successful infantry battalion command and division G-3 in World War II by the age of twenty-five; Assistant Military Attache' in Hungary; detail to CIA in the Korean War; alternating tours on the Army Staff and in command of troops. As a general officer he was General Westmoreland's operations officer in Saigon; commander of the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam; Special Assistant to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Assistant Vice Chief of Staff, Army. But it was as TRADOC Commander that DePuy made his major contribution in integrating training, doctrine, combat developments, and management in the U.S. Army. He regenerated a deflated post-Vietnam Army, effectively cultivating a military force prepared to fight and win in modern war.Length: 72 Minutes
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U.S. NATO and European Basing, 1949-Present
COL John Dabrowski, Ph.D. Army Heritage and Education Center Lecture Date: Dec. 10, 2008 With the advent of the Cold War in the late 1940s, and the specter of monolithic Communism and growing Soviet military strength, the US sought to counter Soviet expansionism and hegemony with a series of treaties, both multilateral and bilateral, the most important being the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, signed in 1949. Additional treaties such as SEATO and CENTO would over time, fall by the wayside. It is the endurance of the NATO treaty and America's presence in Europe that has over the past six decades contributed to the peace and stability of that continent. The American military in Germany in the immediate post-war years, went from an Army of Occupation, to that of a forward deployed force, trained to meet a Soviet attack on Western Europe. The American forces needed basing and through a series of negotiations with the various host nations, American troops found homes in practically every Western European nation. From Keflavik NAS, Iceland, to Incirlik AB, Turkey, and points in between, the US military has stood as a guardian, along with its NATO allies, against Soviet Communism and helped to win the Cold War. Length: 59 Minutes |
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We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam
Joseph L. Galloway Independent Scholar Lecture Date: Nov. 13, 2008 Traveling back to the red-dirt battlefields, commanders and veterans from both sides make the long and difficult journey from old enemies to new friends. After a trip in a Russian-made helicopter to the Ia Drang Valley in the Central Highlands, with the Vietnamese pilots using vintage U.S. Army maps and Galloway's Boy Scout compass to guide them, they reach the hallowed ground where so many died. All the men are astonished at how nature has reclaimed the land once scarred by bullets, napalm, and blood. As darkness falls, the unthinkable happens-the authors and many of their old comrades are stranded overnight, alone, left to confront the ghosts of the departed among the termite hills and creek bed. Length: 67 Minutes |
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World War II in Europe: A View From a Foxhole
Mitchell Kaidy WWII Veteran Lecture Date: Oct. 15, 2008 The 87th Infantry Division fought in General George S. Patton's Third U.S. Army during World War II. After months of training, first at Camp McCain, Mississippi, then at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, the division shipped overseas. They first entered combat in France's Alsace-Lorraine, and after extremely bloody fighting, crossed the German border in the Saar, capturing the towns of Walsheim and Medelsheim. Caught up in the Third Army's historic counterattack in the Battle of the Bulge, the 87th Division raced off into Belgium - attacking the German Panzer Lehr Division near Bastogne at the towns of Pironpre, Moircy, Bonnerue, and Tillet. Soon after breaching the Siegfried Line in the Eifel Mountains, the division crossed the Moselle River and captured Koblenz. Then the Rhine River crossing near Boppard and the dash across Germany which took them to Plauen, near the Czech border. Length: 55 Minutes |
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A Tale of Three Cities: How the United States Won World War II
Dr. David M. Kennedy Professor of History, Stanford University Lecture Date: Sep. 18, 2008 Taking a nation to war is a complex and difficult proposition. Dr. David M. Kennedy will discuss the core premises of American grand strategy in World War II, and their implications for war-fighting, the nature of the victory that was achieved, and the U.S. role in the post-war international order. The general line of argument is to develop the idea that America's war was like that of no other belligerent. The presentation builds from Winston Churchill's observation in August 1945 that "The United States stand at this moment at the summit of the world," and tries to explain how that came to be -- contrary to popular mythology, not just as an incidental effect of the war's progression, but as a result of some quite specific, concrete decisions to fight a particular kind of war, on a particular time-table, with a particular configuration of forces. Length: 79 Minutes |
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The Second Battle of the Marne: The Turning Point of 1918
Dr. Michael S. Neiberg Professor of History, University of Southern Mississippi Lecture Date: Aug. 20, 2008 The First Battle of the Marne produced the so-called Miracle of the Marne, when French and British forces stopped the initial German drive on Paris in 1914. Hundreds of thousands of casualties later, with opposing forces still dug into trench lines, the Germans tried again to push their way to Paris and to victory. The Second Battle of the Marne (July 15 to August 9, 1918) marks the point at which the Allied armies stopped the massive German Ludendorff Offensives and turned to offensive operations themselves. The Germans never again came as close to Paris nor resumed the offensive.Length: 76 Minutes |
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Patton and Rommel: Men of War in the 20'th Century
Dr. Dennis Showalter Professor of History, Colorado College Lecture Date: June 20, 2007 General George S. Patton. His tongue was as sharp as the cavalry saber he once wielded, and his fury as explosive as the armored attacks he orchestrated in Sicily and France Despite his profane, posturing manner; despite the sheer enthusiasm for conflict that made both his peers and the public uncomfortable, Patton's mere presence commanded respect from his enemies. Had his superiors given him free rein, the U.S. Army might have claimed victory in Europe as early as November of 1944. General Erwin Rommel. .His courage was proven in the trenches of World War I when he was awarded the Blue Max. He was a front line soldier who led by example from the turrets of his Panzers. His conduct of battle was as decisive as it was imaginative. Appointed to command Adolf Hitler's personal security detail, Rommel nevertheless had nothing but contempt for the atrocities perpetrated by the Reich. His open, direct challenges to Hitler's conduct of the war in the west after D-Day earned him the Fuehrer's suspicion, then a death sentence. Length: 33 Minutes
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A War of Empire and Frontier: The Philippine-American War, 1899-1902
Dr. David J. Silbey Associate Professor of History, Algeria College Lecture Date: June 18, 2008 It was America's first imperial war, and America's last war of the frontier. It was a war of battles, of frontal assaults, of artillery, and flank attacks, and barbed wire and trenches. It has been termed an insurgency, a revolution, a guerrilla war, and a conventional war. As David Silbey demonstrates in this taut, compelling history, the 1899 Philippine-American War was in fact all of these.Length: 70 Minutes |
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The Army's Way of War
Dr. Brian McAllister Linn Claudius M. Easley, Jr. Faculty Fellow, Professor of History, Texas A&M University Lecture Date: May 21, 2008 From Lexington and Gettysburg to Normandy and Iraq, the wars of the United States have defined the nation. But after the guns fall silent, the army searches the lessons of past conflicts in order to prepare for the next clash of arms. In the echo of battle, the army develops the strategies, weapons, doctrine, and commanders that it hopes will guarantee a future victory. Length: 77 Minutes |
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Beyond Nam Dong
COL (Ret) Roger Donlon Recipient, Medal of Honor Lecture Date: Mar. 18, 2008 Captain Roger H.C. Donlon commanded Special Forces Team A-726 at Camp Nam Dong, Vietnam, west of Da Nang near the Laotian border. The Green Berets provided physical security and health and welfare service to over 5,000 local villagers, and advised some 300 South Vietnamese personnel assigned to the camp. On July 6, 1964, more than 900 Viet Cong soldiers attacked Nam Dong with mortars, grenades, small arms fire and automatic weapons. The attack proceeded all night, and many of the South Vietnamese defenders were wounded in the fierce fighting. Donlon was wounded, and two of his team were killed. For his actions, Donlon received the Congressional Medal of Honor, the first Special Forces soldier so honored. In this talk, Donlon reflects on the influences from childhood through his Army career which shaped his life. Length: 74 Minutes |
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Beyond the Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters
COL (Ret) Cole C. Kingseed Director of Research, US Army War College Lecture Date: Feb. 20, 2008 Beyond Band of Brothers is Winters's memoir-based on his wartime diary-but it also includes his comrades' untold stories. Virtually all this material is being released for the first time. Only Winters was present from the activation of Easy Company until the war's end. Winner of the Distinguished Service Cross, only he could pen this moving tribute to the human spirit. Length: 48 Minutes |
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Clausewitz and Contemporary War
Dr. Antulio J. Echevarria II Director of Research, US Army War College Lecture Date: Jan. 17, 2008 "War is not a mere act of policy but a true political instrument, a continuation of political activity by other means." For generations military history students committed this timeless refrain from Clausewitz's On War to memory in hopes of impressing their professor. But did they truly understand Clausewitz's meaning? And how does it apply to modern day conflicts? Join Dr. Antulio Echevarria as he explains Clausewitz's theories on war and their application to U. S. Army operations today." Length: 64 Minutes |
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Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965
Dr. Mark Moyar Kim T. Adamson Chair of Insurgency and Terrorism, Marine Corps University Lecture Date: Dec. 12, 2007 An innovative and controversial look at Vietnam, Dr. Mark Moyar's lecture brings to light new evidence about the conflict, the overthrow of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, and how these events affected United States policy. Moyar, the Kim T. Adamson Chair of Terrorism and Insurgency at the United States Marine Corps Academy, graduated from Harvard and Cambridge University and has published numerous books and articles on military history. Length: 68 Minutes |
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The Soviet-German War, 1941-1945: Myths and Realities
COL (Ret) David M. Glantz Editor, Journal of Slavic Military Studies Lecture Date: Nov. 14, 2007 A staggering forty percent of the historic record about the German eastern front remained shrouded in mystery. Col. (Ret) David Glantz seeks to unearth this information and dispel myths that have perpetuated the Soviet-German War of 1941-1945. This conflict encompassed immense scale, scope and consequence. The cultural and ideological conflict surrounding the German-Soviet clash presented something never witnessed before by an American Army. Length: 80 Minutes
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