50 million men registered for the draft during World War II. 16 million men and women served in uniform. There were 400,000 casualties. The US sent 1.5 million vehicles and 85,000 aircraft overseas to support our troops. The numbers are astounding in and of themselves. But the quantities are hard to grasp when simply put down on paper. The National World War II Museum in … Continue reading Making Numbers Live
This is history. Not history 101 like you may have suffered through in your freshman year at college, but living, breathing history. In this eminently readable 500 page book, Groom braids together the events that led to and transpired during World War II as witnessed and influenced by three bigger than life men. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin rise from the pages with details of character and … Continue reading The Allies
Quick! In what city is The National WWII Museum located? If you answered, Washington, DC you would be wrong. New Orleans has the honor of hosting the museum. New Orleans? Why, other than it is a great place to visit? Think Higgins Boats, those low slung, battleship gray, flat bottom barges with ramps for unloading men and material. Those very same boats portrayed in WWII … Continue reading The National WWII Museum
FDR and MacArthur (and me) Two men we could use today. Although they had their disagreements, they left this country better than they found it. Both were larger than life and both suffered greatly in their rise to greatness. Their lives were perhaps mirror opposites. FDR, struck with polio at the age of 39, fought to overcome his disease, hiding it from the public–a feat … Continue reading Bring ’em back
Frank Merrill, William Darby, and James Rudder. Who were they and what do they have in common? Frank Merrill’s name is perhaps the most well-known of the three, the man having been the subject of a number of books and Hollywood movies. Brigadier General Frank D. Merrill headed the 5307th Composite Unit in the China-Burma-India theater during World War II. The unit, also known as “Galahad” … Continue reading WWII in Our Backyards – Georgia
What a thrill to see one of the 19 World War II veterans profiled in my upcoming book honored today. Late last year, the Governor of Georgia Elect’s office asked for nominations from the community of highly decorated Georgia veterans to be honored guests at Governor Kemp’s inauguration. I nominated Corporal Louis Thompson, who I had come to know over the last several months as … Continue reading Corporal Louis Thompson Honored
During the Revolutionary War, for at least some soldiers there was no thought of celebrating Christmas. On the eve of December 25, 1776, then General George Washington crossed the frozen Delaware River to lead his cold, hungry, and tired, troops to one of the decisive battles of the war. One hundred years later, during the Civil War, the war stopped for Christmas. Troops on both … Continue reading Christmas at Wartime
