Category: United States

WWII history book – “Soldiers of a Different Cloth” (University of Notre Dame Press, 2018) – John Wukovits interview

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John Wukovits has been studying, teaching, and writing history for over thirty years. His focus is WWII and we spoke about his latest book on Notre Dame chaplains who served in WWII.

1:17 – John talks about how he got into writing this book. He’s been writing books on WWII for 25 years. These chaplains were on many fronts and one even parachuted into Normandy. He tells the story of 35 Notre Dame missionaries and chaplains.

4:00 – John focused on 4 or 5 main [characters] chaplains but he also touches on the rest of the chaplains.

6:30 – John talks about the civilian capacities of these chaplains before they entered the war.

9:00 – The chaplains had to do the same basic training as all the younger soldiers they’d be serving.

14:30 – Father Joe Barry is one of the main persons discussed in the book. He went through many battles and ended up in prison. He received lots of praise from his fellow soldiers.

25:55 – The chaplains’ letters were often not very censored when sent back to the US. John found that many of these letters hadn’t been read by other historians.

27:00 – John talks about a parachute rescue of some missionaries in the Philippines. A couple of chaplains were on the Bataan Death march.

31:15 – John talks about a chaplain who jumped into France with the 101st and what he encountered. The chaplain met one of the Niland brothers and found the grave of another brother.

47:30 – John tells a story about Father Barry hearing a soldier talk the night before a big battle. The next day Father Barry held the same dying soldier in his arms.

58:17 – John has a website, johnwukovits.com. He’ll also sign books bought from his website.

Links of interest

https://johnwukovits.com/

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: John Wukovits

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, WWII, World War II, Notre Dame, chaplains, diocese, Los Banos, Philippines

Vietnam War history book – “Road to Disaster” (Custom House, 2018) – Brian VanDeMark interview

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Dr. Brian VanDeMark is a historian who has assisted two US Secretaries of Defense with their autobiographies. He teaches history at the US Naval Academy. We spoke about his latest book on decision making by senior leaders during the Vietnam War.

1:16 – Brian talks about how he became interested in writing on the Vietnam War starting from his childhood. He helped former Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford write his autobiography. He taught at the Naval Academy and then helped Robert McNamara with his autobiography.

5:45 – Brian talks about the book and how he organized it. Organizational behavior is one of the things he analyzes in this history.

11:00 – Brian talks about the decision making environments in the White House and the Pentagon.

18:00 – Brian talks about how he determined what the most important turning points of the period were.

26:57 – Brian talks about the materials he used to do his research.

31:44 – Brian explains how he interviewed senior decision makers who had been involved with the Vietnam War.

40:24 – We talk about security measures for public figures then and now.

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: Brian VanDeMark

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, Robert McNamara, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War, Operations Research, leadership

18th and 19th C US Army history book – “The Soldiers of Fort Mackinac” (Michigan State University Press, 2018) – Phil Porter interview

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Phil Porter is director of Mackinac State Historic Parks and has studied the Mackinac area extensively. We talk about his latest book on the soldiers of Fort Mackinac.

1:49 – Phil talks about how he got into Mackinac history 46 years ago. He’s written about US military authority after the American Revolution and he’s written another book on Fort Mackinac history.

5:27 – The book is a collection of images of soldiers who served at Fort Mackinac but also discusses the life of these soldiers and why they were at the Fort.

8:30 – Phil talks about some of the history of the British retaking of the fort in the War of 1812.

11:00 – Phil talks about the importance of the fort in the region.

18:05 – Phil talks about images of soldiers at the fort during the pre-War of 1812 period.

20:00 – We talk about uniform variations among soldiers at the Fort from the rest of the US Army.

23:31 – Phil talks about famed medical Dr. Beaumont who was a pioneer on digestive processes.

29:30 – Phil talks about relations between Native American and he soldiers of the fort over time.

31:07 – Phil talks about Civil War soldiers who had served at Fort Mackinac. One was Confederate officer John Pemberton.

36:00 – Phil talks about a soldier that served in the First Barbary War.

37:30 – Phil talks about three wealthy Confederates who were imprisoned at Fort Mackinac for a few months.

45:55 – Getting permissions to use images was a long and tedious process.

47:20 – They found a photo of soldiers playing baseball at the fort. They still play baseball at the fort at the same field.

54:43 – The parks’ books can be found on Amazon and on their website mackinacparks.com.

55:35 – Phil explains why the spelling is Mackinac but is pronounced Mackinaw.

Links of interest

Mackinac State Historic Parks

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: Phil Porter

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, US Civil War, Mexican-American War, Native American, british, militia, First Barbary War, military prison, Michigan history