Tag: afghanistan

Frank “Gus” Biggio interview about his Afghanistan War military history book “The Wolves of Helmand” (Forefront Books, 2020)

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Frank Biggio interview

Frank “Gus” Biggio interview about his Afghanistan War military history book “The Wolves of Helmand”

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/322IKAV

Interview Timeline

Frank “Gus” Biggio served in the US Marine Corps in the 1990s and got out to pursue a career in law. But during the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq he felt like he needed to support his country’s efforts and get back in the fight. He rejoined the Corps working in Civil Affairs. He deployed to Afghanistan with the Marines as part of a Civil Affairs Group. He published the story of his time there. We spoke about the book “The Wolves of Helmand”, about combat in Afghanistan, and about veterans affairs.

(THE AUDIO PLAYER IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST.)

Jane Gilmartin talks about her sci-fi novel The Mirror Man https://wp.me/p7CDU9-51v

James Miller talks about the NASA NEAR mission http://spacewalksmoneytalks.com/p/605

2:59 – Gus talks about why he wrote about his experiences in Helmand Afghanistan.

7:00 – Gus talks about civil affairs in the Marine Corps and what his unit and work was like.

11:07 – Gus talks about the difficulty of finding the enemy in Afghanistan.

12:44 – Gus talks about balancing the attitudes of locals pro and anti US Marine.

16:05 – Gus talks about the training that Marines got to do the mission in Afghanistan.

19:30 – Gus talks about balancing initiative and flexibility with orders that might not make sense in the field.

22:20 – Gus talks about the interpreters they had with them.

25:06 – Gus talks about working with British forces.

26:29 – Gus talks about working with the Afghan national Security Forces.

29:44 – Gus talks about the destruction of poppy fields.

33:59 – Gus talks about women and children in Afghanistan.

39:11 – Gus talks about the equipment they and they enemy used during patrols.

42:47 – Gus talks about the support the patrols could call on.

44:23 – Gus talks about the IEDs the Taliban used.

48:00 – Gus talks about patrol movement and alertness levels.

48:53 – Gus talks about the four Marines lost on the deployment.

50:44 – Gus addresses the results of the mission.

58:24 – Gus talks about veterans affairs and how the public deals with veterans.

1:01:53 – Gus addresses the subject of service.

1:04:11 – Gus talks about talking to young people who want to join the military.

1:05:42 – Gus can be found at wolvesofhelmand.com and a facebook page “The Wolves of Helmand”

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/322IKAV

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Wolves-of-Helmand/Frank-Gus-Biggio/9781948677646

https://wolvesofhelmand.com/

https://www.facebook.com/WolvesOfHelmand/

Jane Gilmartin talks about her sci-fi novel The Mirror Man https://wp.me/p7CDU9-51v

James Miller talks about the NASA NEAR mission http://spacewalksmoneytalks.com/p/605

Contact Information

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar and on Instagram @crisalvarezwarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify Please see historyrabbithole.com for a list of my dozen or so blogs and podcasts. You’re sure to find something you like.

Guests: Frank “Gus” Biggio

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, podcast, Forefront Books, Modern War, United States, Afghanistan,

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/322IKAV

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Patricia Norland interview – Vietnam War and Indochina War military history book – “Saigon Sisters” (Cornell University Press, 2020)

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Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/392NdWN

Patricia worked for many years in the US Foreign Service. Before this time, she was with a non-profit organization and met nine women who fought against the French and the Americans in the Vietnam War. Patricia kept in touch with these women and after retiring from the foreign service she wrote a book about these women’s wartime experiences. We spoke about the book, Saigon Sisters, these women, and the Indochina and Vietnam Wars.

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Editor’s note: Patricia Norland sent an email clarifying a statement she made during the Interview: “Separately, I should clarify my statement about “managing” the Fulbright program while serving in HCMC; my job was to manage exchange programs, but Fulbright, wisely, establishes a Commission in each country (with ED) that — while coordinating with others– runs the program.”

0:42 – Patricia talks about why she wrote this book and how she met the women she wrote about.

5:09 – We talk about how these nine women gave up privileged lives to fight the French and Americans in the Indochina Wars.

7:04 – Patricia talks about how she breaks the book into two parts- the lives they had before war to 1950 and then 1954, the war years to post 1975.

13:07 – Patricia reads an excerpt from the book discussing the patriotic zeal of the women the book is about.

15:13 – Patricia talks about the conservative nationalism that motivated the Vietnamese Communist revolution.

16:59 – Patricia shares some of the revolutionary poems that these fighters wrote.

19:51 – Patricia talks about how these teenagers were recruited into the revolution.

23:39 – Patricia reads a passage regarding the Japanese occupation of Vietnam and their misuse of rice by troops.

25:59 – Patricia talks about where these women ended up once they joined up with the revolution.

30:42 – Patricia reads a passage from the first woman in the group who joined the Vietnamese Maquis.

33:14 – Patricia talks about the research she did for the book and the interviews she did.

38:19 – Patricia talks about the personal items from the war that these women showed her.

41:41 – Patricia talks about how these women could have had much easier lives if they had turned away from the war. She also addresses how there is disappointment about what happened after 1975.

44:06 – Patricia talks more about the disillusionment of their struggle.

46:21 – Patricia talks about the American presence in Vietnam.

49:53 – Patricia talks about how these women continued fighting against the Americans once they replaced the French.

51:20 – Patricia talks about gender inequality within the revolutionary ranks.

52:28 – Patricia talks about some moving moments in their story.

1:04:05 – Information on the book can be found on the Cornell University Press website.

 

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/392NdWN

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501749735/the-saigon-sisters/

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/vietnamese-women-privilege-and-persistence/

 

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify

 

Guests: Patricia Norland

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, Cornell University Press, Vietnam War, church world service, Saigon, French colonial, black pajamas, French, Saigon, double lives, resistance, maquis, National day of the student, US Navy, International Workers day, Communism, French Lycee, Japan, WWII, Viet Cong, French Army, United States, US Embassy, double agent, Afghanistan, NIU, Ken Burns

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/392NdWN

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Cold War military history book – “Rough Draft” (Cornell University Press, 2019) – Amy Rutenberg interview

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Check out this book here https://amzn.to/3dHHiZ6

Dr. Amy Rutenberg studies gender history. Her first book is about the US draft during the Cold War, especially during the Vietnam War. We discussed the book.

0:56 – Amy talks about how she got into writing on the US draft of the early 20th century.

2:08 – Amy talks about the focus of the book on why it became socially acceptable for men to avoid the Vietnam War.

4:01 – Amy talks about how the draft was applied to various social classes in the US.

10:26 – Amy talks about what the active duty thought about DoD draft policies.

13:42 – Amy talks about when the draft was in place and when it was used.

14:30 – Amy talks about how the book is broken down. It goes chronologically starting with WWII.

15:32 – Amy talks about the idea of masculinity and the draft and enlistment.

18:35 – Amy talks about protests against the Vietnam War and draft changes.

19:51 – Amy talks about the ideas of nuclear war and the strategic goals of the draft.

22:27 – Amy goes into detail about the Selective Service Boards.

23:40 – Amy explains the interaction between the Selective Service and the draft.

26:20 – Amy talks the use of soldiers in testing nuclear weapons.

27:31 – Amy describes how the services requested draftees.

29:06 – Amy talks about the pros and cons versus being drafted versus enlisting.

31:49 – Amy talks about how she researched the book. She also goes into detail about

draft counseling and conscientious objection.

37:03 – Amy talks about the tension between supporting wars but not volunteering to go.

38:10 – Amy talks about new things she discovered about the draft during WWII and how people approached it.

40:22 – Amy talks about deferments.

43:02 – Amy discusses some of the issues women faced with the draft.

45:00 – Amy goes into details about conscientious objector deferments.

47:20 – Amy discusses who were getting these deferments created and changed.

55:57 – Amy can be found on twitter @amyjay401.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3dHHiZ6

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501739583/rough-draft/#bookTabs=1

https://twitter.com/amyjay401

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify

Guests: Amy Rutenberg

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, gender, world war two, WWII, draft, deferment, STEM, McNamara, cold war, vietnam war, project one hundred thousand, infantry, selective service, US Congress, conscription, Carter, Afghanistan, National Archives, draft counseling, Lewis Hershey

Check out this book here https://amzn.to/3dHHiZ6

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.