The messy US invasion of France in WWII with Robert Fuller

Robert Fuller After D-Day

The messy US invasion of France in WWII with Robert Fuller

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3cA1DB3

Interview Timeline

Robert Fuller is a professor and historian who took on the task of understanding the true nature of the US presence of France in WWII. We spoke about the war and the many ways in which France did and did not cooperate with the US during WWII. After D-Day: The U.S. Army Encounters the French (LSU Press, 2021)

0:41 – Robert talks about how he got into studying the US in France.

2:16 – Robert talks about how he laid the book out.

4:00 – Robert talks about the occupation of France.

5:04 – Robert talks about what was problematic between France and the US.

9:45 – Robert goes into details about problems at the ground level.

13:58 – Robert talks about French citizens who sympathized with the Nazis.

18:07 – Robert goes into detail about what happened in France after V-E day.

20:39 – Robert talks about what happened to the Germans in southwest France.

23:04 – Robert talks about de Gaulle.

24:48 – Robert talks about the aid given to France by the US.

28:09 – Robert talks about communism in France.

33:38 – Robert talks about research that didn’t make it into the book.

36:20 – Robert talks about French colonial territories.

42:08 – Robert talks about New Caledonia.

43:47 – Robert talks about French islands in the Caribbean.

47:37 – Robert talks about what resources he used for the book including the French town archives he went to.

52:42 – Robert talks about an American riot by the 101st in France.

54:32 – Robert talks about American crime and gangs in France.

57:15 – Robert talks about the size of the black market in France.

1:02:53 – Robert talks about the Red Ball Express.

1:05:20 – Robert talks about the Nazi massacre of French school girls.

1:06:21 – Robert talks about traveling through France.

1:15:17 – Information on the book can be found at the LSU Press website.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3cA1DB3

https://lsupress.org/books/detail/after-d-day/

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 warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. 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: Robert Fuller

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, podcast, LSU Press, American history, WWII, United States, Germany, France, Britain,

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3cA1DB3

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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The Vietnam War from the North Vietnamese perspective – Pierre Asselin

Pierre Asselin vietnam War

The Vietnam War from the North Vietnamese perspective – Pierre Asselin

Check out this book here  https://amzn.to/2K7nhRz

Interview Timeline

Dr. Pierre Asselin is a specialist on the Vietnam War. He spoke to me about the how the war progressed from start to finish from the North Vietnamese perspective.

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

Youtube link with graphics and maps – https://youtu.be/2TiiIMAPTV4

0:46 – Introduction

1:06 – Beginning of the war when US deploys forces in 1965 to Vietnam

1:37 – French returns to Vietnam after WWII.

2:10 – Vietnam is split

2:53 – War begins in 1954

3:29 – American advisors sent in 1961

3:53 – 1964 North Vietnam begins sending complete units south

4:33 – 1965 Americans begin fighting

4:54 – Insurgency ws focused on the central highlands and delta areas of South Vietnam

5:31 – North Vietnamese troops focused on the central highlands in the upper third of South Vietnam

6:21 – North Vietnam’s first campaign is in November 1964

7:19 – March 1965 US Marines land in Da Nang

7:49 – Late 1965 the Ia Drang battle occurs

9:41 – The Communists initiated most of the battles in the Vietnam War

11:48 – The US used air and naval and artillery support to engage the enemy

12:29 – The Communist recorded about 50 major conflicts between North Vietnamese and US forces. Most were in the central highlands area

14:06 – Junction City occurred in early 1967

14:39 – Tet Offensive occurred in 1968

16:08 – North Vietnam decided to use the Tet Offensive as a psychological victory

17:33 – After Tet, North Vietnam slowed down combat actions dramatically from 1969 to 1971 and focus on diplomacy

19:28 – In March 1972 North Vietnam launches the Eastern Offensive

20:07 – In early 1973 the US leaves Vietnam

20:53 – The Paris Peace agreement is signed

21:00 – A civil war resumes in South Vietnam

21:29 – The civil war is low intensity

22:02 – The Ho Chi Minh campaign and a central highlands campaign ends the war

22:26 – Pierre Asselin can be found at San Diego University

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3eYw4An

https://amzn.to/2UjxWKG

https://amzn.to/2K7nhRz

https://history.sdsu.edu/people/asselin

Youtube link with graphics and maps – https://youtu.be/2TiiIMAPTV4

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: Pierre Asselin

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, videos, audio interviews, author, academic, podcast, Modern War, United States, France, Vietnam, Vietnam War, War Summaries,

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/2K7nhRz

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Frank Sisson and Robert Wise talk about their WWII military history book “I Marched With Patton” (William Morrow, 2020)

Frank Sisson Robert Wise WWII

Frank Sisson and Robert Wise talk about the WWII military history book “I Marched With Patton”

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

Interview Summary

Frank Sisson joined the US Army in 1943 at the age of 18. He went into the artillery and fought in Europe alongside Patton’s forces. He wrote his memoir with Robert Wise and I spoke to them about Frank’s wartime experiences from Texas, to France, and finally on to Berlin where he ended his Army days working as a military policeman.

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

1:08 – Frank and Robert talk about how the book was written.

2:02 – Frank talks about why he eventually agreed to writing a book on his time in WWII.

2:45 – Frank talks about how he joined the military when he turned 18.

3:51 – Frank talks about joining the artillery.

5:03 – Frank talks about what he was doing when Pearl Harbor was bombed and how people felt about the war.

6:12 – Frank talks about training at Fort Sill and in Texas and then going to Europe.

7:24 – Frank talks not wanting to live on the ocean.

(NOTE: 8:06: The audio was temporarily static y.)

8:06 – Frank talks about his time in the artillery.

9:57 – (Audio issues end): Frank talks about how nervous it was going to war.

11:23 – Frank talks about landing in Saint Lo France.

14:09 – Frank talks about his feelings about the Nazis. He also talks about

speaking French and German.

16:13 – Frank talks about being in the Ardennes Forest. He saw Patton, Bradley, and Eisenhower there.

19:45 – Frank talks about doing their work in freezing temperatures.

23:00 – Frank talks about an experience on the Rhine river being attacked by black jet airplanes.

25:21 – Frank talks about crossing the Rhine.

25:26 – Frank talks about being a policeman in Berlin and dealing with the Russians. He mentions an event where he had to arrest a drunken Russian general and his drunken driver.

30:28 – Frank talks about hearing a profanity laced speech from Patton. He also discusses his own truck driver.

33:41 – Frank talks about being in Berlin after the German surrender.

34:40 – Frank talks about seeing Jewish prisoners of war being moved.

36:12 – Frank talks about how he became a police officer. He talks about a grisly discovery he made at the morgue.

40:32 – Frank talks about getting along with his officer supervisor in the military police.

41:24 – Frank talks about enjoying hearing the artillery guns going.

42:36 – Frank talks about being the boss in the military police and that he liked Berlin.

44:42 – Frank talks about war souvenirs.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3lQUOwO

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/i-marched-with-patton-frank-sissonrobert-l-wise?variant=32117507555362

Thilde Kold Holdt and her Viking fantasy novel on Full Contact Nerd https://wp.me/p7CDU9-4YM

Bill Ayrey and Apollo 11 spacesuits on Technology and Space http://spacewalksmoneytalks.com/p/599

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 Sisson and Robert Wise

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, podcast, William Morrow, WWII, United States, Germany, Russia, France,

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

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.