tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363327952024-03-05T11:50:02.462-05:00Clio MusesThe purpose of [my enquiry] is to prevent the traces of human events from being erased by time. — Herodotus of Halicarnassus.ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-42291907728369308122020-12-07T01:05:00.000-05:002020-12-07T01:05:43.291-05:007 December 1941, Pearl Harbor Day<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">A few minutes before 0800, 7
December 1941, an Imperial Japanese Navy strike force composed of 31 ships (2
battleships, 6 carriers, 2 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser, 9 destroyers, 3
submarines, and 8 tankers; and an air strength of 432 planes, 39 for combat patrol,
40 for reserve, and 353 for the raid) attacked the United States Naval Station Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, without warning or declaration of war. Eighteen American ships
were seriously damaged or sunk; and 188 Army and Navy planes were destroyed and
159 damaged. There were 2,008 sailors killed and 710 wounded. One-hundred and
nine Marines were killed and 69 wounded. Army casualties were 218 killed, and
364 wounded. Civilian casualties were 68 killed and 35 wounded. Total
casualties: 2,403 killed, 1,178 wounded. The Japanese reported losing 29
planes, 4 or 5 midget submarines, and possibly one large submarine. Therein began
the largest naval war in history that was not decided until the United States
dropped two atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p>My father was a bomber pilot with
the United States Army Air Corps and served in the Pacific Theater; Ginny’s
father was an officer in the United States Marine Corps, also serving in the
Pacific. Ginny and I were born during World War II. We grew up with war reminiscences
of our parents and their friends. For us, the war was much more immediate than
it was for those born in the decades following.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p>It takes a leap of imagination to
realize how much Pearl Harbor impacted Americans. Surprise, anger, revenge, all
in spades. Worse, America was militarily unprepared to defend or immediately
retaliate. But five months after Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy defeated
a large Japanese strike force at the Battle of Midway. After that, Japan never
enjoyed another significant tactical or strategic victory against the United
States. Nevertheless, two atomic bombs were required to compel Japan to surrender
in August 1945.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p>Nearly 80 years later, we live in
the richest and militarily most powerful nation in the world. Like 1941,
Americans today cannot fathom another military attack as devastating and shocking
as was Pearl Harbor. However, it is no wiser to be complacent today as it was
foolish to be complacent in 1941.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></p>ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-65346158501134402632019-08-19T15:36:00.002-04:002019-08-19T15:36:34.780-04:00B-26 Marauder, "The Widow Maker"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNwGo0jKESV8PPL2cMTjQJmZrUXHB-YzfzEsPEHo8Y3pf3rlVK1Wr4r-hexzNHNc7JYzyjRxW3QzcO2J-Ymg-s_TpLfBuohd35a7tl3ksaigyLiSySBwpmvNLAGsn6rnwzfKq_/s1600/B26+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1327" data-original-width="1600" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNwGo0jKESV8PPL2cMTjQJmZrUXHB-YzfzEsPEHo8Y3pf3rlVK1Wr4r-hexzNHNc7JYzyjRxW3QzcO2J-Ymg-s_TpLfBuohd35a7tl3ksaigyLiSySBwpmvNLAGsn6rnwzfKq_/s320/B26+%25283%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My father, Robert P. Cook, <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Lieutenant Colonel, USAF (Ret.), flew B-26s in the Pacific Theater during World War II. When the squadron needed replacements, he and other pilots would on occasion hop rides to the States to pick up new planes and fly them back. Family legend says that it was on this trip that I was conceived. That's how I got ahead of the post-war "Baby Boom." This is his photo.</span>ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-14337319070728538962015-09-05T16:25:00.000-04:002015-09-05T16:25:41.549-04:00How Big Was World War II?
Many general histories of World War II begin by quantitatively
describing the size of the war. Numbers in history are often problematic. It is,
for example, generally safe to assume that all quantitative historical data is
inaccurate or incomplete. Moreover, very large numbers are difficult for us to comprehend.
We know the purchasing power of $100, but the current estimate of $13.3 trillion
for the national debt is beyond our grasp. Nevertheless, many authors will observe
that World War II is the largest event in human history. How do we understand something
that is that big? <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
One approach is to use geographical references. World War
II, for example, was fought on every continent including Antarctica. Because
the war was indeed global, however, events happened in places that few had ever
heard of and fewer could find on a map. Where is Tinian, Saipan, Malmédy, Kiev,
or even Bastogne? Who on earth had ever visited Ft. Polk, Louisiana, or Camp
Kilmer, New Jersey? Where was the Gila River War Relocation Center and what was
was going on there? When 21-year old Elmer Childers, a recent Gosport High
School graduate, and his family stood on the platform of the Gosport, Indiana
railway terminal in January 1944 to wish him farewell as he boarded the Monon
(“The Hoosier Line”) passenger train to Indianapolis and eventually to the
United States Army in Europe, they may not have a much better geographical
mental image of where he was going than those who stood on the docks of the
Spanish port of Palos to watch Christopher Columbus sail. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
Or one may also employ demographic measures to describe the
size of World War II. For example, the estimated total casualties (killed in
action —KIA; plus wounded in action — WIA; plus missing in action — MIA) from
WWII was 60 million people or about 3 percent of the world’s population. If one
adds deaths from disease and starvation then estimates reach 80 million. The
size of those figures is beyond our imagination.<br />
<o:p></o:p><br />
Let’s try another approach. According to Max Hastings (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Inferno, </i>p. 11, see below) between
September 1939 and August 1945, an average of 27,000 people died every day.
According to the 2010 census the population of Worthington, Ohio was 13,572.
When one walks or drives through the village of Worthington located on the
northwest of Columbus, the roads are crowded with traffic, the restaurants
busy, and the lines are long at Kroger. Consider, however, the world lost a village
the size of Worthington twice a day for every day of the war. It is still
staggering, but it gives a picture we can see in our imagination.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Economic measures are another common way to measure the size
of World War II. For example, <o:p></o:p></div>
In 1939 the United States produced 3,000 airplanes. By the
end of the war six years later the American aircraft industry had manufactured
and delivered over 300,000 airplanes. In 1939 the United States Army had less
than a dozen tanks suitable for combat deployment. By 1945 American firms had
delivered over 23,000 tanks (4,680 were M4 Sherman tanks) to the Army. The
United States produced 676,433 2½-ton trucks (the iconic “6x6”) and 647,870
jeeps. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our small arms manufacturers
produced 4,028,395 M1 Garand rifles and 6,117,767 M1 carbines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p> </o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">In 1937 the US Navy had 5 aircraft carriers; in 1941 it
had 8. By 1945 it had 27 aircraft carriers. In addition to aircraft carriers,
the United States Navy added an additional 1,200 combat ships. At war’s end the
United States Navy owned 70% of the world’s total naval tonnage.</span></span><span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Another way to evaluate economic data is to include the
production numbers prior to the war. From above we can see US aircraft carrier production
increased three-fold between 1941 and 1945; a figure matched by no other sea
power. After the war American industry switched from war goods to commercial
goods and had little trouble meeting civilian demand for new cars and
refrigerators. Consumers were less pleased, however, about post-war inflation. While
the World War II production figures for the United States appear huge, it seems
there was enough economic capacity for American industry to match new (and ever
increasing) consumer demands. Maybe we should approach the word “huge” from
another perspective. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Raw World War II production numbers of trucks, airplanes,
and ships might be more relative than we sometimes assume. It may be more
accurate to consider the large World War II production runs only in the context
of the 1940s. Consider that in 2008 Ford was the second largest US-based
automobile maker, 5<sup>th</sup> ranked worldwide, and employed 213,000
workers. In 2008 Ford made 5.5 million cars. In 2014 there were 16.4 million
new car registrations issued in the US alone. That suggests the so-called
production “miracle” of World War II was only a prelude to what technology and
the American economy would become. The “arsenal of democracy”, it appeared, was
just beginning to spread its wings. </span></span><span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">How during the war did America achieve such production figures?
What accounts for its ability to become the “arsenal of democracy?” There are
two reasons to explain why US production figures stand out. First, and most
obvious: the war was not fought on American soil. Our industries and population
centers were not bombed or starved for primary resources. Second, and most
important US goods and products were produced by assembly line methods. By
contrast, European production was essentially craft work. Compared to American
production, European industry was labor intensive and time consuming.</span></span><span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I can write pages on statistical summaries describing in
ever greater detail the size of World War II. In the end, the data might not satisfactorily
answer the question of magnitude. However, one of the central figures in our
story recorded an anecdote that tells us more about size than do columns of
numbers. </span></span><span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">On the morning of D-Day CPT Henry M. Hills, Jr., MC, one
of our surgeons, was assigned to the United States Army 12<sup>th</sup>
Evacuation Hospital (EVAC) that was stationed on the southeast coast of
England. They were preparing to treat the first casualties that would come back
from the beaches of Normandy. At 2330 on 5 June the transport planes carrying
the 82<sup>nd</sup> Airborne Division and 101<sup>st</sup> Airborne Division to
their drop zones behind the Normandy beaches began taking off. When they flew
over the 12<sup>th</sup> EVAC toward the channel they were about 500 feet off
the ground. There were over 870 transport planes carrying 13,100 paratroopers
and 3,937 glider troops. Each serial was about 1,000 feet apart; individual
planes within a serial were often no more than 50ft apart. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took 3 hours for all of the planes to fly
over their position. By the time the last plane passed over the 12<sup>th</sup>
EVAC, the first airborne troops had been on the ground in France for two hours.
</span></span><span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">CPT Hills and thousands of other eyewitnesses retold the
story of what they saw that night for the rest of their lives. And that is the
answer to the question: How Big Was World War II? It was that big.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Let me recommend three more general histories of World
War II:</span></span><span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A War to Be Won: Fighting the Second World
War</i> (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press), 2000. This is a
detailed operational history of World War II by two of America’s preeminent military
historians. World War II is complicated and many authors attempt to reduce the
complexity by discussing one sub-topic at a time. Murray and Millett, on the
other hand, choose the more difficult task of keeping the reader aware that
many events are happening at the same time and some of those events are
causally related. Some reviewers criticized this book because it was unlike
contemporary military histories in that it focused on the actual fighting and
not on social and cultural issues. I, on the other hand, think that is one of
the book’s strengths.</span></span><span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Max Hastings, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Inferno:
The World At War: 1939-1945</i> (New York: Alfred A. Knopf), 2011. This work is
especially good at describing and accounting for the human sacrifice and human
cost of World War II. It is reflective and sobering.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="tgc"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Peter Calvocoressi and Guy Wint, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Total War: Causes and Courses of the Second World War</i> (Middlesex,
England: Penguin Books), 1972. Because this is an older work, it obviously does
take advantage of recent World War II scholarship. Its advantage for us,
however, is that it is written from the perspective of the British Empire and,
consequently, includes details of the war in the British Commonwealth that most
American general World War II histories lack. Don’t worry, this book won’t turn
you into a British imperialist, but it will give an insight to the legacy of an
empire on which the sun never set.</span></span></div>
ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-5664284724442129332015-08-28T12:28:00.000-04:002015-08-28T12:28:15.335-04:00An Invitation to: “The Surgeons of Bastogne”
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I invite you to my lecture, “The Surgeons of Bastogne”, 14
September 2015, 10:00 AM to 1130: AM at the Griswold Center, 777 High Street,
Worthington, Ohio, 43085. Between now and then I will be posting here some
short essays that will provide an introduction to my presentation. I hope you
enjoy them and you may also enjoy more of my posts on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Clio Muses.</i><o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Our story takes place in the Belgium village of Bastogne.
Prior to the war Bastogne was a picturesque and popular tourist attraction. But
in December of 1944 Bastogne was the center of the most important American
battle in the European Theater of Operations (ETO), World War II.<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Bastogne was the junction of several major roads through the
Ardennes Forrest. The 101<sup>st</sup> Airborne Division had been sent to hold
Bastogne at all costs. They were surrounded by General Lüttwitz’s XLVII Panzer Corps
who attacked relentlessly. Early in the battle most of the division’s doctors,
surgeons, nurses, and all of its medical supplies were captured by the Germans.
The few who were left, were killed by artillery. The 101<sup>st</sup> Airborne
Division was now without any medical care except from two doctors serving with
two other units also trapped in Bastogne and the 101<sup>st</sup>’s company
medics and what supplies they carried in their own bags. Moreover, the sky was
so overcast the United States Army Air Force could not provide combat support
or parachute in supplies. Conditions were desperate and they were going to get
worse. <o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
As the fighting increased, American casualties mounted. They
had scant little medical care. How the casualties finally received medical
treatment, how most of them were saved, who saved them, and how that
contributed to the ultimate victory is our story.<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I think you will like it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
In addition to some of the World War II posts already on
this blog and the ones I will publish in the next couple of weeks, you may also
like to read <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>more on the Ardennes
Counter Offensive, popularly called the Battle of the Bulge. I recommend the
following:<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
For a readable and authoritative overview see the relevant
chapters in Allen R. Millett, Peter Maslowski, and William B. Freis, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">For the Common Defense: A Military History
of the United States from 1607 to 2012 </i>(New York: Free Press), 2012.
Chapter 13, “The United States and World War II: From the Edge of Defeat to the
Edge of Victory: 1939-1943,” and Chapter 14, “The United States and World War
II: The Road to Victory, 1943-1945.” For the Ardennes Counter Offensive, see
especially “From Normandy to the Rhine,” pp. 486-494; and ”The Axis Last Stand,”
pp. 499-507. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are interested in American military
history, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">For the Common Defense</i> would
be a welcome addition to your book shelves.<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
For a more detailed and fascinating study I recommend Danny
S. Parker, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Battle of the Bulge: Hitler’s
Ardennes Offensive, 1944-1945</i> (Boston: De Capo Press), rev ed. 2004. <o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
The classical and much recommended study is Charles B.
MacDonald, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Time for Trumpets: The
Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge, The Greatest Single Victory in U. S.
Army History</i> (New York: William Morrow & Company), 1984. <o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I am sure you will find any one of these works informative
and helpful. They are available from the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Barnes
& Noble, or Amazon.com.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I forward to seeing you in September.</div>
ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-61688136673121874082015-08-02T08:05:00.000-04:002015-08-02T08:05:00.107-04:00Persian Gulf War 25th Anniversary, 2 August 1990
At 0100 hrs (Kuwait time), 2 August 1990, I Corps and II Corps,
Republican Guard Forces Command (RGFC), commanded by <span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lieutenant
General Iyad Futayyih Khalifah al-Rawi,</span><span lang="EN"> </span>attacked
across the Kuwaiti frontier. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Hammurabi Armored Division supported by the Nebuchadnezzar Motorized Infantry
Division, and the Tawakalna Mechanized Infantry Division with the Al Faw
Infantry Division in support, spearheaded the main attack south into Kuwait
along the Safwan-‘Abdally axis, driving toward the Al-Jahra pass. <o:p> </o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Farther west, the Medina Armored Division supported by the
Adnan Infantry Division and the Baghdad Mechanized Infantry Division also
crossed the frontier. Simultaneous with the main attacks, units from the 8<sup>th</sup>
As Saiqa Special Operations Divisions conducted an air assault attack on key
installations in Kuwait City; and an amphibious attack on Bayan Palace, the
Amir’s official residence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
By 0530 the two attacking columns had linked up with the
special operations units just west of Kuwait City. By 1900 hrs they had
captured Kuwait City and were pressing toward the coastal, port cities. <o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
On 3 August 1990 The New York Times reported, “Without
warrant or warning, Iraq has struck brutally at a tiny Kuwait, a brazen
challenge to world law. Iraq stands condemned by a unanimous UN Security Council
. . . President Bush’s taste for bluntness stands him in good stead: ‘Naked Aggression!’
is the correct term for President Saddam Hussein’s grab at a vulnerable,
oil-rich neighbor.”<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Recommended readings:<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Ballard, John R. <em>From Storm to Freedom: America’s Long War
with Iraq</em> (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press), 2010.<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<em>Conduct of the Persian Gulf War: Final Report to Congress</em>
(Washington, D. C.: Department of Defense), 1992. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-90986832419051188412015-06-26T12:52:00.000-04:002015-06-26T12:52:39.238-04:00The Berlin Airlift, 1948-1949
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
On this day, 26 June 1948, the Berlin Airlift began. The
Berlin Airlift is one of American Armed Forces’ great humanitarian achievements.
It was successfully executed on short notice by a military that was gutted from
post-World War II hasty downsizing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
It was agreed at the Potsdam Conference that at the end of
World War II Germany would be divided into 5 occupying zones: France, Great
Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was assigned
the Eastern Zone, which they had conquered and occupied by May of 1945. Berlin
fell within the Soviet Zone and it was determined jointly that Berlin would be a
“free city” divided into two sectors (East Berlin and West Berlin). The civil
governance of the Western Zone was shared by the French, British, and
Americans; East Berlin was governed by the Soviet Union.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
The Soviets allowed access to West Berlin by one autobahn,
one railroad, and two air corridors. West Berlin, the largest post-war German
city with a population of a bit over 2 million, received all of its coal, oil,
petrol, medicines, and food through those Soviet-controlled corridors.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
After President Roosevelt died in April 1945, the US stopped
all pretense of diplomatic “friendship” with the Soviet Union. The Potsdam
Conference (July-August 1945) was the last Allied Conference of World War II.
It was attended by Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Harry Truman. The
Conference quickly revealed the deep tensions between the British and
Americans, on one side, and the Soviet Union on the other. The Soviet Union had
resisted the joint occupation of Berlin and had pressured the Allies to
withdraw from Berlin entirely. Stalin increased the diplomatic pressure in June
1948 by closing all air and ground access to West Berlin from the west. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
Rather than giving in to the Soviet demands or letting 2
million people starve, the United States organized, with British assistance, an
airlift to supply West Berlin with needed fuel, water, medicines, and food
among many other items.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
Under the command of General Curtis Lemay, United States Air
Force, and General Lucius D. Clay, United States Army, the United States
launched a massive operation to supply West Berlin by air. Using virtually
every transport plane and pilot the new United States Air Force organized a
round-the-clock 7-days-a-week “air bridge” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">die
Luftbrucke</i>). There were numerous complications and obstacles, not the least
of which was inclement weather. Because of Soviet hostility the transport
planes had to be escorted by US fighters, which restricted the already limited
air space in the air corridor into Berlin. Moreover, there was only one large
airfield in Berlin, the former <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Luftwaffe</i>
air base, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tempelhofer Feld</i> (rendered
Templehof in English). As the airlift continued, smaller fields were built in
Berlin but they only slightly mitigated the space problem on the ground and in
the air.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
Planes landed and took-off at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tempelhofer Feld </i>every four minutes. Crews were flying 2 to 3
missions a day. One of the two major fields in West Germany was Rhein Main,
AFB, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Frankfurt am Main</i>. Rhein Main
was closed in 2005, but I had the good fortune to lay over at Rhein Main
returning from ODS in 1991. The second major base in West Germany was Wiesbaden
AFB. Wiesbaden had been the World War II headquarters for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Luftwaffe</i>. When the Americans arrived in
1945 Wiesbaden became the US Army Headquarters Europe. By 1948 Wiesbaden was a
major Air Force Base and the headquarters of United States Air Force Europe.
When we were stationed in England I can remember at least two vacations in Wiesbaden
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Frankfurt am Main</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
The coordination for the Berlin Airlift was difficult and
exacting. On the ground the planes were lined up nose-to-tail and loaded
several at a time. The start and completion of loading each plane had to be
timed so the plane could lift off on schedule. With a take-off and landing
every four minutes one can appreciate the demanding choreography of the ground operation.
Planes requiring maintenance were pulled out of the line and replaced with repaired
ones. The “air bridge system” in many ways resembled a linear assembly line
rather than a “bridge”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
According to my father, one interesting consequence of this
demanding system was that pilots were assigned planes as they were parked in
the loading line rather than by their squadron assignments. For example, my
father was assigned to the 332<sup>nd</sup> Troop Carrier Squadron, 513<sup>th</sup>
Troop Carrier Group, Rhein Main AFB. The 332<sup>nd</sup> flew the new the Fairchild
C-119, “The Flying Box”. It had just entered service with the USAF in November
1947. It was the first post-war cargo plane specifically designed for paratroop
operations, airborne cargo drops, and with a short runway capability. Like most
of the other troop carrier pilots during the Berlin Airlift, my father flew
whatever came up next, whether it was a C-47, C-46, or a C-54. At that time
there were only two classifications of Air Force pilots: single engine or
multi-engine. It was expected that the multi-engine pilots could fly a plane
with two engines or four (or one or three when an engine feathered). As
aviation technology became more complex, pilot training and ratings changed
accordingly. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
The Soviet Union was caught off guard by America’s ability
to supply Berlin by air. By September 1949 the Soviet Union backed down and
settled for a negotiated <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">status quo ante</i>:
Berlin would remain divided and the West would be re-guaranteed access. The
Berlin Air Lift delivered and amazing 2.3 million tons of cargo; flew over
189,000 flights; logged over 600,000 flying hours; and flew 92 million miles.
During the 15 month operation the accident rate was lower than the entire Air
Force for the same period of time. There were only 12 air plane accidents
during the Air Lift. Unfortunately, 31 Americans were killed, mostly from
ground accidents. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
The Berlin Airlift defined the American strategic spirit for
the remainder of the Cold War. It was eloquently summarized by President John
F. Kennedy in his 1961 Inaugural Address:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us
well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship,
support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of
liberty” </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-19708669412885990422015-05-21T21:47:00.000-04:002015-05-21T21:47:42.679-04:00Memorial Day 2015Memorial Day is a day set aside to for the nation to remember and honor American Armed Forces members who died in war. Veterans Day, on the other hand, is a day set aside for the nation to remember and honor all who have served in the American Armed Forces.<br />
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Our contemporary Memorial Day grew out of the Civil War experience. As deaths increased from 1861 to the end of the war those killed in action were recovered, buried, and memorialized through the service member’s unit, his comrades, his family, his home town, or his home state. There was no army-wide system for accurate identification of the remains, next of kin notification, or burial. For years after the war the bodies of tens of thousands of soldiers were reinterred by their family to family or local cemeteries; or, after 1867, to the new national cemeteries. <br />
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Today there are 147 United States National Cemeteries maintained by the Department of Veterans Affairs; 14 cemeteries associated with historic sites or battlefields maintained by the National Park Service; and 24 American military cemeteries maintained overseas by the American Battle Monuments Commission. Since the Civil War administrative improvements have been made in identification, notification, and burial; but nothing mitigates the profound loss experienced by family, friends, and the nation.<br />
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While towns and states began to develop various memorialization’s, ceremonies, and remembrances, the idea of a national memorial day was the consequence of John A. Logan’s indefatigable work and skilled leadership. <br />
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Before of the Civil War Logan was a US Congressman from Southern Illinois. At the opening of the war he volunteered and rose to the rank of Major General. He had a distinguished war record that included commands at Vicksburg and at the Battle of Atlanta. He returned to Congress after the war and became involved in veteran affairs.<br />
<br />
In 1866 he attended the first veteran’s memorial services at Woodlawn Cemetery, Carbondale, Illinois. The following year, in his capacity as the commander-in-chief of the Civil War veteran’s fraternal organization, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), he founded Memorial Day as a national holiday. <br />
<br />
On 5 May 1868 he issued a proclamation to announce the start of a national, annual memorial day. The proclamation, which might be considered the first Memorial Day speech, explains why he thinks a national Memorial Day is important. His original idea was to remember the Union Civil War dead. Since then, Memorial Day has grown to include all American wars. Though his language represents the flowery style of the 19th century, I nevertheless hope his words still soar to inspire and enrich our thoughts, reflections, and memories this weekend.<br />
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
General John A. Logan </div>
<br />
I. The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form or ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.<br />
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We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose, among other things, "of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion." What can aid more to assure this result than by cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foe? Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their death a tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the Nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and found mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice of neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of free and undivided republic.<br />
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If other eyes grow dull and other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain in us.<br />
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Let us, then, at the time appointed, gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with choicest flowers of springtime; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us as sacred charges upon the Nation's gratitude, -- the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan.<br />
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II. It is the purpose of the Commander-in-Chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades. He earnestly desires the public press to call attention to this Order, and lend its friendly aid in bringing it to the notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith.<br />
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III. Department commanders will use every effort to make this order effective.<br />
<br />
By order of<br />
JOHN A. LOGAN, <br />
Commander-in-Chief <br />
<br />
N.P. CHIPMAN, <br />
Adjutant General<br />
<br />
Official: <br />
WM. T. COLLINS, A.A.G.<br />
<br />
<em>Source</em>: http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/history/military/legionpost35/genlogan.htmROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-90378542933748497632015-05-08T11:43:00.000-04:002015-05-08T11:43:03.924-04:00Victory in Europe DayToday is Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day. At 0241 Tuesday, 7 May 1945 Generaloberst Alfred Jodl, Stabschef Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (roughly the equivalent of our Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), representing Germany’s armed forces, surrendered to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force. The ceremony took place at Eisenhower’s headquarters in Reims, France. One-hundred and seventeen days later Japan would surrender and World War II was over.<br />
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World War II was the largest and most terrible event in human history. The war was fought on every continent including Antarctica. Conservatively, 60 million people died and millions more were wounded, displaced, or missing. <br />
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The end of the war marked the economic and political decline of Europe and the emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as the world’s two dominant powers. It was the beginning of the Cold War, the Nuclear Age, the dissolution of European colonial empires, the rise of national liberation movements and the “Third World”, the formation of a world-wide monetary system, and the formation of a world-wide political organization. <br />
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“For the whole earth is the tomb of famous men; not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men. Make them your examples, and, esteeming courage to be freedom and freedom to be happiness, do not weigh too nicely the perils of war."<br />
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<br />
[Funeral Oration of Pericles]<br />
― Thucydides, <i>The History of the Peloponnesian War<br />
</i>ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-68618365934255640022015-02-15T12:36:00.001-05:002015-02-15T12:36:55.313-05:00The Surgeons of BastogneThe Ardennes Counter Offensive is officially dated from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945. It was not exactly that precise, especially for the participants. Historical periods are chronological aids; actual history knows no such precise periodization. However imprecise, carefully dating periods gives history structure. A historical period is like a grid on a map: the dates are the coordinates that show you where you are.<br />
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The Ardennes Counter Offensive is popularly known as “The Battle of the Bulge”, which unfortunately is misleading. A “bulge” is journalistic slang left over from World War I. If generals are supposed to fight “the last war”, then journalists tend to wright about “the last war”. I adhere to the formal name, Ardennes Counter Offensive, because it best defines the sequence of events that we are studying.<br />
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One of the most obvious but little noticed characteristic of history is how ordinary it is. Living during the 1940s with a world war raging was not, as some like to write, romantic. It was not a time for Victory Doughnuts and brave young warriors. It was not a “Good War” and it was definitely not the time of “The Greatest Generation”. It was a time of immense suffering for countless men and women, boys and girls. It was a time of unimaginable sacrifice and of breath-taking joy. It was a time when people attempted to relieve misery and save lives, even when those lives were doomed. It was a time when people enthusiastically raised torture to high art forms, and exterminated people in the name of truth. Killing was as natural as love making. The war years were so normal, they were so ordinary. Ordinary people just doing the ordinary things people do. It was a time when many were guilty and none were innocent. It was a time memorable not for its heroes or its villains, but for its rapacious banality. <br />
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Though with difficulty and often not the “same” as it had been before the war, life in America went on. People worked, went to school, graduated, had romances, got married, had babies, followed sports, went to shows, talked about the latest movie, and complained about rationing and the weather. It was a time when taxi cab drivers parked in front of homes and apartments and delivered telegrams that announced the unthinkable to someone who was about to have the worst day of his or her life.<br />
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The winter of 1944-1945 was the coldest and wettest European winter in nearly a hundred years. It was not that cold in North America but it was a colder than average. When I was brought home from the hospital in December in Washington, D. C., there was snow on the ground and it was below freezing; unusual before Christmas.<br />
It was also a cold season for the Washington Redskins. They finished 3rd in the National Football League-East division with a 6-3-1 record. Then the game was played with traditional values: no tie-breakers. But the traditional value of winning eluded the ‘Skins that season. The last two games were both played against the New York Giants. The first was played at the Polo Grounds, the Giants’ home stadium. The Redskins lost 16-13. The next weekend they played at home at Griffith Stadium and lost 31-0. The film highlights of that game are available at: https://archive.org/details/1944-12-11_Army_Needs_Must_Be_Met/. The following week the New York Giants lost the NFL Championship Game to the Green Bay Packers, 14-7. Mercifully that dismal season was over before I was born.<br />
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Indiana University, to which in the 1940s our family had no connection but do now, also had a season not to remember. In the 1944-1945 season IU went 10-11 overall, 3-9 in the Big Ten, which was worth a ninth place finish when the conference actually had ten teams (Chicago University was a Big Ten member but Michigan State was not). In 1944 the Ohio State University basketball team won the Big Ten Conference with a 14-7 overall record and a 10-2 conference record. OSU then lost to Dartmouth, 60-53, in the NCAA Regional Final.<br />
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The NCAA Championship game for the 1944-1945 season was won by Oklahoma A&M (becoming Oklahoma State University in 1957) defeating New York University 49-45. The Oklahoma A&M coach was Hank Iba who in 1972 became the first American Olympic basketball head coach to lose the Gold Medal game breaking a string of 63 successive US Men’s Basketball Gold Medal victories.<br />
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During World War II most of the professional sports teams lost their best athletes to the Armed Forces. Most of the “stars” were draft age. One professional baseball player to serve in World War II was John (Buddy) Kelly Lewis who played his entire career as the Washington Senator’s two-time All-Star 3rd baseman. He was an Army Air Force Pilot who flew 500 transport missions over “The Hump”, which was the dangerous “air train” over the Himalayas that supplied the British and American armies fighting in Burma and in Thailand and the Chinese Army fighting the Japanese in China. For this Lewis was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war he returned to the Washington Senators ending his career in 1949.<br />
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Starting in 1940 the American economy boomed. Unemployment was as low as it was in the 1920s and salaries sky-rocketed. Many consumer items were rationed, but a growing number of Americans now had enough money to beat the rationing system by buying on the Black Market. My grandfather and Ginny’s grandfathers were employed throughout the war. Few consumer products, especially durable goods and houses, were available. Production shifted from new cars and refrigerators to tanks, jeeps, and airplanes. The economic result was consumer savings had never been so high. War time savings became the fuel that resulted in the rapid American economic growth after the war.<br />
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The modern ball point pen was invented in the late 1930s, but was not a success until 1944 when the British Royal Air Force discovered that unlike most fountain pens a ball point pen functioned at high altitudes. By the following year ball point pens entered the American consumer market, but they were expensive costing $10. Calculating for inflation that comes out to $134 in current dollars. I do not believe they were sold in packages of ten.<br />
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For the popular U.S. culture, the 1940s was the decade of the superhero. Superman got the trend going in 1938, making his first appearance in “Action Comics.” By the 1940s, the man of steel was at the top of his game, single-handedly fighting Hitler and Hirohito in one memorable cover from 1942. Batman appeared in late 1939, but he, too, was really a child of the 1940s. When Green Lantern arrived in July 1940, the archetype of the superhero was firmly entrenched in the nation’s mythology.<br />
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In the 1940s, renowned Broadway composer Richard Rodgers teamed up with a new lyricist named Oscar Hammerstein to create “Oklahoma!” “Carousel,” and “South Pacific.” Irving Berlin contributed “Annie Get Your Gun,” with Ethel Merman in the title role. Tennessee Williams’ dramas of the decade included “The Glass Menagerie” in 1945 and “A Streetcar Named Desire” in 1947, for which Williams won a Pulitzer. Directed by Elia Kazan, “Streetcar” is best remembered for the performance of a 24-year-old actor named Marlon Brando in the role of Stanley Kowalski.<br />
All over America young men left for war. Railroad trains were packed with soldiers traveling from one post to another and then to a port-of-call. There were so many traveling across the country that special canteens sprung up at rail terminals or rural stations like North Platte, Nebraska where trains stopped for coal and water. Staffed by local women and supported with local donations, they served up homemade cookies, sandwiches, hot coffee and shared conversations with young men who were often on their own for the first time and all who did not where they were going or what to expect when they arrived.<br />
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One such young man was Henry M. Hills. He was born in Lamoni, Iowa, on 14 March 1913. His father was a physician and Henry wanted to be a doctor too. In 1938 he graduated from the University of Iowa Medical School with a specialty in trauma surgery. In August 1942 he had completed a trauma and orthopedic surgery residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. He was 29 years old.<br />
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At the beginning of the summer of 1942 the United States Navy defeated a Japanese Fleet in the Pacific Ocean at the Battle of Midway. The United States Eighth Air Force began bombing missions over Germany. The German Army captured Sebastopol. The United States Marines landed on the Solomon Islands. The Army decided it was time to call Dr. Hills. The newly minted Captain Henry Hills, MD, MC, did not know he would play an important role in the Ardennes Counteroffensive. <br />
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ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-31283554113591312712013-09-24T22:10:00.002-04:002013-09-24T22:10:54.402-04:00The Vietnam War: Common Obstacles to Historical Understanding IThere are several obstacles to achieving an understanding of a particular historic event or era. The first obstacle I will discuss is the lack of you own knowledge about the specific event or time period.<br />
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Because that obstacle is relatively easy to overcome but often time-consuming one is tempted to take short-cuts. We have a tendency to read something and think that is “enough”. Too often we know only “enough” for an opinion but not “enough” for historical understanding or interpretation. <br />
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The best place to begin our journey toward understanding the Vietnam War is by reading one or more general surveys of the war. Here we are in luck. Recently there has been a boom in Vietnam War histories. Below are the most recent and frequently recommended general surveys of the Vietnam War.<br />
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The study of history reminds me of long distance running. I have been a runner most of my life but the first mile of every run is the most uncomfortable and far from enjoyable. However, once my body warms up the more relaxed I become, my breath becomes rhythmic, stride evens out, and running becomes enjoyable.<br />
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One of the reasons we strive for historical understanding is because understanding something is enjoyable. The more we know the more we understand and, again like running, the further we can go and have fun.<br />
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I recommend any one or two of the following books. They are all available in the local library or you can purchase a copy through distributors such as Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com. Ohio State University Professor Guilmartin’s book is available online.<br />
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Next time I will explore the difficulties of time and context.<br />
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Bibliography<br />
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Guilmartin, John Francis. America in Vietnam: The Fifteen Year War. http:/onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/lookupid?key=olbp 18445.<br />
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Herring, George C. America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975. 4th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2002.<br />
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Lawrence, Mark Atwood. The Vietnam War: A Concise International History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.<br />
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McMahon, Robert J. The Limits of Power: The United States and Southeast Asia Since World War II. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.<br />
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Schulzinger, Robert D. A Time for War: The United States and Vietnam: 1941-1975. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.<br />
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Young, Marilyn B. The Vietnam Wars: 1945-1990. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.<br />
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</div>ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-11853430666971177762013-09-15T17:10:00.002-04:002013-09-15T18:44:57.269-04:00The Vietnam WarForty years ago America withdrew all of its soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen (except for the contingent of United States Marines at the American embassy) from South Vietnam. For the United States Armed Forces the war was over. Two years later the war was also over for South Vietnam. They were invaded and conquered by North Vietnam. Within a year the new, unified Vietnam was renamed the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.<br />
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<br />
For forty years, Americans have struggled to come to some sort of individual if not collective understanding of what the Vietnam War meant. Discussions about the meaning of the Vietnam War have in various fora including public media; literature; art; works of history; political parties and focus groups; classrooms; churches; veterans associations; the family dinner; and over the back fence. Most discussions have generated as much contention as consensus.<br />
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<br />
Mark Lawrence in his recent survey, The Vietnam War: A Concise International History (Oxford University Press, 2008) identified four questions scholars and the public have most frequently asked about the Vietnam War.<br />
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First, what were the motives of the Vietnamese who fought against South Vietnam and the United States sacrificing their lives beyond anything we could imagine? <br />
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Second, why did Vietnam, an area that seemed geographically and political insignificant, become so important to the world’s strongest nations? Why did powerful nations invest so much?<br />
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Third, why did the Vietnam War turn out the way it did? Why did we lose?<br />
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Fourth, what does it all mean? How has it influenced American history, society, and culture? <br />
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Those questions lead to more fundamental questions. What is the purpose of American foreign policy? What is the nature of American society? What is the meaning of the American historical experience? Who are we? How did we, of all people, get into this war and then lose it? In other words, we are asking the most important questions a nation can ask about itself. And we are not getting a clear answer.<br />
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In the next several posts for Clio Muses I will explore how important writers have answered these questions. I will discuss a large number of books, articles, movies, TV shows, and internet sources. I will show how those works are sorted into thematic groups and what those themes mean. I will also discuss some of the ways we can expand and enrich our own understanding of the Vietnam War. <br />
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ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-64263390732012128632013-07-02T10:47:00.000-04:002013-07-02T10:47:57.314-04:00Gettysburg, 1863The Battle of Gettysburg, 1-3 July 1863. One hundred and fifty years ago the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia clashed at a farm village that was also an important road junction in southern Pennsylvania, a few miles north of the Mason-Dixon Line. While Gettysburg, the most famous Civil War battle, was a tactical success for the Union, it achieved no Union strategic aim. However, the day after Gettysburg, 4 July 1863, the Union achieved its greatest strategic success of the war when General Grant forced the Confederate Army to surrender the important city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Once the Confederacy lost Vicksburg it no longer could win the war. Had Lee been able to defeat the Army of the Potomac enough to keep that huge Union army north of the Potomac River, it is possible the South could have hung on until the election of 1864; an election Lincoln may have lost. The loss of Vicksburg, however, cut off wheat, corn, and horses from Texas destined for the Confederate armies; it opened the Mississippi River to Union traffic through New Orleans; and it opened a corridor through Tennessee which Grant used to take Chattanooga that opened the door for the fall of Atlanta. It was Sherman’s victory in 1864 that sealed the November election for Lincoln. Meanwhile, Lee could not contain the Army of the Potomac and General Johnson could not keep Sherman from moving north up the eastern coast. When the Confederate flag was lowered and the National Colors were raised over Vicksburg on Independence Day, 1863, the South had effectively lost the war.<br />
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ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-34058297480754757402013-04-28T13:35:00.000-04:002013-04-28T13:35:06.828-04:00The Ohio Ewings in the 19th CenturyI recommend an excellent book by Dr. Kenneth J. Heineman, <em>Civil War Dynasty: The Ewing Family of Ohio</em> (New York: New York University Press: New York) 2013. For anyone with an interest in Ohio history or politics, or Ohio’s important contribution to the Civil War, this well written and meticulously researched work will be a delight.
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The book chronicles the politically important and powerful Ewing family from Lancaster, Ohio. Thomas Ewing, the family patriarch, practiced law in Lancaster, Ohio, served as a U. S. Senator, the Secretary of Treasury, and the first Secretary of the Interior. Thomas Ewing’s three sons, Thomas Jr., Charles, and Hugh (all born in Lancaster, Ohio), served in the Union Army finishing the war as generals with highly distinguished careers.<br />
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In 1829 Charles Sherman, a successful lawyer who sat on the Ohio Supreme Court and close friend of Thomas Ewing, died leaving his widow with 11 children and no inheritance. Thomas Ewing took in the 9-year old boy, William Tecumseh Sherman, raised him the Ewing household and helped get him an appointment at West Point. In 1850 William Tecumseh Sherman married Thomas Ewing’s daughter, Eleanor (“Ellen”).<br />
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Heineman describes in rich depth this important family who was influential in America’s most divisive and violent periods. All of my Buckeye friends will find this book fruitful and entertaining. <br />
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The author, Kenneth Heineman, grew up in and attended high school in Lancaster. He recalls his involvement with the Fairfield Heritage Association (FHA) and the Sherman House Museum in Lancaster where important influences that guided him into a career as a professional historian. While in high school he played the role of General Hugh Ewing in an FHA presentation at the Ohio State Fair. One cannot under estimate the importance of local history organizations.<br />
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ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-89897565268146234982012-07-12T09:44:00.000-04:002012-07-12T09:44:06.618-04:00Recruiting in Franklin County, Ohio: July-August 1862<br />
On Saturday, 19 July 1862, the <em>Daily Ohio State Journal</em>, Columbus, Ohio, published an article entitled “Report on Recruiting”. The article was a detailed set of instructions for establishing and conducting recruiting stations in Franklin County, Ohio.<br />
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Its author, Captain Riley, had been tasked by the Franklin County Military Committee to provide a memorandum of standard operating procedures for orderly recruitment in Franklin County. This recruiting drive was a response to President Lincoln’s 2 July 1862 call for 300,000 volunteers. National defense policy, derived from the experiences of the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, 1846, established a small standing army but gave the President power to call for volunteers. How those volunteers would be recruited was the responsibility of individual states. <br />
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The process used by Franklin County, Ohio, is summarized below from Captain Riley’s memorandum of instruction.<br />
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First, Captain Riley’s memorandum instructed that there will be a recruiting office in each township in Franklin County. If the township is large, one or more recruiting stations may be established.<br />
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Second, the Military Committee will appoint a recruiting officer for each recruiting station. The appointed officer will take an oath and become an enlisted man in the United States Army.<br />
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Third, the appointed recruiting officer will be given the rank of Sergeant.<br />
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Fourth, each Recruiting Sergeant is authorized to rent a room and provide a drummer and a fifer. Those expenses will be paid by the Military Committee.<br />
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Fifth, the Recruiting Sergeant is also authorized to order recruiting posters from the County Committee for Posters and Circulars announcing the hours of the Recruiting Office and other pertinent information. He is also authorized the purchase of an American flag for the station, which, along with the posters, will also be paid for by the Military Committee.<br />
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Sixth, an Agent, who will be a member of the Military Committee, is authorized to visit Recruiting stations as often as possible. He may charge his travel expenses to the Military Committee. The Agent from the Military Committee is also authorized to arrange public meetings; instruct and advise the Recruiting Sergeant; inspect quarters to insure that recruits are provided the appropriate subsistence allowance; and pay for any transportation necessary. The Agent will submit all requests for reimbursement with duplicate receipts.<br />
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Seventh, each Recruiting Sergeant will prepare duplicate muster rolls that will include the full name of each recruit, his Post Office address; whether he is single or married; if married how many children he has; or if single whether his parents are living. A copy of the muster roll will be sent to the Secretary of the Military Committee to insure that he and his dependents receive relief or assistance from the County Military Fund.<br />
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The men who volunteered in Franklin County in July and early and August 1862 were assigned to the newly formed 95th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (95th OVI). When a sufficient number of men had been recruited, they were ordered to report to Camp Chase, which was located in southwestern Columbus, Ohio. The men were organized into companies, and issued arms and equipment. They were mustered under the command of Colonel William Linn McMillen (1829-1902) into Federal service on 19 August 1862. The regiment was assigned to Cruft’s Brigade, Army of Kentucky, Department of Ohio. <br />
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Ten days later they were ordered to attack Major General Edmund Kirby Smith’s veteran Confederate regiments at the Battle of Richmond, Kentucky (29-30 August 1862). That did not go too well for the 95th OVI.<br />
<br />ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-6685939916172337242012-06-09T09:46:00.000-04:002012-06-09T09:46:40.500-04:00Civil War Sesquicentennial Notes: War Ends<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This concludes the series of Civil War Sesquicentennial Notes I published in 2011 in family emails focusing on the last days of the Civil War. </span><br />
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<em>Sunday, 9 April 1865</em>. It was Palm Sunday. As Grant had mused the previous day, Lee was considering a fight. Lee thought an attack against Sheridan’s Cavalry Corps north of Appomattox Courthouse might provide time and space for the rest of his army to retreat toward Leesburg. Confederate scouts and pickets reported that two more Union corps had maneuvered behind Lee, blocking his exit. Some of his staff officers urged that they let the men exfiltrate to fight as guerrillas. Lee, it is believed, rejected the idea saying that they would just become marauders and would be hunted down by the Union cavalry. Guerrilla warfare, or “bushwhacking”, was more dishonorable than surrendering. Even so, Lee said that he “would rather die a thousand deaths” than surrender to General Grant. Lee, of course, did no such thing. Rather he sent a dispatch through the Union lines to General Grant agreeing to surrender. They met at the home of Wilmer McLean in Appomattox Courthouse at 1400 hours. In one of the ironies of the war, Wilmer McLean’s home in Manassas, Virginia, was destroyed in 1861 during the Battle of Bull Run. After that battle he purchased land that was so far away from the war it would never again affect him. Lee stood on the porch of McLean’s house wearing a clean, dress uniform and sword. General Grant arrived on horseback wearing his standard “slouch” hat, a muddy enlisted man’s coat, without rank insignia. He looked like a private. They shook hands and went into the parlor. Grant’s said he would allow Lee to surrender his Army, that they were to “stack arms” (give their rifles and pistols to the Union Army), and go home. Lee asked that his men and officers, who unlike the Union Army, owned their own horses, be allowed keep them. Grant said yes. Moreover, Grant said, the Union Army would provide rations, provisions, and medical care to Lee’s near starving 28,000 soldiers. Lee and Grant signed the surrender document. They shook hands. It was over. <br />
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<br />ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-61189070942478207132012-05-29T10:00:00.000-04:002012-05-30T07:57:17.463-04:00A Review of "Chancellorsville Battle App"On Saturday 20 May 2012 I visited the Chancellorsville National Battlefield Park and used the “Chancellorsville Battle App”. The app is available from the Civil War Trust at Civilwar.org/battleapps/, and features interactive GPS enabled maps; three GPS guided battlefield tours; maps; text; primary documents and photos; video presentations by an expert historian; orders of battle; time line; information about the park; and information about other historic points of interest in the area.<br />
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This app, which is free, is the result of a joint venture of the Civil War Trust, The Virginia Department of Transportation, and the developer, NeoTreks, Inc. The project directors were Rob Shenk of the Civil War Trust and Michael Bullock of NeoTreks, Inc. The historians for the project were Robert K. Kirk, who appears in the videos, and Eric Mink, historian at the Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania National Military Park.<br />
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This app is designed to be used on the battlefield or as a stand alone educational product. This app will accurately guide the user through three tours of the battlefield; explain the geography, the context, and the events that occurred where the user is standing. It does so with a variety of texts, graphics, readings, and video presentations. In addition, one can click on “Battle Overview” for a general presentation of the entire campaign, and “Battle Resources” for further factual data about the battle, the armies, and leading personalities. <br />
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Each of the three battlefield tours include extensive information about the length of each tour, the walking distance, the driving distance, detailed (using the GPS map feature) directions, an interactive military contour map with unit markings and times, contemporary street maps (with satellite images), safety information, other points of interest, and even the location of the nearest public restrooms. Each tour is accompanied with an excellent explanatory video, readings from primary sources, and contemporary drawings and photos. <br />
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The app is available for iPod and Android platforms and is easily downloaded. Because many battlefields do not have Wi-Fi, this app can also be downloaded to one’s smart phone or tablet so that the only link needed is the GPS, which is available on all battlefields. The download feature also means that the user can use the product before and after visiting the battlefield.<br />
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The content of the app is accurate, well organized, and well presented. It is useful to any first time visitor as well as any second or third time visitor. It also serves as a stand alone history of the battle. The historians and developers have taken what is arguably the most complex Civil War battle and made it understandable to both novice and educated person alike. The result is a highly useful, quality product. <br />
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Normally I tour battlefields well armed with a map case, a Sylva compass, pencil, protractor, notebook(s), camera(s), and field glasses. All I needed at Chancellorsville this time was my cell phone. That is hard to beat. <br />
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I submit that apps are becoming the battlefield tour guides of choice. The technology is flexible, easily available, and portable. An app can be written for a first-time visitor or for the more sophisticated Staff Ride student. Historians and specialists now have the opportunity to bring the fruit of years of research into the hands of interested citizens visiting a National Park. <br />
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I look forward to using and reviewing more such apps.<br />
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<br />ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-53117206716405868492012-04-25T16:07:00.000-04:002012-04-25T16:07:58.854-04:00Saturday, 8 April 1865: Notes are Exchanged<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
No word from Lee. Tension rises at Union headquarters. Grant has a persistent headache. Mead is suffering nausea. Around noon a reply comes from General Lee. He asks Grant for a discussion concerning “the restoration of peace”. The wording is vague, but it is clearly a request to negotiate a political solution. Grant immediately replies that he has no authority to negotiate a political settlement and his request for Lee’s surrender stands. President Lincoln anticipated this moment. On 3 March 1865 (the evening before he gave his second inaugural address) he sent a letter to General Grant in which he specified that if Lee were to surrender, Grant had no authority other than a military surrender of Lee’s army. <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Lincoln</place></city> would retain the power for political negotiations if any were required. This is an important document because it affirms Article II, Section 2, of the United States Constitution that places the President, a civilian, in command of the armed forces, and thus responsible for political decisions. After the courier left with Grant’s reply, Grant remarked to his staff, “It looks as if Lee means to fight.” Meanwhile, General George Armstrong Custer’s cavalry attacked and destroyed Lee’s last supply convoy. </div>ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-65865135476660930212012-04-22T15:22:00.000-04:002012-04-22T15:22:23.971-04:00Friday, 7 April 1865, East of Appomattox<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Friday, 7 April 1865. The action yesterday at Saylor’s Creek had cut off a third of Lee’s army, captured 6,000 Confederate soldiers, and destroyed most of the wagon’s in Lee’s supply column. This morning all three columns of the Army of the <place w:st="on">Potomac</place> continue to advance. General Grant sent a messenger under a flag of truce through the lines with a letter to Lee. Grant asked Lee to surrender immediately. Lee responded by asking what were Grant’s terms? Grant replied that his terms would be the same as he offered at <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Vicksburg</place></city> in 1863: parole until exchanged. Lee and Grant both knew that Lee’s surrender would virtually end the war. The offer of parole was a formality. The day passed without a reply from Lee. </div>ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-67358230000505845642012-04-20T12:38:00.000-04:002012-04-20T12:38:05.898-04:00The Final Days of the Army of Northern Virginia (ANV)Let’s catch up to General Grant’s pursuit of Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia (ANV) in the closing week of the Civil War. On, Tuesday, 4 April 1865, President Lincoln visited Richmond. I have told this story along with my visit to Richmond in 2007 in Clio Muses, “Lincoln’s Walk”, 6 December 2007, and invite you to scroll though this blog and read that essay. <br />
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On 3 April 1865 the last of the Confederate forces evacuated Richmond and various Union cavalry units moved into the city. Richmond had been under siege for several weeks; many buildings had been burned, some by the Confederates as they retreated; and the Confederate government (along with most white residents) had fled the city. Lincoln had been visiting Grant and on his return to Washington, D. C., he stopped at Richmond. Accompanied by Admiral Porter and a Navy guard, Lincoln walked from Rocket’s Landing on the James River to the Capital and President Davis’ house. He walked around Davis’ office and, according to eye-witness reports, sat in Davis’ chair. The crowds that gathered around him were mostly blacks and in several impromptu speeches Lincoln affirmed to them that they were now free men. The crowds cheered and frequently broke into song. <br />
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On 5 and 6 April Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia fights the last major battle of the war in the Eastern Theater of Operations at Saylor’s Creek. Lee’s losses were staggering and it was clear that the ANV was no longer an organized and effective fighting force. The only issue left for Lee was to disengage and prepare for what now was an inevitable surrender.ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-28532654529721753262012-04-02T20:24:00.000-04:002012-04-02T20:24:16.410-04:00Civil War Sesquicentennial Notes, 2 April 1865<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">As General Picket is attempted to withdraw from yesterday’s devastation at <place w:st="on">Five Forks</place>, General Grant directs the Army of the Potomac (AOP) to pursue Lee in three columns. The center column composed of three infantry corps and part of the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Sheridan</place></city>’s Cavalry Corps will follow the main body of the Army of Northern Virginia (ANV). The columns to the left and right (or north and south) will use forced marches to outflank and outmarch the ANV in order to circle around it. The first objective of the southern column was to interdict the Richmond & Danville Railroad south of Amelia Court House thus preventing supplies from reaching the ANV or from the ANV using the rails to flee south. At this point, the ANV consisted of about 30,000 troops, 200 guns, and around a 1,000 wagons. If Grant is successful in the next couple of days, those wagons will not pick up supplies at Amelia Court House. It has been over 72 hours since Lee’s soldiers have eaten. Their horses are becoming so weak from hunger and fatigue that they are getting stuck in the mud along the river and creek banks. Grant’s three column drive will give them no rest. The Union Army knows this is the last push that will end this long and hard war. If, on the other hand, Lee can get to Appomattox Court House, if his supplies are there, and if General Johnson (who is being pursued by General Sherman in <state w:st="on">North Carolina</state>) can also reach <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Appomattox</place></city>, the Confederate armies, Lee hopes, may survive. How big those “ifs” are will be answered in the coming week.</div>ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-2187688565131172872012-04-01T14:36:00.000-04:002012-04-01T14:36:25.577-04:00Civil War Sesquicentennial Notes, 1 April 1865<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">1 April 1865: The retreat to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Appomattox</place></city> continues. <city w:st="on">Sheridan</city> renews his attack on Lee’s flank at <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Five Forks</city>, <state w:st="on">VA.</state></place> Lee orders General Picket (of <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Gettysburg</place></city> fame) to “Hold at all costs.” By evening the cost to the Army of Northern Virginia is 5,000 casualties, the loss of General Picket’s division, and a valuable road network that now would serve to speed up the Union attack. “. . . the Army of the <place w:st="on">Potomac</place>, officers and men, were so elated by the reflection that at last they were following up a victory it its end, that they preferred marching without rations to running a possible risk of letting the enemy elude them. So the march was resumed. . . .” General Ulysses S. Grant, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant</i> William S. McFeely, ed. (De Capo Press: <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">New York</place></state>), 1982, p. 543.</div>ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-15200974156361931342012-03-31T23:48:00.000-04:002012-03-31T23:48:43.542-04:00Civil War Sesquicentennial Notes, March 1865<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">It is Friday, 31 March 1865. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia (ANV) has withdrawn from the trenches around <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Petersburg, Virginia</city></place> and is retreating to Appomattox Court House. Lee must reach <city w:st="on">Appomattox</city> quickly because he desperately needs the rations that have been moved by train from <city w:st="on">Danville</city>, <state w:st="on">Virginia</state> to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Appomattox</place></city>. On 30 March General Grant released General Sheridan’s cavalry to move fast and turn Lee’s left flank. Philip Henry Sheridan, born in <city w:st="on">Albany</city>, <state w:st="on">New York</state> in 1831 and graduated from <place w:st="on">West Point</place> in 1853, had been given command of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac (AOP) the previous year. In September and October 1864 <city w:st="on">Sheridan</city>, in a swift and hard hitting campaign, defeated General Early and drove him out of the <place w:st="on">Shenandoah Valley</place>. For the entire war the Valley had been the “bread basket” for the ANV. Now, about five months later, Sheridan strikes hard on the left flank of Lee’s retreating army at White Oak Road, Dinwiddie Court House, Virginia again reducing Lee’s freedom of movement and turning what was to have been an orderly retreat into a hasty withdrawal. Lee, whose army was hungry, fatigued, and beginning to fray, now had to increase his march tempo to break contact with the AOP in order to reach his supply depot at <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Appomattox</city></place>. The Confederate clock was ticking</span>ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-89229274519374903592011-12-07T09:26:00.000-05:002011-12-07T09:26:52.719-05:00Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941Pearl Harbor Day. 7 December 1941. Americans were outraged and angered seventy years ago today when the Japanese Imperial Navy (JIN) unexpectedly attacked the United States Navy Base, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. At the time the success of the attack was perceived as a major military set back for the United States. <br />
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No one at the time, however, knew that Pearl Harbor was going to be the JIN’s last (and only) naval victory in World War II. Pearl Harbor for the Japanese was a catastrophe. Even though the attack at Pearl was well planned, practiced, and well executed, it was far from being tactically brilliant. The most important targets at Pearl were not the six battleships, which were obsolete, but the fuel tanking station, the maintenance shops, dry docks, and ship yards. Six months after Pearl Harbor, 4 June 1942, the United States Navy won a decisive victory at the Battle of Midway sinking all four of the JIN’s largest carriers, a heavy cruiser, and 322 airplanes. <br />
While the JIN was trying to recover from Midway, the United States built a "new" wartime navy that carried the war to the Japanese home islands and victory.ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-83990024134918086582010-08-29T17:22:00.000-04:002010-08-29T17:22:23.340-04:00A 1909 History Test“What explorations or discoveries did each of the following named persons make? Give the date in each case.<br />
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a. De Narvaez.<br />
b. Coronado.<br />
c. Marquette.<br />
d. LaSalle.”<br />
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A candidate for the 1909 plebe class of West Point would have answered such a question on his (there were no hers) written entrance exam. The candidate would also have been asked questions on algebra, plane geometry, English grammar, English Composition and Literature, geography, and history.<br />
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In order to prepare, a candidate would have found sample questions from the encountered year’s exam in the Official Register of the Officers and Cadets of the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, June 1909. For the history questions, it advised, “Candidates must be thoroughly familiar with so much of the History of the United States, and of Ancient Greece and Rome as is contained in good high-school text-books on these subjects, and must have a good knowledge of the important facts in General Ancient History and the History of Medieval Europe to the end of the fifteenth century.”<br />
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The candidate might, for example, be asked, “Mention the principal events in the reign of Darius I, and the most noteworthy features of his government. Of what nation was he ruler?”<br />
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Or: “Give the main points in the Greek colonial system. How did the Roman colonial system differ conspicuously from the Greek?”<br />
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Or: “Toward the close of the fifteenth century in England was the power of Parliament becoming greater or less than it had been previously? By what right was Henry IV King of England? What was the earliest form of parliamentary assembly in English History?”<br />
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Or: “Define: Electoral College; Spoils System; Primary; Supreme Court”.<br />
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Candidates who failed these examinations were replaced by alternates. In 1909 there is no evidence West Point had any difficulty in filling its annual quota of plebs. The 147 candidates who entered West Point in 1909, at least one from each state and territory in the Union as well as one from the District of Columbia and one from Puerto Rico in addition to at-large appointments, passed these examinations. <br />
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Some questions tested factual knowledge. Other questions tested the ability to compare and contrast similar and dissimilar historical events and institutions. Some asked the candidate to explain the causes; others ask the candidate to explain the consequences; some both. <br />
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All of the sample questions for history were short answer questions. Today multiple-choice questions are more common. There are obvious thematic differences from 1909 to 2010. The historical questions that appeared to historians in 1909 to be significant are not necessarily the ones that appear to be significant today. On the other hand, there is considerable continuity: the importance of the Ancient Near East; the development of self-rule in Greece; the long term impact of the Roman Empire; the importance of the rediscovery of self-governance in Medieval and Early Modern Europe; and so forth.<br />
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High school and college history text books were a large market in nineteenth-century America. They were sold to schools and students. In addition, many found their way into bookstores catering to adults interested in history. Most texts included chapter headings, sectional headings, and numbered paragraphs. Most of the leading textbooks included various aids to help the student organize and learn history. They often included chronologies, maps, and reproductions of primary documents, pictures, a glossary, pronunciation aids, and review questions at the end of the chapter. Texts published in the early nineteenth century focused mostly on facts while those published toward the end of the nineteenth century introduced more complex ideas of causation and themes. <br />
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One popular text of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century was Phillip Van Ness Myers’, Modern History. It was first published in 1886 and its popularity kept it in print through 1921. Like contemporary text books, this extremely popular text book listed in its preface twenty contemporary historians who had helped with the book and read the manuscript. Myers intended his text book to represent the best and latest thinking of academic historians. The sample West Point 1909 examination questions for history reflect Myers desire to stay abreast of what “historians” are saying. The 1909 West Point examination questions are a reasonable effort to determine what the students have learned from text books such as Myers’. <br />
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For the past several decades the teaching and learning of history has been hotly debated. Some argue our students don’t know enough history; some argue they don’t know “the right kind of history”; some say the fault is the teachers; others say it is the fault a society that seemingly cares little for history. Critics from both sides of the discussion do not, however, argue that American high school and college students know “too much” history.<br />
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A comparison, however, between the 1909 sample history questions from West Point and a randomly selected sample questions from contemporary sources such as state high school proficiency exams or the New York State Regents exams suggests that while themes and question design may have changed, teachers then and now demand a high level of content knowledge. Let me illustrate. Below is a sample question from a recent New York Regents test practice exam:<br />
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“In the Colonial Era, developments such as the New England town meetings and the establishment of the Virginia House of Burgesses represented<br />
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1. colonial attempts to build a strong national government <br />
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2. efforts by the British to strengthen their control over the colonies <br />
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3. steps in the growth of representative democracy <br />
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4. early social reform movements” <br />
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That question is from the Oswego City School District Regents Exam Prep Center, Oswego, New York. It is representative of many similar online sources intended to improve a student’s performance on SAT, ACT, or state mandated graduation tests. The URL for this particular site is:<br />
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http://www.regentsprep.org/Regents/core/questions/questions.cfm?Course=USHG&TopicCode=2a/<br />
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The complete text, with the sample exam questions, from the Official Register of the Officers and Cadets of the United States Military Academy for 1909 may be found at:<br />
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<a href="http://digital-library.usma.edu/libmedia/archives/oroc/v1909.pdf/">http://digital-library.usma.edu/libmedia/archives/oroc/v1909.pdf/</a><br />
An interesting exercise might be: Using the complete texts from the online sources, compare and contrast the two documents. Answer the following:<br />
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1. How well (given changes in thematic emphasis) might have West Point candidates in 1909 succeed on the New York Regents (or similar) history exams?<br />
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2. How well (given changes in thematic emphasis) would contemporary students succeed in the 1909 West Point candidate history exam? <br />
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Do you answers suggest more continuity than change, or the other way-around?<br />
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In addition to the above sources, analysis and samples of nineteenth-century American text books may be found at the University of Pittsburg Digital Research Library, 19th Century School Books: http://digital.library.pitt.edu/n/nietz/ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36332795.post-77881753396798620822009-12-07T09:38:00.007-05:002009-12-07T10:01:40.350-05:00Ten Best Books I Read This YearDecember is the month in which popular journals publish their “Ten Best Books of 2009”, as the <em>New York Times</em> did last week. I too use December to consolidate my reading for the year (which is usually between seventy to eighty books, some that are new and some that I am re-reading), collect my notes, and update my bibliographic and research software (I use Citation – but there are several good programs available). <br /><br />Never wanting to be upstaged by the <em>New York Times</em>, here is my list of the “Ten Best Books I Read This Year”.<br /><br />Appleman, Roy E. <em>East of Chosin: Entrapment and Breakout in Korea, 1950.</em> (College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press), 1987.<br /><br />Baggini, Julian. <em>What’s It All About?: Philosophy & The Meaning of Life.</em> (New York: Oxford University Press), 2004.<br /><br />Bak, Per. <em>How Nature Works: The Science of Self-Organized Criticality.</em> (New York: Oxford University Press), 1997.<br /><br />Coyne, Jerry A. <em>Why Evolution is True.</em> (New York: Viking), 2009.<br /><br />Faust, Drew Gilpin. <em>This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War.</em> New York: Alfred A. Knopf), 2008.<br /><br />Hämäläinen, Pekka. <em>Comanche Empire.</em> (New Haven: Yale University Press), 2008.<br /><br />Hamburger, Kenneth E. <em>Leadership in the Crucible: The Korean War Battles of Twin Tunnels & Chipyong-ni.</em> (College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press), 2003.<br /><br />Israel, Jonathan I. <em>Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity, 1650-1750.</em> (New York: Oxford University Press), 2001.<br /><br />Parkman, Francis. <em>Montcalm and Wolfe: The French and Indian War.</em> (New York: Barnes & Noble Books), 2005. First published 1884.<br /><br />Stendhal. <em>The Charter House of Parma.</em> (New York: The Modern Library), 1999. First published 1839.ROBERT COOKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12455320091538850085noreply@blogger.com0