USAHEC Perspectives Lectures Series (Audio)

May 16, 2018 - Mr. Patrick O'Donnell

In late August 1776, General George Washington commanded a panicked, trapped army of green Continental Soldiers on Long Island. Outflanked, Washington was desperate to save his men before the British could wipe out the hope of an American nation, just a short month after declaring independence. The nascent rebellion was saved, however, by just 400 Soldiers from Maryland. The "Immortal 400" guarded Washington’s rear so the majority of his army could retreat to defenses on Brooklyn Heights, and eventually to Manhattan, ready to fight another day. The U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center hosted Mr. Patrick O’Donnell as he gave a lecture based on his book, Washington’s Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution. Mr. O’Donnell tells the tale of the 400 Marylanders, a band of brothers, who not only fell in New York, but also at Trenton, Princeton, Cowpens, Camden, and Yorktown.

For video of the USHAEC's podcasts, or to learn more about the USAHEC, find education support for teachers, researchers, and soldiers, or to find more programs at the USAHEC, please visit our website at www.usahec.org.

May 3, 2018 - Dr. Michael Neiberg

On November 11, 1918, the American people released a collective sigh of relief. News of an armistice with the German-led Central Powers led Americans to believe their war was over. In 1919, the Allies and the Central Powers concluded the Treaty of Versailles, a document whose impact still influences world affairs today. In this lecture, Dr. Michael Neiberg of the U.S. Army War College, speaks about the subject of his recent book, Dr. Neiberg tells the story of the enormous challenges the men in Paris faced as they attempted to piece swaths of ruin back together after the terrible impact of World War I. He also describes the consequences the treaty negotiations had on the immediate post-war years and the legacy the war left for the American people.

For video of the USHAEC's podcasts, or to learn more about the USAHEC, find education support for teachers, researchers, and soldiers, or to find more programs at the USAHEC, please visit our website at www.usahec.org.

April 18, 2018 - Mr. David Wood

"War is a morally treacherous enterprise." So says Pulitzer-prize winning war correspondent and author, David Wood. Through years of experience embedded with U.S. military units in Somalia, Southwest Asia and the Persian Gulf, Panama, Haiti, and the Balkans, Wood found the nature of war often overcomes a Soldier’s reliance on their leaders, training, equipment, and their own internal sense of "what’s right." This can lead to a sometimes devastating result: Moral Injury. On Wednesday, April 18, 2018, at 7:15pm, David Wood presented a lecture at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania based on his new book, What Have We Done? The Moral Injury of Our Longest Wars. He explored the sometimes impossible choices our Soldiers are presented with, the moral injury that often results, and the impact such injury has on our military and our society in America.

NOTE:  Please be aware that this recording contains some in-context strong language.

For video of the USHAEC's podcasts, or to learn more about the USAHEC, find education support for teachers, researchers, and soldiers, or to find more programs at the USAHEC, please visit our website at www.usahec.org.

February 21, 2018 - Mr. Patrick Gregory, Editor and Author

With the entrance of America into World War I, young Arthur Clifford Kimber put down his books at Stanford University and enlisted in the Allied cause on the Western Front. Joining the American Field Service as an ambulance volunteer, Kimber was tasked with carrying the first official U.S. Government flag to France. In this lecture, Mr. Patrick Gregory about Kimber, the subject of his recent book An American on the Western Front, co-authored with Elizabeth Nurser. The remarkable story of Kimber is a microcosm of the patriotism and fervor felt by the young men and women called to serve their country. Kimber tirelessly worked his way from ambulance volunteer in the front-line trenches in an American unit serving with the French army to joining the fledgling U.S. Air Service. He trained with French instructors and worked his way from ferrying aircraft to the front lines to piloting a fighter in combat with both the French and American Air Services. Mr. Gregory uses the letters Kimber wrote to his family to tell the story of a young man whose hopes and dreams for a life after the war were suddenly ended when he was killed in action weeks before the Armistice.

For video of the USHAEC's podcasts, or to learn more about the USAHEC, find education support for teachers, researchers, and soldiers, or to find more programs at the USAHEC, please visit our website at www.usahec.org.

This special program is a sneak-peak at the U.S. Army War College's WAR ROOM podcast.  The podcast will be available on your favorite podcast catcher soon!  WAR ROOM is the online journal of the United States Army War College, created through the gracious support of the U.S. Army War College Foundation.  The program features innovative and provocative articles and podcasts that explore significant challenges in national security and defense.

February 6, 2018: Jim McNally (Curator of Art, Army Heritage and Education Center) and Jacqueline E. Whitt (WAR ROOM podcast editor)

For forty-six years after the Korean War, veteran John A. Cook would be haunted by the memories of fighting and of his fellow soldiers being killed or wounded. What is now recognized as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD had no name at the time, and veterans like Cook had nowhere to turn to get help. Instead, as the horrific images of war would waken him at night, he began drawing those images on paper as a way of dealing with his inner pain. The resulting collection of his "Midnight Drawings" are now in the possession of the Army Heritage and Education Center, and the subject of this podcast. Jim McNally, AHEC's Curator of Art, tells this powerful and moving story with Jacqueline E. Whitt, War Room podcast editor.

For more information about the WAR ROOM podcast, visit: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/category/podcasts/

January 31, 2018 - Mr. Max Boot, Author

If the highest ranks of the U.S. Military and diplomatic corps had listened to, and took stock in, Major General Edward Lansdale, the outcome of the Vietnam War may have been quite different. As a young officer after the carnage of World War II, Major Edward Lansdale started his epic, and sometimes ignominious, career working with the Philippine Army to rebuild their intelligence services, learning the complicated ins-and-outs of psychological operations. His experience in the Philippines, combined with his fast-track rise through the ranks of the U.S. Air Force, led to his participation in every facet of the diplomatic, military, and civil aspects of the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. On Wednesday, January 31, 2018, the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania hosted New York Times best-selling author Max Boot to discuss his recent biography, The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam. The presentation will explore how Lansdale used his experience in the Philippines to spearhead a “hearts and minds” approach to diplomacy in Vietnam.

For video of the USHAEC's podcasts, or to learn more about the USAHEC, find education support for teachers, researchers, and soldiers, or to find more programs at the USAHEC, please visit our website at www.usahec.org.