Bridge in West Virginia Named for 509th PIB Veteran

Photo from WBOY.com Channel 12 in Upsur County, West Virginia.

The Route 151 bridge across the Middle Fork River in Ellamore, West Virginia is now named the "U.S. Army Technician Fifth Victor A. Osburn Memorial Bridge."  Victor Osburn was a medic in the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion during WWII.  He joined the battalion in North Africa, participated in the Avellino jump, Anzio, and Operation Dragoon.  Victor Osburn was killed in action on August 21, 1944 in southern France.  For gallantry in action, he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.  You can read Victor Osburn's Silver Star citation at the 509th Parachute Infantry Association's website.

The dedication ceremony was held at the bridge in Upshur county on Sunday May 27, 2012.  An honor guard from the 1/509th at Fort Polk was present, as well as members of the 509th PIB WWII Living History Group. Victor Osburn's nephew Joe Osburn, who was instrumental in having the bridge dedicated to his uncle's memory, had graciously sent me an invitation to the ceremony.  Unfortunately, being in the process of relocating to the other coast, I was unable to attend.  However, I was able to watch a well done video clip from local TV news WDTV covering the dedication.  Congratulations, Joe. It looks like the event was a success.

509th PIB News Roundup for Memorial Day

Parachute Trooper Johnson (the dummy) at the 504th 

Parachute Battalion dance, held in the Third Hangar, 

Lawson Field, Fort Benning, GA October 21, 1941.  

Army Signal Corps Photograph 124264

National Archives, College Park, MD.

From the time I started research for The Boldest Plan is the Best: The Combat History of the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion During WWII, I've been keeping up with news about the unit and its veterans.  Here are a couple of news items that came up on the radar today:

- According to the Avon (Connecticut) News, Morton N. Katz will be the keynote speaker for the Memorial Day events in Avon.  Katz served as a lieutenant in the 509th PIB during World War II.  He served in North Africa, Italy, France, and Belgium.  Katz is active in the local VFW Post 3272 and continues to practice law in Avon.

- The Bullard Banner News ran an article about 509th veteran Lloyd Wells of Upshur County, Texas.  Mr. Wells is also a veteran of North Africa, Avellino, Anzio, Southern France, and the Battle of the Bulge.  Unfortunately, Wells lost his medals (and his house) during the Texas wildfires last year.  On May 19, Wells was presented with his medals once again at a surprise ceremony at a local museum.  The article goes on to tell us that Lloyd Wells, just short of his 92nd birthday, still works full-time at Walmart in Gilmer, Texas, assembling bikes, barbecues, and furniture.

What I noticed about both news items is that these veterans, both over the age of ninety, are still working full-time.  It never ceases to amaze me...those paratroopers just don't know how to quit.

Please take a moment this Memorial Day weekend to thank a veteran for their service, and remember those who have fallen.  I've included a picture from the National Archives for you that didn't make it into the book.  It was taken during a happier moment in Geronimo history.  Enjoy the holiday.

New Home Base: Sequim, Washington

Here's Jim at Railroad Bridge Park, and there's a new bike trail to conquer!

We have arrived at our new home base of Sequim, Washington.  Sequim is a small town in the northeast corner of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state.  Sheila, Sydney, and I are very excited to be back in the Pacific Northwest.  For those of you not familiar with the area, the town's name is pronounced "skwim" and you'll most likely pass through on your way to Olympic National Park.

Between getting ready to move, moving across the country, and settling in to our new home, I've been out of the loop for about a month.  Before I left Pennsylvania, I completed researching the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment at the AHEC and NARA.  That of course is my next writing project, as a companion to The Boldest Plan is the Best, about the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion.  I wanted to complete the story of the first airborne units to deploy in WWII, before the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions went overseas.  However, as I learn more about my new surroundings I'll be passing on some information here.  For instance, did you know that back in the 1970s, some mastodon bones were found in the area?  They contained a spear point that dates the inhabitants of the area to pre-Clovis period, which means that travelers have been coming to the Sequim for more than 14,000 years!

As the two or three regular readers of this blog know, my interests are mainly in the twentieth century.  Luckily we've arrived in time for the 117th Irrigation Festival.  Sequim, and the Dungeness Valley, are in a rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains.  So unlike the rest of Puget Sound, the area gets only approximately 15 inches of rain a year, which is about the same as southern California.  In 1895 the local farmers began an irrigation project that brought economic prosperity to the area.  The annual celebration of that agricultural endeavor is the oldest in Washington state.  More to follow as I head down to join my local historical society. ;-)

A Visual of the New Museum of the U.S. Army

For several years now, the Army Historical Foundation has been raising money for the new Museum of the United States Army to be constructed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.  A recent article in Army Times helped to spread the word that conceptual renderings of what the new museum will look like are available.  This pdf provides some of the details of the planned museum and renderings of what the concept looks like.

The Army has donated 55 acres of land on Fort Belvoir, just outside of Washington, D.C. and has also paid for site preparation and some “design activities.”  The remainder of the $300 million for the project is the responsibility of the Army Historical Foundation.  So far the foundation has raised $64 million, most of which has been donated by defense contractors.  About $3 million has come from the sale of commemorative coins.  Groundbreaking is tentatively scheduled for mid-2013 with and anticipated opening date sometime in 2015.

There has been some controversy around the building of this museum.  On the upside, the new museum will provide a one-stop location to teach the public about the 236-year history of the United States Army and its contribution to the building of the nation.  Located in the D.C. metro area, the Foundation (according to the Army Times article) expects to receive from 750,000 to 1 million visitors to the museum each year.  Obviously they estimate a large spinoff of visitors from other D.C. attractions.

Some of the criticisms of course have to do with cost, who is paying for it, what other facilities will close in order to support this project, and the fact that the Army has a long list of other, more specialized, museums.  For example in Virginia alone there is currently operating the Corps of Engineers Museum in Alexandria, the Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis, the Casemate Museum at Fort Monroe, and the Army Women’s Museum, the Army Ordnance Museum, as well as the Army Quartermaster Museum, all at Fort Lee, Virginia.  There is also the Airborne and Special Operations Museum at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and in recent years, the Armor Museum at Fort Knox was moved and co-located with the Infantry Museum at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Personally, I was disappointed that the museum was going to be built in already congested, over-crowded Washington, D.C.  I had hoped that the Foundation would put the Museum of the U.S. Army near one of our larger bases, like Fort Hood, or Fort Lewis (Washington State doesn't have an operating Army museum), or maybe in a city that could use the economic stimulus.  The opening of this museum really affected me when rumors came about that the Army was considering closing the Army Heritage and Education Center here in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, moving the archives to the Army Center for Military History (again in D.C.) and their museum artifacts to the new museum at Fort Belvoir.  As you can imagine, I’m a museum fanatic and I’m glad that the Museum of the United States Army is being built.  But we must be aware of what the “hidden” costs of this project are and protect what we’ve already built.

News Item: Relics Found in Gettysburg! (and a new museum soon)

Did you really think that we know everything there is to know about the battle of Gettysburg, or have discovered every relic or manuscript with a link to the famous Civil War battle?  No, of course you didn’t.  The Hanover Evening Sun reports that construction workers found a treasure trove of artifacts while working on a remodeling project on a dormitory at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg.

The building, known as the “Old Dorm” is undergoing a 15-month remodel that will turn it into an interpretive museum.  The building had been used as a hospital during the battle.  Tucked into the walls were old worn out shoes from the 19^th Century.  It was believed that putting old shoes between wall joists would bring luck.  In the ceiling, believed to have fallen through the cracks in the floor above, were several letters belonging to civil war soldiers.  Several bottles were also found.

The work is being funded with a $4 million grant from the State of Pennsylvania.  When the project is completed, visitors will be able to have access to the cupola, where Union General John Buford surveyed the opening moves of the battle, as portrayed by Sam Elliot in the movie, Gettysburg.

509th PIB Colors to go to the Airborne Museum

L-R: Kelly, Tomasik, and Katz in Naples,
1944.  Soldier on the balcony unknown.
Photo courtesy of Mike Reuter.

One of the great things happening since the release of “The Boldest Plan is the Best” is coming in contact with more veterans and their family members.  One example is my correspondence with Mr. Morton Katz over the past couple of months.  Katz was a lieutenant in, and the last adjutant of, the 509^th Parachute Infantry Battalion.  It was his sad duty to oversea the turn-in of all of the battalion’s equipment and records after the unit was disbanded in February 1945.  Mort is now a retired colonel, and still practicing law in Avon, Connecticut.  I did not have the opportunity to interview Mort.  After the book came out, he got in contact with me.  I do wish I had met him during my research.

The other day I received a letter from Mort Katz with some big news.  His letter included a copy of a letter to him from the Army Center for Military History.  The letter is informing him that his request, through his congressman, to have the colors of the 509^th Parachute Infantry Battalion donated to the Airborne and Special Forces Museum in Fayetteville, North Carolina, has been approved.  The colors are currently in storage at the Center’s storage facility in Anniston, Alabama.  They are in good condition, but will require some conservation treatment before they can be framed and transferred to the museum.  Therefore, an exact date for the transfer or information on any kind of ceremony is not available at this time.  So as they say, more to follow.

Book Review: Admiral Nimitz

I will admit that I am not as familiar with naval history and the Pacific Theater during WWII as I would like to be.  I’m working on improving that condition.  I’m researching an army unit that deployed to the Pacific Theater (the 503^rd Parachute Infantry Regiment) for the next book.  Also, I recently wrote an article on the history of the aircraft carrier and another on the history of the submarine for Military Vet Shop.  So when I was asked to review Admiral Nimitz: The Commander of the Pacific Ocean Theater by Brayton Harris, I readily accepted the task.

I enjoyed this biography of one of our "under sung" heroes of World War II. We tend to study history as a series of events, but often it is beneficial to look at a period of time through the biography of someone who had a great influence upon it. This is a well written history of Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz, who was commander of the Pacific Fleet during WWII and the Chief of Naval Operations during the early days of the Cold War. It is also a history of our Navy during the first half of the twentieth century.

Nimitz graduated from Annapolis in January 1905, just a little over a year after the Wright brothers made their flight at Kitty Hawk and more than five years before an airplane would take off and land from an aircraft carrier.  Submarines were also new technology.  In 1909 Nimitz took command of the United States Navy’s second commissioned submarine, the USS Plunger (SS-2).   Nimitz would continue to have a variety of command and staff assignments throughout his career until the dawn of WWII found him in charge of the Naval Bureau (precursor of today’s Bureau of Naval Personnel).  In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Nimitz replaced Admiral Kimmel as Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC) as the personal choice of President Roosevelt.

Nimitz was responsible for a Pacific Fleet that was not only rebuilding and rapidly expanding, but also embracing a completely new way of conducting warfare.   Pearl Harbor signified the end of the “battleship navy.”   The war would be won by the submarine and the aircraft carrier. Additionally, after the fall of the Philippines, there was more than one supreme commander in the Pacific.   General Douglas MacArthur was named allied commander of the Southwest Pacific Area which included Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and the Philippines.   Nimitz was designated Commander-in Chief of the Pacific Ocean Areas (CINCPOA) that covered everything else.   As such, Nimitz presided over famous battles like Guadalcanal, Midway, and Iwo Jima.   After reading Brayton Harris' book you might come to believe that the bigger obstacle to our success was not the Japanese, but rather the ego of General Douglas MacArthur and the bureaucracy in the Navy Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Admiral Nimitz was a natural choice to take over as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO).   He defended the Navy in a time when, due to the belief that the Air Force’s ability to drop an atomic bomb convinced a lot of people that we no longer needed a navy for anything other than transportation.   This turned out to be a most interesting part of the book.   The Air Force wanted to do away with the Navy, the Army wanted to do away with the Marine Corps.   It is amazing how close we came to having a single uniformed service that was built around the long-range bomber.   Luckily men like Chester Nimitz could see the future and realize that each service has its place in defending the country.

In this book you will learn, in an entertaining, brief, and casual read, how Nimitz was instrumental in not only winning the Pacific war, but also helped to guide the structure of our modern navy that would be instrumental in winning the Cold War.   By an act of congress, the five-star rank was created in 1944.   Nimitz joined Generals of the Army MacArthur, Marshal, Eisenhower, and Arnold, along with Fleet Admirals Leahy and King in this new rank.   For some time after WWII, Nimitz was a national hero.   Today Nimitz has a tendency to be overshadowed by MacArthur and Eisenhower as a household name, although Chester Nimitz’ contributions to winning WWII and the Cold War security of the United States deserve to be recognized and remembered equally.   Brayton Harris’ book, Admiral Nimitz, helped me realize that.  

John Glenn, 50 Years Later

I really enjoy the “on this date in history items.”  I get an email newsletter every day.  It allows me to take a daily devotional of history on a variety of subjects.  However, this anniversary was pointed out to me by an article in the New York Times: Fifty years ago today, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth.

John Glenn photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Fifty years ago, the Soviets were ahead of us in space technology, having launched the first rocket into orbit, Sputnik, in October of 1957.  We don’t give much pause for our space program now.  But back in John Glenn’s time as an astronaut, we were in the midst of the Cold War and the American public didn’t take these things in stride.  By the time we got John Glenn into orbit, the Russians had already carried a dog and two men around the earth.  This was, of course, on three different flights with Yuri Gagarin being the first human to enter orbit (I don’t know the name of the dog). 

This information made me wonder what Glenn had done before becoming an astronaut.  I knew he had been a marine fighter pilot, but I had forgotten the details.  Turns out John Glenn from Cambridge, Ohio was in college studying science and had just gotten his private pilot’s license when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.  He immediately dropped out of college and signed up with the Army Air Corps.  But the Army didn't call him to active duty fast enough, so Glenn enlisted with the Navy as an aviation cadet and was later transferred to the Marine Corps.  He flew F4U Corsairs in the South Pacific and logged 59 missions, mostly in close air support.  After WWII, Captain Glenn returned to the States and served as a flight instructor.  Glenn logged 90 combat missions over two tours flying jets during the Korean War.  On his last tour he downed three MIG-15s in aerial combat.

After Korea, Glenn became a military test pilot.  On July 16, 1957, John Glenn became the first pilot to complete a continuous transcontinental flight (in a F8U Crusader) while averaging supersonic speed.  The flight from NAS Los Alamitos in southern California to Floyd Bennett Field in New York was accomplished in 3 hours, 23 minutes, 8.3 seconds, and included three aerial refuelings.  Glenn was awarded his fifth Distinguished Flying Cross for the feat.

In April 1959 John Glenn joined the original group of seven astronauts in NASA’s Project Mercury.  All of these men had training and experience as military pilots.  Glenn was, of course, a marine.  Alan Shepard, Wally Shirra, and Scott Carpenter were naval aviators.  Gus Grissom, Gordon Cooper, and Deke Slayton were Air Force pilots.  Their story is told in detail in Tom Wolfe’s1979 book, The Right Stuff.

On February 20, 1962, as stated earlier, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth in his spacecraft, Friendship 7.  However, he was the fifth person to be in “space” and the third to orbit the planet.  Regardless, John Glenn was hailed by Tom Wolfe as “the country’s last true hero.”  America certainly treated him as such.  President Kennedy went to meet him at Cape Canaveral and Glenn received a ticker tape parade in New York.  John Glenn went on to serve four terms as senator from Ohio, and was a candidate in the 1984 Democratic presidential primaries.

In 1998, at the age of 77, Glenn made a flight on the Space Shuttle Discovery, volunteering to study the effects of space flight on the elderly.  He has continued to fly, finally as a private pilot, until just last year.  John Glenn is now 90 years old and has been married to his wife, Annie, for 69 years.  When asked about his status as a “hero,” according to the Times article Senator Glenn responded, “I don’t think of myself that way.  I get up each day and have the same problems others have at my age.”  In my book, that statement just adds to the evidence that John Glenn is in fact one of our last living American icons. 

A New Jeff Shaara Book Is Coming Soon!

Lot's of news about books lately.  I read a lot in the winter.  Mostly nonfiction, but not always.  I do love a good historical fiction, especially one that doesn't depart from historical facts.  I’m talking about authors like Kenneth Roberts, James Michener, or Alexander Thom.  However, the best example of this quality of historical fiction writer I've found is Jeff Shaara.  I was first turned on to his father Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels (a novel of the Civil War battle of Gettysburg) way back in the 80s.  The Killer Angels inspired me to travel to Gettysburg and visit the battlefield the first time.  After reading the book, I said to myself, “Man, I want to write like that some day.”  Naturally, when Jeff picked up the torch and wrote his first book, Gods and Generals (a prequel to Killer Angels), I was immediately hooked on his work as well.  He has since written about the Revolutionary War, the War with Mexico, World War I, and both theaters of World War II.  The thing about Shaara books is that they are historically accurate, and the characters are real people.  For the most part I can safely assert that only the dialog is fiction.  The most common reaction from someone who first reads a Shaara novel is “Why don’t we teach history this way?”  You might say that I am a fan.

I found out that the next Jeff Shaara book will be out on Amazon on May 29.  Titled A Blaze of Glory, it is a novel of the Civil War battle of Shiloh.  A Blaze of Glory is the first in a new trilogy about the western theater of the Civil War.  I will admit that the excitement of finding out this information was somewhat lessened by the fact that my book pusher, Jeff Bezos over at Amazon, notified my wife Sheila before telling me.  I was hurt until I remembered that Sheila bought me the last Shaara book I read, The Final Storm set in the Pacific Theater during WWII.

So let me recommend to all of you readers of strictly nonfiction, or those of you on the opposite end of the spectrum who have never found a “history book” that has excited you.  You can’t go wrong with a Jeff Shaara novel.  I’ve read them all, and I’ll put in my pre-order for A Blaze of Glory.  When it arrives, the Shaara book goes straight to the top of the reading pile.  Can you get a better book recommendation? 

Get their stories while you can.

I was contacted by the son of a WWII veteran of the 509^th Parachute Infantry Battalion yesterday to let me know that his father had passed away.  Harold Seay was one of the veterans of this unit that answered my questionnaire and assisted in my research for “The Boldest Plan is the Best.”  Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mrs. Seay, her son Roy, and their family.  I am grateful that I had the opportunity to be in communication with Harold and the rest of these amazing veterans, and I only wish I had started the project years ago.

On the same day, I saw a segment on the NBC Nightly News that reminded us that we are losing (their reported estimate) over 700 World War II veterans each day.  The story was about the members of the WWII generation who live in a retirement community in Hanover, New Hampshire called Kendal at Hanover who are compiling their memories into a book.  There are 56 vignettes in the book, titled “WWII Remembered.”  If you would like to see a video of the news segment with Brian Williams, here is a link.  I found it moving, and I would like to echo the appeal made in the piece to gather the stories from our greatest generation while you are still able.

I think the rest of America was moved by the story as well.  Out of curiosity, I looked up the book on Amazon.  Due to be released tomorrow, it is already number one in the category of WWII History.  I’m looking forward to getting my copy.

Which Groundhog are you going to believe?

Image of Punxsutawney Phil from an LA Times Article

It’s Groundhog Day!  In case you had not heard: This morning Punxsutawney Phil, the world’s most famous groundhog, saw his shadow and thus predicted six more weeks of winter.  For some of the blow back on Phil’s prediction this year, check out his Facebook Page.

The roots of Groundhog Day are found in the German tradition of Candlemas Day (during the Christmas season) when their clergy would distribute candles to the poor to use in the winter.  How many candles would be needed?  Well, let’s ask an animal.  The early Germanic people chose the hedgehog.  When German immigrants came to America (a bunch to Pennsylvania) they replaced the hedgehog with the groundhog, or as some call it the woodchuck, which were abundant here.  Punxsutawney Phil has become the most famous groundhog not just because of the movie.  Back in 1887, a newspaper editor that belonged to the “Punxsutawney Groundhog Club” – whose members liked the sport of hunting groundhogs – said that their groundhog, Phil was the only true weather forecasting rodent.  A long line of Phils have been honored at an annual party on Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania ever since.

I’ve really enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek hoopla surrounding Groundhog Day ever since I saw the 1993 movie of the same name starring Bill Murray.  Even more so since moving to Pennsylvania, a state that is teeming with the cute little rodents.  We even have one that lives in the field behind our house and occasionally comes up to the yard to forage.

Although Phil will not admit that he is ever wrong about the coming of an early spring, almost every human would agree that he is, in fact, wrong about half the time.  Perhaps we should consult some other groundhog?  We’re in luck!  In order to get in on the fun and the tourist dollars, many cities across the country have their own weather prognosticating woodchucks.  There’s Birmingham Bill and Staten Island Chuck.  There’s Woodstock Willie and Dunkirk Dave.  There’s even Shubenacadie Sam up in Canada, eh?

Central Pennsylvania has an overwhelming number of these weather hogs that sometimes have trouble agreeing on how much more winter we’re going to have this year.  In York County, Dover Doug and Poor Richard are both opting for an early spring.  So is Patty Pagoda over in Reading, as did Octoraro Orphie from Quarryville, Lancaster County.  On the other hand, Mount Joy Minnie, also from Lancaster County, and Uni from Lebanon County both predict six more weeks of winter.  Grover and Sweet Arrow, recent newlyweds from Schuylkill County also join Phil in predicting six more weeks of cold. (But I really don’t know what they base that on, since it was reported that they didn’t even get out of bed this morning to see if their shadow was there or not!)

So, calendar wise we surely have six more weeks of winter.  Spring will arrive on March 20^th.  But as to whether or not we have to deal with more cold and snow, I guess we could ask an animal.  But in the end, which groundhog are you going to believe? 

The National Museum of American History

Post-holiday winter doldrums?  Us too.  Sheila and I needed an excellent adventure.  Luckily, January is a great time to take in a museum, especially in Washington, DC.  Yes, it's cold, cold, cold!  But it beats melting in the heat of the National Mall during the summer and you can't beat the crowds, because there aren't any.  So the road trip was on.  This weekend we drove down and took in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

I'll be the first to admit that there is so much there that it is hard to see everything in one day.  On this trip we spent a lot of time in the exhibits "America on the Move" and "The Price of Freedom: Americans at War."  There are some really interesting artifacts there (understatement, duh).  For some reason I found General Phillip Sheridan's stuffed horse "Winchester" to be fascinating.  I guess it's one of those situations where you feel a direct link to the past.  I'm looking at a horse, albeit a stuffed one, that was ridden during the Civil War.  Don't ask why I didn't get excited over George Custer's buckskin jacket or George Washington's saber.  We each find our own connection to history, right?  Turns out, the Smithsonian is a good place to go look for it.

I must add that since I've written a book about the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion and I am currently working on researching the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, I found the WWII display particularly appealing.

I'm not a travel writer, but here's a tip for you.  Rather than eat at the museum cafeteria, or pay high prices for bad food at one of the "restaurants" in the neighborhoods that surround the mall, go inside the Ronald Reagan building (14th Street between Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues).  There is a food court in the lower level much like a nice shopping mall.  A Subway sandwich and the best mocha latte since we moved from Seattle really hit the spot.

But here's a warning for you as well, sometimes going to one place will just require that you go to another.  Now that we have seen the original "Star Spangled Banner," we are compelled to go visit Fort McHenry in Baltimore.  Well, maybe when it warms up. ;-)

Photography is not allowed in this exhibit.  Photos of the Star Spangled Banner
are provided courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution.

Doing the Appalachian Trail

In case you are not on the east coast, I will tell you that the weather here in Pennsylvania has been unseasonably mild this winter.  Therefore, needing to take a break from reading about airborne operations in the Pacific during WWII, the girls (the wife Sheila and the cattle dog Sydney) and I decided to take a walk on the Appalachian National Scenic Trail last weekend.  We had never been on the “AT” even though in passes right through Cumberland County between Carlisle and Mechanicsburg, around five miles from where I live.

Again, for those not in the know, the AT is a hiking trail that runs from Springer Mountain in north Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine.  Folks who cover the entire 2,184 miles (approximately) in one summer hiking season are referred to as “thru-hikers.”  If you aim to complete the whole thing, but not in one season, you are a “section hiker.”  The rest of us, are just hikers.  The trail is one of the “Triple Crown” of long distance hiking trails in the United States.  The others are the Pacific Crest Trail at 2,663 miles and the Continental Divide Trail at 3,100 miles.

For a very entertaining read and to find out more than you ever wanted to know about the AT, check out “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson.  Or for an even quicker history of the trail, read the Wikipedia article.  The idea for the trail was advanced by forester Benton MacKaye in 1921.  The trail was completed in 1937.  In 1968 the AT was designated a National Scenic Trail and placed under the management of the National Park Service in partnership with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.  However, the trail is maintained by volunteers from more than 30 trail clubs and partner organizations who do the work and raise the money.  In fact, a new parking area was created on Hwy 641 between Mechanicsburg and Carlisle through the work of the Cumberland Valley A.T. Club.  I passed by this new feature on my way to the AHEC last week, and that is what prompted me to go for our little walk.  Also, my thanks to the Susquehanna Appalachian Trail Club for the map graphic of the Appalachian Trail, and for providing an online listing of hiking opportunities in south-central Pennsylvania. ;-)

So we finally "did the AT."  Admittedly, we didn’t do the whole 2,184 miles last weekend.  We really only did four.  But it was a great way to get out and get some fresh air and exercise in order to chase away the post-holiday winter blues.  And now, we can say, “Oh sure, we’ve done the AT.”  What?  Like it’s hard?

Oh, by the way, I had to throw this picture in at the last minute.  I love how you get over a fence on the AT. -->

"The Boldest Plan is the Best" now available on Kindle

Happy New Year everyone!  2012?  How did that happen?!  Well, Sheila and I are happy to start off the New Year with some good news.  We're excited to announce that The Boldest Plan is the Best: The Combat History of the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion during WWII is now available in a Kindle edition.
I've been hesitant to try out any form of e-reader.  I'm old school and I like my books, to hold in my hands while I read them and to display them on the shelf when you're done.  You can tell a lot about a person by the books that they read, and when I go to someone's house the first thing I do is check out what books they have on the shelf.
All that being said, as I see it there are several advantages to owning a Kindle.  First of all, most books are cheaper in the Kindle version.  Some are only a couple of dollars cheaper, some are much more.  The Kindle version of The Boldest Plan is the Best is half the cover price of a print copy.  Amazon carries a lot of free content, mostly classic literature that is in the public domain and start-up authors who give away their work to gather a following.  Amazon also makes Kindle editions available to local libraries to loan electronically.  You can fit literally thousands of books on your Kindle device and carry it with you anywhere.  It is light and very portable to the point where I must admit that I prefer to have one with me when I'm out of the house rather than carrying a book along.
So like anything else in this world, there are positives and negatives.  But the bottom line is that if you are a book lover who has been thrust into the twenty-first century by Santa this Christmas, enjoy!

THOMAS online, brought to you by the Library of Congress

I really enjoy finding a new resource on the web.  Sometimes it’s kind of a Homer Simpson moment though (“Doh!”), when I think I should have known about this thing earlier.  Thanks to a blog post about the Federalist Papers by my friend Paul over at History Delivered, I discovered THOMAS, brought to you by the wonderful folks at your Library of Congress.  I thought I would share it with you here.

THOMAS, named for Thomas Jefferson, is the section of the Library of Congress website that provides a bit of transparency to our government.  Here’s an explanation from the site’s About page: “THOMAS was launched in January of 1995, at the inception of the 104^th Congress.  The leadership of the 104^th Congress directed the Library of Congress to make federal legislative information freely available to the public.”

The site provides all of the legislative information you could want to get your eyes on, so you don’t have to suffer the biased summations of the media, whatever your political philosophy.  On this site you can read the real text of bills and resolutions that our Congress is debating, along with treaties, the Congressional Record, and more (not to mention the Federalist Papers).  The site has actually been around since 1995.  Realizing that and having not looked into it sooner is definitely one of my Homer Simpson moments.  But who has time for all of this reading?  Well, perhaps I do watch too much television, but since all of my favorite shows are in repeats, the holiday season is an excellent time to do a little extra reading and research.  ;-)

A Significant Pearl Harbor Day

My thanks to Barry Simpson from the 509^th Parachute Infantry Association for posting a link via Facebook to a newspaper article in the Birmingham Press Register.  This was how I found out that this year will make the last formal December 7^th ceremony for the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association chapters around the country.  This is the 70^th anniversary of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  With most of their members in their nineties, and fewer and fewer able to attend events, the national organization and many local chapters plan to disband on December 31^st of this year.

I find this news saddens me more than I thought it would.  December 7^th is not only “Pearl Harbor Day,” but also signals the anniversary of the United States’ entry to the Second World War.  As a student of this war, the most tumultuous event of the twentieth century that set the stage for the Cold War and formed our current international landscape, I hope that despite the passing of our veterans we will continue to honor the day and remember the sacrifice.

War Diaries and Green Berets

War Diaries

I’m thrilled at the positive response to The Boldest Plan is the Best: The Combat History of the 509th Parachute InfantryBattalion during WWII.  We’ve had some positive feedback from readers, and the most exciting is the letters I’ve received from two WWII veterans that I had not heard from prior to the release of the book.  I’ve also had an email from the son of a 509^th veteran who was looking for more detailed information on his dad’s service.  This last item is what prompted us to add another primary source document to the website.  The S-3 Journal and the Headquarters Company War Diary for November 1943 has been posted.  These documents cover the period of time that the gingerbread men were on Mt. Croce in the Venafro area of Italy.

So what is a “war diary”?  Military units down to the company level are required to keep a daily journal of their activities during periods of combat.  They are focused on the administration and operations of the unit, and as such often list the names of soldiers killed and wounded, or returned or departed for leave, school, or hospital.  However, that is not a requirement and just as often the document will only list numbers.  These journals are found at the National Archives and Records Administration along with After Action Reports, Operations Orders, and other official documents.  Together with veteran’s oral histories tell the story of what a military unit did in combat to complete the historical record and help the military improve its training and doctrine.

50 Years of Green Berets

November 17^th marks the 50^th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy authorizing Special Forces to wear the distinctive green beret.  The Special Forces were formed in 1952, but the President personally approved the wearing of their unique headgear in 1961.  I note that date here because two of the former commanders of the 509^th Parachute Infantry Battalion, Colonel Edson Raff and Lieutenant General William Yarborough, were instrumental in bringing about the President’s authorization.  That story is contained in the epilogue of "The Boldest Plan is the Best," so I won't post it again here. An article in Army Times tells us, though, that even though the Green Berets have expanded their 8,500 man force by 1,000 over the last four years they might have to fight for their share of the budget pie.  We’re reminded that the Special Forces were formed for the express purpose of training indigenous troops and conducting counter insurgency operations.  Let’s keep our terminology straight: Army Green Berets are officially designated “Special Forces.”  They and any other organization that performs a special mission from any other service branch (like Navy Seals) are collectively called “special operations” units. 

For those that might be wondering, let me save you the time of looking up the history of the other colors of berets worn by the American Army.  Of course, the maroon beret was authorized for wear by the 509^th Parachute Infantry Battalion in 1942 as honorary members of the British Parachute Regiment.  However, that headgear was never officially recognized as a uniform item by the American Army.  Berets of various colors were worn unofficially be various special operations units during Korea and Vietnam.  In 1973, as a morale building venture, local commanders were allowed to approve distinctive headgear for their command.  As a result airborne units chose to wear a maroon beret while the ranger battalions wore a black beret.  Non-standardization in other units (like the cav wearing their Stetsons) prompted the policy on headgear to be rescinded temporarily in 1979.  By 1980 the regulation was in place for airborne units to wear the maroon and rangers to wear the black beret.  As another move to boost the morale of conventional units, the Army chose to make the black beret a standard uniform item for all soldiers in 2001.  In that year, the rangers switched to a tan beret.  The color was chosen to honor the buckskin berets worn by the original Roger’s Rangers of the French and Indian War.  The airborne continues to wear the maroon beret and Special Forces the green.

The “High Water Mark” of the Confederacy

The phrase “high water mark of the Confederacy” is traditionally applied to Pickett’s Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. It’s meaning is that before the assault there was hope for a Confederate victory and after the charge was repulsed the “tide had been turned” and the South was rolled back like the tides to their eventual capitulation. However, if we look at the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania from strictly a geographical perspective, then the “high water mark” would have to be the farthest penetration north by Confederate military forces. That point just happens to be very near my home in Mechanicsburg – Camp Hill area of Cumberland County. So, after procrastinating for some months I finally got out early on a Sunday morning to go see how these locations are remembered. For a complete history of Civil War events in Cumberland County, visit www.cumberlandcivilwar.com.

During the Gettysburg Campaign in the summer of 1863, Confederate General Richard Ewell moved his corps north from Chambersburg through the Cumberland Valley lead by General Albert Jenkin’s cavalry brigade.   Faced with overwhelming odds, the Union forces in Carlisle withdrew to defend the approaches to Harrisburg.  On June 28, 1863, Mechanicsburg, about ten mile east of Carlisle, was the northernmost town to surrender to Confederate forces.  The Rupp House, just outside of Mechanicsburg at the time, was occupied as headquarters for General Jenkins.  A monument commemorating Jenkins and his Confederate cavalry is now located at the location (an office building at 5115 Trindle Road in Mechanicsburg).

Union forces set up defenses on the west side of the Susquehanna to protect the approaches to Harrisburg, about five miles northeast of Mechanicsburg.  Under the command of Major General Darius Couch built two earthwork forts on Washington Heights (then known as Hummel’s Heights) in today’s community of Lemoyne, overlooking Harrisburg across the Susquehanna River.  Fort Washington was the main fortification was located in an area around Cumberland Road between Walnut and Indiana Avenues.  (I found no commemoration of the fort, but it’s a nice neighborhood.)  A few blocks west was built a smaller, forward position that was dubbed Fort Couch.  Honoring Fort Couch is a large monument and remains of the earthworks set aside in a small park at 8^th Street and Indiana Avenue.  This park is surrounded by residences on all sides and there is no dedicated parking.  Unfortunately with the urban growth you can’t see the approach that General Couch would have seen, but you can certainly appreciate the military significance of the positions on Hummel’s Heights.

Pennsylvania State Historic Markers commemorating the northernmost skirmishes are a little harder to spot if you are whizzing by in your car.  Two small engagements took place between Mechanicsburg and Lemoyne.  On June 28, General Jenkins sent a small force to engage Union militia units that fled Mechanicsburg as the Confederates entered the town.  The Union troops set up a battery of artillery and a hasty defense at Oyster Point, a tavern located on Market at 31^st Street in Camp Hill.  The Confederates returned the next day with a larger force, but could not dislodge the Yankees.  The engagement at Oyster Point was probably a diversion to cover Jenkins reconnaissance of the river crossings to Harrisburg from Slate Hill in New Cumberland.  The state marker was hard to spot.  It was a foggy morning and the sign was hidden behind some trees.  I’ve probably driven past it at least eight times without ever noticing it before.

On June 30^th two New York militia regiments supported by a battery of Pennsylvania artillery engaged two Virginia cavalry regiments around the McCormick farmhouse, just north of Mechanicsburg along the Carlisle Pike.  This engagement became known as the skirmish at Sporting Hill.  There is a state marker at the corner of Sporting Hill Road and the Carlisle Pike.  It’s a busy intersection, but you can pull into the parking lot of the “Ye Old Ale House” and walk out to the corner to read the marker.  Sporting Hill was the northernmost engagement in the Gettysburg Campaign, and as such can be called the high water mark of the Confederacy.  In fact, Pennsylvania historian Robert Grant dubbed it so in his article “Highwater 1863: The Confederate Approach to Harrisburg” in Pennsylvania History, 1963 (placed online courtesy of ExplorePAHistory.com).

Sporting Hill can be considered a Union victory, in that the Confederates left the field.  But in all fairness, their hurried departure was due to Ewell’s orders to move his corps to Gettysburg, the famous battle kicking off the next day.  The Cumberland County Visitors Bureau has produced an excellent self-guided tour brochure/map for “The Civil War on the West Shore.”  It is available in pdf for download.  Get the full feel of the Gettysburg Campaign by taking this tour.  It’s worth it. 

There You Have It

One of the reasons I named this blog “The Roving Historian” is that not only do I like to travel and live in different areas of the country, but I have an eclectic mix of historical interests as well. I enjoy military history from any era and usually buy books along those lines, but occasionally I “rove on over” to business, social, and political history as well. Though I have to admit that other than watching Ken Burns’ documentary on baseball; I have never ventured into the area of sports history before. This week that changed a little bit when I read “There You Have It: the life, legacy, and legend of Howard Cosell” by John Bloom.

I took a couple of classes from Dr. John Bloom going on five years ago, when I was going through the masters program at Shippensburg University. When I saw that he was the author of this book about sportscaster Howard Cosell, I wanted to give it a try even though I'm not a fan of sports history. I'm glad that I did. Stepping out of the comfort zone once in a while is not a bad thing. It was a really good read.

I grew up with Howard Cosell, Monday Night Football, Wide World of Sports, and Muhammed Ali. However I was not aware that behind the scenes of what, until I read this book, I considered to be simply sports entertainment programming, was a demonstration of social change at work. I was unaware that Howard Cosell was the first broadcaster to acknowledge Muhammed Ali's name change from Cassius Clay, nor did I ever stop to recognize Cosell's further support of civil rights. I was also unaware of the prejudices against Mr. Cosell's ethnicity that had to be overcome for him to rise to his position in sports broadcasting. Quite frankly, it never occurred to me that Howard Cosell was Jewish, or that it mattered. Things have certainly changed in the last forty years, and some credit can be given to Mr. Cosell.

For this work the author went to the source and interviewed members of Howard Cosell's family, and legends in the field of sportscasting like Frank Deford, Keith Jackson, Frank Gifford, and others. John Bloom has expertly weaved together a work of popular sports history with academic social analysis. The best evidence I can provide is that the book lead to a lively discussion about 70's sports around my house. If it makes you talk about it, it must be a good book.

Government Funding Is Not Always Required

I’m always impressed when I hear of people preserving history through voluntary efforts. In these times of shrinking budgets the monumental task of honoring and caring for our historical sites and records does not lessen. Just many archives, museums, and historic sites have volunteer programs and use unpaid college interns. Volunteers working under the guidance of paid history professionals have my appreciation and thanks for the donation of their time. But here I have some examples of groups and individuals who take on their chosen task without pay, training, or supervision.

The group we started in Seattle called the Friends of the Ballard Locks is still working hard. While they have points of contact with the Corps of Engineers, the operating agency for the Hiram Chittenden Locks and the Carl English Botanical Garden on the Seattle Ship Canal, there is no trained history or archive professional available to provide guidance and supervision. However, local people in the community saw the need for organizing archival materials and artifacts that have to do with the facility and have stepped up to donate their time and often their money for out of pocket expenses. When they are in need of professional opinion, they seek it through contacts at surrounding museums and archives. The FOBL does not have a budget, because they don’t need one. All they really need, and always welcome, is new volunteers. Read about how the FOBL is doing at their website and blog: www.friendsoftheballardlocks.org.

I saw an article recently in the local paper in Carlisle, Pennsylvania that the Molly Pitcher monument needed some work. Molly was a legendary figure here in the Cumberland Valley. The story goes that Molly got her nickname by carrying a pitcher of water to soldiers during the Battle of Monmouth on July 28, 1778. When her husband, who was part of a cannon crew, was wounded during heavy fighting, Molly stepped in to take his place. A statue and cannon are placed at her grave in the old Carlisle cemetery on South Street. For a number of years the Sunrise Rotary Club volunteers to landscape around the monument. And when the statue needed maintenance and the cannon needed a new coat of paint, that organization of local businessmen stepped up and raised the money to get it done.

I recently became aware of Jack Loveday’s website, www.hqco9thmarines.com. Jack is a marine veteran of Headquarters Company, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division during Vietnam (also, Jack’s dad was a veteran of the 509th PIB during WWII). Jack put together this website that has brought together, in his estimation, about a hundred veterans from his unit. That is awesome on its own, but what impressed me the most was that the site is a treasure trove of pictures, videos, and primary sources like rosters and unit logs. The website has a professional look and straightforward navigation that makes these resources easy to find. If I was researching the 9th Marines in Vietnam, I would refer to this site. Well done, Jack.

So my suggestion is this: a large amount of government funding is not always required in a history project. Don’t wish that someone would do the thing that you plainly see needs to be done. Volunteer and get others to volunteer. Remember the old saying, “If not us, who? If not now, when?”