History Commons^™

Ralph Rogers Wheeler Papers: Finding Aid, Bethany Latham

Finding Aids

This collection contains photographic prints, newspaper clippings, conference programs, photocopies from various sources, military records, booklets, original essays, and more most likely compiled by Ralph Rogers Wheeler (1918-2004), an Alabama native. Items relate to Wheeler’s life and especially his military service and time as a Japanese prisoner of war. Beginning in 1942, he was first housed in a prison camp in the Philippines, and then sent via ship to a prison camp near Osaka, Japan. He was rescued in 1945 after Japan’s surrender. Supplementary materials appear to be related to research he did into Bataan and Corregidor, as well as …

A Vietnam War-Era Training Village At Fort Jackson, Stacey L. Young

Faculty & Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Cives Arma Ferant: Reconstructing Infantry Combat And Training In The European Theater Of Operations, Phil R. Kaspriskie

Student Publications

A common theme in memoirs, oral histories, and other sources dealing with servicemen in World War II seems to be a focus on the experience of combat. Training, particularly individual training, is rarely discussed beyond a cursory mention, and if it is discussed at all, the overwhelming tendency is to paint a picture of half-trained cannon fodder, at best.

This paper’s goal is twofold: First, explore methods of instruction at the individual and unit levels, and explain the reasoning behind the evolution of training as the Army Ground Forces’ understanding of contemporary warfare changed; second, provide a case study at …

“Strike Up” And Mobilize The Band: Musical Activities In The United States Military During World War Ii, Max R. Bouchard

Student Publications

After the United States’ entry into the Second World War, music was one of the most prominent forms of art and popular entertainment to be repurposed by the federal government as part of the mobilization for war. The military implemented numerous music programs produced and consumed by a wide range of service personnel. These activities functioned as a means of building morale among military and civilian audiences, both on the domestic home front and in foreign nations, and disseminating an image of American culture that reinforced a set of values integral to the war effort. In order to present this …

Finding Aid To The Collection Of Charles Henry Smith Materials, Charles Henry Smith, Colby College Special Collections

Finding Aids

Charles Henry Smith was born on November 1, 1827 in Hollis, Maine. He graduated from Waterville (Colby) College in 1856, and became the principal of Eastport High School until 1860. After the call for Volunteers to serve in the Civil War, Smith enlisted and was recruited Captain of Company D of the 1st Maine Cavalry in 1861. He was made Major, Lieutenant Colonel, and then Colonel in 1863. He was in command of the 1st Maine Cavalry at Gettysburg. He was mustered out of the 1st Maine Cavalry in August of 1865. After discharge from the Civil War, he was …

Finding Aid To The Collection Of Henry Clay Merriam Materials, Henry Clay Merriam, Colby College Special Collections

Finding Aids

Henry Clay Merriam (1837-1912) was born in Houlton in 1837 and entered Waterville College (now Colby College) in 1860. He enlisted in the 20th Maine Regiment in the spring of 1862 and served under Joshua Chamberlain. After the Union Army decided to allow black troops to fight, Maine men were solicited to lead black units. Merriam was one of those willing to do so and in March 1863, he was made commander of the Third Colored Infantry of Louisiana. The 3rd Infantry, later the 73rd Infantry Corps d'Afrique, was considered an excellent fighting unit under Merriam's leadership.

Merriam led his …

Anzus And The Early Cold War: Strategy And Diplomacy Between Australia, New Zealand And The United States, 1945-1956, Andrew Kelly

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The ANZUS Alliance was a defence arrangement between Australia, New Zealand and the United States that shaped international policy in the aftermath of the Second World War and the early stages of the Cold War. Forged by influential individuals and impacting on global events including the Japanese Peace Treaty, the Korean War and the Suez Crisis, the ANZUS Alliance was a crucial factor in the seismic changes that took place in the second half of the twentieth century.

In this compact and accessible study, Andrew Kelly lays out the tensions that underpinned the formation of the Alliance, as each power …

Tribute To Lt William Mcbryar, Buffalo Soldiers, And Other Military At Tsu Veterans Day Observance, Learotha Williams Jr.

History, Political Science, Geography, and Africana Studies Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of The Military Dog Tag: From The Civil War To Present Day, Savannah A. Labbe

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

In doing research for my previous post on the U.S. Christian Commission, I came across an intriguing artifact: a Civil War era identification tag, or dog tag. When I picture a military dog tag I see a metal rectangle suspended from a necklace, like those worn by today’s soldiers. One doesn’t usually associate dog tags with the Civil War, which is why I was interested to find one. However, it is not surprising that the basic human fear of dying unknown, of robbing one’s family of closure and certainty, was present during the Civil War just as it is today. …

Defying The United States: General Douglas Macarthur, Luke G. Mueller

Honors Projects, History

General Douglas MacArthur continually disobeyed his superiors officers throughout his entire career, yet he never received any punishment. He eventually became one of the most decorated U.S. soldiers and rose to the rank of General by the time his career was over. However, as his career progressed, his defiance increased. It was not until President Harry S. Truman relieved him of command during the Korean War that MacArthur received any kind of reprimand. Because of this, MacArthur threatened not only U.S. security and democracy, but also world peace.

Avenging Carlota In Africa: Angola And The Memory Of Cuban Slavery, Myra Ann Houser

Articles

Fidel Castro’s meta-narrative of Cuban history emphasizes the struggle – and eventual triumph – of the oppressed over their oppressors. This was epitomized in Nelson Mandela’s 1991 visit to the island, when his host took him to the northwestern city of Matanzas, and the pair gave speeches titled “Look How Far We Slaves Have Come!” The use of Matanzas as a site of public political memory began in 1843, and the memory of slavery soon became a surrogate for Cuba’s flawed liberation movement. One-hundred and fifty years after the execution of Carlota, one of the enslaved leaders of the Triumvirato …

Peacebuilding After Civil War, Caroline A. Hartzell

Political Science Faculty Publications

Book Summary: This comprehensive new Handbook explores the significance and nature of armed intrastate conflict and civil war in the modern world. Civil wars and intrastate conflict represent the principal form of organised violence since the end of World War II, and certainly in the contemporary era. These conflicts have a huge impact and drive major political change within the societies in which they occur, as well as on an international scale. The global importance of recent intrastate and regional conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia, Nepal, Cote d'Ivoire, Syria and Libya – amongst others – has served to refocus …

Never Give A Sword To A Man Who Can't Dance, Colin Slade

Masters Theses

War dances have long been a powerful means of preparing warriors for combat or the intimidation of an enemy, but they are also used in the ceremonial supplication of deity or celebration of victory. They are a fundamental artifact of many cultures throughout the world. Nevertheless, the United States of America boasts the most powerful military in history, yet it lacks a war dance. This is valid until one accepts a simple truth; military drill is a dance. However, Americans would object to such a proposition even though they have adopted and adapted military drill as their own, describe it …

The Military-Masculinity Complex: Hegemonic Masculinity And The United States Armed Forces, 1940-1963, Brandon T. Locke

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The military-industrial complex grew rapidly in the build up to the Second World War and continued to expand in the decades that followed. The military was not only much larger, but had also changed their relationship with American citizens, impacting their lives in new and complex ways. The defensive needs of World War Two and the Cold War made the military an imperative and prestigious institution in the United States, and the Selective Service Draft, beginning in 1940 and running continuously until 1973, gave the military unfettered access to the young men of the nation.

During the same time, government …

The Battle Of Beersheba: Strategic And Tactical Pivot Of Palestine, Zachary D. Grafman

Senior Honors Theses

The Battle of Beersheba, fought on October 31, 1917, was a vital turning point in the British campaign against the Ottoman Turks. The battle opened a gap in the Turkish line that eventually resulted in the British takeover of Palestine. The British command saw the cavalry charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade as a new tactical opportunity, and this factored into the initiative for new light tank forces designed around the concepts of mobility and flanking movements. What these commanders failed to realize was that the Palestine Campaign was an anachronistic theater of war in comparison to the rest …

Latter-Day Saints And The Civil War, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

An introduction to "Civil War Saints" published in 2012 by the Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center and Deseret Book, Kenneth L. Alford, editor.

Mormon Motivation For Enlisting In The Civil War, Brant Ellsworth, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

A discussion of several Latter-day Saint (Mormon) Union and Confederate soldiers who served in the American Civil War.

Special Issue: Revisiting And Reconstructing The Nghê Tinh Soviets, 1930-2011, Tobias Frederik Rettig

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The seven papers presented here constitute the first collective effort in a Western language to revisit the Nghe Tinh Soviets of 1930–31. The Nghe Tinh movement, its name a compound of two neighbouring provinces in the north-central part of the French protectorate of Annam, not only occupies a special place in the history of the early Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) but also became a site for animated debate on the causes of agrarian unrest that produced two of the most influential books in South East Asian Studies: James Scott’s Moral Economy of the Peasant (1976); and Samuel Popkin’s The Rational …

Flying Uav’S In Iraq, Stephen Rayleigh

ERAU Prescott Aviation History Program

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or UAV’s, are a growing reality and an important new weapon for today’s military. Hear what it was like to fly the RQ-7B “Shadow” UAV during Operation Iraqi Freedom from Stephen Rayleigh who spent a year in Iraq and has more than 1,000 hours experience flying them.

Who Joins The Military?: A Look At Race, Class, And Immigration Status, Amy Lutz

Sociology - All Scholarship

This article discusses the history of participation of the three largest racial–ethnic groups in the military: whites, blacks, and Latinos. It empirically exa-mines the likelihood of ever having served in the military across a variety of criteria including race–ethnicity, immigrant generation, and socioeconomic status, concluding that significant disparities exist only by socioeconomic status. Finally, the article offers an in-depth look at Latinos in the military, a group whose levels of participation in the armed services have not been thoroughly investigated heretofore. The findings reveal that, among Latinos, those who identify as “Other Hispanic” are more likely to have served in …

Strahm, Victor Herbert, 1897-1957 (Mss 27), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 27. Correspondence, clippings, photographs, etc., covering Bowling Green native Victor Herbert Strahm's U.S. Air Force career. There are over 100 letters written to his parents in Bowling Green, Kentucky, describing his World War I activities and 27 letters to his mother detailing his participation in the early days of World War II.

Ua3/9/5 Special Unveiling Of Granite Panels On The Guthrie Bell Tower, Wku President's Office

WKU Archives Records

Program and talking points used by WKU president Gary Ransdell at the unveiling of the granite panels on the Guthrie Bell Tower honoring WKU servicemen and veterans.

The Far And Its Economic Role: From Civic To Technocrat-Soldier, Frank O. Mora

Institute for Cuban & Cuban-American Studies Occasional Papers

No abstract provided.

French Military Policies In The Aftermath Of The Yên Bay Mutiny, 1930: Old Security Dilemmas Return To The Surface, Tobias Frederik Rettig

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper provides a brief summary of the Yên Bay mutiny of 10 February 1930, before examining its links to a wider insurrectionary attempt by the Vietnamese Nationalist Party in parts of Tonkin and the reasons why the attempted insurrection was to begin at Yên Bay but not in other garrison towns. It then places the mutiny in a context in which the use of Vietnamese soldiers in French service was necessary in order to maintain French supremacy as a colonial and protectorate power in French Indo-China. But instead of focusing on the mutiny itself and its causes, the main …

Review Of Blindfold And Alone : British Military Executions In The Great War, Michael F. Russo

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Leadership - Lessons From The Battlefield (Gettysburg), C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

In these conference notes from the CSA/CEO Conference at the Army War College in Carlisle, PA, Pollard applies lessons from the battle of Gettysburg to the topic of leadership.

Review Of The Most Promising Young Officer: A Life Of Ranald Slidell Mackenzie By Michael D. Pierce, Michael L. Tate

History Faculty Publications

Michael D. Pierce has produced a credible and nicely written interpretation of Ranald Mackenzie's life. By focusing on the frontier years and placing this officer's experiences within the broader context of military events, he provides the reader a good sense of time and place. Pierce also successfully utilizes the standard source materials and moves well beyond Robert G. Carter's somewhat unreliable On the Border with Mackenzie (1935). Unfortunately, the personal dimensions of Mackenzie's thoughts and deeds will never be fully known because he was an intensely private man who left little documentation about himself. Even his official reports tend to …

Ua64/25/4/2 Scrapbook, Wku Rebelettes

Student Organizations

Scrapbook created by and about the WKU Rebelettes for the school year 1977-1978.

Ua64/25/4/1 Scrapbook, Wku Pershing Rifles

Student Organizations

Scrapbook commemorating Pershing Rifles members Robert Yeater, Sue McFarland, Roger Coffey, Larry Ferry, Diane Hemmen, Sandy Haworth, Jeff Yeater, Arthur & Bonnie Shemwell, Brad Hummer, Helen Harrison, Ellen Wilhoyte, Martella Lee and Mike Pendly. Includes clippings regarding 1977-1978 activities.

Ua64/25/5/2 Scrapbook, Wku Rebelettes

Student Organizations

Scrapbook created by and about the WKU Rebelettes for the school year 1976-1977.