Military History Commons^™

“My Bruises Are Inward:” A Study Of Mental Trauma In The American Civil War, Cody Turnbaugh

Master's Theses

War is traumatic. Since the American Psychiatric Association first recognized post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 1980, living veterans of combat have been diagnosed at an alarmingly high rate. However, mental trauma related diagnoses have existed for centuries, including several that were identified around the time of the American Civil War. This thesis argues that Civil War soldiers experienced mental trauma related to their military service. It does so through three lenses. Focused on the mental trauma among Northern veterans, this study investigates in particular the relationship between mental trauma and socioeconomic status. It analyzes the experiences of both white and …

“It’S War That's Cruel”: The Evolution Of Wartime Representation And ‘The Other’ In The American Musical, Leana Sottile

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

Musical theater has historically been a venue for Americans to come to terms with our past and present on both a national and an individual level as it stages and restages war mythology on the Broadway Stage. As the nation has won, lost, and abandoned foreign conflicts, the connotation, remembrance, and commemoration of war in American memory has shifted from romanticizing former conflicts to renegotiating their memory. Thus, this project examines how twentieth-century war memory is represented in the American musical, starting in the 1940s and continuing up to the present day. To do so, the phenomenon will be examined …

The Hijacked War: The Story Of Chinese Pows In The Korean War By David Cheng Chang, Austin Dean

History Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Review: War Stories By Gabrielle Atwood Halko, R.C. Miessler

All Musselman Library Staff Works

War Stories, a digital project created by Gabrielle Atwood Halko of West Chester University, seeks to frame the narrative of World War II (WWII) through the stories of children, particularly children in internment or under occupation. Halko starts with the assumption that visitors to the website are unaware of these stories, and the site largely frames itself as an educational tool that aggregates primary and secondary sources related to children during WWII. [excerpt]

Combat Decorations: Navy & Marine Corps Recipients From The College Of The Holy Cross And Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Brendan J. O’Donnell, Usn (Ret)

Naval Science Department

"America has a time-honored tradition of recognizing the acts of valor performed by Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines."¹ This compilation lists recipients of the nation's most prestigious valor awards who attended the College of the Holy Cross and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Each entry includes the recipient's name, photo, rank, citation and other information. World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and Operation Just Cause (Panama) are represented.

¹ Military Awards for Valor - Top 3. U.S. Department of Defense. https://valor.defense.gov/. Accessed 19 July 2021.

The Octofoil, July/August/September 2021, Ninth Infantry Division Association

The Octofoil

The Octofoil is the offical publication of the Ninth Infantry Division Association, Inc., an organization formed by the officers and men of the 9th Infantry Division in order to perpetuate the memory of fallen comrades, preserve the esprit de corps of the Division, promote peace and serve as an information bureau about the 9th Infantry Division. The Association is made up of 9th Infantry veterans from WWII and Vietnam, spouses, widows and lineal descendants.

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 …

All The King’S Horses: Stable Administration In New Kingdom Egypt, Tessa Genevieve David Litecky

Theses and Dissertations

Horses were an important part of Egyptian society during the New Kingdom as tools of warfare, status symbols of the elite, and an emblem of the power of kingship. However, little is known about how these animals were trained and cared for, or who was working in horse stables and their roles. There are no texts or images that explicitly explain methods of horse management. Therefore, this topic has been generally overlooked in the literature. This thesis combines two threads of evidence to create a more complete picture of the organization, purpose, and function of horse stables and the treatment …

The Committee On Public Information And The Four Minute Men: How The United States Sold A European War To American People, Madison Mcternan

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

Shortly after America’s entry into World War I, President Woodrow Wilson created the Committee on Public Information to garner public support for the War. This committee was created not only to drum up support for the war, but to ease a public frustrated by an isolationist president’s entry into such a conflict. Notable reporter and writer George Creel served as its chairman, and together with countless others created a massive propaganda campaign. The Committee was incredibly successful in its mission of “selling the war.” This was largely due to the fact that Creel and his men revolutionized the way propaganda …

Cinderella’S Star: The Cp 140 Aurora And The Evolution Of The Royal Canadian Air Force’S Modern Long Range Patrol Capability, 1939-2015, Richard Mayne

Canadian Military History

This article traces the story of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s maritime air capability and the incredible ups and downs it has experienced throughout its service to the nation. Whether it was the stunning highs that it enjoyed during the Second World War and Cold War eras as well as the recovery it has made during recent overseas operations on the one hand, or the extreme lows it faced after the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of the Soviet Union on the other, the maritime air community has led a life of boom and bust. Its story therefore …

“He Would Be Expected To Crack:” Battle Exhaustion, Desertion And The Court Martial Of Lieutenant R. J. Woods, Matthew Barrett

Canadian Military History

This article examines psychological breakdown, combat stress and military justice through the 1945 general court martial of Lieutenant Reginald James Woods. During his first day in combat with the Lake Superior Regiment (Motor) on 17 August 1944, the twenty-five-year-old platoon leader disappeared. Woods remerged nearly two months later in London where he claimed to suffer from amnesia. The subsequent medical investigation and legal proceedings forced Canadian authorities to grapple with assumptions about combat leadership, mental responsibility and criminal culpability. This article adopts a graphic history approach to illustrate the subjective and contingent nature of memory and truth through the fog …

Graduates Of The College Of The Holy Cross Naval Rotc Unit 1944-2021, Brendan J. O'Donnell

Naval Science Department

A report of the Navy and Marine Corps officers commissioned through the Naval ROTC Unit at the College of the Holy Cross from 1944 to 2021. This report is a revised and expanded version of the Unit's history, published in 2016 by the O'Callahan Society on the occasion of the Unit's 75th anniversary and revised in 2017 and 2019. It includes updates, additional information and corrections to the 2016 report.

Associated with this report is a spreadsheet that breaks down the commissioning numbers by year and, within each year, by Service and college. It is included as a supplemental file.

Challenges Of Repatriation: Asante Artifacts At The American Museum Of Natural History, Abdul-Alim Farook

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Inspired by calls for the repatriation of famous artifacts like the Benin Bronzes and the Elgin Marbles, for this capstone project, I have analyzed and catalogued 250 sampled Asante artifacts at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Through this analysis, I discuss the many ways museums in North America acquired their collections. By doing so, I explore the difficulties that arise in debates surrounding repatriation due to the manner in which these artifacts were acquired. I argue that due to the many different types of donors of the Asante artifacts to the American Museum of Natural History, the Asante …

The Logistics Considerations Of The Landing Ship Tank And Its Evolution As An Auxiliary Repair Ship In World War Ii, Joel H. Berry Iii

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study reveals how the US Navy’s Landing Ship Tank (LST) of World War II functioned in logistics support roles from the outset of its wartime participation and to a greater degree than many military planners ever envisioned. The ship’s simple design proved so versatile that, within one year of the first LST, the Navy began converting dozens of the ships to Landing Craft Repair Ships (ARL) and other auxiliary classes supporting myriad naval logistics tasks. Both the standard LST and the ARL made significant logistics contributions to the war effort well beyond amphibious assaults.

Octofoil Newsletter Index For Issues January 1947-January 2024, Richard B. Kann Jr.

The Octofoil

This index records the Ninth Division stories, and the names and pictures of the 39th, 47th and 60th Infantry Regiments found in The Octofoil, the official newsletter of the Ninth Division Association.

The second edition expanded to include the 47th and 60th Infantry Regiments.

The third edition includes important edits to the first 52,000 of the total 106,165 entries.

The Colonial Marginalization Of Filipino And Filipino American Soldiers In The Us Army During World War Ii, Corey Joseph Tinay

Master's Theses

This thesis analyzes the structural paradigms in place within American society as multifaceted tools of colonialism and how they impacted the experiences of minority and colonized soldiers in the United States Army during the Second World War. The history is analyzed through the postcolonial lens, observing factors in place such as; denial of place in history, identity, and recognition of service. The research questions that this thesis addresses are as follows: What are the colonial implications in the experience of Filipino and Filipino American soldiers experience during the Second World War? Are colonial soldiers treated as more expendable than white …

Jdn 2-19: Hitting The Target But Missing The Mark, Ann Mezzell, J. Wesley Hutto

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Predoctrinal deliberations about the employment of the US armed forces, captured in Joint Doctrine Notes, remain critically understudied. Using comparative text analysis, this article identifies changes in recent Joint Doctrine Note depictions of military strategy. These changes risk distorting the logic of military strategy, sacrificing means-ends integration to organizational impulse, and raising the prospect of future shortfalls in US strategic effectiveness.

Book Reviews, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Matthew Ridgway And The Value Of Persistent Dissent, Conrad C. Crane

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Army General Matthew Ridgway’s actions throughout his career provide a valuable example of the appropriate time and place for serious dissent by military leaders. Ridgway demonstrated the importance of selectively and pragmatically expressing open disagreement in response to operational decisions a military leader deems unnecessarily risk American lives and economic resources

Europe: A Strategy For A Regional And Middle Power, Jean-Yves Haine, Cynthia Salloum

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

As the European Union deals with yet another crisis— the COVID-19 pandemic—it must adopt a grand strategy based on unity, policy, and proportionality: cohesion over inaction, policy over process, and regional imperatives over global ambitions. An analysis of past strategy documents and a study of current international trends stress the need for a Union capable of shaping its own environment rather than reacting to it. The pandemic should accelerate Europe’s journey toward power maturity and responsibility.

Coin Doctrine Is Wrong, M. Chris Mason

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Counterinsurgency does not increase the legitimacy of, or support for, central governments engaged in internal conflicts. Recent research shows quantifiable degrees of government legitimacy, national identity, and population security are necessary precursors and accurate predictors of a government’s ability to outlast a civil uprising. Because the first two predictors—government legitimacy and national identity—can be measured and do not increase during a conflict, the probability of government failure in most cases can be accurately predicted when the conflict starts.

The Coercive Logic Of Militant Drone Use, Austin C. Doctor, James I. Walsh

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

While unmanned aerial systems can serve as a force multiplier for militants, these systems do not embody a transformation in modern insurgent warfare or enable militants to engage regularly in strategic coercion. Instead, drone use is consistent with a militant group’s relative capabilities and broader strategic objectives. Consequently, these groups are likely to employ drones primarily for theater and tactical military purposes.

From The Editor In Chief, Antulio J. Echevarria Ii

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Greater Security Cooperation: Us Allies In Europe And East Asia, Tongfi Kim, Luis Simón

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Growing Sino-Russian coordination necessitates greater security cooperation between US Allies in Europe and East Asia. US Allies in both regions face remarkably similar threats requiring similar operational concepts, capabilities, and technologies. Further, these Allies must hedge against the specter of US abandonment. An exploration of the links between the two geographically distant US Alliance networks illustrates the Allies’ perspectives on US extended deterrence and highlights opportunities to devise better policies for cooperation.

Toward Successful Coin: Shining Path’S Decline, Darren Colby

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

The rapid decline of the Peruvian left-wing insurgent organization Sendero Luminoso was not only the result of the arrest of its leader. An analysis of the precipitous weakening of the organization using two social movement theories finds other factors were involved in the demise of the organization as well. These factors—participatory politics, support for the military among the rural population, and alienation of the population by Sendero Luminoso—provide insights to effective counterinsurgency tactics.

Parameters Summer 2021, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

The US Army War College Quarterly, Parameters, is a refereed forum for contemporary strategy and Landpower issues. It furthers the education and professional development of senior military officers and members of government and academia concerned with national security affairs.

Integrated Planning And Campaigning For Complex Problems, Robert S. Ehlers Jr., Patrick Blannin

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Shortfalls and inefficiencies in traditional planning and campaigning have become increasingly clear in the current hyperconnected security environment. US military planners can mitigate these deficiencies by embracing integrated planning and campaigning approaches including the development of new organizational structures and processes. These improvements will give senior leaders increased options as the US military and US Allies and partners address complex problems with better effect and to greater advantage.

On “The Politics Of Oath-Taking”, David J. Wasserstein, Jimmie R. Montgomery, Marybeth P. Ulrich

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Guerres, Individus, Systèmes : Problématiques De L’Écriture Martiale Dans Le Roman Américain Du Xxème Siècle, Julien Brugeron

Vernacular: New Connections in Language, Literature, & Culture

This article aims at reassessing the long 20^th century American war novel and its inherent and hitherto seldom addressed problematics. Borrowing from both French, American and English critical standpoints, it aims at clarifying the definitional, ethical, political and aesthetic aspects of war writing by putting on an equal footing classic works of the genre (Dos Passos, Mailer, Heller, Herr) and left-aside writers (La Motte, Boyd, Hasford) as well as contemporary novelists (Powers). It is critical in American literary history, and to literary history in general, to seize what is at stake in war writing, as this particular kind of …

A Distinction Without A Difference: Vietnam, Sir Robert Thompson, And The Policing Failures Of Vietnam, Mark J. Rothermel

Madison Historical Review

The scholarship analyzing the failure of the American involvement in Vietnam began even before the war finished. Whether the Orthodox School which considered the war unwinnable or the revisionist which argued there was a path to victory for the Americans, there have been libraries of tomes arguing who or what was to blame for the American defeat. An increased amount of scholarship recently has been written regarding the influence of British officer Sir Robert Thompson and his attempt to advise both the South Vietnamese and American war efforts.

Thompson, who gained fame as one of the key leaders for the …