Military History Commons^™

President Truman Decides To Use The Atom Bomb, Amanda L. Dodge

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The creation of atomic bomb has greatly influenced interactions between nations in today's world. But how did this come to be? President Harry S. Truman ordered the use of the first atomic bombs in history during World War II. The decision to use such a powerful weapon must have be difficult however. This thesis analyzes President Truman's choice to use the atom bomb which forever changed the world as we know it.

Italian Fellas In Olive Drab: Exploring The Experiences Of Italian-American Servicemen In Sicily And Italy, 1943-1945, Guido Rossi

Master's Theses

Despite constituting the largest ethnic group in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II, the experiences of Italian-Americans have received scant attention by historians. In particular, the stories of the U.S. citizens of Italian descent or Italian-born but naturalized Americans who served in Italy, have received almost none. These soldiers, sailors, airmen, and coastguardmen who could often speak Italian, had grown up in Italian-American families and neighborhoods, and still had relatives in Italy, were asked to go fight in their country of origin. During the Allied advance, these men found themselves in close contact with a destitute Italian population …

Forward Myth: Military Public Relations And The Domestic Base Newspaper 1941-1981, Willie R. Tubbs

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the evolution of domestic military base newspapers from 1941-1981, a timeframe that encapsulates the Second World War, Korean War, and Vietnam War, as well as interwar and postwar years. While called “newspapers,” the United States military designed these publications to be a hybrid of traditional news and public relations. This dissertation focuses on three primary aspects of these newspapers: the evolution of the format, style, and function of these papers; the messages editors and writers crafted for and about the “common” soldier and American; and the messages for and about members of the non-majority group.

Sometimes printed …

The World War Ii Letters Of Richard Schade, Ashley N. Sonntag

Student Publications

Richard Schade was a newlywed when he was drafted into the United States Army on January 29, 1943, in Camden, New Jersey. While stationed in the United States during World War II, he wrote a series of letters to his new wife, Betty. Many of these letters were love letters discussing deep love as well as the active plan to start a family. Through the letters written over the course of months he records his daily duties, concerns, dreams, and various information about the conditions in the military. His letters developed into a valuable insight into the life of a …

Curated Exhibit Price Of War: Advances In Military Medicine, Laura J. Hall

Posters and Presentations

The Price of War: Advances in Military Medicine exhibit, curated by Laura J. Hall, MFA, explored the significant medical innovations arising from wartime, with a special focus on New Mexico's contributions. The exhibit highlighted the development of the atomic bomb at Los Alamos National Labs and the Trinity Site, the post-war work of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, and the pioneering efforts of Dr. Randy Lovelace in space medicine. On display from April 1, 2017, to March 17, 2020, it documented key medical advancements, from field surgical installations in World War II to modern prosthetics and regenerative medicine, showing how …

Arnold Whitridge: Scholar And Veteran Of Two Armies And Two Wars, Keith J. Muchowski

Publications and Research

This is an invited blog post written for Roads to the Great War, a site dedicated to the study of the First World War edited by historian Mike Hanlon. The article discusses the life and career of Arnold Whitridge, a soldier, scholar and grandson of British poet Matthew Arnold.

This is the url:

http://roadstothegreatwar-ww1.blogspot.com/2017/01/arnold-whitridge-scholar-and-veteran-of.html

A Different Way Of Touring Europe; One Aid Man's Journey Across Europe During World War Ii, Abigail M. Currier

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Robert Bell Bradley enlisted in the United States Army in October of 1942 as an aid man. He spent several months training to be a first responder on the front lines of combat and learning how to deal with a variety of issues. He was then attached to the 30^th Infantry Division and sent to England in preparation for operation OVERLORD and the D-Day Invasion. Two months later, he was captured by the Germans and this event began a year long journey filled with death and near misses. [1] While Bradley’s experiences cannot speak for all prisoner of war …

British Appeasement 1936-1939: The Debate Between Parliament And The Public, Kylie D. Johnson

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

While it is now clear that appeasement of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler did not prevent another war, there is a historical debate on whether British appeasement policies were shameful, a set of well-intentioned blunders, an attempt at keeping peace internationally, or a strategy to keep domestic resources focused on Britain. Within the debate between historians, lies a debate between the British public and Parliament, and even within Parliament itself. An important factor in the British decision to implement appeasement policy in the 1930s often underemphasized in the literature is the governmental prioritizing of domestic issues and national security over …

Bodies In Conflict: From Gettysburg To Iraq, Laura E. Bergin

Schmucker Art Catalogs

The exhibition Bodies in Conflict: From Gettysburg to Iraq not only conveys an ambitious geographic and historical range, but also reflects the sensitivity, ambition, and thoughtfulness of its curator, Laura Bergin ’17. In examining how the human figure is represented in prints and photographs of modern war and political conflict, Laura considers how journalistic photographs, artistic interpretations, and other visual documentation of conflict and its aftermath compare between wars and across historical periods. Specific objects include a print and photographs from the Civil War, propaganda posters from World Wars I and II, photographs and a protest poster from the Vietnam …

Eisenhower And Montgomery: Strategy, Leadership, And Tension At The End Of World War Ii, Bradley J. Klustner

Student Publications

In late 1944, two legendary generals stood at the helm of the Allied Expeditionary Force as it plunged into Nazi Germany in an effort to end the Second World War. While the relationship between the United States and Britain, and more specifically the relationship between Generals Dwight Eisenhower and Bernard Montgomery are portrayed as cooperative, smooth, and friendly, personal memoirs of the two men and their close confidants reveal that these myths could not be further from the truth. A debate between the two men, which began as one regarding military strategy, escalated into a full blown feud; this tension …

Similar Experiences, Unique Perspectives: How Japanese American Experiences Influenced Their Participation During World War Ii, Julia K. Deros

Student Publications

During World War II, Japanese Americans had to endure racist federal government policy in the form of relocation to internment camps around the country. Of the 120,000 people that were interned, a large number were citizens of the United States who protested that their 5th and 14th Amendment rights had been violated by their placement into the camps. The way Japanese Americans reacted to their experiences during the war differed depending on their experiences as Nisei or Kibei. These reactions materialized in different forms of participation in the war, usually involving the decision to serve in the military as a …

Education For Victory: An Analysis Of Social Studies Education In American Secondary Schools During World War Ii, Rachael E. O'Dell

Student Publications

Secondary schools during World War II were viewed as a vital component of the war effort on the home front. The nation’s youth were seen as important potential contributors to the war effort, and were educated as such. The atmosphere of total war especially affected social studies classes at this level. An analysis of contemporary educational journals and supplementary teaching materials reveals that secondary school students were virtually indoctrinated with democratic and patriotic values in their social studies classes in wartime schools. Social studies classes thus functioned as a route through which students could be encouraged to participate in the …

Home Front To War Front: The Navy Nurse Corps During World War Ii, Amanda L. Thibault

Student Publications

The Navy Nurse Corps was created in 1908, when President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Naval Appropriations Bill. Twenty women were selected to become the corps’ first members. These women were referred to as the “The Sacred Twenty.” On December 7, 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the Navy Nurse Corps, was one of the first groups to respond. These women were important in preventing further deaths following the attack. However the experiences of Navy nurses during World II are often left untold because their story is overshadowed by the Army Nurse Corps, which doubled in size during the war. …

Wedding Family Papers (Sc 3053), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid for Manuscripts Small Collection 3053. Miscellaneous papers of the Wedding family of Ohio County, Kentucky: “A Soldier’s Valentine,” a Spanish-American War-era poem by C. L. Wedding; clippings, including article about the poem and obituary of Denver E. Wedding; 1942 Hopkins County Rationing Board notice appointing Christine Wedding as a registrar; and 1942 letter to Christine Wedding from a serviceman’s wife regarding his departure overseas. For Spanish-American War related material in this collection, click on "Additional Files" below.

Mcilvoy, Daniel Barnard "Doc," Jr., 1912-1998 (Sc 3036), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3036. Materials relating to the World War II military service of Springfield, Kentucky native and Bowling Green physician Dr. Daniel B. McIlvoy in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. Includes narratives of his military career with the 82nd Airborne Division, his daughter’s account of a trip to sites in Normandy, France connected with her father, and clippings relating to a biography of McIlvoy by Michel DeTrez, published in 2004 as part of The Way We Were series (available in the Kentucky Library Research Collections; D769.348 505th.T76 2004). Also …

Ptsd In The 20th Century American Military: Its Diagnosis, Effects, Treatment, And Management, With A Focus On The Vietnam War, Christy L. Connell

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Soldiers have been affected by PTSD for as long as war has existed. The American Military in the twentieth century is no exception. PTSD did not become a diagnosable disease until 1980, and before then it was misdiagnosed as different anxiety disorders and neuroses. Symptoms, treatment options, and long-term affects of PTSD are also discussed. Though other other wars in which America was involved are mentioned, those that receive a more thorough analysis are World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Although PTSD is an increasing problem in modern times for those involved in military conflicts, there …

The Tragedy Of Deportation: An Analysis Of Jewish Survivor Testimony On Holocaust Train Deportations, Connor Schonta

Senior Honors Theses

Over the course of World War II, trains carried three million Jews to extermination centers. The deportation journey was an integral aspect of the Nazis’ Final Solution and the cause of insufferable torment to Jewish deportees. While on the trains, Jews endured an onslaught of physical and psychological misery.

Though most Jews were immediately killed upon arriving at the death camps, a small number were chosen to work, and an even smaller number survived through liberation. The basis of this study comes from the testimonies of those who survived, specifically in regard to their recorded experiences and memories of the …

Battle For The People: Ideological Conflict Between Soviet Partisans, The German Military, And Ukrainian Nationalists In Nazi-Occupied Ukraine, David L. Heim

Student Publications

Soviet historiography discusses the People’s War during the Second World War, the idea that all of the Soviet people rallied to the cause and fought off the Nazi invaders, but this is far from the truth. Within the western borderlands of the Soviet Union multiple conflicting groups fought for control of and support from the people. This was especially true in Ukraine where the German Army, Soviet Partisans and Ukrainian nationalists all fought ‘for the people’ and for their own ideologies. This paper is an attempt to discuss the ideological conflict between the Nazis, the Soviets, and the Ukrainian nationalists, …

"Elite Assault:" The 85th Infantry Division In Italy, 1944-1945, Charles Ross Patterson Ii

History Theses & Dissertations

This thesis fills a major gap in the historiography of the Second World War by emphasizing the role of drafted divisions in the United States Army. Specifically, this thesis examines the 85th Infantry Division from its formation in May 1942 to its disbanding in August 1945. This thesis challenges the age-old assumption that conscripted soldiers were inferior to volunteer forces. By the 1940s, the United States retained a long-standing prejudice against drafted troops dating back to the poorly-executed drafts of the American Civil War, with many citizens arguing that volunteers were better soldiers. The 85th Division stands in direct contradiction …

Moore, Mary (Taylor) Leiper, 1885-1973 - Collector (Sc 2992), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2992. Newspaper clippings, model press releases and other materials collected by Mary Leiper Moore, chairman of the publicity committee for a drive to recruit Warren County, Kentucky women for the Women’s Army Corps (WACs). Includes Moore’s letter to the commander of Louisville’s Bowman Field complaining of the Army’s poor planning of a publicity event held at Western Kentucky University on 12 November 1943.

Nation-Building Is An Oxymoron, M. Chris Mason

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Luthene G. Kimball (Sc 2976), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archive Project 2976. Letters sent from U.S. Army Sergeant Luthene G. Kimball to his soon to be fiancé and nurse, Jane Robertson, while he was stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, during World War II. He discusses their relationship, military life, and current events.

See also: SC 3111 "Robertson, Jane, 1925-2015"

Physical And Moral Forces: An Analysis Of World War Ii’S 1944-1945 Ardennes Offensive Using Clausewitzian Theory, Rebecca Griffin

Theses : Honours

This thesis employs Carl von Clausewitz’s theory on moral forces to conduct an analysis of World War II’s 1944-1945 Ardennes Offensive. The literature largely focuses on presenting the physical components of the offensive, neglecting the moral. This thesis aims to fill this gap by presenting an analysis of the utilisation and effects of both physical and moral forces in the Ardennes Offensive and determining the importance of each to the outcome. Analysing the planning and execution of the offensive through this theoretical perspective reveals that moral forces played a significant part in Allied success in the Ardennes. The analysis exposed …

German Pows Make Colorado Home: Coping By Craft And Exchange, Christopher Michael Morine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From 1943 to 1946, the U.S. government held over 3,000 German POWs at Camp Trinidad in southern Colorado. In 2013 and 2014, archaeological fieldwork, interviews, and archival research were conducted in order to better understand the daily lives of those incarcerated at the camp. The information gathered about artifacts, environmental features, and personal narratives, reveals insights into the lesser known details of the prisoners' lives. Despite the U.S. military rules and regulations and efforts by American personnel within camp, prisoners created goods they wanted or needed. Acquiring the necessary goods was accomplished through modification of available goods, through scavenging the …

Kerr, David Warren, 1922-1982 (Sc 2954), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2954. Letter of David Kerr, 14-16 November 1944, to Frances Ann Wade, Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Writing from an undisclosed overseas location while serving in the armed forces, he describes his surroundings in general and his work on a painting detail. He also encloses a marksman’s medal (not included in this collection) and praises the athletic achievements of his hometown Ohio high school.

When The World Stood Aside – The Allied Reaction To Jan Karski’S Report From Hell, Frank Jacob

Publications and Research

The article analyses the Allied reactions in the United Kingdom and the United States after having received Jan Karski's report about the situation of the Jews in Poland.

Women And World War Ii At Gettysburg College, Keira B. Koch

Student Publications

An examination of the women attending Gettysburg College during World War II. This project examined what the women did and experienced during the World War II, along with analyzing campus culture and life.

Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945 - Letter To (Sc 2926), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2926. “A Letter to Hitler” from “America,” handwritten on letterhead of The Armored Force, Fort Knox, Kentucky. The mocking letter describes in explicit verse what awaits Hitler when U.S. forces arrive in Berlin.

Givens, Wayne, 1905-1971 (Sc 2918), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2918. U.S. Army discharge papers and certificate of Wayne Givens, Monroe County, Kentucky, 1945; photostat of death certificate of Wayne Givens, 1971. Also includes Statement of Personal history form of Givens’ wife, Mildred (Hagan) Givens, with data on education, employment, etc.

The Atomic Bombings Of Japan - Right Or Wrong?, William Weiss

ERAU Prescott Aviation History Program

Few Presidential actions have generated more controversy than Truman’s decision to use atomic bombs against Japan to end WW II. Local historian Bill Weiss examines the issues based on recently released information from formerly secret American and Russian archives. Learn what the last months were like in the Pacific; American preparations for a possible invasion and Japan’s mindset at this crucial time that lead to the life-saving decision.