Joe “Peppy” Sciarra was 16 years old when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He was drafted into the Army the day after he graduated high school. He had planned on enlisting anyway. Sciarra was assigned to an 81 mm mortar squad of the 25th infantry division under General MacArthur. After 9 months training in New Caledonia and a stop for supplies on Guadalcanal, he and 68,000 men landed at Luzon in the Philippines. He would spend the next five and [...]
Bob Willis may not be a Veteran but his heart beats passionately for those who have served. He has organized ten living history events that allow Veterans to share first hand stories with the rest of us. The whole endeavor began when Bob and his boys watched the “Band of Brothers” series. His boys asked if it would be possible to meet some of the surviving members of Easy Company. When an opportunity came up to attend an Easy Company [...]
Wingmen are an aviation term used to describe a pilot who is positioned behind and outside a leader in a formation, allowing them to watch for threats to the primary aircraft. It can also refer to a person who helps, guides or supports another. Adam Lazarus’ new release “The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship between John Glenn and Ted Williams” is a book that both military and sports history fans will enjoy. Adam was once told to write [...]
“Lost At Sea” by author John Wukovits masterfully recounts the amazing story of famous aviator Eddie Rickenbacker and 7 other crewmembers' twenty four days adrift in the Pacific Ocean. Wukovits used survivor’s accounts and other records to create a compelling story of survival, leadership and faith against tremendous odds. Eddie Rickenbacker developed a reputation for cheating death early on in his life. He dropped out of school in 7th grade to support his family after his father’s death. A job [...]
Royce Williams kept a huge secret for fifty years. He had been given strict orders. Royce joins us as part of our partnership with the Distinguished Flying Cross Society. Royce and his brother signed up after the attack on Pearl Harbor. During his career he flew everything from open cockpit biplanes to jets at Mach 2 in three wars. During the Korean War, Royce was a member of a task force that sailed north to attack “juicy” targets close to [...]
“To The End of the Earth” is the last installment in Professor John McManus’ trilogy about the US Army in the Pacific during World War II. This book chronicles the events beginning with the retaking of the Philippines and takes readers through the final capitulation of the Japanese empire. McManus is Curator’s Distinguished Professor of military history at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. He is a prolific writer, with 15 published works and is often called upon by [...]
Buchenwald concentration camp was the worst sight Tim Kiniry has ever seen. That is saying a lot considering he spent World War II as part of the 45th Evacuation Hospital, witnessing the horrors of war up close and personal. Tim says he normally fainted at the sight of blood so working in a hospital would not have been his first choice, but “That is what I was ordered to do so I tried to do the best job I could.” [...]
The P-51 Mustang changed the course of the air war in Europe, but it almost didn’t make it off the assembly line. The story of the Mustang’s evolution and the pilots that flew it in combat is the subject of a great new book by David & Margaret White titled “ Wings of War; The World War II Fighter Plane That Saved the Allies and the Believers Who Made It Fly.” The genesis of the book is Margaret’s 103 year [...]
“Black Snow; Curtis LeMay, the Firebombing of Tokyo and the Road to the Atomic Bomb” is author James M. Scott’s latest release. In some ways it is a sequel to his previous book “Rampage” about the battle for Manila. I consider James to be one of the greatest historical writers of our generation. There are many fascinating historical characters presented in this book but principally focuses on Curtis LeMay – one of the Army Air Corps, later Air Force’s most [...]
“Frogmen” was the nickname given to the members of the newly formed Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) during World War II. Their fellow service members called them “Half Fish, Half Nuts”. They were the predecessors of today’s Navy SEAL teams. George Morgan The history of the formation of these special units is the subject of a new book by award winning journalist & author Andrew Dubbins. It is called “Into Enemy Waters; a World War II Story of the [...]