Photos from October Meeting

Thanks to Sharon Austin for posting pictures from our October meeting on the Club's new Flickr gallery. To view the set, click here >>

November Newsletter

Next Lecture: Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Blaine Pardoe, author of Lost Eagles, One Man's Mission to Find Missing Airmen in Two Wars will be our next speaker. This will be one of the highlights of the season for the Book Club. Blaine weaves together the fascinating story of one man who devoted his life to developing technology and a methodology for locating the remains of missing airmen. He established the procedure, still in place today, of imprinting the serial numbers of the aircraft on every single piece of equipment used in the aircraft so the plane can be identified even when a crash scatters the parts over a wide area. The book has received many awards, the latest being recognition by the Michigan Historical Society as the best war book of the year. John McLaughlin heard Blain's presentation in New York last year and immediately booked him for our group. Don't miss this wonderful lecture.

Marilyn C. Solvay, Ph.D. Director of the Sullivan Museum and History Center at Norwich University was our guest lecturer at our meeting October 18. She discussed the history of this proud military school, and the prominent part it has played in training some of our most important military men and women. Dr. Solvay told us about the current program of World War II studies, the history of the Sullivan Museum and the many significant programs that are sponsored there under her supervision. Dr. A. Ralph Kristeller, MD. a proud graduate of Norwich chaired the program.

Program for January 2012

We are presently in discussions with representatives of the State Department looking forward to a lecture on the February 1945 Yalta Conference, the most important, and surely the most controversial of the war, perhaps, in the history of our country. This would be a repeat of a lecture given last month at the New York Public Library. More details will be given with the next few weeks, if we are able to obtain the speakers.

Mark The Date: December 13 - Traditional Holiday Party

Our annual Holiday Party will be held again this year at Pal's Cabin, West Orange on Tuesday, December 13. Mark the date. Our guest speaker will be Nancy Webster who has been video taping all the lectures which are now available on the web. She will discuss the current state of technology in videotaping and show clips of the lectures that have been recorded this year including many pictures of our members. A fun night is guaranteed. Please support this program and show our appreciation to Nancy for the great work she is doing for our organization. The cost of the dinner will be $50.00 per person which includes all tax and gratuities. Complimentary red and white wine will be served. Mixed drinks will be a cash bar. Please send checks to John J. McLaughlin at address above.

View Previous Lectures on The Web

Just click on any of the links in the Speaker Videos section of the blog to view any of our previous lectures.

Future Programs

We are pleased to announce that arrangements are being made to have as future speakers Andrew Nagorski, and Andrew Roberts. Members might remember that Andrew Nagorski was our first guest lecturer when the Book Club started in 2009 and he attracted a crowd of 90 when he spoke about his book The Greatest Battle. He has just completed a new book Hitlerland, the story of a group of Americans in Berlin during the years 1936-1939 when the Nazis were coming to power. The book is due for publication in the spring of 2012 and we will be one of the first groups to hear him talk about this book.

Andrew Roberts, the author of Masters and Commanders, a multiple award winning book has just written a new and fascinating one volume history of World War II, The Storm of War, which has also received critical reviews. Andrew has agreed to come to the Book Club and discuss this book, and we are working on a date sometime in the spring of 2012. We will keep you posted on this event.

We recently were introduced to a new author Carol Schultz Vento who has written a book about her father "Dutch Schultz," whom members might remember as the cigar chomping Master Sergeant featured in Cornelius Ryan's block buster film, The Longest Day. He was cast as the "everyman soldier" symbolic of the citizen soldier. Ryan further followed her father's march through Europe by including him in the 1966 chronicle of the final days in Germany, in both The Last Battle, and the saga of Market Garden in his book A Bridge Too Far. We have booked Carol as a speaker for February 21.

Contributions of Our Members

Many thanks to member Sharon Austin who has assumed the role of our official photographer. She never misses a meeting and many of her pictures will be displayed at our Holiday Party on December 13. We also are fortunate to have enlisted the services of Marie Somers, Director of Web Content Systems, Walsh Library at Seton Hall University. Marie has taken over responsibility for running our World War II Web site. Take a look at it. She is doing a great job. I should tell you that this site has been responsible for putting us in touch with people all over the world. Anyone interested in taking on an active role in the Book Club is welcome. Just let us know. We will find a job for you. Hank Humphrey who proof reads the Baltusrol News recently volunteered to do the same for us, and is now checking each issue before it is sent to our members.

Name Tags

Please let us know if your name tag is correct. We have a new system, and can easily make adjustments.

-- John J. McLaughlin

Spam, M&M's, Glen Miller and P-38s

There were no books at the October 18 meeting of the NJ World War II Book Club, but there were all kinds of objects, courtesy of Dr. Solvay and the Sullivan Museum and History Center of Norwich University. The objects are part of an exhibit that focused on the stories and remembrances of Norwich University students and alums who had served during World War II. And those memories included canned SPAM (which for the present generation is more nuisance than nutrition), M&Ms, those wonderful candies that melt in your mouth, NOT in your rifle-holding hand and that marvelous music and touching songs that served as love letters to both those at home and abroad. Soldiers remembered "the Army's greatest invention" - the P-38 can opener which not only opened those ubiquitous cans of Spam, but also was put to multiple inventive uses by American soldiers all over the world.

Dr. Solvay's presentation was filled with marvelous anecdotes, noting how digital recorders were sent out through the mail to facilitate the collection and preservation of memories that might soon be lost forever. Dr. Solvay also exhibited posters of Norman Rockwell's "Four Freedoms," which were used to sell war bonds, raising over $130,000,000!

Pictures from the meeting will soon be available on our new Flickr gallery, thanks to Sharon Ann Austin and we look forward to the posting of the video from the event, recorded by Nancy Webster.

-- Marie Somers

October Newsletter

Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Marilyn C. Solvay, Director of the Sullivan Museum and History Center at Norwich University will discuss the history of this proud military school, and the prominent part it has played in training some of our most important military men and women. Dr. Solvay will also discuss the current program of World War II studies, the history of the Sullivan Museum and the many significant programs that are sponsored there under her supervision. Dr. A. Ralph Kristeller, MD, a proud graduate of Norwich, will chair the program.

Tuesday, November 15
Blaine Pardoe, author of of Lost Eagles, One Man's Mission to Find Missing Airmen in Two Wars will discuss his award winning book. Mr. Pardoe weaves together the fascinating story of one man who devoted his life to developing technology and a methodology for locating the remains of missing airmen. He established the procedure, still in place today, of imprinting the serial numbers of the aircraft on every single piece of equipment used in the aircraft so the plane can be identified even when a crash scatters the parts over a large area.

We were just advised that the Historical Society of Michigan presented its 2011 State History Award to Blain for Lost Eagles. The State History Awards are the highest recognition presented by the state's official historical society. Read more >>

December 13, Traditional Holiday Party
Our annual Holiday Party will be held again this year at Pal's Cabin West Orange on Tuesday December 13. Mark the date. Our guest speaker will be Nancy Webster who has been video taping all the lectures which are now available on the web. She will discuss the current state of technology in videotaping and show clips of the lectures that have been recorded this year including many pictures of our members. A fun night is guaranteed.

Videos of Our Lectures
Thanks to the fine work of Nancy Webster our lectures are now videotaped and are available for viewing on the internet.

Every video is enhanced with personal touches by Nancy who does a great job. Photos taken by Sharon Austin are also added.