Sailor Man Video Now Available

The video of Del Staecker's February presentation on Sailor Man: The Troubled Life and Times of J.P. Nunnally, USN is now available on YouTube.

SAILOR MAN is the illuminating account of James Preston Nunnally, a teenager who lied about his age to enlist in the Navy, endured combat service in World War Two’s Pacific Theater, and returned home. What sets SAILOR MAN apart, making it an invaluable addition to the canon of World War II, is that it also reveals the lesser known dark side—the psychological trauma so many of these brave young men experienced as a result of their repeated encounters with the horror of war—what we now call Post Traumatic Stress. SAILOR MAN is a book that must be read and shared. — Dwight Jon Zimmerman, #1 New York Times bestselling author, and President of the Military Writers Society of America - See more at Del Staecker's website »

March 9 Lecture by William "Pat" Schuber

William "Pat" Schuber will deliver a lecture on the war in Sicily and Italy during World War II in which the American and British forces encountered resistance by the Nazi troops.  When the invasion commenced in Sicily (July 1943), the Italian army quickly surrendered and thereafter the American and British troops were left to deal solely with the Nazis.

Churchill deemed the Italian invasion, even after the war, as a worthwhile endeavor and essentially an attack on "soft underbelly" of the Nazis.  It was far from that.  Ask any survivor of Sicily, Anzio or Salerno and they will dissuade you from that viewpoint rather rapidly.  Stand at the Sicily-Rome cemetery where over 8,000 American servicemen are buried and you will agree with American servicemen.

This was a tough struggle.  General Kesselring, commander of the Nazi forces, said in his memoirs that the only way to invade Italy was to start at the top of the boot.  We started at the toe and worked our way up. Rome was not taken until June 5, 1944, the day before D-Day.

This is essentially the same trip taken by John McLaughlin, Rich Schonberg and Miller Bugliari in the summer of 2014.  Pat Schuber covers the same battle sites.   John McLaughlin heard this lecture by Pat Schuber some time in the fall of 2013 and immediately booked him for this lecture.  This is a lecture that no one should miss.

Novel Based on the Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff

For those members who attended Cathryn Prince's lecture in October, 2013, you might be interested to learn that a novel has just been published based on that tragedy: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys.

On the author's website, Ms. Sepetys states that Ms. Prince's book, Death in the Baltic, was "One of my research sources and a brilliant non-fiction companion for Salt to the Sea."

A video of Ms. Prince's October lecture can be seen here »