January 2013 Meeting

Next Meeting Tuesday January 15, 2013

The next meeting of the World War II Book Club will be Tuesday January 15, 2013, as usual at the Millburn Library commencing at 7PM. Our speaker will John W. Lanza,  author of the acclaimed Shot Down Over Italy-A True Story of Courage and Survival in Nazi-occupied Italy during World War II.

The stories of the fate of the airmen remained a mystery for many years. Lanza, after a long search in an effort  to locate relatives of the survivors of the crash,  and a trip to the crash site in Italy, was able to piece together a captivating true story with many fascinating aspects, including a pilot who put his crew's safety above his own, airmen who trusted partisans with their lives and airmen who as prisoners of war survived inhumane conditions.

View Pictures of Our Meetings

As usual our hard working photographer Sharon Austin has done an outstanding job of taking pictures at our Holiday Party, and at our meetings. The pictures can be seen by going to the following web site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68954241@N03/sets/

Special Announcement-Tour of Italy Battlefields

World War II Book Club Members John McLaughlin, Miller Bugliari, and Richard Schonberg have arranged a tour of the main battlefields of Italy during World War II, including, but not limited to Sicily, Cassino, Salerno and Anzio. The tour will be 12 days from April 24 to May 6, 2013. Any member of the Book Club who is interested in joining the tour can visit World War II Tours web site: www.worldwar2tours.com, or contact John McLaughlin for further details. We would love to have some of our members join us.

Looking ahead to 2013

The next meeting of the World War II Book Club will be Tuesday January 15, 2013, as usual at the Millburn Library commencing at 7PM. Our speaker will John W. Lanza,  author of the acclaimed Shot Down Over Italy-A True Story of Courage and Survival in Nazi-occupied Italy during World War II. 

John is a resident of Caldwell. After graduating from Bates College he was a banker in New York City for almost 40 years, retiring from JPMorgan Chase in 2008. He has an MBA from Baruch College and has taught undergraduate courses for over twenty-five years.

About John's Book: On May 26, 1944, a B-25 bomber with a seven-man crew was shot down over Nazi-occupied Italy. At the time, Italy was a battleground in a complex, controversial, drawn-out and bloody war of attrition. When disaster struck, the fate of each crew member rested, first, on the ability of the pilot to control the ship so they could bail out; and, second, on who reached them first when they hit the ground-Mussolini's Fascists, Hitler's Nazis, or the partisans that formed the Italian Resistance.

The stories of the fate of the airmen remained a mystery for many years. Lanza, after a long search in an effort  to locate relatives of the survivors of the crash,  and a trip to the crash site in Italy, was able to piece together a captivating true story with many fascinating aspects, including a pilot who put his crew's safety above his own, airmen who trusted partisans with their lives and airmen who as prisoners of war survived inhumane conditions. It is a riveting story and the event  promises to be another outstanding evening.

Future Programs

• Tuesday, February 19, 2013: William B. Rogers, Ph.D. and Associate Dean of the Casperson School at Drew University will lecture on the campaign in the Pacific Theatre during World War II.  
• Tuesday, March 19, 2013: Stephan Talty will provide a lecture on his book Agent Garbo - The Brilliant, Eccentric Secret Agent  Who Tricked Hitler & Saved D-Day.

Dues for The World War II Book Club

Some of our members may have forgotten to pay their dues.   Dues are $25.00 a year for a single membership and $30.00  for an entire family. We now follow the custom of many other organizations and charge dues commencing with the start of each new season which is September. Accordingly, we ask all members who have not yet done so  to pay their dues now. Please send a check to John J. McLaughlin 10 Farmstead Road Short Hills, NJ 07078 or pay at the next meeting. Please, if possible pay by check to assist our bookkeeping. Anyone with questions can call Dr. McLaughlin at 973-467-3313.

Happy Holidays - See you in 2013!

 The New Jersey World War II Book Club held its last meeting of 2012 at Pal's Cabin on December 6, where the holiday atmosphere was enhanced by great food and interesting conversations.   In order to spread the holiday cheer to our service men and women abroad, members were encouraged to write out holiday greetings on cards that would be collected and sent to our military personnel abroad.

• A full description of the Red Cross program can be found here.
• To view YouTube videos of the cards being delivered, click here.

In addition, Paul E. Zigo's presentation served as an important reminder as to the raison d'etre of Brookdale College's Center of World War II Studies, of which he is the founder and director.

Finally, thanks to Sharon Austin, here are pictures from our Holiday Party.  We also extend thanks to Sharon's husband Peter for providing us with wonderful key board Christmas music at the party.

 The first meeting of 2013 will take place on January 15, at 7 p.m. at Millburn Public Library.

Meeting Reminder

The next meeting of the World War II Book Club will be Tuesday, November 20, 2012, as usual at the Millburn Library commencing at 7PM. Our speaker will be Gregory J. W. Urwin, author of Victory in Defeat-The Wake Island Defenders in Captivity, 1941-1945.

           

Victory in Defeat is the detailed account of the defenders of Wake Island following their surrender to the Japanese on December 23, 1941. John McLaughlin heard Dr. Urwin at Brookdale College and was so impressed he immediately booked him for the World War II Book Club.

Annual Holiday Party - Thursday December 6. 

Our Annual Holiday Party will be held  at Pal's Cabin West Orange. The cost will be $50.00 per person. The dinner will be a fabulous buffet consisting of sirloin of beef, fish, chicken, vegetables and desert. Complimentary white and red wine will be supplied by the World War II Book Club. Soft drinks will be complimentary. Mixed drinks or cordials' will  be a cash bar. This dinner is open only to dues paid members.

Our Guest speaker will be Paul E. Zigo, Founder and Director of the Brookdale College Center of World War II Studies.

Please make your reservations early. Make checks payable to the World War II Book Club and mail to John McLaughlin, 10 Farmstead Road Short Hills, NJ 07078.

Note: The Book Club has been without e-mail for almost 2 weeks courtesy of Sandy and Comcast. Just restored this AM.

Dr. Urwin to Speak on November 20

The World War II Book Club will meet on Tuesday November 20, 2012, at the Millburn Library, 200 Glen Avenue. The guest speaker will be Gregory J. W. Urwin, Ph. D., author of Victory in Defeat-The Wake Island Defenders in Captivity, 1941-1945. The lecture will start at 7 PM.

Victory in Defeat is the detailed account of the defenders of Wake Island following their surrender to the Japanese on December 23, 1941. Dr.  Urwin spent decades researching what happened and now offers a revealing look at the United States Marines, sailors, soldiers, and civilian contractors in captivity. In addition to exhaustive archival research, he interviewed dozens of POW's and even some of their Japanese captors. He also had access to diaries secretly kept by the prisoners. This information has allowed him to explain how so many of these Americans survived three-and-a-half years in captivity and emerged with a much lower death rate than most other Allied personnel captured in the Pacific.

Dr. Urwin is a professor of history at Temple University and earned a Ph.D from the University of Notre Dame. He has written or edited nine books and received numerous awards.

On Tuesday January 15. John Lanza, a local author and historian from Caldwell will lecture on his award winning book Shot Down Over Italy, the story of a group of aviators whose plane was downed over Italy during the last stages of the war, and how some evaded capture and managed to return to their outfits. Lanza returned to Italy and located the remains of the fallen plane and reconstructed the remarkable last flight of the crew.

Membership Dues for the Book Club are $25.00 a year for a single membership and $30.00  for an entire family. Anyone with questions can call Dr. McLaughlin at 973-467-3313.

Next Meeting October 16

The next meeting of the book club takes place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 16 at the Millburn Public Library.  Mr. Del Staecker will talk about his father, a sailor on an attack transport ship in the Pacific during the heaviest fighting in the war.

Great start to a new season of speakers

At our first meeting meeting, Dan Petach started off the fall schedule of Book Club presentations with a fascinating discussion of the Flying Tigers.  Included were pictures of Dan's uncle, Johnny "Pete" Petach and clips from video, FEI HU, The Story of the Flying Tigers which prompted the audience to ask many questions about this extraordinary group of pilots, Chennault, Vinegar Joe and their role in defeating the Japanese in China.  Many members of the Book Club showed up for this lecture, as attested by the lack of empty seats in the room!

Conversation also turned to General Wedemeyer and John McLaughlin, Moderator and founder of the New Jersey World War II Book Club, was pleased to announce that the Wall Street Journal had favorably reviewed his book, General Albert C. Wedemeyer, America's Unsung Strategist in World War II, "...he is to be applauded for shining a light on one of the least known U.S. commanders of the war."  To read the complete review, click here >>