News

On the 76th anniversary of the start of Operation Lüttich, the German advance on Avranches in Normandy, we’d like to share two videos that Historian Kevin Hymel recently appeared in on WW2TV. Read More

Senior Historian Chris Anderson's latest History Hikes blog post, recognizes the 80th anniversary of the Selective Service Act of 1940, the peacetime draft. Also known as the Burke–Wadsworth Act, Pub.L. 76–783, America was in a post-WWI period of isolationism, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the act into law, a response to rising fascism and totalitarianism in Italy, Japan and Germany. Read More

On the 76th anniversary of the start of Operation Market Garden, we’d like to share a video that Historian Kevin Hymel recently appeared in on WW2TV, “First Boots into the Netherlands.” A week before Operation Market Garden, the American 30th Division fought for the Dutch town of Noorbeek. It then became the first part of the Netherlands liberated. In “First Boots into the Netherlands,” Kevin discusses the Rhine Rat Race battles with local historian and battlefield guide Frank Gubbels, who is on the ground the Netherlands for this historic occasion. Read More

Historian Chris Anderson has been thinking about his friend and mentor Richard “Dick” Winters a lot recently. Probably because this is the time of year when he is in the midst of a Band of Brothers Tour and he's missing the thrill of showing people where Easy Company made history. Since the COVID crisis has prevented him from walking the ground, he thought there might be some interest in how the original Band of Brothers Tour came to be. Read More

WWII History magazine has published historian Kevin M. Hymel’s latest article, “Armored blitz to Avranches.” In the article Kevin covers Tech Sergeant Gerald Griffith. Kevin interviewed him about his experiences in World War II as a flight engineer on C-47 Skytrain aircraft. Read More

WWII began today in 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland and plunged Europe into six years of death and devastation. The other anniversary that occurred this month was the 1920 “Miracle on the Vistula,” when the Polish army changed history with the repulse and sound defeat of the Soviet Red Army as they approached Warsaw with the goal of spreading the Bolshevik revolution throughout western Europe. Norman Davies, Professor Emeritus of the University of London and a Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford has written several books on Polish history. We are fortunate to offer this article on the history of Poland from him to share with you on these solemn anniversaries. Read More

Senior Historian Chris Anderson, our man in London, has relaunched his blog, History Hikes. You will most often find Chris prowling around somewhere in the world checking out historic sites and walking in the footsteps of some amazing historical figures. History Hikes chronicles his visits to these places and the fascinating people he meets along the way. Today, we share his latest dispatch on the 1950-1954 Korean War. Read More

We are delighted to share this wonderful photo essay from guest Mike Salemi, who joined us on our WWI: War to End All Wars Tour. HIs photos and captions capture the many memorable and poignant moments of this historical tour. We would like to thank Mike for taking the time to share these with all of us. Read More

This week on the History with Mark Bielski podcast, on the 75th anniversary of the bombing of the USS Indianapolis, Mark revisits his interview with best-selling author, Lynn Vincent, and National Geographic Historian, Sara Vladic, about their book, Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man. Read More

We are delighted to share the news that journalist Diane Covington Carter's article in France Today online, “Dispatch from Normandy: Honouring D-Day Veterans on the 75th anniversary,” won a Bronze award from the Society of American Travel Writers Western Chapter, in the category of Photo Illustrated article. D-Day veteran George Cross, a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne who traveled with us for the 75th, appears in this piece. Read More