Events

Dr. Harold Deutsch WWII History Round Table
2007 Schedule

Meetings are at the History Center at Historic Fort Snelling the second Thursday of the month. Meetings start at 7:00 p.m.

We seek veterans as panelists for these upcoming programs. Contact Don Patton, (952) 941-5700.

11 Jan 2007 —The Battle of Stalingrad: Turning the Tide on the Russian Front. Dennis Showalter, author of Patton and Rommel, and featuring Russian WWII veterans. The name Stalingrad is synonymous with cold and death. It was the pivotal battle of WWII from which the German army never recovered, thus sealing the fate of Nazi Germany.

8 Feb 2007 —Liberation of the Nazi Concentration Camps. Steve Chicoine, author of Holocaust—From the Ashes, and featuring concentration camp internees and liberators. An historical overview of the brutal Nazi camp system is enlivened by personal experiences shared by former prisoners in Buchenwald, Dachau and other camps. U.S. Army veterans will relate their unforgettable memories of liberating the prisoners.

8 Mar 2007 —The Marine Landing at PeIileu: A Needless Invasion? Bill Sloan, author of Brotherhood of Heroes, and featuring First Marine Division veterans. In September and October 1944, the First Marine Division suffered over 6,500 casualties on a hellish little Pacific coral island. Misled by poor intelligence, the Marines landed under withering enemy fire and faced Japanese embedded in an intricate network of caves and underground fortifications.

12 Apr 2007 —Breaking the Japanese Codes: Signal Intelligence in the Pacific. Dr. Joseph Fitzharris, historian and author, and featuring WWII signal code intelligence veterans. Reading “the other guy’s mail” can be a key to victory. Cryptographers and analysts of “HYPO,” led by Commander Joseph Rochefort, broke much of the Japanese Navy’s operational code. Confirming their decipherment by ruse, HYPO allowed Admiral Nimitz to defeat larger forces and break the back of Japanese naval aviation.

10 May 2007 —The Battle of Midway: Turning the Tide in the Pacific. John Parschall, author of Shattered Sword, and featuring veterans of the USS Yorktown and Midway naval aviation. Previously untapped sources including Japanese Imperial Navy records provide new explanations of the June 1942 Battle of Midway where a weakened U.S. carrier force achieved naval victory that turned the tide of the Pacific war.

Tour of European Battlefields, featuring Eban Emal, Remagen Bridge, Huertgen Forest, Battle of the Bulge, Bastogne, and much more, May 11-–27, 2007. Call Bob Riggs (952) 891-8430, website: www.mn-ww2roundtable.org