Center. My name is jared frederick. Im also a reenactor with the furious fourth world war ii living history group. And we are here at Army Heritage days at the u. S. Army heritage and Education Center in carlyle, pennsylvania. And at this event it is a major complex. Were here on the Army Heritage trail. And one can kind reenactors or living historians from all different time periods ranging from the 17th century up to the present. My group, though, is here this weekend to discuss the 75th anniversary of the normandy invasion, which is taking place this summer, and we thought it certainly fitting to commemorate that event. And us putting on these old uniforms, wearing old equipment, it certainly gives us a better perspective and appreciation for what the greatest generation went through. And if we can impart even a small inkling of that to passersby and families who come visit this place, then we feel weve done a fairly good job. The unit we portray is the fourth Infantry Division. And
Ranging from the 17th century up to the present. My group is here this weekend to discuss the 75th anniversary of the normandy invasion, which is taking place this summer. We thought it certainly fitting to commemorate that event. Us putting on these old uniforms, wearing old equipment, it certainly gives us a better perspective and appreciation of what the jet appreciation of what the greatest generation went through. If we can impart even a small inkling of that the passersby, then we feel like we have done a good job. The unit we portray is the Fourth Infantry Division. It is a unit overshadowed in the world war ii history. It was one of the spearhead units involved in the normandy invasion. It was some of the first amphibious troops who were ashore. They waited ashore on the beach. Unbeknownst to many of them, they had landed on the wrong sector. They had landed half a mile off course. There was a little bit of uncertainty, perhaps hesitation as to exactly what they should do. Theo
Gettysburg won the james j. Roberts award for best civil war book that year and his book on confederate goliath earned the prestigious award on Civil War History given out yearly from the new york city civil war roundtable. Lets give rod gragg a warm welcome. [applause] thank you. Pleasure for me to be in a room full of historians and i say that seriously because i have learned that i may write a lot but the folks who really know the civil war are those of you who read a lot. And i appreciate that. Before i begin, if you dont mind, id like to tell you the story about the young history major what decided after he got a bachelors degree in history, he probably ought to get a masters degree in business so he could earn a living. So he was accepted, enrolled in a distant Prestigious School of business and wondered soon after he got there if he made the right decision because he failed his first exam and so did everyone in the class. Now, the professor was notoriously irrascable, he came in
Weve got a great speech for our second session this morning. Dr. Timothy smith is a veteran of the National Parks service and currently teaches history at the university of tennessee. In addition to numerous articles and essays, he is the coeditor of 18 books, including Champion Hill, decisive battle of vicksburg, which won the Nonfiction Book award from the mississippi arts and letters. You can buy a copy in our bookstore. I am pleased to introduce dr. Timothy smith. [applause] thank you. Appreciate that. Appreciate the opportunity to be here. This is my first time to be here. I am a believer now. You have got a great place here. We are going to talk about the western theater here. Vicksburg, Champion Hill. How many of you have been to vicksburg . I figured that. A good number of you. Champion hill is one of those great battlefields, if you have been watching the news, listening to the American Battlefield trust, they are doing a lot of work there. The state of mississippi has just tu
General george meade and union forces from july to december 1863 as they followed confederates through virginia. This event was part of historical parks small battles, big result s symposium. Im very pleased to introduce our last speaker of the afternoon, Jeffrey William hunt, director of the military forces museum at camp maybury in austin, texas, and adjunct professor where he has taught since 1988. God bless you. Author of the last battle of the civil war and contributor to essential civil war curriculum and the gail library of daily life. American civil war. His last work is a trilogy from the final stage of the Gettysburg Campaign to the end of 1863 and includes meade and lee at mayan run due for publication next year. So lets give a welcome for jeffrey hunt. [ applause ] thank you. Its a real pleasure to be here. I appreciate jerrys invitation. Its always fun to stand in a group of people who have the same passion that you do. You dont get looked at as strangely as you do when yo