We meet at 7:00pm on the second Tuesday of every month from September through May at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul, unless otherwise noted below:
2025
September 9 End of Pacific War – V-J Day Program 80th Anniversary. JOHN McMANUS, Author of TO THE END OF THE EARTH and JON PARSHALL will be joined by Veterans of the War in the Pacific to discuss the decision to drop the Atomic Bomb and the factors that led to the surrender of Japan to end World War II (PDF) (YouTube)
September 24 (WEDS) JIM ECKLES, Author of TRINITY, and Historian from White Sands Missile Range will talk about the decision to test the FIRST Atomic Bomb in the desert of New Mexico and the Principals of the Test – General Leslie Groves and Robert Oppenheimer (PDF)
October 14 BENN STEIL, Author of THE WORLD THAT WASN’T, will explain how the changes within the Administration of FDR in the election of 1940 affected the Policies that ended WWII and much of Decisions that led to Harry Truman becoming VP and future Cold War Issues (PDF)
October 28 Nuremberg Trials 80th Anniv JOHN Q. BARRETT, Author of THAT MAN, is an Authority on Robert Jackson and one of the KEYNOTE Speakers to the upcoming November Conference at the 80th Anniversary Observance of the Nuremburg Trials of the Nazi Leaders (PDF)
November 11 THE DR. HAROLD C. DEUTSCH LECTURE: DAVID McKEAN, Author of WATCHING DARKNESS FALL, will discuss the events in the 1930s that led to the rise of the Nazi Party and the eventual factors that allowed Hitler to be elevated to the Position as Fuhrer and the criminal authority that followed (PDF)
December 9 ALEX KERSHAW, Author of PATTON’S PRAYER, will tell the story of General Patton having the Chaplain develop a Prayer to send out to the 3rd Army for a 1944 Christmas Greeting and for the weather to Improve
2026
January 13 JAMES KELLY MORNINGSTAR, Author of WAR AND RESISTANCE IN THE PHILIPPINES, will tell about the much overlooked Guerilla War that was waged by the Native Filipinos and US Military Personnel who escaped capture by the conquering Japanese Forces in 1942
February 10 STEVE GILFORD, Author of BUILD ‘EM BY THE MILE, will tell how Henry Kaiser converted his Construction Company into the Ship Building Giant to provide the Liberty Ships that were needed to move the Materials of War from the U.S. to the Theaters of War and the role of the Cargill Shipbuilding Operations
March 10 FLINT WHITLOCK, Author of PATTON and the BATTLE for SICILY, will describe the Joint Invasion of OPERATION HUSKY by the Seventh US Army and the British Forces against the Nazi and Italian Forces that mounted a strong defense before the capitulation of Italy
March 24 PAMELA TOLER, Author of THE DRAGON from CHICAGO,, will relate the experiences of Sigrid Schultz who was the Bureau Chief for the Chicago Tribune as she reported on the political actions of the Nazi Party in the 1930s and the rise of Hitler to Power
April 14 DAN HAMPTON, Author of VANISHING ACT, will tell the story of Plane #8 of the Doolittle Mission that landed in the Soviet Union after dropping its bombs in Japan, and how Minnesota played a role to the modifications of the aircraft for the Mission
May 12 MICHEL PARADIS, Author of THE LIGHT of BATTLE, provides an insight into the experiences that led to the leadership skills of Eisenhower and how they led to the successful results of the landings at OVERLORD and to the interactions with the Major subordinates involved in the Northern European Theater
JOIN US FOR OUR SPRING TOUR TO ITALY sites, including Sicily, Salerno, Amalfi, Paestum, Maiori, Pompeii. Caserta, Rapido, Cassino, San Pietro, Anzio Cemetery, Anzio, Rome, Vatican!
(May xx, 2026 – dates TBD)