Someone Talked!

Matthew F. Delmont's Half American: The Heroic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad was named Book of the Year by TIME and Publishers Weekly and is a New York Times Notable Book.This Black History Month, Delmont returns to discuss the more than one million Black soldiers who helped win World War II abroad but came home to face widespread racism.

This Black History Month author Matthew F. Delmont joins the program to discuss Half American, his definitive history of World War II from the African American perspective. Delmont is the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor of History at Dartmouth College, a Guggenheim Fellow and expert on African American history and the history of civil rights.

Multi-award-winning-author Rich Frank further discusses his research on the often-overlooked Asia-Pacific War and the forthcoming volumes in his narrative history trilogy.

In this episode, James Holland and twin brothers walk into a pub… The author shares that and other tales of memorable veterans who inspired his work. In “We Salute You” Rudolph Arthur was there for the capture of a German U-Boat on the high seas, just days before D-Day.

In this episode, Brothers in Arms author James Holland recounts the harrowing tails of the Sherwood Rangers, the legendary tank unit that would receive the most battle honors of any unit ever in the British army. Both a combat story and a human story, we discuss memorable characters and how scarred ground reveals where history took place. A special tribute to Hershel “Woody” Williams, the longest surviving Medal of Honor recipient from WWII in our “We Salute You” segment.

Richard B. Frank is a graduate of the University of Missouri and Georgetown University Law Center. He served in the Vietnam War with the 101st Airborne Divisions as an aero rifle platoon leader.Frank is an independent scholar specializing in the Asia-Pacific War and served as a consultant for the HBO miniseries The Pacific. He joins the program to discuss Tower of Skulls, the first volume of his trilogy covering the entire Asia-Pacific War from 1937-1945.

Self-proclaimed "groupie for the 1st Division" Gregory Fontenot returns to further discuss his divisional history of The Big Red One.In "We Salute You," as a child Charles Chibitty was sent to a school to erase his native tongue. Ironically, the U.S. government would later rely on Chibitty's indigenous language on D-Day.

Col. Gregory Fontenot joins the podcast to discuss his latest book, No Sacrifice Too Great: The 1st Infantry Division in World War II. As a soldier in a graves registration company, Robert Berry cared for D-Day's fallen and later helped the National D-Day Memorial develop the world's most complete account of those lost that day. His legacy of service in "We Salute You."

2023 National Infantry Association Order of St. Maurice recipient Joe Balkoski rejoins the podcast. As research moves from veteran accounts to archeology, we discuss the future of D-Day scholarship.Blinded while in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, Thomas Gagnet would later testify in the war crimes trials in Japan, with the hope that just punishment would help prevent another war. We honor his service in "We Salute You."

Named "top living D-Day historian" by USA Today, author Joe Balkoski takes us back to Utah Beach.In "We Salute You," we honor Peter Monsma, a Dutch native who would return to the Netherlands while serving his adopted home as a U.S. Army chaplain.