At the Veterans Breakfast Club, Stories Unite Us.

Join us for a conversation historian Paul Dickson, author of The Rise of the G.I. Army, 1940-1941: The Forgotten Story of How America Forged a Powerful Army Before Pearl Harbor and the forthcoming GI Jive, about the slang of World War II. The U.S. Army stood at fewer than 200,000 men when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939. Soon, it would be on the move across the globe fighting a two-front war to victory. Paul Dickson’s new book traces the extraordinary transformation of America’s military from a disparate collection of camps with dilapidated equipment into a well-trained and spirited army ten times its prior size in little more than eighteen months. He narrates America’s urgent mobilization against a backdrop of political and cultural isolationist resistance and racial tension at home, and the increasingly perceived threat of attack from both Germany and Japan. Glenn Flickinger will moderate this interview and discussion.

Join us for a virtual tour and discussion with the USS Hornet Aircraft Carrier Museum in Alameda, California. Built in 1943 and decommissioned in 1970, the Hornet participated in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War around the world. Docents and tour guides will joins us to discuss this history as well as guide us through the ship’s spaces, from Bridge to the Engine Room. Glenn Flickinger will host and moderate this tour!