Ed Gitre

And what happened after WWII that made the military "politically correct"? Might it be Truman's executive order desegregating the armed forces? What else could it be?

In any event, the "War Department" started to desegregate during the war as I wrote about in TIME.

time.com/7329734/mili...

Thanks, Ben, for all the work you do to spotlight public scholarship.

PFC Willy F. James, Jr's Medal of Honor Willy F. James, Jr. was one of seven African Americans to receive the Medal of Honor for service in World War II, an award delayed decades by bias and discrimination.

One of them is Medal of Honor awardee PFC Willy F. James Jr.

www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles...

Exhibit panel removed from the American cemetery in Margraten

Exhibit panel removed from the American cemetery in Margraten

On Facebook, Black Liberators in the Netherlands posted pictures of panels the Heritage Foundation reportedly pressed the Trump administration to have removed from the American cemetery in Margraten.

Black soldiers who volunteered for combat duty as riflemen are among the dead buried there.

Thank you, @americanstudier.bsky.social, for highlighting my essay.

All-volunteer Black rifle companies fought alongside White companies in 1945 in the race to Berlin. These men put their lives on the line in service to their country.

White supremacists still can't accept that these Americans played essential roles in an Allied victory.

time.com/7329734/mili....

A "Woke" Military Actually Won World War II President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth decry how 'wokeness' affects the military, but that idea is based on misunderstood history.

I worked up the courage to put my current research out there. #SWW #WW2

time.com/7329734/mili...

I was gutted to hear of Alison's passing. She was on my dissertation committee. Her energy, kindness, and dedication will always stay with me. I was in awe of how she and her husband Keith juggled parenting and trailblazing careers. Just devastating news.

What a magnificent day for our democracy yesterday.

Brilliant

Klein has a seemingly endless capacity to explicate U.S. political history while avoiding the import of race (until he gets to Obama and can hardly ignore it).

Willful ignorance or deliberate manipulation of recent military history? Convenient to pass over WWII when equal representation (racial quotas) in the armed forces served "the mission." Caldwell in @nytopinion.nytimes.com recycles the spurious arguments of the pro-segregationists.

"Troops must train together, work together and live together in order to attain successful teamwork in campaign. The sharing or work opportunities and recreational facilities must be willingly accepted and utilized to unite more closely the troops of our several commands."

Eisenhower speaks to troops before D-Day

"Equal opportunity of service and of recreation are the right of every American soldier regardless of branch, race, color or creed." Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1 March 1944

Let's travel back further to March 6, 1942. The Senate Committee on Military Affairs was debating an armed forces reorg. Committee member Truman argued, "If we could just get the War Department and the Navy Department on speaking terms..., I don't think that we will ever have another Pearl Harbor."

Impressive

Tell that to the former Axis Powers of World War II. It appears our VP is unfamiliar with the concept of "unconditional surrender."

Foundations of modern academia are crumbling before our eyes.

"As I went through the papers of [the American grassroots movement], their private papers and their organizational papers both, what I found was this deep and abiding expression of anti-internationalism, which they then redefined as a defense of sovereignty."

- @jenmittelstadt.bsky.social

The Gloom Sets In (the Dismantling of the NEH) If Watergate Happened Today, It Would Have Been Covered by an Executive Order

Far-reaching effects beyond the national level.

goodmenproject.com/featured-con...

Hear! Hear!

Scan of microfilmed page containing handwritten comments from a Black WWII soldier.

How do we pay respect this #MemorialDay? Consider one Black #WWII soldier's request. "Don't you think it would be a grand gesture and the beginning of great progress if the people (of the United States) as a whole would have their eyes opened ... "
americansoldierww2.org/surveys/a/S1...

A sharp thread

"Dr. Carla Hayden was a leader in the digitization of libraries and a steadfast advocate for their public mission. Her dismissal signals more than a routine personnel shift—it reflects a deeper contest over who controls the curation and dissemination of knowledge in the digital age."

Details | Instructor in Modern Military History | Careers | Division of Human Resources | Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech is hiring an instructor in modern military history, I'm happy to announce. We're looking for a scholar who can teach operational history and also contribute to our thriving war & society program.

@smh-historians.bsky.social
@wwiimuseum.bsky.social

5 Navajo Code Talkers with officer.

🧵 EXTRA History Lesson Today! Since we were on the topic of WWII today, let’s talk about the vital importance of the Code Talkers. After the U.S. joined the war, the efforts of the Marines in the Pacific were stalling due to the Japanese breaking the American’s radio codes. Many young (1/5)

It is such an impactful and wonderful project!

Our project was a labor of love, made possible by hundreds of students, scores of scholars & DH practitioners, & thousands of "citizen-archivists" from around the world. It would not exist without #NEH funding. A gutted NEH will mean that projects like ours will no longer be possible.

Harmful Attacks on Educational Programs Paused by Court in Case Brought By Educators - Democracy Forward

We won!! A nationwide preliminary injunction against McMahon's February Dear Colleague letter which tried to stop public schools & higher Ed from teaching honest history or enforcing student civil rights. It’s a win for students, families & educators. democracyforward.org/updates/harm...

Harmful Attacks on Educational Programs Paused by Court in Case Brought By AFT, ASA, School District Court Blocks “Dear Colleague Letter” Purporting to Prosecute or Cut Funding Based on Teaching History, Sociology, Or Other Lessons That Reference Race or Racism

More good news for public education, this time in the MD case. www.aft.org/press-releas...