Institute in the News

June 7, 2020 - WWII's last legion: lessons from D-Day

DAILY SUN: After a night at sea, crammed into barges, sickened by the rough seas and exhausted by hours of waiting, “it was terrifying” when the ramp dropped open on Staff Sgt. Irving Locker’s landing craft about 5 yards from the shore of Utah Beach.

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June 7, 2019 - "A Look Back At D-Day 75 Years Later

Ryan and Director & Associate Professor of History at FSU Dr. Kurt Piehler discuss the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

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March 20, 2019 - "Our Lives in Letters" a triumph for collaborating schools

The successful collaborated performance produced by Florida State University’s Institute on World War II and the Human Experience and the Chipola Center for the Arts "Our Lives in Letters" was reported by Dothan Eagle.

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November 10, 2018 - Medal of Honor Netflix Original Documentary

Dr. Kurt Piehler was interviewed in the Netflix new original Documentary, Medal of Honor, in its 5th episode. Also, the TV series includes images from the collections of the Institute on World War II & the Human Experience. 

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November 10, 2018 - "Commemorating the ‘Great War,’ America’s forgotten conflict"

"Commemorating the ‘Great War,’ America’s forgotten conflict", by Dr. Kurt Piehler and Gabriela Baláž Maduro was published.

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May 28, 2018 - In scattered memorials, Spokane remembers its nation’s wars – but what do the monuments mean?

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW: At sunrise, on every Memorial Day for the past 20 years, Wes Anderson is alone in Spokane’s Riverfront Park, scrubbing clean the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Photo: Libby Kamrowski / The Spokesman-Review

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MAY 25, 2018 - Capital Report: 05-25-2018

WFSU: Gov. Rick Scott is touting a 47-year low in the state’s crime rate after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement released its annual statistics. Ryan Dailey reports the Governor said he is ‘disappointed’ in the legislature over cuts to the Department of Corrections.

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May 25, 2018 - How one 'Rosie the Riveter' poster won out over all the others and became a symbol of female empowerment

HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Seventy-five years ago, Norman Rockwell’s painting of Rosie the Riveter appeared on the cover of a May 1943 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.

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May 25, 2018 - How one 'Rosie the Riveter' poster won out over all the others and became a symbol of female empowerment

MY PLAINVIEW: Seventy-five years ago, Norman Rockwell’s painting of Rosie the Riveter appeared on the cover of a May 1943 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.

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April 2, 2018 - Amnesty International empowers students to stand for human rights

FSU NEWS: Florida State University continues to take a stance on human rights issue like labor and sex trafficking. Amnesty International at FSU hosted its third annual Human Rights Conference with a theme of “Born to Be Free.” Photo: Mitchell Martin/FSView

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December 4, 2017 - FSU researcher: Pearl Harbor anniversary a day for reflection, remembrance

FSU NEWS: On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, a fleet of more than 300 Japanese Imperial aircraft launched a devastating attack against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

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August 2, 2017 - Guadalcanal anniversary: FSU expert available to discuss significance of historic battle

FSU NEWS: Aug. 7, 2017, will mark 75 years since the beginning of the battle of Guadalcanal, the first significant Allied offensive against the Empire of Japan and a major strategic turning point in the Pacific Theater of World War II.

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May 25, 2017 - D-Day anniversary: FSU expert available to discuss legacy of the Allied invasion of Normandy

FSU NEWS: As we approach the 73rd anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy, also known as D-Day, historians in Florida State University’s Institute on World War II and the Human Experience continue to work diligently collecting, preserving and archiving artifacts and documents that tell the stories of the thousands of lives that were forever changed on that momentous day.

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March 10, 2017 - Hundreds of military scholars to attend FSU-hosted national conference in Jacksonville

FSU NEWS: Florida State University’s Institute on World War II and the Human Experience and the Department of History will host the 84th Annual Meeting of the Society for Military History (SMH) from Thursday, March 30, through Sunday, April 2, in Jacksonville, Fla. 

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December 6, 2016 - Remembering Pearl Harbor, a 'day which will live in infamy'

TC PALM: Seventy-five years later, memories are fading and every day, hundreds of veterans are dying, but it is important to remember Dec. 7, 1941. Photo: AP FILE PHOTO

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November 30, 2016 - 75 years later, Pearl Harbor still teaching lessons of war

FSU NEWS: On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy leveled a crushing attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

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November 18, 2016 - Echoes of history: What are the Madison Street bomb's origins?

TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT: Air Force veteran Richard Decoteau had only been in his new home on Rankin Avenue two days when his son called his attention to something curious in the shrubs bordering the house.

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October 25, 2016 - WWII Institute to host lecture on struggles of disabled veterans in America

FSU NEWS: Florida State University’s Institute on World War II and the Human Experience will address the issue of disabled veterans in America at its sixth annual fall lecture.

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August 15, 2016 - Kurt Piehler discusses China’s WWII commemoration

CGTN AMERICA: To take a deeper look at China’s commemoration of Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II, as well as the nation’s involvement, CCTV America’s Asieh Namdar spoke to Kurt Piehler Director, Institute on World War II and the Human Experience at Florida State University.

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August 29, 2015 - Kurt Piehler and China's role in World War Two

CGTN AMERICA: Many Americans aren't familiar with China's name for the war: the "War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression." For more about some of these untold parts of World War Two. CCTV's Asieh Namdar spoke to Kurt Piehler He's the Director of the Institute on World War Two and the Human Experience at Florida State University.

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June 6, 2015 - New Smyrna man recalls D-Day and the Bible that saved him

THE DAYTONA BEACH NEWS-JOURNAL: Morgan Welch’s mother had read about a pilot whose life had been saved when flak fragments lodged in a steel-jacketed Bible he had in his pocket instead of slicing into his heart. She figured her son — then a 25-year-old Army lieutenant about to take part in the Allied forces assault on the beaches of Normandy, France during World War II — could use some similar protection. So she sent him a clipping of the article along with a steel-covered copy of the New Testament.  It was just days before the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. 

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May 25, 2015 - Why Have We Stopped Building War Memorials?

NPR: NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with Kurt Piehler, director of the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience, about the history of and decline in war memorials.

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May 24, 2015 - Why Don’t We Build Statues for Our War Heroes Anymore?

DAILY BEAST: War memorial statues and monuments proliferated after the Civil War and World War I, but except after 9/11, the practice is in decline.  What does this say about us?

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May 8, 2015 - Kurt Piehler on World War II

CGTN AMERICA: CCTV America interviewed Kurt Piehler, the author of several books on World War 2. He's also the Director of the 'Institute on World War 2 and the Human Experience,' and a professor at Florida State University.

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April 20, 2015 - Research in a Minute: Kurt Piehler

Florida State University researcher Kurt Piehler discusses his work studying the history and memory of war.

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February 11, 2015 - World War II memorabilia, talks at FSU fine arts museum

TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT: A nightgown made from a parachute. Pulitzer Prize winner Bill Mauldin’s cartoons. Hundreds of photos of Japan just after the war. Reading wartime love letters on Valentine’s Day. An author whose babysitter was Anne Frank; another author talking about military training at historically black colleges and universities. Photo: From collection of Patrick Rowe

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June 06, 2014 - A Glimpse into FSU's World War II Institute

WCTV: Local veterans and their families commemorate the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion this morning, June 6th, in front of the Leon County Courthouse.  The stories of young men who stormed those beaches can be found down the street.

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December 23, 2013 - Belated medals from WWII evoke memories of devotion to duty by Lackawanna’s ‘Jackson 5’

THE BUFFALO NEWS: They were “the Jackson 5” long before Motown arrived.  In a span of 10 months in 1943, Genevieve and Samuel Jackson of Lackawanna sent five of their eight sons to the military. Image: Buffalo Evening News article of May 16, 1945, about “Jackson Boys Overseas” cites war service of five brothers, from left, Pfc. Samuel, Sgt. Robert, Pvt. Sharon, Pfc. Glover and Pfc. Edward.

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November 2013 - As World War II ended, Rowlett veteran found himself in Times Square

DALLAS NEWS BY THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: In summer 1945, before World War II drew to a close, 17-year-old Willard Williams was ready to join the fight. His first choice was the Army Air Corps. But he said recruiters told him he should come back once his right leg, injured falling off the high dive at a Vickery Park pool, healed up. The Army, Navy and Marines told him the same. Williams, who now lives in Rowlett, didn’t want to wait. So he went to the Merchant Marine, the support system for the armed forces that shipped supplies and equipment all over the world. Photo: Veteran Willard Williams of Rowlett was 17 when he joined the Merchant Marine in 1945.  (Photo submitted by WILLARD WILLIAMS)

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January 20, 2012 - Veterans’ struggle

FINANCIAL TIMES: US soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan face unemployment, isolation and indifference as they try to find their way back into society

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November 11, 2011 - Dr. Kurt Piehler, Florida State University - The Role of Military Clergy

WAMC: In today's Academic Minute, Dr. Kurt Piehler of Florida State University discusses the World War II incident that defined the mission and meaning of wartime military chaplains.

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August 26, 2004 - Disband of Brothers

WASHINGTON POST: Honor: so intangible, yet so powerful. The glue, some soldiers say, of any fighting force; the raison d'etre of many a soldier.  The Honor Code. The Honor Guard. "Honor-bound to defend freedom." That's from a placard at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay. And that catchphrase from the Vietnam War, about an oh-so-elusive "peace with honor."

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May 31, 2004 - Where Does Iraq Stand Among U.S. Wars?

WASHINGTON POST: With more than 800 U.S. military personnel killed and more than 4,600 wounded, U.S. casualties in Iraq over the past 14 months now compare to those of several of the smaller wars in the nation's history.

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May 24-26, 2004 - “Gold Star Mothers: Pilgrimage of Remembrance”

W-ILL-TV: 60 Minute Documentary, Produced by W-ILL-TV, Televised on over 50 PBS Stations, May 24-26, 2004.

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