World War II Weekend Speakers

From the hit TV series Masters of the Air to the invasion of Normandy and Operation Market Garden, the guest speakers for Eisenhower National Historic Site's 2024 WWII Weekend will highlight a variety of fascinating stories covering the war in 1944 and its impact on our world today.

See the information below for full bios and talk descriptions for this year's speakers. This schedule is subject to change. The final schedule of programs for World War II Weekend will be published in August.

Please note: There will be two book signings as part of this event, both at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center.

 

 

Henry Sledge, son of famed WWII Marine and author Eugene Sledge.

Image courtesy of Henry Sledge

Remembering the Old Breed: A Conversation with Henry Sledge

Friday, September 20, 6:30 PM, Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center

This program will take place in the theater of the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center. This program is free of charge, though reservations are required. Tickets will be available starting in mid-August.

80 years ago, Eugene Sledge was one of thousands of Marines fighting on Peleliu in some of the toughest conditions of the Pacific Theater in World War II. Decades later, Sledge chronicled his service with his memoir, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, which was featured in Ken Burns’ The War and the HBO miniseries The Pacific. Henry Sledge, Eugene’s son, joins us for a special conversation on his father’s service in World War II, and how the memories and experiences of that war are kept alive today.

Henry Sledge is the son of Eugene B. Sledge, the renowned author of “With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa” and “China Marine.” While growing up, Henry witnessed his father’s memoir take form and come to life. Through the many conversations with his father about his experiences across the islands of the Pacific, Henry formed a deep and abiding passion for all aspects of World War II history. Henry has worked as a consultant for Valor Studios and has had articles published in Valor and Naval History Magazine. His most recent article was the cover story for the Autumn 2022 issue of World War II Magazine. He has co-hosted World War II podcasts and has appeared as a guest on numerous other podcasts and documentaries. Most recently he spoke at the We Have Ways History Festival in England and the International World War II Conference in New Orleans (2022). He holds a BA from Auburn University (1988) and has over 20 years of experience in the heavy equipment industry. He is currently working on a book involving his late father’s unpublished writings.

 

Award winning historian and author Dr. John C. McManus

Courtesy of Dr. John C. McManus

Dr. John C. McManus--September Hope: The American Side of a Bridge Too Far

September 21, 10 AM, Eisenhower National Historic Site Speaker's Tent

The destruction of the British 1^st Airborne Division at Arnhem during Operation Market Garden is a well-known, sad tale, in part because of the famous book and movie A Bridge Too Far. Lesser known is the experience of the two U.S. airborne divisions, the 82^nd and 101^st both of which jumped into Holland in September, 1944 as part of Market Garden and fought with equal resolve. On this eightieth anniversary, John C. McManus tells their story, from the misbegotten conception of Market Garden to the valorous, last-ditch attempts to snatch victory from the jaws of a tragic defeat.

Dr. John C. McManus is Curators’ Distinguished Professor of U.S. military history at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T). He is one of the nation’s leading military historians and has authored fifteen well received books. His work has received numerous awards, including the Army Historical Foundation’s Distinguished Writing Award and the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History.

Dr. McManus does frequent speaking engagements and appears on radio and television programs, ranging from CNN, Fox News, C-Span, the Military Channel, the Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Channel, Netflix, the Smithsonian Network, the History Channel and PBS, among others. During the 2018-2019 academic year, he was in residence at the U.S. Naval Academy as the Leo A. Shifrin Chair of Naval and Military History, a distinguished visiting professorship. In addition, he is the host of two podcasts, Someone Talked! in tandem with the National D-Day Memorial, and We Have Ways of Making You Talk in the USA alongside Al Murray and James Holland.

 

Dr. Sarah Parry Myers

Courtesy of Dr. Myers

Dr. Sarah Parry Myers--"I Was Happiest in the Sky": The Women Airforce Service Pilots, 1942-1944

September 21, 11:30 AM, Eisenhower National Historic Site Speaker's Tent

When the U.S. Army Air Force utilized women pilots to fly military aircraft for the first time during World War II, women joined for similar motivations as male pilots – a deep love of flying and patriotism. The Women’s Airforce Service Pilots received the same training as men minus combat and served in assignments at bases across the continental United States. They were the only women’s military unit during the war that did not receive military status from Congress so the thirty-eight female pilots who lost their lives in service to their country did not receive recognition or benefits. Earning Their Wings: The WASPs of World War II and Their Fight for Veteran Recognition, tells the story of these female pilots from the era of Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh through the 1970s, when the WASP finally earned veterans’ status.

Dr. Sarah Parry Myers is an Associate Professor of History at Messiah University. She has shared histories of World War II and veterans with C-SPAN, PBS, the U.S. National Archives, and the National Army Museum. She was awarded a National Endowment of the Humanities Dialogues on the Experience of War grant for a program focused on generating dialogue with female veterans. She led discussion workshops for this grant at the Military Women’s Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Prior to her position at Messiah University, she was the director of a World War II Museum at Saint Francis University where she curated museum exhibits and an Oral History Project with Pennsylvania veterans including U.S. Army Rangers at D-Day.

 

Author Kevin Hymel

Courtesy of Kevin Hymel

Kevin Hymel--"George Patton and the Battle of the Bulge"

September 21, 1 PM, Eisenhower National Historic Site Speaker's Tent

Kevin M. Hymel (pronounced “Hee-mel”) is a historian for Arlington National Cemetery where he records events, ceremonies, and funeral services for future record. Some of his articles have been reposed on the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense websites. He is also a Historian/Tour Guide for Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours and leads World War II European tours on D-Day and General George S. Patton’s battlefields. He is the author of several books, including Patton’s War: An American General’s Combat Leadership: Volumes 1 and 2 (Volume 2 won the Army Historical Foundations Distinguished Writers Award for Best Biography), Patton’s Photographs, and Patton: Legendary World War II Commander. He has served as the Research Director for Sovereign Media which publishes WWII History and WWII Quarterly magazines, where he continues to write articles. His article, “Fighting a Two-Front War” is being made into the Netflix movie “6888,” written and directed by Tyler Perry, and Mr. Hymel was a technical advisor to the film. Mr. Hymel is a former historian for the U.S. Army’s Combat Studies Institute, where he wrote about small unit combat in Afghanistan. He has appeared on the History Channel, the American Heroes Channel, the Science Channel, C-SPAN, and Book-TV, speaking about General Patton and military history. He has worked for more than 20 years for various military and military history magazines and journals, and has worked as a researcher for the National Archives and as an historian for the U.S. Air Force. He holds a Master’s degree in American History from Villanova University.

 

April Cheek-Messier, President of the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA

Image courtesy of April Cheek-Messier

April-Cheek Messier--Service and Sacrifice: The Story of the Bedford Boys and the Making of the National D-Day Memorial

September 21, 2:30 PM, Eisenhower National Historic Site Speaker's Tent

On Sunday, 25 June 1944, Ivylyn Schenk wrote from her home in the rural community of Bedford, Virginia to her husband who was serving with the 29^th Infantry Division and stationed in Europe. She wrote him faithfully each day and, on this particular date, was excited to acknowledge their anniversary.

John, my darling.

Well, it has been twenty-two months since we were married. It has seemed very long, and yet, unbelievably short in duration – the only constant thing about it is that I continue to love and appreciate you more and more each day…How it thrills me to realize that soon you’ll be coming back home and we will be together for the rest of our lives…

Ivylyn had no idea as she lovingly composed this letter, that her husband John lay buried on the beaches of Normandy, killed 19 days earlier on D-Day, 6 June 1944. She would continue writing him for over a month. When discovering the news of his death, she would never be the same. And so it would be for families throughout the United States: sweethearts, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends, and family members who would cheer the news of a successful invasion and grieve at the loss.

Discover D-Day’s impact on one rural Virgnia community, a community like so many others across the nation that gave so much and how that loss led a group of WWII veterans to spearhead the making of a monument to preserve the history they helped make.

April Cheek-Messier is a native of Bedford, Virginia and has been with the National D-Day Memorial Foundation since January 2001. She served as the Director of Education from 2001 to 2010 before becoming Vice President of Education. In 2013, she was named President and CEO of the Foundation. She has served on several boards including Chair of the Virginia World War II Heritage Alliance and was appointed by the Governor of Virginia to serve on the Virginia War Memorial Board of Directors in Richmond. From 2009 to 2015 she contributed her time to the Virginia Association of Museums as a member of the board of directors. Cheek-Messier also lectures on the history of WWII and has written for a number of publications. She has taught several college level history courses. In 2019, John Long and April Cheek-Messier published, We Will Remember Them: An Accounting of the D-Day Fallen, the most authoritative list of Allied fatalities ever compiled which embodied more than twenty years of research from the Memorial’s Foundation. The result of this work is the only name-by-name listing of D-Day fatalities in the world. Cheek-Messier received her BA degree in English and History from Hollins University. She acquired two master’s degrees, one in History from Virginia Tech and another in Education from Hollins University. She resides in Bedford, Virginia with her husband John and their five children.

 

Dr. Tyler Bamford

Image courtesy of Naval History and Heritage Command

Tyler Bamford--"Thank God for the US Navy": American Sailors and the Allied Triumph at D-Day

Sunday, September 22, 10:00 AM, Eisenhower National Historic Site Speakers' Tent

From destroyers and demolition teams to beachmasters and breakwaters, the US Navy was an essential component of the Allied victory on D-Day. More than simply ferrying the largest amphibious assault force in history across the English Channel, the US Navy played a critical role in clearing the beaches, blasting German resistance, and keeping Allied troops on the front line supplied with everything they needed to liberate France and defeat the Germany army. This presentation will explore the heroic and often overlooked role of America’s seaborne service in the most important operation of the war.

Tyler Bamford, PhD, is a historian with the Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington, DC. He previously served as the inaugural Sherry and Alan Leventhal Research Fellow at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. He is the author of numerous articles which have been featured in journals such as Army History and the Journal of Military History. His first book, Forging the Anglo-American Alliance: The British and American Armies, 1917-1941, was published in 2022 by the University Press of Kansas. Dr. Bamford is also the editor of the forthcoming volume, Best Beloved: The Wartime Letters of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz to his Wife, Catherine, which will be published in the fall of 2024.

 

Dr. Jared Frederick, pictured with WWII veteran John Homan. Frederick and Homan are co-authors of "Into the Cold Blue"

Image courtesy of Jared Frederick

Dr. Jared Frederick--"Into the Cold Blue"

Sunday, September 22, 11:30 AM, Eisenhower National Historic Site Speakers' Tent

80 years ago, Hell was four miles above the earth. “Into the Cold Blue” is the memoir of B-24 pilot John Homan, who endured thirty-four combat missions over Europe in 1944. In 2024, Homan co-authored his memoir with Dr. Jared Frederick, sharing his stories of the Air War in Europe in one of the last great memoirs of World War II. Dr. Frederick joins us to share Homan’s story and shed light into the dangerous missions, exhilarating experiences, and dedication to freedom shared by Homan in his memoir.

Dr. Jared Frederick has a lifelong passion for American History. Prior to his current position as a history professor at Penn State Altoona, Frederick served as a park ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. He is the author of several books including Dispatches of D-Day: A People's History of the Normandy Invasion, Hang Tough: The WWII Letters and Artifacts of Major Dick Winters, and Fierce Valor: The True Stories of Ronald Speirs and His Band of Brothers. He has appeared on C-SPAN, PBS, numerous National Park Service productions, and various documentaries. In 2019, he acted as a guest host on Turner Classic Movies for the channel’s 25th anniversary. He is also the host of the popular YouTube channel Reel History, which examines history vs. Hollywood. His latest book, Into the Cold Blue, explores the WWII experiences of co-author and B-24 veteran pilot John F. Homan.

 

Screenwriter John Orloff

Image courtesy of John Orloff

Masters of the Air: A Conversation with John Orloff

Sunday, September 22, 1:00 PM, Eisenhower National Historic Site Speakers' Tent

2024 saw the release of the acclaimed series Masters of the Air on Apple TV+. Years in the making, this series takes viewers to the highs and lows of the air war in Europe 80 years ago, seen through the eyes of the 100^th Bomb Group. Join us for a conversation with John Orloff, writer and co-executive producer of the series. Our conversation will cover the monumental task of translating World War II to the silver screen, as well as the real-life stories of the men and women of Masters of the Air.

John Orloff is an acclaimed American screenwriter known for creating and adapting complex stories in widely disparate genres. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his writing on HBO’s “Band of Brothers”, as well as an Independent Spirit Award nomination for his screenplay for “A Mighty Heart”, the Michael Winterbottom film based on the kidnapping and death of reporter Daniel Pearl produced by Brand Pitt and Dede Gardner.

He’s spent much of the last decade researching, creating, writing, and producing MASTERS OF THE AIR, an epic nine-part miniseries Executive Produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, chronicling the 100th Bomber Group’s odyssey in the European Theater of World War Two. The show stars Oscar nominees Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan, as well as Callum Turner.

Orloff is fourth generation Hollywood (his great-grandparents on one side were radio comedy team Fibber McGee and Molly) and grew up in LA, but he now lives by a river in the Berkshire mountains in Western Massachusetts.