MEETING OF THE WORLD WAR II – KOREAN WAR ROUNDTABLE

June 22, 2006, THURSDAY, 6:45 P.M. (The 4th Thursday)

Fairlawn Kiwanis Community Center

3486 S. Smith Rd (off Market St.) Fairlawn, OH 44333

across from City Hall and the Fire Station

JUNE TOPIC: The Okinawan Campaign – Jerry Montgomery the US Army view

and Dean Smith will give the US Navy view as related to him by Richard Fox.

MAY MEETING SUMMARY: Jim Mesko presented a detailed, illustrated account of U.S. World War II armor and camouflage markings. Fred Bauman, a radar operator in the WWII German navy, was interviewed by Dr. Thomas Adams. Bill Kohlress shared his father’s personal photographs of a newly captured Nazi concentration camp. The attendance was 89. Membership is 209.

LIVING HISTORY FOR KIDS: Dave Hall’s student, Miranda Movdozi, presented a biography of her grandfather, Orlando J. Leone, a WWII combat veteran.

LIBRARY of CONGRESS VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT: Jerri Donohue sent 3 interviews and 1 memoir to the Library of Congress in our 1^st package. We have several volunteers and expect to submit many more interviews in our June shipment. Contact Jerri Donahue at 440 546 1207 or jerridonohue@AOL.com to volunteer for this project.

The WWII-Korean War Roundtable is now collecting interviews for the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. We need volunteers to tape-record or videotape veterans. We also need volunteers to be interviewed. Anyone who served in any branch of America's armed forces (any war) can participate. Volunteer interviewers and volunteer interviewees can sign up at future meetings. Learn more at www.loc.gov/vets

“LIVING HISTORY FOR OUR KIDS” – Bring your kids and friends to our meetings

to witness the veterans who made history.

SPEAKERS FOR 2006: Dr. Thomas Adams is our official “speakers” recruiter. Call Tom at 330 668 3672 to volunteer yourself or to recommend others.

FUTURE SPEAKERS

July 27, 2006: Dorothy Dubacki, WAVE in WWII and Korea and

Jaura Williams Dunlop, WAC cryptographer Signal Corps, Korea

ROUNDTABLE OFFICERS

President 1^st Vice President 2^nd Vice President Secretary Treasurer

C. Dave Post Dr.Thomas Adams Larry Heller Dean Smith Daniel Demko

330 668 2447 330 668 3672 330 633 7737 330 762 8885 330 666 2502

WEB SITE: Dave Hall has set up our Web Site at ‘http://www.wwiirt.com

The Capture of Czechoslovakia (continued from last month)

Chamberlain’s policy dominated the Anglo-French side of the negotiations at Munich. He believed that Hitler was a normal, reasonable and responsible statesman who will keep his word. Chamberlain regarded the Czech problem as a small cental-European issue and the French guarantee as a way to drag Britain into war for comparatively minor reasons. France was presented with a choice of staying aligned with Britain or fighting for the Czechs. The Czechs were abandoned. Some historians argue that to have gone to war at this time would nave been foolish because both Britain and France were unprepared. This argument is not convincing. At this time Czechoslovakia is perhaps the only country in Europe that is ready for war. The Czech army had almost as many trained troops as the German army and was as well if not better equipped. The Czech frontier defenses were stronger than the French Maginot Line and were far more comprehensive. At the height of the crisis the Germans could only allocate 5 divisions to the Western Front to meet the whole French army. Britain and France were weak in the air, but the necessity for a long campaign against the Czechs would have prevented heavy attacks from the Luftwaffe. The argument that time was gained for rearmament is also weak. German production continued to be greater and their lead was extended by September 1939.

World War II – Korean War Roundtable

777 W. Market Street

Akron, OH, 44303