tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-94404492024-03-13T08:52:35.673-04:00Blog Them Out of the Stone Age<b>Blog Them Out of the Stone Age:</b> <i>Toward A Broader Vision of Military History and National Security Affairs</i>Mark G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08655782356556219869noreply@blogger.comBlogger197125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-74387935579674101112021-02-03T05:06:00.003-05:002021-02-03T05:06:48.312-05:00Yes, Virginia, You Can Try a Former President
That's William W. Belknap in the photo. And his story has much to say about whether it's constitutional to impeach Trump now that he has left office?
The short answer is: Yep.To begin with, the House of Representatives *impeached* him before he left office. It's only the required Senate trial that's taking place after he's left office.As for *trying* him after he has left officeMark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-75058951818881821752021-02-01T12:47:00.003-05:002021-02-01T13:03:00.454-05:00Sounding Taps for Military History--Again
Yet another lament for the supposed demise of academic military history has appeared, this time from the pen of the distinguished military historian Max Hastings. These op-eds appear every few years, apparently oblivious to the ones that preceded it and the pushback they received from military historians like myself. My own commentary focused mainly on an op-ed by John J. Miller in Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-76900742222688138392016-07-30T12:12:00.000-04:002016-07-30T12:22:07.530-04:00Caught in the Cross Fire: A Visit to Lynndie England's Hometown
The following is a re-printed post I published twelve years ago, back when this blog was in its infancy and entitled Interrogating the Project of Military History. The post was originally entitled "Drive-by Journalism," but since Rush Limbaugh long ago adopted "the drive-bys" as an epithet for mainstream media journalists, I felt obliged to change it. This is one instance, thoughMark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-83941311886481476122016-06-03T07:33:00.001-04:002016-06-03T10:45:12.152-04:00Retired Colonel Peter Mansoor, Lifelong Republican, Will Vote for Hillary Clinton
My friend and colleague Pete Mansoor, a retired Army colonel, has just completed a series of interviews with CNN, MSNBC, and other outlets. Pete is a life-long Republican. In all of of these interviews he goes on record to state that not only does he regard Donald Trump as unacceptable as a commander in chief, he will vote instead for Hillary Clinton.
Pete's qualifications as a military Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-77705217936765717172016-06-02T00:14:00.000-04:002016-06-02T00:14:08.958-04:00Why Military History SuckedRecently a graduate student sent an email telling me that my online essay "Why Military History Sucks" was on her reading list but that she couldn't find it on the Internet. (My university some time ago discontinued the faculty web pages where the essay originally reposed.) It seemed to me that the easiest way to provide her with it was to re-publish the essay as a blog post.
Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-57084164763030077812016-05-31T16:47:00.003-04:002016-05-31T16:48:11.447-04:00Finding Common Ground
Cross-posted from Sibling Rivalry
By Scott Grimsley
Honoring Our Dead With Taking Chance
As anyone who knows him can attest, my brother Mark loves movies. His
DVD collection is, to say the least, extensive, and he is actually a
true scholar of films. He has published numerous movie reviews about
World War Two movies that I have really enjoyed for their insights and
Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-18211651248828105862016-05-30T00:53:00.001-04:002016-05-30T01:00:34.665-04:00The Impact of "Taking Chance"Today is Memorial Day. Two years ago I took my daughter Chloe to a Memorial Day parade and tried to give her some idea of what it was about, but as she was just 2 1/2 years old I naturally had limited success. So last evening we sat down together and watched "Taking Chance." It's a 2009 HBO film based on the true story of Marine Lt Col Michael Strobel's experience escorting the remains of LanceMark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-69718377728463950042016-05-26T06:10:00.000-04:002016-05-26T16:11:41.185-04:00Enduring the Unendurable: Japan's Longest DayReprinted with permission of World War II magazine
At noon on August 15, 1945, millions across Japan craned
their ears to radios, listening in amazement to their emperor’s voice,
reproduced on a 78-rpm phonograph record. Hirohito gravely read an imperial
edict announcing that his government had acceded to the Allies’ demand that the
Japanese military surrender unconditionally. In and of Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-65597534452608910772016-05-23T05:38:00.000-04:002016-05-26T16:18:57.619-04:00War is Rude: Mrs. Miniver
Reprinted with permission of World War II Magazine
Mrs. Miniver tells the story of life in the U.K. 1939-1941 experienced, as the opening crawl explains, by an “average English middle class family”—which just happens to be able to afford servants and a spacious residence whose lawn extends to a dock on the Thames River. Shot in Hollywood
starting on November 11, 1941, and released Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-90908627081880266092016-05-19T05:00:00.000-04:002016-05-19T05:10:36.524-04:00American Iliad: The Sword of General LeeMillions of American love the Civil War. Last summer I began work on “American Iliad,” a new regular column in The Civil War Monitor that examines one of the major reasons that they do. Some episodes from the conflict are so compelling that readers know them by heart. These episodes transcend mere history because human beings are story-telling creatures who make sense of the world through Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-17862246921188503832016-05-16T00:12:00.000-04:002016-05-16T00:49:07.051-04:00Los Hombres Armados ReduxAlmost three years ago I wrote a post on my encounter with a man who had grown up during the civil war in El Salvador (1979-1992). I entitled it Los Hombres Armados. I could be content just to provide you with the link, but the post is important enough to this one that I'm not taking the chance that you won't follow the link. Here's Los Hombres Armados, reprinted in full:
Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-53321981211340829382015-12-23T07:02:00.000-05:002015-12-23T07:03:41.845-05:00The Meeting from Hell: Conspiracy
Originally published in World War II magazine. Reprinted with permission.
We’ve all attended this meeting, convened by the leadership to discuss some new organizational undertaking and—ostensibly—to collect and
synthesize the views of all assembled. Neophytes among us believe that; the
more experienced know the score. We enter the conference room resigned, wary, even
disposed to revolt. Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-60972636069217108312015-06-28T04:14:00.002-04:002015-12-23T06:42:22.411-05:00The Rout of the Confederate FlagCross posted from Civil Warriors
As surely you already know, in the wake of the murder of nine worshipers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, a petition was circulated demanding the removal of a Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the South Carolina state house. It quickly generated a massive number of signatures and a national ground swell of Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-1990291646234252552015-06-26T12:37:00.000-04:002015-06-26T12:37:59.663-04:00Nonsense About the Confederate Flag
From (for some bizarre reason) FoxSports, written by one Clay Travis and entitled, "On the Confederate Flag."
Travis begins:
Only in modern day America could a racist psychopath kill nine people in a Southern church and the focus turn to a flag. Only in modern day America could our nation's largest retailer, Wal Mart, announce -- to substantial applause -- that it will no longer sell Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-28724944297164078542015-05-25T10:25:00.002-04:002015-05-25T10:25:43.053-04:00State of the Field: Military History/History of the MilitaryThese were my opening remarks at an Organization of American Historians Round Table Session (commissioned by the Program Committee) at the OAH Annual Meeting in Saint Louis back in mid-April. My fellow panelists were Christian Appy, a professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and the author of several books, including American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-14680384568480273832015-05-03T09:54:00.003-04:002015-05-06T13:19:40.169-04:00Patton Explains AcademeIt is a huge lecture hall. An image saying “Speak truth to the powerless” dominates the screen. Patton emerges from his grave.
Be paupers.
Now I want you to remember that few PhDs ever get the job they really wanted. They get used to taking a job at some college where they feel under-placed.
Now, all this stuff about there not being many jobs, much less tenure-track jobs, is Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-71442214820992815022015-04-27T09:32:00.001-04:002015-04-29T09:02:17.146-04:00Beyond the Academic Cage: Observations of a New Federal Government HistorianA guest post by Dr. Frank Blazich., Naval History and Heritage Command.
The views expressed in this post are his alone, not those of the NHHC, Department of the Navy, or Department of Defense.
Thousands of men and women across the United States and overseas are engaged in the pursuit of a doctoral degree in history. Most desire an academic position upon completion of their studies (Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-58265036167614512015-03-09T07:00:00.000-04:002015-03-09T07:00:08.070-04:00Pulp Nonfiction and The Big Red One<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-26573638862288151552015-01-16T14:44:00.000-05:002015-01-16T14:54:49.708-05:00The Great Civil War Historian Freak OutI'll introduce this post by re-printing one I published earlier this month in Civil Warriors, entitled, Civil War Military Historians Are Freaking Out? - Part 1:
Recently two “think pieces,” coincidentally dealing with pretty
much the same topic, appeared in the major professional journals
concerned with the American Civil War:
Gary W. Gallagher and Kathryn Shively Meier, “Coming to Terms Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-11958355322233775202015-01-12T00:58:00.000-05:002015-01-12T00:58:06.451-05:00The Role of Military History in the Contemporary AcademyCross-posted from the Society for Military History blog
The Society for Military History has just released a white paper entitled “The Role of Military History in the Contemporary Academy.” In it, notes the SMH web site:
co-authors Tami Davis Biddle of the U.S. Army War College and Robert M. Citino of the University of North Texas provide a compelling chronicle of military Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-11064966771664225002015-01-05T07:00:00.000-05:002015-01-15T04:07:56.022-05:00Come and See's Unblinking Eye
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<![endif]-->This article was originally published in World War II magazine. Reprinted with permission
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Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-90174481489948805932015-01-02T07:00:00.000-05:002015-01-02T07:00:02.329-05:00Wounded Warrior
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Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-14484270021237026122014-12-29T07:00:00.000-05:002014-12-29T07:00:07.597-05:00The Best Years' Welcome Home<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-13291169459280816662014-12-22T07:00:00.000-05:002014-12-22T20:45:28.026-05:00Starship Troopers and the Allure of Fascism<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9440449.post-14805380332727349902014-12-18T14:20:00.002-05:002014-12-18T17:17:23.333-05:00The Hero's Adventure in Sands of Iwo Jima<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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This article originally appeared in World War II magazine. Reprinted with Permission
The next time you’re talking war movie trivia with friends, ask, “Who’s the hero in Sands of Iwo Jima?” Almost inevitably, they will respond, “John Wayne.” Or perhaps “Sergeant Stryker,” since that’s the name of the character that Wayne portrays.&Mark Grimsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703376014958246256noreply@blogger.com0