The 7th Annual Sarasota World War II Conference January 25-28, 2012 – at the Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel, Sarasota, Florida Registration on a first-come, first-served basis. Maximum enrollment is 150.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

with Robert J. Dalessandro - Head of Faculty,

and Robert F. Baumann, Harold Baumgarten, Edwin C. Bearss, Ron Bushaw, Roger Cirillo, Carlo D’Este, Bruce Gamble, Rob Havers, Erin Mahan,
Darren Moran, Jerry D. Morelock and Craig L. Symonds

 

With gratitude to all who serve and have served in the United States military, especially in 1941-1945, we continue our acclaimed annual series of World War II conferences – to better understand and further appreciate the epic struggle of the 20^th century 

 

Our 2012 conference in Sarasota features the most impressive set of World War II history talent we have yet assembled. Our expert guest historians will cover an intriguing range of topics including:

·        Operation Market Garden, the “Bridge Too Far”

·        The Ground War in Italy: January-June, 1944

·        Japan’s Infamous Changi Prison Camp at Singapore

·        Myths and Realities of MacArthur’s Pacific War

·        The Legendary Jimmy Doolittle

·        Hitler vs. Stalin: Russia and the Eastern Front

·        Historians in Combat

·        The Aerial Bombardment of Omaha Beach: What Went Wrong?

·        The Japanese Onslaught in the Southwest Pacific

 

Of course, the most special parts of the conference will be the first person testimonies of war heroes Harold Baumgarten, Ed Bearss and other veterans who will join us. In our final session on Saturday, entitled A Conversation with our World War II Veterans, we will ask each guest veteran to answer questions we’ve drawn up, and ones you’ve submitted, so as to learn as much as possible what these gallant men experienced. And we’ll cap this off with a spirited free-form Q & A session open to all.

 

During the conference, books written by our faculty members will be available for sale. Our book display & sale will be in place throughout the conference beginning at our:

World War II Memories Reception

 

• Wednesday, January 25 - 7:00 PM-9:00 PM – Helmsley Hotel Ballroom
• WWII Film Footage
• WWII Music
• Display of WWII Uniforms, Decorations and Memorabilia Never Before Made Public
• Some tasty goodies and a Cash Bar.

 

For our activities on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, please review the faculty information and schedule below. If you want to learn more about World War II from the top authorities, honor and befriend courageous World War II veterans, meet like-minded enthusiasts, and have a wonderful, relaxing time on the warm, white sands of Lido Beach, you should plan to join us for the 7^th Annual Sarasota World War II Conference!

 

FACULTY

COL. ROBERT J. DALESSANDRO, USA Ret. is the Chief of Military History at the United States Army Center of Military History at Fort McNair, Washington, DC. He is the co-author, with Gerald Torrence, of Willing Patriots: Men of Color in the First World War; with Michael G. Knapp, co-author of The Organization and Insignia of the American Expeditionary Force, 1917-1923 and, with Rebecca Dalessandro, co-author of American Lions: the 332^nd Infantry Regiment in Italy in World War I.

ROBERT F. BAUMANN is Director of Graduate Degree Programs, School of Advance Military Studies, United States Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, KS. He is the author or co-author of several books including Russia-Soviet Unconventional Wars in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Afghanistan.

HAROLD BAUMGARTEN is the author of D-Day Survivor: An Autobiography. A riflemen in Company B, 116^th Regiment, 29^th Infantry Division, he was wounded five times on Omaha Beach.

EDWIN C BEARSS, historian emeritus of the National Park Service, is the most well-known battlefield guide in America.As a Marine in World War II, his life changed forever at a place in the Pacific dubbed "Suicide Creek" (Cape Gloucester, New Britain) where he was severely wounded by Japanese machine gun fire.

RON BUSHAW is a retired business executive and owner of a extraordinary collection of WWII uniforms and memorabilia, some of which will be on display for the first time during the Sarasota World War II Conference.

ROGER CIRILLO is the Director of Book Program of the Institute of Land Warfare, Association of the United States Army (AUSA) and the author of numerous published articles on World War II.

CARLO W. D’ESTE is the author of many books including Decision in Normandy; Bitter Victory: The Battle for Sicily, 1943; Fatal Decision: Anzio and the Battle for Rome; and three biographies: Patton: A Genius For War; Eisenhower: A Soldier’s Life; and Warlord: A Life of Winston Churchill at War, 1874-1945. 

BRUCE GAMBLE is a leading authority on the air war in the Pacific. He is the author of four books including Fortress Rabaul: The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942-April 1943; and The Black Sheep: The Definitive Account of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 in World War II. During his career as a Naval Flight Officer in the closing years of the Cold War, Bruce logged nearly 1,000 hours as a navigator in EA-3B Skywarriors, including deployments aboard aircraft carriers in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

ROB HAVERS is Executive Director of the National Churchill Museum, at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. Previously, he served as Senior Lecturer in War Studies at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He is the author of several books including Reassessing the Japanese Prisoner of War Experience: The Changi POW Camp, Singapore, 1942-1945.

ERIN MAHAN is Chief Historian of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. She previously served as associate research fellow at Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. and is an adjunct research historian for the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia and also an adjunct professor for the Washington Center for Academic Seminars and Internships. From 2004-2008, she was Chief of the Division of Arms Control, Asia, and Africa in the Office of the Historian at the Department of State, where she edited several volumes in the Foreign Relations of the United States series related to Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, the former Soviet Union, the Vietnam War, and Korea. She is also the author of Kennedy, De Gaulle and Western Europe and has published several chapters and articles on biological and chemical weapons, NATO, the Berlin Crisis, and U.S. and French foreign economic policies during the 1960s.

DARREN MORAN, a stockbroker in Naples, Florida, is an expert on the Normandy Campaign and a veteran leader of tours of Normandy.

COL. JERRY D. MORELOCK, USA Ret., a decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam War, is the Editor in Chief of Armchair General magazine. Previously, he served as the Director of the Combat Studies Institute, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS, and was the Chief of Russia Branch, Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon.  His numerous publications include the books, Generals of the Ardennes: American Leadership in the Battle of the Bulge and Great Land Battles from the Civil War to the Gulf War.

 CRAIG L. SYMONDS is the Class of 1957 Distinguished Professor of American Naval History at the United States Naval Academy. He is the author of many books including Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles That Shaped American History; Lincoln and his Admirals: Abraham Lincoln, the U. S. Navy, and the Civil War; and most recently, The Battle of Midway.

	Wednesday, January 25
7:00 PM - 9:00PM	World War II Memories Reception & Cash Bar
7:00 PM - 12:00 N Sat	Book Display & Sale
	Thursday, January 26
8:30 AM – 9:30 AM	Hitler vs Stalin: Russia and the Eastern Front – Robert F. Baumann
9:45 AM - 10:45 AM	The Ground War in Italy: January - June, 1944 - Roger Cirillo
11:00AM - 12:00 N	One of World War II’s Finest Commanders: Jim Gavin - Carlo D’Este
12:00N - 1:00 PM	Group Lunch in Dining Room.  (Those not enrolled for the group lunch can dine in the Hotel Coffee Shop).
1:15PM - 2:15 PM	Operation Market Garden – Edwin C. Bearss
2:30PM - 2:45PM	Honoring Those Who Served in WWII by Collecting and  Preserving Their Uniforms and Memorabilia – Ron Bushaw
2:45PM - 3:30PM	ETO: ‘What Ifs’ and Vexing Questions – a panel discussion with - Robert Baumann, Roger Cirillo, Carlo D’Este and Erin Mahan
5:00PM - 6:30PM	Reception in honor of our World War II veterans in attendance
	Friday, January 27
8:30AM – 9:30AM	MacArthur’s Pacific War: Myths and Realities – Jerry D. Morelock
9:45 AM -10:45AM;	Desperate Days: Stopping the Japanese Onslaught in the South Pacific – Bruce Gamble
11:00AM - 12:00 N	The Changi POW Camp in Singapore – Rob Havers
12:00 N - 1:00 PM	Group Lunch in Dining Room
1:15PM - 2:15 PM	James Doolittle’s Daring Raid on Japan – Craig L. Symonds
2:30PM – 3:30 PM	PTO Panel Discussion – Jerry Morelock, Bruce Gamble, Rob Havers and Craig Symonds
	Saturday, January 28
8:30AM – 9:30AM	The Aerial Bombardment of Omaha Beach: What Went Wrong? - Darren Moran;
9:45AM – 10:45AM	Historians in Combat: 1943-2011 - Robert J. Dalessandro
11:00AM - 12:00N	A Conversation with our World War II Veterans – Hal Baumgarten and Ed Bearss

 

We reserve the right to change the order and topics of presentations, and to substitute faculty members as circumstances may dictate.

 

BASE LOCATION & LODGING

We have reserved rooms at the Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel, 1540 Ben Franklin Drive, on Lido Beach, Sarasota, Florida 34235. Our discounted nightly room rates, single and double, are: $110 (Northside); $123 (Courtyard); $136 (Poolside); and $162 (Gulfside). The Helmsley offers 600 feet of private beach, two outdoor pools and a host of other amenities. We expect a full house so act now to reserve your hotel room. Call 800-225-2181, Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM and identify yourself as a registrant for the World War II Conference.

 

TRAVELING TO SARASOTA BY AIR

Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport (SRQ)

·        served byAir Canada, Airtran, Delta, Jet Blue and US Air

·        located about 11 miles from the Helmsley Sandcastle. Flag a cab at the airport  - your one-way ride to the Helmsley should be about $15.00

Tampa International Airport (TPA)

·     served by practically all domestic carriers and some foreign

·     about 65 miles from the Helmsley – you will need a rental car.

 

      

q Full Program: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday - includes 13 Sessions, Wednesday PM Birthday Party, Thursday PM Reception, Thursday Lunch and Friday Lunch	$ 435
q Full Program if also enrolled for the Civil War Symposium Full Program	385
q Special Day-Time Only Package: Thursday, Friday and Saturday - includes 13 Sessions (All Meals on Own and Thursday Reception not included)	369
q Thursday Only: 5 Sessions (Lunch on Own and Thursday Reception not included)	135
q Thursday Morning Only: 3 Sessions:	105
q Thursday Afternoon Only: 2 Sessions	35
q Thursday & Friday: 10 Sessions (Lunches on Own):	269
q Friday Only: 5 Sessions (Lunch on Own):	135
q Friday Morning Only: 3 Sessions:	105
q Friday Afternoon Only: 2 Sessions:	35
q Friday & Saturday: 8 Sessions (Lunch on Own):	239
q Saturday Only: 3 Sessions:	105
q Thursday PM Reception (Cash Bar):	25

 

 

Please Note:

·        There is no charge for the Wed PM WW II Memories Reception – it is open to all

·         For those not enrolled for group lunches, you can purchase lunch in the hotel coffee shop.

           

IF YOU MUST CANCEL: Your Registration Fee will be 100% Refunded.