Two great presentations at the American Heritage Museum this Saturday: Baker Company, 21st Marines, and 3rd Navy Medical Battalion re-enactors will have a presentation and table displays of equipment, weapons, and gear to educate the public on the Battle of Iwo Jima that took place February 19- March 26, 1945.![]()
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From 1pm to 2pm there will be a lecture by Jason Cleary about US firefighting during WWII. Hope to see you here! More information see: www.americanheritagemuseum.org/events/
The American Heritage Museum is open 10am to 5pm all this week for school break. Hope to see you soon!
The American Heritage Museum in Hudson, MA will be open ALL WEEK next week (Feb 17-23) for the Massachusetts School Vacation Week, including Presidents Day on Monday, February 17th and Tuesday, February 18th. We are open 10am-5pm daily and you can save $2 per ticket by buying online at: www.americanheritagemuseum.org/purchase-tickets-online/
Feeling the cold of winter? Think of the guys caught in the Battle of the Bulge!![]()
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Join us tomorrow, February 12, 1:00pm to 2:30pm, for an engaging talk by Dr. Michael Hirsh about Battle of the Bulge with a particular focus on a nurse whose important role in helping Allied soldiers survive was never given its proper due until 10 years ago.![]()
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Dr. Hirsh will discuss the development of this battle and how this ultimate Allied victory could have turned into a defeat. He will also talk about the role of some “unsung heroes” in helping secure the victory using their medical skills. See: www.americanheritagemuseum.org/event/speaker-series-the-forgotten-angel-of-bastogne/
82 years ago this week marks the pivotal end of the Battle of Stalingrad, a major turning point in World War II. On February 2nd, 1943, the German 6th Army surrendered to Soviet forces, marking the end of the fierce and bloody battle. The American Heritage Museum features a rare Soviet T-34-76 tank and other artifacts in our Eastern Front Gallery to recount this historic WWII clash.
- This event has passed.
Speaker Series: MacArthur Reconsidered
September 22, 2023 @ 2:00 pm, ending 3:30 pm
$10 – $20
Join us at the American Heritage Museum on September 22nd to hear a presentation by James Ellman, author of “MacArthur Reconsidered,” as he digs deep, connects the dots, and concludes that General Douglas MacArthur was decidedly not a military genius.
One of America’s most controversial generals, Douglas MacArthur’s rise through the U.S. Army’s ranks was meteoric. However, he did not lead large formations of men in combat until he assumed command of forces in the Philippines in 1941. When war commenced with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, MacArthur’s performance on the battlefield was a failure: he underestimated the Japanese, and his poorly trained forces were outmaneuvered and outfought by a much smaller invading force. However, in what became a repeating hallmark of his career, he successfully portrayed his actions to much of the American people as brilliant and heroic regardless of victory or defeat. After fleeing to Australia, MacArthur famously announced, “I will return,” and followed through on a quest to retake Manila regardless of its impact on Allied global strategy or its cost in American, Australian, and Filipino blood.
In his subsequent role as America’s shogun in Tokyo, MacArthur was again surprised by an enemy he underestimated. The Korean War yielded his greatest victory, at Inchon, but also his greatest defeat, along the Yalu River. Unwilling to accept anything but complete victory, he openly defied President Truman: MacArthur fatally undermined chances for an early peace, planned to seed a great swath of enemy territory with radioactive cobalt, and attempted to widen a conflict which threatened to become a third world war. Raging against his subsequent firing, he only truly faded away after he was publicly criticized by a panoply of America’s greatest WWII generals.
Today, MacArthur still polarizes. Many biographies agree he was a great and patriotic leader marred by a few failures. Ellman argues the opposite: MacArthur was a lackluster battlefield commander who suffered stunning defeats while undermining the command structure of our military.
