Military History

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Promoting research of special topics in United States military history with a concentration on the Second World War and American involvement in Southeast Asia, these materials include primary source materials such as oral and transcribed interviews with veterans; correspondence and memoirs from WW2 prisoners of war; interviews with influential American and Vietnamese architects of Cold War era psychological warfare and counterinsurgency doctrines; as well as a vast collection of special-interest and advocacy periodicals, popular works, and scholarly monographs.

Collection Strengths

Ava Spencer Materials
- Donated by Ava Spencer, these materials include booklets created by the United States Defense Intelligence Agency and the United States Army's former Combat Studies Institute that evaluate the Soviet Army's tactics and capabilities during the late- Brezhnev and Andropov Eras. Other materials include after action reports from the European Theater of Operations generated by the U.S. Army's 12th Army Group and 4th Armored Division in Fall 1944 / Winter 1945.
Cecil B. and Laura G. Currey Archive of Military History
- This collection contains the personal papers, private collections, and research of the late Dr. Cecil B. Currey, FHSU alum and Professor Emeritus, University of South Florida. Despite his beginnings as a colonial and early American specialist, Currey spent much of his academic career as a military historian writing on World War II, the Vietnam War, and the psychological warfare and counterinsurgency pioneer Edward Lansdale, USAF. Research topics and titled projects reflected in collection materials include:
  - Edward Geary Lansdale – Air Force officer and agent for the Central Intelligence Agency who was sent to Vietnam in an advisory role in 1954
  - Follow Me and Die – Interviews with World War II military personnel
  - Exercise Tiger Operation – a military pre-invasion practice exercise to prepare for D-Day in which approximately 800 soldiers and sailors were killed
  - Vo Nyugen Giap – led the military campaign against the U.S. and South Vietnam during the 1960’s and 1970’s
  - Self-Destruction: The Disintegration and Decay of the U.S. Army During the Vietnam Era – interviews with Vietnam military personnel, special Vietnam studies and copies of reports written by officers
  - Benjamin Franklin – American Statesman
  - Benjamin Franklin Collection: two letters written by Mr. Franklin and an issue of the Pennsylvania Gazette from 1769
  - Long Binh Jail (LBJ) – interviews with 163 individuals who had first hand experience with the U.S. Army Vietnam Installation Stockade (USARVIS) at Long Binh, infamous for its August 1968 prison riot.
  - Early American History – contains 126 transcribed documents, many of which are unavailable elsewhere in the U.S., as well as transcripts and reproductions of various documents which are pertinent to Early American History
  - Veterans' Interviews – Conducted by Currey and his students, holdings include both taped and transcribed interviews with veterans, primarily from the Tampa, Florida area.
Dana Chwan Materials
- Contains items pertaining to the Vietnam War, particularly American prisoners of war. Materials include periodicals, news clippings, programs, an interview, and correspondence.
Edmund Pfannenstiel Materials
- Donated by Munjor, Kansas native Edmund Pfannenstiel, these materials reflect Mr. Pfannenstiel’s time as a prisoner of war at Stalag IX-B, Bad Orb, Germany from 1944-1945. Materials include wartime logs, pencil sketches of the camp; correspondence; and photographs.
William D. Paschal Collection
- Contains materials relating to Paschal’s time as a prisoner of war in Stalag IX-B during World War II. Newspapers, books, periodicals, correspondence and miscellaneous items are part of the collection. Paschal, late of Wichita, Kansas, was a highly decorated infantry scout and combat medic receiving the Combat Infantry Badge, Silver Star, a Bronze Star with a “V” for valor, 2 additional Bronze Stars, a Prisoner of War Medal, and a Purple Heart.

Research Tips

Search the Forsyth Library Catalog. Begin by searching keywords for your research topic. From the results list, use the right sidebar to filter results under the “Location” heading to show only the locations designated with the prefix “Special Collections - Military History” or one of several derivatives.
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Exhibitions and Featured Digital Content

Forsyth Library's exhibition program includes both site-based and online exhibitions that incorporate materials from Special Collections' Military History holdings. Additionally, select materials from the Forsyth Library Special Collections have been digitized and housed in its Digital Collections.