Introduction to the WW2 Site - Please Say Hi Showing 1-50 of 4,899

[Peter]

Hi everyone,

Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. I've just gotten on Goodreads and am interested in history and historical fiction, though that's not all I read. I'm looking forward to discussions on WWII history and details that the general reader might not catch or appreciate. Thanks,

-Peter

[Míceál]

Hopefully you will be able to find it here.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

New folks to the group can say hi and introduce themselves here, happy reading!

[Wade]

Welcome to the BEST GROUP on the web..i know you'll enjoy our members knowledge and recommendations. I would also like to voice my strong endorsment foor Aussie Rick as Grup mediator----outstanding!!! Carry on!

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Many thanks Wade :)

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I've moved this post from another thread (now archived), its an introduction from a new member:


Hello everyone, my name is Duane, I am 46 years old, married and have a six year old son named Jesiah. I retired from the US Navy on 31 Dec 2005 after 20 years of honorable service. I have been married to a wonderful lady named Sandi for the past 14 years. We have a very wonderful 6 year old son named Jesiah who is the light of our lives. Since retiring I have just been enjoying my family and reading those books I never had a chance to read all these years. Currently I am also attending college full time working on two degree's. One in military history and another in drug and alcohol counseling. I have just started work on both degrees and am going to San Diego City College for the history degree using my 9/11 GI Bill and paying out of my own pocket going to Mueller College for the alcohol and drug counseling degree, I don't know how I have time to do that, spend time with my family and read but I'm getting it done.

I love studying and reading all types of history to include world history, history of all nations and even history of such things as coke or pepsi. Lately I have been into reading medical history. I also like to read fiction, just not as often, mostly Stephen King and classical.

[Wade]

Alright Duane---NOW HEAR THIS.....WELCOME ABOARD...that is all.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Folks, for those interested check out the new video link near the bottom of the front page.

[Kevin]

Hello Duane.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

To all those new members to the group, please join in the discussions when you can and I hope you all have fun here and pick up lots of ideas for good books to read :)

[happy]

I"ve made some comments, so I should probably introduce myself

I'm married with three wonderful daughters and two grandchildren. I'm an Army Brat and have been interested in WW II and military history ever since I can remember ( more years than I care to admit ) I served 4 yrs in the Army in the mid 80's and came very close to taking an all expense paid trip to a certain sunny Caribbean island courtesy of the US gov’t, the deployment was canceled at the last minute. One of my favorite vactions was abou 4 yrs ago. My brother was working in England and we went over to visit and he and I took a weekend trip to Normandy and visited the beaches and cemeteries. I really want to make that trip again and include all of the WW I sites as well.


My first WW II interest was the air war in Europe, esp. the B-17's and I have recently started reading a lot on the Great Patriotic War. I think there has been some excellent books written on the Eastern front in the last few years

Some of my favorite non fiction authors include

John Keegan, Stephen Ambrose, Max Hastings, Martin Cadin
and of course Cornelius Ryan

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Hi Happy,

Thanks for introducing yourself, I am sure you will have a good time exploring the site here and chatting with other members who all share an interest in WW2.

Funny enough I was also in the Army in the early 1980's, also love the B-17 and have always been interested in books covering the Russian Front.

Good list of authors as well, have you read any of Antony Beevor's books yet?

[carl]

howdy happy, since you mentioned liking max hastings you might want to join the group read of his book.
info on the home page. starts 7/1.

happy wrote: "I"ve made some comments, so I should probably introduce myself..."

[Nick]

Hi guys,

My name is Nick and I live near Cincinnati, Ohio. I enjoy reading about all aspects of WW2, but especially U-Boats and other submarines. I also read a lot of aerial combat books, sniper books, and books about the rise and fall of Hitler and the Nazis. It is fascinating how such an evil man was able to take control of an advanced civilized nation.

I am an avid reader of books regarding Ancient Rome, even more so than WW2 to be honest. I am a huge baseball fan and spend way too much time playing fantasy baseball and reading books and websites about baseball. I even have my own website where I write about baseball. I also specialize in helping folks build their own top of the line computers that blow away anything you can buy at a store. I don't read much fiction. I find reality to be much more fascinating than fiction.

I am looking forward to participating in this group here on GoodReads. This is my first group so I am not entirely sure what to expect.

Take care,

Nick

[Chris]

Hey Nick,

I lived in Cincinnati kindergarten through third grade. My family used to go to Reds games all the time back when they played in Riverfront Stadium. I remember my step-dad was enraged when it was renamed Cinergy field. After the games we used to go to that restaurant (Willy's I think it was called) where they had the radio show set up and sometimes players would come. My parents knew Marge Schott, and we actually got our Saint Bernard dog from the same place she got hers. Baseball was definitely the king of that town when I lived there (early 90s). My brothers and I would go play baseball with all the neighborhood kids all the time and most of my allowance went to baseball cards lol. I'm now a Rays fan though. Anyway, welcome to the group. I'm sure you'll find some excellent reads to add to your TBR pile :)

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Hi Nick,

Welcome to the group and take you time to explore and see if you find any topics of interest. I am going to open up a new thread to discuss submarine warfare during WW2. I'm also, sad to say, a great reader of books covering Roman history!

[Wade]

Hi, Nick....welcome to THE group..This is a 5 star outfit...the best member-group on the web. You joined just in time to enjoy our new FEARLESS leader Aussie Rick,as moderator...he does a magnificent as well as impressive job... the knowledge and courtesy of the members is unequalled...welcome!

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I'm blushing Wade :)

But it is a great group full of excellent and friendly members who all share an interest and passion for this subject which makes it relaxing and enjoyable environment to discuss topics and books on WW2.

[Nick]

Thanks Chrissy, Rick and Wade. I am already having fun here. Can't believe it took me this long to find it!

[carl]

howdy nick!

apparently there is some requirement
to pass through Cincinnati at some
time in one's life... i went
to a baseball game there too with my
little league team, though then it was
Crosley field, at least tell me you've
heard of that Chrissy, you know in history
books or something?

also up the road in Dayton is Wright-Patterson
AFB & a great museum. My Dad would take us
up there every so often. I recall they had
a B-36 and a V1.

Chrissy wrote: "Hey Nick,

I lived in Cincinnati kindergarten through third grade. My family used to go to Reds games all the time back when they played in Riverfront Stadium. I remember my step-dad was enraged wh..."

[[deleted user]]

Hi Everyone,

My name is John, I live in Rohnert Park, just north of San Francisco. I'm a father of two, a musician in my free time, huge soccer fan, and an avid reader. While lately my reading has taken me into science fiction for the most part, I enjoy reading just about any book on WWII, with special emphasis on the aviation side of things. I'm looking forward to sharing some of my favorite books and reading many more in the future.

John

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Hi John and welcome to the group. I hope you find a few interesting titles here and I look forward to chatting with you further about some good WW2 books.

[Nick]

Hey Carl, that Air Force Museum up the road at Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton is really spectacular. It is the best military aviation museum in the world by far. They have just about every type of WW2 plane on display in their vast hangars. It is worth taking a vacation to Dayton/Cincinnati just to see the museum. They fighters, bombers, space capsules, WW1 planes, Vietnam War planes, Bockscar (dropped nuke on Nagasaki), prototype planes, Wright Brothers' planes, missiles and hundreds more real planes fully restored to their original glory. Every fan of military aviation absolutely must go there once in their life.

[[deleted user]]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Hi John and welcome to the group. I hope you find a few interesting titles here and I look forward to chatting with you further about some good WW2 books."

Thanks Aussie Rick!

[Wade]

John...now hear this....WELCOME.....that is all.

[Chris]

carl wrote: "though then it was
Crosley field, at least tell me you've
heard of that Chrissy, you know in history
books or something?"

I think I've heard about it on a baseball stadium history documentary piece one time lol.

Welcome John :)

[happy]

Nick wrote: "Hey Carl, that Air Force Museum up the road at Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton is really spectacular. It is the best military aviation museum in the world by far. They have just about every type o..."

In my not so humble opinion - the AF Museum is better than the Smithsoneon. The don't have the famous airplanes, but they have the next best thing - Bock's Car v Enola Gay, Apollo 12 v Apollo 11 etc, also they have more and better airplanes, the only surving B-70, one of the few JU-88s, and A-36(Dive bombing version of the P-51A) Pres Truman and DDEs presdidential airplanes - If you are ever, ever, ever in the area it is a must see. I once had a class at WP and spent every weekend and most evenings there.

Also a warm welcome to John - It's nice to have another aviation enthusiast here.

[Nick]

I agree happy, the WPAFB museum is much better than the Smithsonian aviation museum. It is a lot larger, in fact it is so large that it will take you a full day to see it all even if you go through at a brisk pace. They have six huge hangars crammed full of planes from all eras, plus dozens more planes stored outside. Admission is free, which is hard to believe given the tremendous amount of money it must cost to run the place and acquire all the planes. It is run by the Air Force, so they get a lot of the planes for free once they are retired I guess and most of the foreign planes were probably either captured or donated.

If anyone is a fan of military aviation (or aviation in general for that matter), then YOU MUST GO TO WPAFB MUSEUM IMMEDIATELY! And contact me and I will meet you there. I go there whenever I can find an excuse.

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/inde... This is the link to the museum website.

A couple weeks ago they had a fantastic event to commemorate the Doolittle bombing raid on Japan early in WW2. 22 B-25 bombers flew in to the museum and were available to the public. The 5 surviving crew members of the raid (out of the 80 that took part) were honored.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Welcome Nick and John, as others have said it's a friendly group with a great range of interests.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Another new group member is the author and historian Patrick O'Donnell. Along with Alex Kershaw we have two brilliant WW2 writers and both have new books due out later this year. Patrick did tell me that he has lots of information on his travels and interviews with veterans for his new book if anyone wants to check it out:

www.patrickkodonnell.com
www.facebook.com/patrickkodonnell

[carl]

Good to know it is still a great place. been quite awhile
ago i visited, with all the endorsements looks like i have to make it back.

Nick wrote: "I agree happy, the WPAFB museum is much better than the Smithsonian aviation museum. It is a lot larger, in fact it is so large that it will take you a full day to see it all even if you go through..."

[[deleted user]]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone :-)

Nick wrote: "If anyone is a fan of military aviation (or aviation in general for that matter), then YOU MUST GO TO WPAFB MUSEUM IMMEDIATELY! And contact me and I will meet you there. I go there whenever I can find an excuse."

If I ever make my way over there, I'll be sure to let you know. :-) Definitely something that I want to see one of these days.

[George]

if you're ever in the area, I'd highly recommend the Naval Air Musuem at NAS Pensacola, Florida, home of naval aviation.

[Nicole]

Finally catching up on the threads. Welcome to our new members! You've joined a great group.

That's awesome about Alex Kershaw. My 17 year old has developed an interest in WWII history and I've started him off on The Longest Winter.

byAlex Kershaw

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I hope your 17 year old enjoys the story. That's one book I still have to read but I really enjoyed the author's books; The Bedford Boys and The Few

& by Alex Kershaw

[Nicole]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "I hope your 17 year old enjoys the story. That's one book I still have to read but I really enjoyed the author's books; The Bedford Boys and The Few

[bookcover:The Bedford Boys: One American Town'..."

He is enjoying it so far. I'm starting him off on books more about people with an overview to the fighting so he doesn't get overwhelmed with anything to technical.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

It's a great story of ordinary men called to do extraordinary things. I think he will really enjoy it, let us know what he thinks once he has finished.

[Steve]

John wrote: "Hi Everyone,

My name is John, I live in Rohnert Park, just north of San Francisco. I'm a father of two, a musician in my free time, huge soccer fan, and an avid reader. While lately my reading h..."

Hi John,

We have a lot in common. I live in the Bay Area, a father of two, a musician in my free time, huge soccer fan, and an avid reader of WW2, musical biographies and of course books on soccer. Currently reading

Welcome aboard

Steve

[[deleted user]]

Steve wrote: "Hi John,

We have a lot in common. I live in the Bay Area, a father of two, a musician in my free time, huge soccer fan, and an avid reader of WW2, musical biographies and of course books on soccer. Currently reading "

That's awesome! Looks like an interesting book. Are you a Liverpool supporter?

[Steve]

John wrote: "Steve wrote: "Hi John,

We have a lot in common. I live in the Bay Area, a father of two, a musician in my free time, huge soccer fan, and an avid reader of WW2, musical biographies and of course b..."

That's awesome! Looks like an interesting book. Are you a Liverpool supporter?

Yes I am and also a season ticket holder. Originally from Liverpool but have lived in the US for many years. I try to get back as often as I can to watch the games. I was also in Istanbul when we won the Champions League in 2005. Do you follow the Premier League?

[Nicole]

Steve wrote: "John wrote: "Steve wrote: "Hi John,

We have a lot in common. I live in the Bay Area, a father of two, a musician in my free time, huge soccer fan, and an avid reader of WW2, musical biographies an..."

Awesome...fellow Reds fans. I don't follow it too much these days due to lack of time but have been a Liverpool supporter for years.

I remember being stuck at work for that Champions League game and having friends call me with updates.

[[deleted user]]

Steve wrote: "Yes I am and also a season ticket holder. Originally from Liverpool but have lived in the US for many years. I try to get back as often as I can to watch the games. I was also in Istanbul when we won the Champions League in 2005. Do you follow the Premier League? "

That's awesome! That must have have been amazing to be in Istanbul for that match. I do follow Premier League, though I'm a ManU fan (don't hate me LOL). I'll watch any match that I can, even the really early ones. One of these days I want to go to England and go to a match, hopefully sooner rather then later. I'm looking forward to Euro 2012 and keeping an eye on MLS now that Premier League is done.

[Patrick]

Dear Rick,

Thanks for the introduction to the group and your recommendation
of my lbook: "Give Me Tomorrow" on George Company 3/1's epic stand against (at least a Chinese regiment) at the Frozen Chosin.

This year, I'm back into WWII and finished up "Dog Company: The Boys of Pointe du Hoc -- Rangers Who Led the Way Across Europe." The book is very cinematic and covers men like Len Lomell who helped disable the guns on the Pointe but really gets into some of the lessor known stuff like Hurtgen's Hill 400. Dog is dialog driven, in their own words, and captures both sides -- including the untold story of German machine gunners and counterattacking forces on the Pointe and at Hill 400.

There's lots of great discussions up here. I'm looking forward to participating in between research and writing.

Best wishes,

Patrick
Combathistorianpko@gmail.com
Www.patrickkodonnell.com
www.facebook.com/patrickkodonnell (I post a lot of my veteran interviews here)

[Kris]

Hi Everyone, Just found this group and immediately joined! I am a 49 year old life long reader of WWII. I was a history major in college and am a military history buff. I am currently reading through David Glantz's books on the eastern front. I also enjoy old WWII board games and any new computer games that replicate the experience of the board games. I am looking forward to finding some new and interesting reads and discussion s here.

Kris

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Hi Patrick, great to see you here and thanks for the information on your new book. It sounds like it will be a great read and its good to hear that it covers both sides along with accounts from the many veterans you have interviewed. I am sure there are a few people here that will be waiting for its release.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Hi Kris and welcome to the group. I hope you find lots here to keep you interested and I'd be keen to hear your views on the Glantz book you are currently reading. I also use to love playing those old board games and have a collection of the Battleground series of computer war games.

[Morgiana]

Hi there, (and Hello Rick, of course;)
my name is Morgiana, and am enjoying reading about history, especially about Ancient History, Middle Ages and about the 20th century.
Currently I am reading Guido Knopp's book about the SS - just started it a few days ago, but it definitely will be an interesting read about Hitler's Elite Guard.

[Nick]

Welcome Morgiana! Like you I am also an avid reader of ancient history, particularly Roman military history and the lives of the Emperors. I am currently reading and enjoying this:

Warfare in the Classical World: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in the Ancient Civilizations of Greece and Rome

It is an older book (1980), but it is a bit ahead of its time in terms of having color illustrations and advanced graphics (for the time) and it presages well some of the richly illustrated and designed books of the last few years. It is great for understanding the arms and armour of ancient soldiers of all types and cultures. Very fascinating. It definitely helps make ancient battles come to life in my imagination.

Back to WW2, Hitler's SS is also a very intriguing topic. Hard to believe an elite unit composed of specially selected soldiers chosen from the best of the best in terms of intelligence, work ethic, patriotism and even spotless moral fiber could perform some of the worst atrocities of the war.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Hi Morgiana, good to see you here, I hope you enjoy yourself :)

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Hi Nick,

If you liked Warfare in the Classical World you might also find this book quite good:

by Peter Connolly