As posted at Battlefield Biker I will be hosting the next Military History Carnival for March 2010. So spread the word and submit article suggestions to me via the contact page or send an email to robert at thompsonwerk dot com. Obviously the sooner I get submissions the better.
In light of the recent earthquake in Haiti, and subsequent US military assistance, it seems prudent to revisit some of the previous American forays into the Caribbean nation. Two instances of American intervention that immediately come to mind are President Woodrow Wilson’s 1915 invasion and the 1994 action under President Bill Clinton. These are just two of the many other occurrences of America’s physical display of interest in Haiti. Albeit this interest ranged from economic to humanitarian justifications.
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For the past few years I have been fascinated with the First World War, particularly American military involvement. As stated elsewhere on this site, my proposed dissertation topic would have me analyzing the history and role of the Coast Artillery Corps on the Western Front in battles such as the Meuse-Argonne. Considering the level of scholarship already present, my research would explore a neglected branch of the Army while better understanding the contributions of the Corps as a land force. Although a brief summary, obviously the topic requires further development, that is the starting point for my research. Discussing my interest in that subject, however, is not the focus of this post. Instead I would like to express my other interest and how it may, or may not, affect my academic future.
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I decided to spend the last night of winter break updating the look of this blog. While I did not alter anything major, the changes I did make should help improve the readability of my posts. Readers should notice the increase in line spacing and some font formatting adjustments. The removal of unnecessary data, too, was an objective. When possible, I deleted redundant information, i.e. my name being attached to each post. Also noteworthy, the replacement of the popular post plugin with a far more statistically accurate variant finally took place. After a couple hours of work, and being fairly pleased with the outcome, I still envision making more alterations. Until I make-up my mind on what those additional changes will be, enjoy the improvements and keep visiting.
The exceedingly long gaps between updates can be attributed to the overwhelming power of my first semester back in grad school. Fortunately as of this past Friday I completed my first semester as a PhD student. Overall, I am happy with how the semester went. Nevertheless, there is always room for improvement. After twenty-fours hours of celebration and recovery, it seems appropriate to divulge some advice on how to make next semester less stressful and more productive. Thus the following three points are the main lessons and changes I intend to implement for classes next spring.
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Synopsis
The purpose of Thompson Werk is to present the musings of a US War and Society doctoral student. Discussion topics principally center around the World Wars and Vietnam.
The opinions expressed on this site are not be confused with those of my colleagues, employers, friends, family, and/or anyone else associated with me.
Contact me with any comments, complaints, and/or questions.
Responses
- Robert: Everyone needs to see Vietnam,
- Ross Mahoney: Sounds like it is another
- Robert: My original post omitted the
- Robert: Hey Ross, Vietnam is a
- Ross Mahoney: Robert it looks like a
