288 pages

The post Empire Marine: General Littleton W.T. Waller and the Growth of American Imperialism, 1856-1926 (companion book for the documentary film, Empire Marine) first appeared on Old Segundo Productions.

WWII Wethersfield began a half century of service to Britain, the United States, and the free world .  The history that played out at RAF Wethersfield and the surrounding communities stretches from 1941  and  across the twentieth century.  That history defines the people who grew up there, those who lived out their lives there, and those who came to serve there.

RAF Wethersfield has a unique heritage that demonstrates the Anglo-American spirit across generations of Essex communities, military families, and RAF and U.S. air and ground forces.

Today the airfield is consecrated ground, a place from which many made the ultimate sacrifice, a place of remembrance for generations who made a difference in the world.  Many of the buildings remain scattered across this pleasant meadow land.  History lingers here and whispers to us of a time when courage and valor played out from this place.

The runways stretch far into the distance and stand as silent reminders of a time when the future of the world was held in the balance, when stalwart men and women answered the call to serve something larger than themselves. This is their story.

The post Wethersfield at War first appeared on Old Segundo Productions.

Speed is the Password–This documentary traces the story of the 12th Armored Division from its activation in 1942 at Camp Campbell, Kentucky and later training at Camp Barkeley in Abilene, Texas. By September 1944, the Division was on the move overseas, landing at Liverpool, England on October 2nd. After several weeks receiving new armor at Tidworth Barracks, the Division crossed the English Channel, joined Patch’s Seventh Army, and moved
against the Maginot Line, firing their first shots on December 5th.

Swift victories followed, but the Division suffered a devastating defeat in January at Herrlisheim. After receiving massive replacements and three
companies of African-American infantry, the 12th went on the offensive. Sealing the Comar Pocket and moving in a lightning drive, ended the German
resistance in the Vosges Mountains.

Later the Division was attached to General George S. Patton’s Third Army and spearheaded the drive to the Rhine River. This film covers their training and combat story in detail as they fought their way across France and into Germany and Austria, liberating concentration and POW camps along the way. Watch as the story unfolds with 12th Armored Division veterans remembering those dark days on the combat trail as the desperate quest for victory unfolded.

The post Speed is the Password first appeared on Old Segundo Productions.

The history of the Fifth Army Band actually can be traced back to December 1, 1941 when at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, the band was activated as the Signal Corps Reserve Training Center Band. The band was then assigned to Camp Crowler, Missouri where it became the 348th Army Band in 1943. During the war years, the band was used extensively to support the war effort as a “Goodwill Ambassador” and traveled over 20,000 miles to help recruit troops and raise funds in the U.S. Saving Bond drives to support our troops in battle overseas. In September 1946, the band came to Fort Sheridan, Illinois and on April 25 1949, the band was designated as the Fifth United States Army Band. It remained at Fort Sheridan for over 25 years until the Headquarters was moved to San Antonio, Texas in the 1970′s. In 1972, the Band was decommissioned as the 5th Army Band, and the unit was sent to Ft. Sam Houston, Texas. It was then renamed the 81st Army Band. Fort Sheridan, was officially closed by the Army on May 28, 1993.

In April 1969 the 5th Army Band departed Chicago aboard a charter flight for St. Louis and buses to Fort Riley near Abilene where it awaited President Eisenhower funeral train from Washington, D.C. This documentary film traces the story of “Operation Kansas” and the 5th Army Band’s role in giving a final farewell to the former President, NATO commander, and Supreme Commander of the European Theater of Operations during World War II. The story is told by seven 5th Army bandsmen who remember those days in 1969 when the eyes of the nation and the world focused on Abilene, Kansas as they marched past the boyhood home and were a part of the final farewell to the President.

The post A Journey Home first appeared on Old Segundo Productions.

In 1915-1916 the mobilization of the American Army along the Mexican border and the combat operations on the Mexican Punitive Expedition helped to forge the frontier army into a new mobile fighting machine that would soon face the trials of modern warfare in Europe. Among the subalterns who participated in that experience was Lieutenant George S. Patton who would develop into one of the United States Army’s great combat commanders.

Vernon L. Williams has woven the story of the young Patton into the fabric of the Punitive Expedition that gives the reader a glimpse of the future leader who captured the imagination of a later America and embodied the offensive spirit of the Army of the United States. Patton’s experiences on the Punitive Expedition serve as a vehicle that sheds light on the changing face of the Army. Air power, mobile operations, communications, and emerging technology called for new tactics on the desert of northern Mexico.

The post Lieutenant Patton (companion book for the documentary film, Patton and Pancho) first appeared on Old Segundo Productions.

Shuller’s diary brings his wartime experience back to life. His descriptions of the journey across the North Atlantic in the nose of a B-17 Flying Fortress are vivid and personal. His accounts about life among the British during the war bring a fresh look at the air war as it emerged from the pleasant meadowlands of East Anglia.

Royalties for the book are being donated to the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force (www.mightyeighth.org).

442 pages

The post Flight Surgeon: A War Diary, 1941-1945 (companion book for documentary film, From Ozark to Fortress Europe) first appeared on Old Segundo Productions.

In the early 1880s homesteaders arrived in the Willard area in search of free land and a new life for themselves and their families. Soon the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad began construction on a new rail line that began in Nebraska, and stretched across northeastern Colorado and terminated at Cheyenne, Wyoming. The railroad company formed the Lincoln Land Company to develop towns and water stops along the route to support the new steam engines racing across the prairie lands.  The town plat for Willard and a new water well led to the incorporation of the town in 1888 and families began to arrive in larger numbers.

This film traces the story of ordinary people who did extraordinary things.  They proved up homesteads, raised families, built businesses, battled droughts and depressions, and tamed a difficult land. Family and community were raised up on the prairie lands along the Little Pawnee Creek and did their part in settling the American West. Today the winds blow across an almost empty landscape. Most families are gone, old buildings lay scattered and deserted, but memories still linger of the once vibrant world of Willard, Colorado and the people who once called this place home.

Length 58 minutes

The post Willard, Colorado first appeared on Old Segundo Productions.

Thurman Shuller was born in 1914 on a farm near Ozark, Arkansas.  Nothing in his growing up years gave a clue to his future as a flight surgeon in World War II, one who would make a difference in the lives of thousands of men who crewed the heavy bombers over Nazi-occupied Europe.  In those early days on the farm, young Thurman learned the value of hard work and acquired the discipline of meeting new challenges head on.  Surrounded by his parents and five older brothers, Thurman grew up in a family committed to a profound work ethic and to education that would lead each brother to significant achievement and success in life.

This documentary film traces the story of Colonel Thurman Shuller that begins on a modest farm near Ozark, Arkansas and leads the young Thurman on a journey to a future in medicine and war. Along the way, he rises in the ranks of Army Air Force medical leadership and influences policies at Eighth Air Force headquarters involving aircrew survival, tour limits, and improving conditions arising out of the Maximum Effort missions.   This is his story.

 Length 60 minutes

The post From Ozark to Fortress Europe first appeared on Old Segundo Productions.