Hear military historian talk at NPC Book Rap about D-Day as 70th anniversary, May 5

As the 70th anniversary of D-Day approaches, commemorate the historic event by attending a National Press Club Book Rap on the battle of Omaha Beach.

Military historian John C. McManus plans to talk and take questions about his book The Dead and Those About to Die: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach on May 5, 7:00 p.m. in the NPC conference rooms. A book signing is planned following the discussion.

Tickets are $5 for Press Club members and $10 for the general public. Register here. The member fee is waived with the pre-order of a book, an option that appears on the ticket form. Since the event is a fundraiser for the National Journalism Institute, no outside books are allowed.

Nicknamed the Big Red One, the 1st Infantry Division had fought from North Africa to Sicily, earning a reputation as stalwart warriors on the front lines and rabble-rousers in the rear. Yet on D-Day, these combat veterans melded with fresh-faced replacements to accomplish one of the most challenging and deadly missions ever. The Dead and Those About to Die draws on a rich array of new or recently unearthed sources, including interviews with veterans. The result is history at its finest, the unforgettable story of the Big Red One’s 19 hours of hell—and their ultimate triumph—on June 6, 1944.

McManus, author of September Hope: The American Side of A Bridge Too Far, earned a PhD in American and Military History from the University of Tennessee, where he served as Assistant Director of the Center for the Study of War and Society and was a Normandy Scholar. As a leading authority on the Normandy invasion, he holds a Cantigny First Division Museum Fellowship. He is currently a full professor of U.S. Military History at Missouri University of Science and Technology, where he teaches a variety of courses, including one on World War II and another on the Modern American Combat Experience. He also serves as the official historian for the United States Army’s Seventh Infantry Regiment.