WWII scholar brings D-Day discussions to MSU
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.–Mississippi State will host military historian and author Stephen A. Bourque next week for a detailed discussion of his recent book, “Beyond the Beach,” highlighting the impacts of Allied bombings on French cities before and during the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944.
The 3:30 p.m. free, public event on Wednesday [Feb. 6] will be held in the Grisham Room of Mitchell Memorial Library.
Bourque is professor emeritus of military history at the School of Advanced Military Studies in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He retired from the U.S. Army in 1992 after 20 years of service, having earned a Bronze Star during Operation Desert Storm.
“His conclusions add to, as well as challenge, our understanding of the Allied war effort in France, particularly during the D-Day campaign,” said Mary Kathryn Barbier, MSU history professor and organizer of Bourque’s campus tour.
After retiring from military service, Bourque obtained his 1996 Ph.D. at Georgia State University. He has taught at GSU as well as Kennesaw State University, California State University-Northridge, the University of Kansas, and the Command and General Staff College.
In addition to 2018’s “Beyond the Beach,” published by Naval Institute Press, his works include “Jayhawk! The VII Corps in the Persian Gulf War” (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015); “American Soldiers’ Lives: Post-Cold War” (The Greenwood Daily Press, 2008); and “The Road to Safwan” (University of North Texas Press, 2007).
Additionally, he has published articles in the Quarterly Journal of Military History and the Middle East Journal.
During Bourque’s MSU visit, he will meet with Department of History graduate students to discuss military history research techniques.
For more information, contact Barbier at 662-325-3604.
MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences includes more than 5,300 students, 300 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs and 25 academic majors offered in 14 departments. Complete details about the College of Arts and Sciences or the history department may be found at www.cas.msstate.edu or www.history.msstate.edu.
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