A series of six monthly military history talks begins Thursday with an update on the Islamic State group.
The talks, sponsored by the Vancouver Barracks Military Association, will take place from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month at the Marshall House, 1301 Officers Row.
• Thursday — Dan Sockle will discuss the status of ISIS, and how members of the terrorist group have gone into Niger, Mali and Libya, and ungoverned areas in Africa and central/south Asia. Sometimes they compete with the Taliban or align with groups such as Boko Haram and Al Shabab, said Sockle, an Army veteran and author of “America’s Jihad.”
• Feb. 15 — Historian Donna Sinclair will discuss African-American contributions to the Civilian Conservation Corps. From 1932 until 1942, the CCC was one of the New Deal’s largest public works programs. It employed single young men to do manual labor involving natural resources government lands, including 200,000 African-Americans.
• March 15 — Dan Parshall will recount his father’s experiences as a World War I ambulance driver. His discussion will be based on letters, photographs and other documents that highlight his father’s Army career.
• April 19 — Douglas Auburg will discuss World War I railroading in Europe. His father was a bugler and worked as a machinist; he served with the 33rd Engineer Regiment from May 1918 to May 1919, at the military railroad service facility midway between Army’s port of embarkation in France and the American front lines.
• May 17 — Warren Aney will discuss Oregon’s military history. It goes back to native warriors, then volunteer militias that were formed before Oregon achieved statehood, and then National Guard units. Aney was the Oregon Army National Guard staff historian until 1996.
• June 21 — Jeff Davis will discuss how the Spanish flu was brought from Europe to America by soldiers returning from World War I. Davis, an author and retired Army major, will describe how the pandemic killed 50 million people or more worldwide.
