Slide promoting the Victory and Defeat conference.

Victory and Defeat: The Final Months of World War II

Date and time:
Friday, Sept. 5, 2025 at 3 p.m. EDT to
Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025 at 5 p.m. EDT
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Coinciding with the 80th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day, this conference will focus on the end of WWII and include nationally-known Historians like Rob Citino (National WWII Museum), Tom Bruscino (US Army War College), David Hadley (National Defense University), and our very own John Moser (AU/History Channel) and Christopher Burkett (AU) among many others. The event will kick off with a keynote address on Friday at 3pm entitled "Bloodbath: The Last Year of WWII." This event and all other conference events are free and open to the public!

Conference Schedule
Friday
Sept. 5, 2025

Opening Keynote

3 - 4:30 p.m.

 Hugo Young Theatre
Robert M. Citino, National WWII Museum
"Bloodbath: The Last Year of WWII"
Movie Screening The Ashland
"The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946)
Saturday
Sept. 6, 2025

Panel 1: The War's Final Months

9 - 10:30 a.m.

Ronk Lecture Hall

Eric D. Pullin, Carthage College
"'Leave India to God...Leave her to anarchy': India during World War II"

David F. Krugler, University of Wisconsin-Platteville
"Up in Smoke: German Urban Civil Defense Under Attack, 1943-45"

David Hadley, National Defense University
“Nonsense to Go On Fighting: The Role of the Office of Strategic Services in the Surrender of German Forces in Italy”

Panel 2: The Challenges of Leadership

10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Ronk Lecture Hall

Thomas Bruscino, U.S. Army War College
“Where You Sit: Presidential, Military, and Theater Leadership in World War II”

Justin D. Lyons, Cedarville University
“The Russian Challenge to Churchill’s Grand Strategy for Political Liberty”

Peter Campbell, Baylor University
"The Influence of Eidenhower's War Leadership on His Presidential Foreign Policy"

Lunch Break

12:15 - 1 p.m.

  

PANEL 3: AMERICA’S TRANSITION TO PEACETIME

1 - 2:30 p.m.

Ronk Lecture Hall

Stephanie Hinnershitz, U.S. Air Command & Staff College
“The GI Bill and Redefining the Veteran in the United States”

John E. Moser, Ashland University
“The Depression that Didn’t Happen: The U.S. Economy after World War II”

Christopher Burkett, Ashland University
“My Heart’s Still in the Fight: Americans P.O.W.’s in World War II”

Closing Keynote

2:45 - 4 p.m.

Ronk Lecture Hall

Richard Frank
“Looking Back 80 Years on the Moral and Factual Realities of Ending the War with Japan”