Ron Werneth presents “Fall of the Japanese Empire: Memories of the Air War 1942–1945” 

5:00 p.m. Reception | 6:00 p.m. Presentation | 7:00 p.m. Book Signing

The Institute for the Study of War and Democracy is delighted to host a conversation between author Ron Werneth and Rob Citino, PhD, about Werneth’s new book, Fall of the Japanese Empire: Memories of the Air War 1942–1945.

In Fall of the Japanese Empire, the reader gets to hear about the Pacific war from the perspective of the Japanese, a point of view mostly unfamiliar to American readers. Werneth has compiled the narratives of survivors from the Pacific war and, reinforced by years of meticulous research, organized them into a highly readable account of what it was like to be there.

Following on his acclaimed first book, Beyond Pearl Harbor: The Untold Stories of Japan’s Naval Airmen, this companion volume features firsthand accounts of pilots, aircrews, mechanics, and ground-based troops who served on both sides of the conflict. Told in their own words, gathered from one-on-one interviews as well as letters, diaries, and journals that they kept at the time, the stories of these courageous men resonate with truth, faithfully conveying the emotional conditions as well as the physical side of war that they had to deal with daily.

The book is richly illustrated with more than 230 photographs, most of which are from private family albums and have never been published before.

For more information or to register, call 504-528-1944 x 412.

About the author:

For more than 25 years, historian Ron Werneth has made it his mission to record and preserve the stories of military veterans, from World War II through the Vietnam War. A regular contributor to aviation journals worldwide and more recently the Smithsonian Channel, he has a passion for aviation history, and realized the importance of recording the stories and images of veterans before they were lost to time.

While recording the stories of American veterans who served in the Pacific during World War II, he became frustrated by the lack of good English-language resources about the Japanese side of the war. While residing in Japan for several years, he gained unprecedented access to surviving Imperial Navy aviators and mechanics, earning their trust and friendship during the course of his interviews with them.

Throughout this decade-long project resulting in the two books, Werneth has spoken with more than 200 veterans from Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

Joining Werneth in conversation will be Rob Citino, PhD, Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of War and Democracy and Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian. The reception and presentation are free and open to the public but please register to attend.