Meuse Argonne - An Interview with Robert J. Laplander

Battles of the First World War Podcast

Mike Cunha

History

4.8 • 812 Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2018

⏱️ 92 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On the centenary of the story of the Lost Battalion, we have a very special guest who will talk to us about this epic tale of American heroism, leadership, grit, and a stubborn will to resist in the First World War.

Robert J. Laplander is the author of “Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America’s Famous WW1 Epic.” An enthusiast of the Great War for decades, Mr. Laplander has amassed a vast collection of documentation and paraphernalia related to the story of the men of the US 77th Division who were surrounded by the Germans in the Charlevaux Ravine from the 2nd through the 7th of October, 1918. This collection has helped inform the definitive history he has written of the men of the 306th Machine Gun Battalion, and the 307th and 308th Infantry Regts and their epic five days in the Argonne.

Mr. Laplander is considered an authority on the subject of the Lost Battalion, and has appeared in numerous radio and television interviews, including PBS’ 2017 3-part documentary named “American in the Great War.”

For more information on the Lost Battalion, Mr. Laplander’s work, and Doughboy MIA (Remember, $10 for them), please see the following links:

http://www.findingthelostbattalion.com/

https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/doughboy-mia-home.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/great-war/

The BFWWP is now on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com or the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at [email protected]. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey folks, welcome to the battles of the First World War podcast.
0:07.2	So I was going to hang on to this interview for a while until I reached the point where I could tell this story in my own way.
0:15.2	But that may very well be months from now, so I'm releasing it now in time for the centenary of the events of the so-called
0:24.0	Lost Battalion. I'm glad to do so because speaking with our guest was an honor and a privilege.
0:34.4	Robert J. Laplander is the author of Finding the Lost Battalion,
0:39.8	beyond the rumors, myths, and legends of America's famous World War I epic.
0:45.9	An enthusiast of the Great War for decades,
0:48.6	Mr. Laplander has amassed a vast collection of documentation and paraphernalia
0:52.9	related to the story of the men of the U.S.
0:56.5	77th Division who were surrounded by the Germans in the Charlevoix Revene from the 2nd
1:03.0	through the 7th of October, 1918.
1:06.8	This collection has helped inform the definitive history he has written of the men of the 306th
1:13.3	machine gun battalion, the 307th, and 308th infantry regiments, and their epic five days in the
1:21.3	Argonne.
1:23.5	Mr. Laplander is considered an authority on the subject of the Lost Battalion and has appeared in numerous radio and television interviews, including PBS's 2017, three-part documentary named The Great War.
1:40.6	I want to give you an idea of the caliber of man Mr. Laplander is.
1:46.0	First, he agreed to come on the show and be interviewed in the evening on a Sunday night,
1:51.7	and as you no doubt saw, he gave me an hour and a half of his time.
1:56.9	However, that's not all.
1:59.7	Since I first reached out to him earlier this year about directions to the Lost Battalion's perimeter,
2:05.0	Mr. Laplander has been incredibly helpful.
2:08.1	He wrote detailed instructions on how to get out to Charlieville Ravine
	...

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