Adams Memorial Library in Latrobe will play host to a World War II film and discussion series, The American Command, beginning April 3 from 6 to 9 p.m..
The six-part series, which will run through May 8, is the follow-up to a series held last fall that dealt with the home front in World War II.
Preregistration is suggested but not required, said library spokeswoman Ramie Ortiz. The series is free and open to the public. Seating for 30 is available in the library meeting room. Several of last fall's programs attracted overflow crowds, Ortiz said.
The American Command will examine, in individual programs, how, from President Franklin D. Roosevelt on down, the top U.S. commanders shaped the war effort, and impacted the postwar years.
According to Ortiz, a program last fall on the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II sparked a lively discussion about events in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, including American attitudes toward Muslims and others who trace their roots to the Middle East and central Asia.
The American Command will feature a film or a portion of a film followed by a discussion led by David Wilmes, a World War II scholar and a fellow of the St. Vincent College Center for Northern Appalachian Studies, which has published several World War II oral histories.
"The programs offer participants the opportunity to view excellent documentary films and then talk over their perspectives on the war and its effects, and to hear the ideas of others, " Ortiz said. "It is hoped that relevance to today's headlines will add depth to the discussion."
Light refreshments will be served.
The programs include: April 3, Roosevelt and the Wartime Presidency; April 10, George C. Marshall and the Strategy of War; April 17, Dwight Eisenhower and the European Campaign; April, 24, The Navy's War; May 1, Douglas MacArthur and the Pacific War; and May 8, President Harry Truman and Victory.
Adams Memorial Library is located at 1112 Ligonier St. The series is being supported in part by a grant from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council in partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities.
