This week on History Happy Hour: Author Dan King interviewed more than 100 Japanese veterans while living in Japan, and has written a series of books telling the story of the war from their POV.

We’ll talk to him about his latest book, The Iron Graves of Saipan, about the men of the 9th Japanese Tank Division. Their story begins with training, chow halls, talent shows, pranks, and USO shows on the Manchurian border. But their journey ends in the brutal battles of the Mariana Islands, where only 4% survived.

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Dan King earned a degree in Japanese language from Cal State University, then worked at a tech company in Japan for 10 years. During that time, he interviewed 103 Japanese veterans about their wartime experiences, and often had the opportunity to review scrapbooks, letters and diaries as well. He is the author of Blossoms From the Sky, The Last Zero Fighter, A Tomb Called Iwo Jima, and The Yalu River Boys, all based on those interviews. He has also worked as a technical / historical / language advisor on films and documentaries including: The Last Samurai, Windtalkers, Flags of Our Fathers and others.

This week on History Happy Hour: In 1864, General Sherman commenced his march across Georgia. By the time he reached Savannah, some 20 thousand enslaved people attached themselves to his army.

Chris and Rick explore this seminal moment that laid the foundation for Reconstruction with Bennett Parten, author of Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman's March and the Story of America's Largest Emancipation.

Bennett Parten is an assistant professor of history at Georgia Southern University. His area of expertise is the Civil War period. He was named a Distinguished Lecturer by the Organization of American Historians. He completed his PhD in history at Yale University. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Review of Books, Zocalo Public Square, and The Civil War Monitor, among others. He currently lives in Savannah, Georgia.

This week on History Happy Hour: In 1945, the US Congress recommended awarding the Medal of Honor to 432 recipients. Not a single Black soldier made the list.

Not Vernon Baker, who single-handedly eliminated three enemy machineguns and an observation post. Not even Lieutenant Charles Thomas, who led his platoon to capture a strategically vital village in 1944 in spite staggering losses.

It took more than 50 years for the Army to honor these and other black soldiers with the Medal of Honor. In this encore episode, Chris and Rick talk with Robert Child to bout his book: Immortal Valor: The Black Medal of Honor Winners of World War II. Learn about their extraordinary heroism and explore why recognition was denied them so long.

Robert Child has spent 20+ years in Television and Film and is an Emmy nominated producer/director. He is a published author of fiction and nonfiction, and has appeared on 75+ Film and TV credits on IMDB. Among his films is The Wereth Eleven, the story of Black GIS massacred by the SS. He has garnered more than 25 writing and directing awards.