Meuse Argonne - An Interview with Robert J. Laplander

Battles of the First World War Podcast

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/

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