About the Author

Jonathan Gawne is a cranky old hermit who has nothing better to with his life than write good solid and ground breaking books and articles about the U.S. Army in WW1 and WW2. The slow output of books is not due to his laziness, but rather to his wanting to get things right, which has led to a number of interesting discoveries that otherwise would have been lost to the sands of time. He is unable to spell and uses too many commas. He works on the basis of the four legs of historical facts: the official record, what eyewitnesses claim (oral history) , photographic and film evidence, and tangible evidence (items, uniforms, the actual lay of the land) . Often when he tries to make all four areas fit gaps open up for new and interesting areas of research. But as he says he is often cited, but rarely respected. His postman wonders how so many books can be delivered to his house, while none ever seem to leave. Gawne claims that by stacking them deep enough along the walls it provides good insulation against the new England winters. Donations of unit histories, period material and copies of original files are always welcomed. Fueled only by Diet-Pepsi, with his dog "Tiny the Terrible" curled up next to his astoundingly messy desk, he can be seen working late into the night. Often as late as 9 or even 10PM. He despises Hollywood for making so many easily correctable errors in their films, and will lecture you for hours on the minutiae of the glory of the M1910 haversack.Addendum: Sadly Tiny 'the Terrible has passed. He has been replaced by Jenny 'the Noodle.' It is not Jon's intention to give all his dogs mafia sounding names, but it somehow happens. They are, however, legitimate businessmen.