Read the full story by Steve Smith, originally published by Alumni News.
Dartmouth President Emeritus James Wright explains that Those Who Have Borne the Battle: A History of America’s Wars and Those Who Fought Them is, “A study about what Americans have thought about war, how we have mobilized for war, and how we’ve treated the people who have fought the wars.” (Courtesy of Public Affairs Books)
Dartmouth President Emeritus James Wright ’64a—looking tanned and relaxed following a visit to a Red Sox spring training game in Florida—was as warm and welcoming as ever when he greeted a visitor to his office on a sunny April day. Wright, the Dartmouth College Eleazar Wheelock Professor of History, had a reason to be smiling. His new book, Those Who Have Borne the Battle: A History of America’s Wars and Those Who Fought Them, had just arrived. The book will be formally released during an event on April 26 in Washington, D.C.
The concise 351-page book is one of the first to focus on the experience of veterans throughout this country’s history, from the American Revolution to the war in Afghanistan. “It’s a study about what Americans have thought about war, how we have mobilized for war, and how we’ve treated the people who have fought the wars,” says Wright, who joined the Marine Corps when he was 17.
A consummate teacher and mentor to students, Wright enrolled James Reed ’12, James Shinn ’11, and Michael Stinetorf ’11 (a veteran of the Iraq War) to serve as research assistants on the book. He also consulted with Dartmouth professors, among them Robert Bonner in history and Ben Valentino in government, and alumni including Dartmouth Board of Trustee-elect Nathaniel Fick ’99, author of One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer.
