In October, 1962, after the United States government discovered that the Soviet Union was secretly installing nuclear offensive missiles in Cuba, the most dangerous confrontation in the history of the world took place.  This talk will look more closely at this crisis, and how a nuclear war was averted only by the calm actions and courageous decisions of three men—the President of the United States, the Premier of the Soviet Union, and a Soviet naval officer.

 

This DH Grant event will highlight the role played by German-speaking soldiers in the American War of Independence. Germans fought on all sides of the war – the “Hessians” as British auxiliaries against the American patriots, the Regiment Royal Deux-Ponts, a regiment of Germans from the Duchy of Zweibrücken in the army of the comte de Rochambeau as allies of the United States, and in the Continental Army in units such as the German Regiment composed largely of immigrants living in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Northern Virginia.

The Royal Deux-Ponts marched through Wilmington and Cooch’s Bridge on their way to the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, in September of 1781, where they helped end the war by forcing the surrender of Britain’s Lord Cornwallis.

1:00 p.m. Plaque dedication to the Regiment of Deux-Ponts at the Pencader Museum
2:30 p.m. Presentation by Dr. Robert Selig, German Historian, which will be held at the Delaware Saengerbund, 49 Salem Church Road, Newark, DE.
Dr. Selig will speak about the German soldiers who fought on all sides of the Revolutionary War, both for as well as against American independence. His talk will be followed by a Q&A session, and light refreshments.