Pennsylvania's numerous military contributions from the Colonial era to the present conflict in Iraq are recounted in this guide to the museum that memorializes and honors the men and women who have served their country in time of war. The guide also provides a history and tour of the museum located in Boalsburg, PA, near State College.

The Bloody Bucket covers a two-year span from 1916 through 1918, in the life of Thomas H. Schalata (the author's grandfather). A work of historical fiction, primarily based on actual events, the story opens with this 24-year-old living at home with his parents and siblings in the Bridesburg section of Philadelphia. He works a full-time job at Baldwin Locomotive Works, while also serving as a member of the PA National Guard. With the threat of the country being dragged into World War I, this Polish-American family must endure the typical struggles of the times. During this span, his military career takes him to El Paso, Texas for the Mexican Border Campaign, Camp Hancock, Ga. for military training, and eventually to England, France, and Belgium as a participant in the war as a member of Pennsylvania's famous 28th Division. This unique narrative chronicles the day-to-day lives of the men and women who survived this horrendous ordeal. The Bloody Bucket appeals to a wide range of interests: World War I and military scholars, people of Polish heritage, railroad buffs, sports enthusiasts (primarily boxing and baseball), and those interested in Philadelphia history.

In June 1942, the U.S. Army began recruiting immigrants, the children of immigrants, refugees, and others with language skills and knowledge of enemy lands and cultures for a special military intelligence group being trained in the mountains of northern Maryland and sent into Europe and the Pacific. Ultimately, 15,000 men and some women received this specialized training and went on to make vital contributions to victory in World War II. This is their story, which Beverley Driver Eddy tells thoroughly and colorfully, drawing heavily on interviews with surviving Ritchie Boys. The army recruited not just those fluent in German, French, Italian, and Polish (approximately a fifth were Jewish refugees from Europe), but also Arabic, Japanese, Dutch, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Turkish, and other languages—as well as some 200 Native Americans and 200 WACs. They were trained in photo interpretation, terrain analysis, POW interrogation, counterintelligence, espionage, signal intelligence (including pigeons), mapmaking, intelligence gathering, and close combat. Many landed in France on D-Day. Many more fanned out across Europe and around the world completing their missions, often in cooperation with the OSS and Counterintelligence Corps, sometimes on the front lines, often behind the lines. The Ritchie Boys’ intelligence proved vital during the liberation of Paris and the Battle of the Bulge. They helped craft the print and radio propaganda that wore down German homefront morale. If caught, they could have been executed as spies. After the war they translated and interrogated at the Nuremberg trials. One participated in using war criminal Klaus Barbie as an anti-communist agent. Meanwhile, Ritchie Boys in the Pacific Theater of Operations collected intelligence in Burma and China, directed bombing raids in New Guinea and the Philippines, and fought on Okinawa and Iwo Jima. This is a different kind of World War II story, and Eddy tells it with conviction, supported by years of research and interviews.

Saylor's book tells the fascinating stories that the leaders of the post-Civil War era had, that correspond with practically all significant Civil War military experiences, whether serving in ranks from private to major general and suffering multiple wounds, or passing through without a scratch.

-World War I and American Art provides an unprecedented look at the ways in which American artists reacted to the war. Artists took a leading role in chronicling the war, crafting images that influenced public opinion, supported mobilization efforts, and helped to shape how the war's appalling human toll was memorialized. The book brings together paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, posters, and ephemera, spanning the diverse visual culture of the period to tell the story of a crucial turning point in the history of American art---