Opinion and Commentary from Dennis M. Spragg, historian and author of America Ascendant, the Rise of American Exceptionalism and Glenn Miller Declassified. Firstly, Dennis offers insight and perspective from his extensive and groundbreaking research. Next, he links American history with current events to demonstrate genuine American exceptionalism, in a relevant and objective manner.
Moreover, Dennis’ published works, available from the Potomac Books imprint of the University of Nebraska Press, contain many important insights for today’s Americans, as they consider, value and emulate genuine the exceptionalism of their liberal democratic republic. His articles offer valuable, entertaining and informative perspective.
America Ascendant, the Rise of American Exceptionalism contains a treasure trove of relevant and timely facts that matter in today’s critical conversations about America’s national purpose and direction. Likewise, Dennis’ opinion and commentary puts specifics such as America First in clear focus and accurate perspective. Therefore, from presidents to policies, his view of America’s cultural history is a breath of fresh air. Military and political reviewers praise his prose and perspectives.
Glenn Miller Declassified, like America Ascendant, includes unique content about the remarkable Government and Media alliance of World War II. The alliance defined American Exceptionalism while everyday Americans proved it on the battlefield. Moreover, the music of Glenn Miller was the soundtrack of the wartime era. Major Glenn Miller was not only America’s #1 bandleader but a genuine patriot. However, Glenn Miller Declassified goes beyond his achievements and how he fit the wartime government-media alliance. Consequently, Dennis proves what really happened when Glenn Miller disappeared on December 15, 1944, and why Glenn Miller matters.
In conclusion, opinion and commentary by Dennis M. Spragg is always refreshing, thought provoking and worth the read.
FATEFUL FLIGHT Glenn Miller, the legendary American bandleader, disappeared eighty-one years ago over the English Channel. The Army Air Forces Major was an unauthorized passenger aboard a flight from RAF Twinwood Field, Bedfordshire, to USAAF Station A-42, Villacoublay Aerodrome, France. With Glenn Miller’s son Steven Davis Miller, and Alan Cass, Curator of the University of … Read more
AUGUST 15, 1945 JAPAN HESITATES By August 1945, America was poised to achieve total victory in World War II. As described in my article Downfall, the August 6, 1945, atomic attack on Hiroshima made it clear. The Potsdam Declaration was no bluff. American broadcasts and leaflets announced the nuclear catastrophe and existence of the atomic … Read more
AUGUST 6, 1945 EXCEPTIONAL DEVELOPMENT On August 6, 1945, America effectively ended World War II by triggering the downfall of Imperial Japan. My previous post, Trinity, described how, through the unprecedented project code-named Manhattan, the United States had harnessed nuclear energy. Secondly, we successfully tested the first atomic bomb in New Mexico on July 16, … Read more
AMERICA GOES NUCLEAR At 5:29 a.m. Mountain War Time on July 16, 1945, the United States detonated the first nuclear weapon, an atomic device code named Trinity, in the Jornada del Muerto desert about thirty-five miles southeast of Socorro, New Mexico, on the Army Air Forces’ Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range. Scientists and military personnel … Read more
President Donald Trump and his energetic Paladin Elon Musk have set in motion a reorganization that should not result in the dismemberment of the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and Radio Liberty. Many valid financial and philosophical reforms to agencies under the aegis of the U. S. Agency for Global Media … Read more
The Artie Shaw Navy Band Review and Recommendation Michael Doyle’s new book “Nightmare in the Pacific, the World War II saga of Artie Shaw and his Navy Band” is an essential addition to big band-era and jazz scholarship and a must for anyone interested in 20th-century American music and musicians. The actual circumstances of how … Read more
EIGHTIETH ANNIVERSARY UPDATE: 1944-2024 GLENN MILLER DISAPPEARANCE In August 2020, The Daily Express of London headlined “World War 2 Mystery: Glenn Miller’s plane could be found within a three-mile radius.” The breaking news reported aviation archeology group TIGHAR “and Dennis Spragg, who authored the book Glenn Miller Declassified, suspect that the remains of the airplane … Read more
THE REAL AMERICA November 2024 marks the 404th anniversary of the arrival in 1620 by the Mayflower and the Pilgrims at present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts. Firstly, this was the beginning of America Ascendant. Their experiment became the independent and progressive United States of America. Their blessed land is truly the land of the free and home … Read more
GLENN MILLER AWARD On October 5, 2024, the Air Force Public Affairs Association inducted Major Glenn Miller into its Hall of Fame. Addressing the annual meeting of the organization in San Antonio, Texas, Dennis M. Spragg accepted the Glenn Miller Award on behalf of his family and many friends. Thanking the organization, Spragg shared a … Read more
1935-2024 DEAN OF BIG BAND SCHOLARS With the greatest sorrow, the Glenn Miller Collections and the Glenn Miller Birthplace Society regret to inform our worldwide community about the recent passing of the legendary Edward F. Polic. Our brilliant and uncompromising colleague and mentor had a profound influence upon anyone and everyone who loves the music … Read more