D-Day and How it Came About-John McLaughlin

Wednesday, June 6, 2012 at 12:00 Noon, I am hosting my show, The Advocates on WVOX- 1460 AM, my guest is lawyer and WWII veteran, John J. McLaughlin, the author of the new biography of WW II’s General Albert Wedemeyer, and our subject is “D-Day, on its 68th Anniversary. Its Historical Impact and How it Came About.”

Dr. John J. McLaughlin is the author of General Albert C. Wedemeyer America's Unsung Strategist in World War II, just released by Casemate Publishers of Havertown PA and Oxford England.

Like many heroes of the Second World War, General Albert C. Wedemeyer's career has been largely overshadowed by such well-known figures as Marshall, Patton, Montgomery, and Bradley. Wedemeyer's legacy as the main planner of the D-Day invasion is almost completely forgotten today, eclipsed by politics and the capriciousness of human nature. Yet during America's preparation for the war, Wedemeyer was the primary author of the "Victory Program" that mobilized US resources and directed them at crucial points in order to secure victory over the Axis.

This is Dr. McLaughlin's first book. He is a practicing attorney with offices in Somerville, NJ where he works with his son Michael McLaughlin. The firm specializes in Commercial and Bankruptcy work. Dr. McLaughlin is a graduate of Seton Hall University and Seton Hall Law School. He also attended Drew University where he earned a Master's Degree in Literature, a Master's Degree in Theology, Magna Cum Laude, and a doctorate in History. His dissertation was about General Wedemeyer, which he has now expanded into book form.

McLaughlin is a veteran of World War II having served 1 1/2 years in the United States Army with the Occupation forces in Japan immediately following World War II. After graduation from college he served another two years during the Korean War as an officer in the Military Police Corps in the capacity of Assistant Confinement Officer of the Military Prison Fort Meade MD.

Dr. McLaughlin is the founder and director of the New Jersey World War II Book Club which has been existence for three years. The book club meets at the Millburn, NJ Public Library and hostes monthly lectures by historians and authors interested in World War II. The web site of the Book Club is: http://ww2bookclub.blogspot.com. Dr. McLaughlin is a frequent lecturer on subjects dealing with World War II.