Lexington Veterans Association (LVA)
2025 Speaker Series
LVA Programs use a hybrid system.
You may attend in person, or attend virtually by Zoom.
If you're on our email list, you will automatically receive an invitation.
Not on our list? Please register here.
You may attend in person, or attend virtually by Zoom.
If you're on our email list, you will automatically receive an invitation.
Not on our list? Please register here.
Each month the LVA hosts a speaker on a military-related topic. Program topics include veterans’ personal stories; historical analyses of military campaigns; national security and global issues; Lexington's unique Revolutionary history; and veteran health and well-being. Our programs are shared via Zoom to veterans in long term care at the Bedford VA Medical Center (VAMC).
|
January 13, 2025
“Land Mines: The Weapon That Knows No Peace Treaty" Presented by Dan Breen, Senior Lecturer, Legal Studies, Brandeis University. In one form or another, land mines have been around for nearly 500 years, but it was only in the twentieth century that they became sophisticated--and deadly--enough to be a common weapon of war. A quarter of all US fatalities in the Vietnam War, for example, were caused by various sorts of land mines. They are effective and cheap to produce, but those advantages are also the source of the devastating problem with landmines: millions remain in place around the world long after the wars that originally put them there have been settled. This presentation will delve into the history and present international status of these hidden killers, which continue to kill and injure thousands every year. February 12, 2025
“The Life Savers of World War II: The Story of the Breakthrough American Medical Strategies Pivotal in Keeping Our Troops Safe and Fit to Fight” Presented by Wendy Schoenbach Reasenberg, daughter of Dr. Emanuel Schoenbach, Army doctor and member of AEB. Much has been written about World War II, but many contributions that were pivotal to the victory remain largely unknown 80 years later. One such contribution had to do with controlling infectious diseases and preventing epidemics that could cripple the Armed Forces. As he prepared the U.S. for World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew, from his experience as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in World War I, that in war, typically more soldiers die of disease and infection than from wounds sustained in battle. The Army Epidemiological Board (AEB) was established in January 1941 “For the Investigation and Control of Influenza and Other Epidemic Diseases in the Army.” Wendy Reasenberg will discuss the vital contributions of the AEB, focusing on one of its members, her father, Dr. Emanuel B. Schoenbach, who served as a doctor in the U.S. Army in WWII. March 10, 2025
“Elusive Victory: Year Four of the Russo-Ukraine War” Presented by Leonid Kondratiuk, retired US Army General and Military Historian. February 24, 2025 marks three years since Russia invaded Ukraine. Ukraine stopped the invasion in 2022 and pushed Russian forces back. In 2023, Ukraine launched its counteroffensive to push Russian forces out of Ukraine, with disappointing results. In 2024, Russia gradually advanced and now occupies close to 20% of Ukrainian territory. Today, the war seems like a stalemate. The Russian Army has suffered horrendous losses, yet Vladimir Putin vows to continue the war. President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine will never give up. Some western officials have quietly told Ukraine to start negotiations for a cease-fire. President Trump announces that he has begun discussions with Vladimir Putin and intends to end the war promptly. Following his presentation in March 2023, General Leonid Kondratiuk returns to the Lexington Veterans to offer his unique perspective on this perilous and rapidly changing situation. April 14, 2025
"Secrets on the Road to Concord” Presented by J. L. Bell, Author and Historian. In April 1775, British general Thomas Gage drew up plans for his troops to march nineteen miles into unfriendly territory. The Massachusetts Patriots, meanwhile, prepared to thwart the general’s mission. There was one goal Gage and his enemies shared: for different reasons, they all wanted to keep secret just what those troops would look for in Concord. J. L. Bell is the author of The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War, as well as many articles and a book-length study for the National Park Service. He maintains the Boston1775.net website, offering daily updates of history, analysis, and unabashed gossip about Revolutionary New England. May 12, 2025
“The Making of a Leader: The Life of Gen. George Marshall" Presented by Dr. Paul Levengood, President, George C. Marshall Foundation. George Marshall’s accomplishments are well known. After helping to guide the Allies to victory during World War II, he set Europe on the postwar path to recovery with the plan that bears his name. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953. But how did he become such an effective leader? Paul Levengood, President of the George Marshall Foundation, will delve into the life of this great man to share the essential lessons of Marshall’s formative years, lessons that are as valuable to today’s leaders as they were decades ago. He will draw on his extensive knowledge of General Marshall to describe his accomplishments and his leadership development - how he learned to be a leader and to see the leader in others. The independent, nonprofit Marshall Foundation perpetuates Marshall’s legacy through scholarship, leadership, and facilities, including a research library, that offer a wide range of resources and materials for use by the public, amateur historians, scholars and students of all ages. June 9, 2025
“The Walls Have Ears: The Greatest Intelligence Operation of WW II” Presented by Bruce Jackan, US Army veteran, former Ranger. At the outbreak of World War II, MI6 spymaster Thomas Kendrick arrived at the Tower of London to set up a top secret operation: German prisoners’ cells were to be bugged and listeners installed behind the walls to record and transcribe their private conversations. This mission proved so effective that it would go on to be set up at three further sites—and provide the Allies with crucial insight into new technology being developed by the Nazis. Bruce Jackan will describe the bugging operation at stately-homes-turned-prisons like Trent Park, where high-ranking German generals and commanders were given a "phony" interrogation, then treated as "guests," wined and dined at exclusive clubs, and encouraged to talk. This operation gave the Allies access to some of Hitler’s most closely guarded secrets—and from those most entrusted to protect them. September 8, 2025
“Americans Held Hostage: Politics, Strategies and Tactics” Presented by Edith Flynn, Professor Emeritus, Northeastern University. Hostage taking, particularly targeting Westerners and Americans, has become a familiar evil in our society. Journalists, aid workers, missionaries, business leaders, military personnel, diplomats and tourists have all been kidnapped by a rogue state or terror group, for a variety of motives: extracting political concessions, swapping prisoners, demanding ransom, sowing fear and terror, instilling distrust of government, or torturing and killing the victim. Hostage incidents are cataclysmic, riveting events that exert great pressure on governments. The public’s demand to save lives at all costs can affect government policies, hostage negotiations, and political careers of government leaders. What are a government’s options in dealing with hostage takers? Negotiate or follow a policy of no negotiations and no concessions? Give in to the demands including paying ransom? Pretend to give into the demands while planning an armed rescue? Edith Flynn, an expert in international relations and terrorism, will examine certain U.S. policies and responses to hostage incidents, compared with policies and practices of other Western nations. She will illustrate different approaches and assess their effectiveness with real-life cases that have affected global policies, politics, and political careers. Tuesday, October 14
“The Search for the Northwest Passage” Presented by Bob Begin, Army veteran and naval historian. England, with her insatious appetite for discovery and territory, was fascinated by the possibility of a passage through the ice bound waters north of Canada that ended at the gateway to the Pacific. Such a passage would reduce sailing time to the Orient by several thousands of miles and would greatly increase her China trade. With the backing of the all-powerful Royal Society and the Royal Navy, numerous expeditions to find this passage were launched in 1818. These early attempts, while unsuccessful, strengthened the obsession to find the route and prove England's standing in the world of discovery. In 1845, an expedition of two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, supplied with enough goods to sustain a journey of three years, was formed. In command was Sir John Franklin, an experienced veteran of the Artic, known as "The Man Who Ate His Boots" when he and his men chewed their shoes to toughen their stomachs. From the day the ships left port on May 19, 1845, communications ceased to exist. The men and ships endured countless challenges; their struggles were a mystery for many years. They were finally declared dead by 1850, but the public never lost interest in them. In 1866, a statue of Sir John Franklin was unveiled in London. In 1984, bodies of two crewmen were discovered. The remains of the two ships themselves were finally discovered a few years ago, the Erebus in 2014 and the Terror in 2016. The details of that tortuous expedition began to unfold. November 10, 2025
“Swift Sword: The True Story of the Marines of MIKE 3/5 in Vietnam" Presented by Doyle Glass, author and historian. Based on interviews with veterans who were there, author Doyle Glass tells the story of the 164 Marines from Mike Company, 3rd Battalion, Fifth Marines, sent to rescue an isolated company of fellow Marines in the Que Son Valley of South Vietnam. The men walked into an ambush, facing a hail of rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, and machine-gun fire and 2500 North Vietnamese warriors. This is the story of epic courage and brotherhood in the face of insurmountable odds. December 8, 2025
"The Death of Democracy After WWI In Germany" Presented by Bob Lewis, Cpt, US Navy, retired. The Nazi seizure of power after World War I, with the resulting collapse of the Weimar Republic, was the great political catastrophe of the twentieth century. The result was the unlikely ascent to dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. The story of how Germany turned from democracy to dictatorship in the fifteen years following World War I is not a simple one. And the story has disturbing resonances for our own time. How could an educated and developed country like Germany fall for Adolf Hitler? Why did democracy fall apart so quickly and completely? How did a democratic government allow Adolf Hitler to seize power? We know what this led to: The death of democracy for Germany and World War II. To say that Hitler was elected is too simple. He never would have come to power if Germany’s leading politicians had not responded to a spate of populist insurgencies by trying to co-opt him, a strategy based on misguided conservative politicians. This is a powerful lesson for today when democracy once again finds itself embattled and the siren song of strongmen sounds ever louder. |
Would you like to watch past presentations now? Please click here.
Many past LVA presentations are now listed and available on this website and on YouTube.
We are constantly updating our collection.
Would you like to watch past presentations now? Please click here.
Many past LVA presentations are now listed and available on this website and on YouTube.
We are constantly updating our collection.