Meet the Author: Gregory Fontenot, “No Sacrifice Too Great: The 1st Infantry Division in World War

Reception: 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. | Event: 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
This event is free and open to the public. Register today to join us in person or to view the event online.

Join The National WWII Museum for a conversation with author Gregory Fontenot, retired US Army Colonel, as he discusses his book No Sacrifice Too Great: The 1st Infantry Division in World War II with a historian from the Museum’s Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy.

The US Army’s 1st Infantry Division, nicknamed “The Big Red One,” adapted to dynamic battlefield conditions through­out the course of its deployment during World War II by inno­vating and altering behavior, including tactics, techniques, and procedures. Both the Division’s leaders and soldiers accom­plished this by thinking critically about their experiences in combat and wasting little time in putting lessons learned to good use. Simply put, they learned on the job—during and after bat­tle—and did so quickly.

In telling the division’s WWII story, which includes an extensive photographic essay featuring many previously unpublished im­ages, Fontenot includes the stories of individual mem­bers of The Big Red One, from high-ranking officers to enlisted men fresh off the streets of Brooklyn, both during and after the conflict. Fontenot’s rare ability to combine expert anal­ysis with compelling narrative history makes No Sacrifice Too Great an absorbing read for anyone interested in the military his­tory of the United States.

Gregory Fontenot is a retired Colonel of the US Army. He is currently a consultant on threat emulation for Army experimentation and a working historian. He was lead author of On Point: The US Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom, published by CGSC Press, and is the author of The 1st Infantry Division and the US Army Transformed: Road to Victory in Desert Storm, 1970–1991, winner of the 2017 Army Historical Foundation award for Unit History, as well as Loss and Redemption at St. Vith: The 7th Armored Division in the Battle of the Bulge.

A reception from 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. will precede the event, and Fontenot will sign copies of his book following the presentation. Purchase a copy of Fontenot’s book in advance here.

If you’re unable to make it to the Museum for this free event, it will be available to stream on Vimeo.

For additional information, please email Connie Gentry, Conference and Program Specialist, at [email protected].