VJ

Volker Janssen

Volker Janssen is a professor of California State University Fullerton who specializes in the social, economic, and institutional history of California.

Latest from this author

At the Chosin Reservoir, subzero temperatures were much the enemy as communists;  frozen bodies were used as sandbags.

When Polio Triggered and Panic Among Parents in the 1950s

Since little was understood about the virus that left some paralyzed and others dead, fear filled the vacuum.

Frank Wada and Don Seki fought in the 442nd all-Nisei Regiment—remembered as the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of the US military.

Dresden Bombing

The punishing three-day Allied bombing attack, intended to force a German surrender, leveled the city and left tens of thousands dead.

The 11 witnesses who arrived at the Hopkinsville police station were genuinely terror-struck.

California's Inmate Firefighters

The war had turned forestry work into a form of civil defense, and prisoners a new army on the home front.

Suddam Spider Hole

The key to the Iraq War’s biggest triumph wasn’t firepower or technology or 'enhanced' interrogation. It was more personal than that.