Description
Book SynopsisThe first book to present a historical overview of the Mormon military experience. Sherman Fleek and Robert Freeman tell the unique story of how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has experienced war and military service and their teachings concerning participation in armed conflict.
Trade Review"We overuse the terms unique and overdue, but this study of the Mormon military experience is truly both. Fleek and Freeman bring to the fore a fascinating and intricate history of the often-troubling and always-complicated involvement of Mormonism with the force of arms, from the LDS Church literally operating its own army for many decades in the nineteenth century to becoming an ardent advocate and supporter of the armed forces of the United States in the twentieth. Their work ranges effectively from the stories of individual Mormons in uniform to analyses of the institution’s interface with military affairs, events, and issues."—Gene A. Sessions, coauthor of Camp Floyd and the Mormons: The Utah War
"The Mormon Military Experience is a welcome addition to the growing literature on the relationship between religion, the military, and war in the United States. Sherman Fleek and Robert Freeman tell a story, supported by extensive archival research and engaging narrative, of a quintessentially American religious group and its interaction with a quintessentially national institution as it moves from exceptional in the late nineteenth century to mainstream in the twentieth. Historians of the American military, American religion, and of LDS history will all find tremendous value in this volume."—Jacqueline E. Whitt, author of Bringing God to Men: American Military Chaplains and the Vietnam War
Table of Contents
- Series Editor’s Preface
- Preface: The Genesis of an Idea
- Introduction
- Book One: Nineteenth-Century Conflicts and Mormon Exceptionalism
- 1. The Mormon Way of War: Teachings and Practice
- 2. A Civil Conflict in Missouri
- 3. The Nauvoo Legion: Forging a Mormon Army
- 4. Mormon Defiance: The Mormon Territorial Militia and the Utah War
- 6. The American Civil War: LDS Service and Postwar Frustration
- 7. The Saints and Indians at War
- 8. Wars with Spain and the Philippines, 1898-1902: The End of Mormon Exceptionalism
- Book Two: Twentieth-Century Conflicts and the End of Mormon Exceptionalism
- 9. American Expedition 1946 and Saints in Mexico
- 10. World War I: Mormons Enter the Mainstream Ranks
- 11. World War II: Saints in the Global War
- 12. Early Cold War Conflicts: The Rise of the International Church
- 13. Southeast Asia: Defending Democracy and Expanding the Church
- 14. LDS Opposition to MX Missile Basing
- Epilogue: The Cold War and Beyond
- Appendix: Medal of Honor Citations
- World War I
- World War II
- Korean War
- Vietnam Medal of Honor Recipients
- Global War on Terrorism
- Chronology: The Mormon Military Experience, 1820-1896
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Illustrations follow page 18
