Volker Janssen

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

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Asian American & Pacific Islander History

How Two Japanese Americans Fought Nazis Abroad—and Prejudice at Home

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.

When Polio Triggered and Panic Among Parents in the 1950s

When Polio Triggered Fear 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.

Dresden Bombing

Why Was Dresden So Heavily Bombed?

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

Mysteries & Folklore

How the ‘Little Green Men’ Phenomenon Began on a Kentucky Farm

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

The Most Harrowing Battle of the Korean War

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

California's Inmate Firefighters

California Wildfires Have Been Fought by Prisoners Since World War II

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

Suddam Spider Hole

Middle Eastern History

The Surprising Interrogations That Led to Saddam Hussein’s Capture

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