Speaker Series: Task Force Hogan

Join us on Saturday, May 24th, 3:00pm to 4:30pm, for a talk by author, historian, veteran and professor William Hogan. He will share a fascinating story about a daring escape and survival of an American armored unit during WWII. This talk falls on our WWII Tank Demonstration Weekend.

Task Force Hogan is a narrative nonfiction book about a WWII US Army tank battalion. The unit was a reinforced tank battalion in the 3rd Armored Division led by Samuel Hogan, the youngest tank battalion commander in the US Army during WWII. At the helm of 500 soldiers riding to battle aboard 54 Sherman tanks plus assorted other vehicles, they participated in some of the toughest battles in the European Theater. Also known as “Hogan’s 400” the unit is best known for rushing back to Belgium from their forward positions in Germany towards the Battle of the Bulge. Arriving with vehicles half full of fuel to help parry the German offensive they fought the 116th Panzer Division to a standstill. Outnumbered, surrounded and without fuel they held off the better part of two German divisions at the hilltop village of Marcouray, about 20 miles north of Bastogne.  On Christmas Day 1944, they were ordered to destroy their vehicles and make out on foot as best they could. They did so Christmas Night, marching 12 miles through enemy held forest back to US lines. By 2 January they were rearmed and spent the first two weeks of January helping push back the “Bulge” to the German border.

William R. Hogan was the last US Army soldier on active duty with a parent who fought in WWII. His most recent assignment was as liaison to French Army Headquarters in Paris, France. He retired from the Army after 22 years of service in the summer of 2024. He is an adjunct professor at Paris School of International Affairs, Political Science University (Sciences Po).