One Man's War: The 6th Annual Orton P. Camp Jr. Lecture with Ann Smith

All donations will be placed in the Orton P. Camp, Jr. Endowment Fund at the Mattatuck Museum for future programming.

In a departure from previous programs in
the series, the 2012 Orton P. Camp, Jr., lecture will focus on the honoree himself through the vivid letters he wrote home to his family during World War II that were saved by his mother.

Presented by Ann Smith, Mr. Camp’s long-time friend, and former director and curator of the Mattatuck Museum, the letters capture keen observations of the people and places he encountered in Europe between 1944 and 1946. Serving as a Forward Observer in the Army Artillery in the final months of the war, Camp fought in the Battle of the Bulge and in the final struggle to secure Germany. He then was assigned to work resettling refugees and prisoners of war in Czechoslovakia and Austria, finally serving in General Mark Clark’s headquarters in Vienna. The talk will
reveal the military operations that Army censors prevented
Camp from describing in his letters, and will be illustrated with period photos and maps of the places and events that were the backdrop to this coming of age experience.

The lecture will be followed by a reception. RSVP requested.