Kindsvatter, Peter S. 1949-

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KINDSVATTER, Peter S. 1949-

PERSONAL:

Born November 25, 1949, in Pottstown, PA; son of George and Leafie (Himmelberger) Kindsvatter; married Margaret Mary Matt (an education counselor), February 6, 1972; children: Michael. Education: Pennsylvania State University, B.A., 1971; University of Missouri at Columbia, M.A., 1980; School for Advanced Military Studies, master of military arts and science, 1986; attended Rutgers University, 1989-92; Temple University, Ph.D., 1998; graduate of Armor Officers' Basic and Advanced Courses. Religion: "Protestant."

ADDRESSES:

Home—600 Nottingham Ct., Bel Air, MD 21014. Office—United States Army Ordnance Museum, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005-5201. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

United States Army, rose from second lieutenant to lieutenant colonel, 1971-92; served with 3rd Armored Division, 2nd Infantry Division, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, and 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in Germany, Korea, Southwest Asia, and the United States; served with VII Corps as historian during Operation Desert Storm; St. Joseph University and LaSalle University, Philadelphia, PA, adjunct professor of history, 1998-99; United States Army Ordnance Center and Schools, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, command historian and history instructor, 1999—.

MEMBER:

Society for Military History, Ordnance Association, Phi Beta Kappa, Kappa Tau Alpha, Phi Kappa Phi.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Richard W. Leopold Award, Organization of American Historians, 2004, for American Soldiers: Ground Combat in the World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam; Distinguished Writing Award, Army Historical Foundation, 2004, for American Soldiers; Professional Reading List selection, Army's Chief of Staff, for American Soldiers.

WRITINGS:

American Soldiers: Ground Combat in the World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam, University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, KS), 2003.

Contributor to periodicals, including Ordnance Magazine, Armor, Army, Parameters, Military Review, and Army Logistician.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Ongoing research in Ordnance Corps history for a series of articles for Ordnance Magazine.

SIDELIGHTS:

Although an army veteran himself, Peter S. Kindsvatter does not draw on his own experiences for American Soldiers: Ground Combat in the World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam, which is an openeyed look into what it is really like for a civilian to become a soldier. Instead, the author draws on a wide range of published sources, including memoirs, histories, academic studies, and soldiers' journals. Pulling these documents together, Kindsvatter discusses how ordinary young men are transformed into soldiers through training and wartime experiences and how they manage to cope with the moral and psychological dilemmas of becoming killers—who are themselves at constant risk of death—through camaraderie and belief in the American cause. While a Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that the book is best suited for military "commanders or scholars looking to understand troops," the critic praised its "fascinating, unsentimental arguments about the minds of soldiers." Writing in Booklist, Gilbert Taylor similarly admired how Kindsvatter "powerfully conveys the psychology and military sociology of combat." "Kindsvatter," concluded Cole C. Kingseed in his History: Review of New Books assessment, "has taken an important step in urging ground troops to prepare for the next conflict by reading the literature of war."