University of Mount Olive to Host Program on World War II

MOUNT OLIVE – University of Mount Olive Moye Library is hosting a program by Kevin P. Duffus called “War Zone: World War II off North Carolina’s Outer Banks” on Monday, November 5th at 7 p.m. in videoconference rooms 114 and 115 of the Communications Building.

Provided by the Road Scholars program of the North Carolina Humanities Council, the lecture is free and open to the public.

In 1942, the United States suffered one if its worst defeats of WWII, not in Europe or the Pacific, but along the nation’s eastern seaboard.

Three hundred ninety-seven ships were sunk or damaged, and 5,000 people died. For six months, sixty-five German U-boats hunted merchant vessels, practically unopposed, within view of coastal communities. The greatest of these attacks occurred off NC’s Outer Banks. For this program, Kevin Duffus has compiled a stunning collection of eyewitness stories of merchant sailors, Coast Guard recruits and coastal residents who survived the events. He discusses the facts behind decades-old urban legends of German spies, sympathizers, and saboteurs. His story is one of faith, courage, and determination as well as infamy, irony, and innocence.

This project is made possible by a grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

For more information, please contact Cynthia Hughes at 919-658-4916.

University of Mount Olive is a private institution rooted in the liberal arts tradition with defining Christian values. The College, sponsored by the Convention of Original Free Will Baptists, has locations in Mount Olive, New Bern, Wilmington, Goldsboro, Research Triangle Park, Washington and Jacksonville.  For more information, visit www.moc.edu.