Michael Gannon (historian)

Dr. Michael Gannon
Born	1928 Fort Sill, Oklahoma
Died	April 10, 2017 (aged 89) Gainesville, Florida
Nationality	United States
Alma mater	Catholic University of America University of Louvain University of Florida
Known for	Being a distinguished Professor of public service at UF
Scientific career
Fields	American History
Institutions	University of Florida

Michael V. Gannon was an American military historian, academic, and former priest and war correspondent. He was born in Oklahoma into a military family. Following the death of his father in 1939, his family moved to Florida from Washington, D.C. He attended high school in St. Augustine, Florida. He spent most of his career in Florida and died in 2017.

During World War II, Gannon was a member of the American Field Service, in the 1950s he wrote on European military topics. Gannon earned both his Bachelors and Masters degrees from Catholic University of America and later studied theology at the University of Louvain in Belgium. He became a priest in 1959, and received his PhD in history from the University of Florida in 1962. In 1968, he was a war correspondent in Vietnam for the Catholic magazine America. He taught at the University of Florida since 1974 with a teaching career spanning 38 years. He left the priesthood in 1976 and later married Genevieve Haugen. He taught about the history of World War II, and became Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of History.

One well known work by Gannon is Operation Drumbeat (1990), sub-titled The dramatic true story of Germany's first u-boat attacks along the American coast in World War II. Although written, in large parts, as a dramatic story, Gannon had researched the subject extensively, travelling to Europe to view sites and interview surviving participants. Official documents, on both sides of the Atlantic, were obtained to provide further information and the work is supported by significant notations. It chronicles the u-boat cruise of U-123 in January 1942 under Reinhard Hardegen to the American east coast and analyses the factors behind a major naval defeat for the United States which could have upset the western allies' war strategy.

Gannon is also known for his study of Spanish colonial history. Among numerous awards and honours, he was a Knight Commander of the Order of Isabel the Catholic, granted by King Juan Carlos I of Spain.

Publications

Gannon's published works include:

• Pearl Harbor Betrayed
• Black May. New York: HarperCollins. 1998. ISBN 0060178191. OCLC 39128840.
• Operation Drumbeat : the dramatic true story of Germany's first U-boat attacks along the American coast in World War II. New York: Harper & Row. 1990. ISBN 0060161558. OCLC 21117890.
• Florida: A Short History
• The Cross in the Sand: The Early Catholic Church in Florida, 1513-1870
• Secret Missions
• Rebel Bishop: Augustin Verot, Florida's Civil War Prelate
• Florida's Menendez: Captain General of the Ocean Sea

External links

• Official profile
• Profile