Michael V. Gannon (April 28, 1927 – April 11, 2017) was a historian, educator, priest, and war correspondent.

Early life and education

Michael Valentine Gannon was born into a military family in

Fort Sill, Oklahoma Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (137 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark an ...

. His family moved to Florida from Washington, D.C. after the death of his father in 1939. Gannon attended high school at St. Joseph Academy in

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Jacksonville, the city is on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spani ...

and received his bachelor's and master's degrees from

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

in Washington, D.C. He received a Ph.D in history from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in 1962. His dissertation was o
''Augustin Verot and the emergence of American Catholic social consciousness''
He trained for the priesthood at the American College of the

University of Louvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...

in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.

Career

During high school and college, he worked various jobs, including radio hosting at WFOY-Radio, contributing as a sportswriter to the

St. Augustine Record ''The St. Augustine Record'' is a daily morning newspaper published in St. Augustine, Florida. The newspaper was founded in 1894 and is owned by Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New Yo ...

, and announcing shows at Marineland. He was ordained as a priest in 1959 in the Diocese of St. Augustine. He served as the chaplain o
St. Augustine Catholic Church and Student Center
in Gainesville, Florida. He also served as Director of

Mission Nombre de Dios Mission Nombre de Dios is a Catholic mission founded in 1587 in St. Augustine, Florida, on the west side of Matanzas Bay. It is part of the Diocese of St. Augustine and is likely the oldest extant mission in the continental United States. T ...

from 1962-1967. It was during his directorship that St. Augustine's 400th anniversary was celebrated and the Great Cross commemorating the founding of the mission was installed. Gannon became a faculty member in the history and religion departments at the University of Florida in 1967, beginning a teaching career of nearly 40 years. He resigned from the priesthood in 1976 and began teaching full-time at the

. Gannon directed the Institute for Early Contact Period Studies, which conducted research into the voyages of Christopher Columbus and early interactions between Europeans and Native Americans. He served as the Assistant Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences from 1976 to 1984, and as Associate Dean beginning in 1984. He was appointed Distinguished Service Professor of History by the University in 1992. He retired as a professor emeritus of history in 1998, but continued teaching until 2003. Gannon was a prolific author of books and articles on American history, religion, and military history. In 1968, he was a

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

for the Catholic magazine ''

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

'' and the National Catholic News Service. His childhood in St. Augustine inspired a lifelong interest in Spanish colonial history, particularly in Florida. His first two books, ''Rebel Bishop'' (1964) and ''The Cross in the Sand'' (1965) explore Florida's early years of settlement. His 1990 book ''Operation Drumbeat'' discusses the history of Germany's early

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

s and became a national bestseller. Gannon served as a member and chairman of several organizations on the local, state, and national level including the

Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board The Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board (HSAPB) was a state agency in Florida that participated in the restoration and preservation of historic buildings in St. Augustine, Florida from 1959 to 1997. Created in 1959 by LeRoy Collins, Govern ...

from 1969 to 1997, serving as its chairman twice; from 1975 to 1980 and 1976-77. He was a member of the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

Advisory Board for Southeastern States from 1972 to 1977 and served as its chairman from 1976 to 1977. He was appointed to the

National de Soto Expedition Trail National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

Commission by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior in 1992. Gannon was also a board member of

Marineland of Florida Marineland of Florida (usually just called Marineland), one of Florida's first marine mammal parks, is billed as "the world's first oceanarium". Marineland functions as an entertainment and Human swimming, swim-with-the-dolphins facility, and reo ...

and

University of Florida Historic St. Augustine, Inc. University of Florida Historic St. Augustine, Inc. (UFHSA) is located at 48 King Street in St. Augustine, Florida (the location of Government House). University of Florida encourages UFHSA to preserve and interpret state owned properties in St. A ...

, a successor to the Preservation Board.

Personal life and legacy

Gannon was well known for his study of Spanish colonial history. He received numerous awards and honors including Knight Commander of the

Order of Isabel the Catholic The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (; Abbr.: OYC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and the Order of Civil Merit ...

, granted by

King Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 November 1975 until his abdication on 19 June 2014. In Sp ...

of Spain, Citizen of the Year from the City of Gainesville in 1972, and the

Order of La Florida The Order of La Florida is an award given by the City of St. Augustine, Florida to those who have rendered extraordinary services to the city. History The award was established in 1975. Recipients must be at least fifty-five years old and ther ...

from the City of St. Augustine in 2007, the city's highest honor. Gannon died on April 11, 2017. He was married to Genevieve Haugen, who survived him.Obituary
gainesville.com, April 11, 2017; accessed April 17, 2017.

Selected publications

* ''Pearl Harbor Betrayed: The True Story of a Man and a Nation under Attack Hardcover''. Holt, 2001. / * * * ''Florida: A Short History''. University Press of Florida, 2003. / * ''The Cross in the Sand: The Early Catholic Church in Florida, 1513-1870''. University Press of Florida, 1965. / * ''Secret Missions''. Harpercollins, 1994. / * ''Rebel Bishop: Augustin Verot, Florida's Civil War Prelate''. University Press of Florida, 1997. /

References

External links

staugustine.ufl.edu

clas.ufl.edu
See interviews and recordings by Michael Gannon
from the

Samuel Proctor Oral History Program The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP) is the official oral history program at the University of Florida. With over 6,500 interviews and more than 150,000 pages of transcribed material, it is one of the premier oral history programs in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gannon, Michael (historian) 1927 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century Roman Catholics American male non-fiction writers American Roman Catholic writers American war correspondents Catholics from Oklahoma Catholic University of America alumni Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni Laicized Roman Catholic priests People from Lawton, Oklahoma University of Florida alumni University of Florida faculty