Theodore Reed "T. R." Fehrenbach, Jr. (January 12, 1925 – December 1, 2013) was an American historian, columnist, and the former head of the

Texas Historical Commission The Texas Historical Commission is an agency dedicated to historic preservation within the U.S. state of Texas. It administers the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Texas. The commission also identifies Recorded Texas Histor ...

(1987–1991).T.R. Fehrenbach Book Award
, Texas Historical Commission, retrieved 2009-02-22 He graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1947"T.R. Fehrenbach." The Complete Marquis Who's Who. ''

Marquis Who's Who Marquis Who's Who, also known as A.N. Marquis Company ( or ), is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in A ...

'', 2008. Gale Biography In Context. Web. Retrieved 6 Jan. 2011
Document URL
Gale Document Number: GALE, K2014301392. Fee, via

Fairfax County Public Library The Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL) is a public library system in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It includes eight regional libraries, 14 community libraries and the Access Services Library Branch, which removes barriers to ...

. with a degree in modern languages ("he never pursued graduate study or held a faculty post") and wrote more than twenty books, including the bestseller ''Lone Star: A History of Texas and Texans'' and ''This Kind of War'', about the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. Senator

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

called this book "perhaps the best book ever written on the Korean War". Secretary of Defense

James Mattis James Norman Mattis (born September 8, 1950) is an American military officer who served as the 26th United States secretary of defense from 2017 to 2019. A retired Marine Corps four-star general, he commanded forces in the Persian Gulf War, th ...

said “There’s a reason I recommended T.R. Fehrenbach’s book...that we all pull it out and read it one more time.” Although he served as a U.S. Army officer during the

, his own service is not mentioned in the book. Fehrenbach also wrote for ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', ''

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'', ''

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'', and ''

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''. He wrote popular histories of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, and the

Comanche people The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

. For almost 30 years, he wrote a weekly column on Sundays for the ''

San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas, founded in 1865. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the sta ...

''. On August 23, 2013, T.R. Fehrenbach announced that he would retire from writing columns because of declining health. T.R. Fehrenbach died of a

congenital heart defect A congenital heart defect (CHD), also known as a congenital heart anomaly, congenital cardiovascular malformation, and congenital heart disease, is a defect in the structure of the heart or great vessels that is present at birth. A congenital h ...

at Northeast Baptist Hospital in San Antonio on December 1, 2013.

Selected bibliography

*''U. S. Marines In Action'', 1962, . Republished in 2000, *''This Kind of War: A Study In Unpreparedness'' 1963, . Republished in 1998 as ''This Kind Of War: The Classic Korean War History'' , *''Crossroads in Korea, the Historic Siege of Chipyong-Ni'', 1966, *''The Gnomes of Zurich'', 1966, *''The Swiss Banks'', 1966, *''This Kind Of Peace'', 1966, *''FDR's Undeclared War, 1939–1941'', 1967, *''Greatness to Spare: The Heroic Sacrifices of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence'', 1968, . Republished in 2000, *''The Fight for Korea: from the War of 1950 to the Pueblo Incident'', 1969, *''The United Nations in war and peace'', 1968, *''Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans'', 1968, . Republished in 2000, , *''Fire And Blood: A History Of Mexico'', 1973, . Republished in 1995, , *''Comanches: The Destruction of a People'', 1974, . Republished in 2003 as ''Comanches: The History of a People'', , *''Seven Keys To Texas'', 1983, , *''Texas: A Salute from Above'', 1985, , ''Sources for book publication data:

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.''

T. R. Fehrenbach Award

The Texas Historical Commission gives this award to recognize books about Texas history and pre-history. The award is given annually.

References

Sources

*Fehrenbach, T. R., ''Comanches: The Destruction of a People'', Knopf, New York, 1974

External links

Interview with T. R. Fehrenbach, May 30, 2001. University of Texas at San Antonio: Institute of Texan Cultures: Oral History Collection, UA 15.01, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fehrenbach, T.R. 1925 births 2013 deaths American military writers Historians of Texas Historians of the Texas Revolution Historians of Mexico Historians of the United States American military historians Princeton University alumni 20th-century American historians United States Army personnel of the Korean War United States Army officers Writers from San Antonio People from San Benito, Texas 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Historians from Texas Military personnel from Texas