Oshkosh Public Library

The rise of the G.I. Army 1940-1941, the forgotten story of how America forged a powerful army before Pearl Harbor, Paul Dickson

eng

Includes bibliographical references (p. [355]-413) and index

mapsplatesillustrations

index present

non fiction

The rise of the G.I. Army 1940-1941

bibliography

1096470824

Paul Dickson

the forgotten story of how America forged a powerful army before Pearl Harbor

"In September 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland and initiated World War II, a strong strain of isolationism existed in Congress and across the country. The U.S. Army stood at fewer than 200,000 men--unprepared to defend the country, much less carry the fight to Europe and the Far East. And yet, less than a year after Pearl Harbor, the American army led the Allied invasion of North Africa, beginning the campaign that would defeat Germany, and the Navy and Marines were fully engaged with Japan in the Pacific. The story of America's astounding industrial mobilization during World War II has been told. But what has never been chronicled before Paul Dickson's The Rise of the G. I. Army, 1940-1941 is the extraordinary transformation of America's military from a disparate collection of camps with dilapidated equipment into a well-trained and spirited army ten times its prior size in little more than eighteen months. From Franklin Roosevelt's selection of George C. Marshall to be Army Chief of Staff to the remarkable peace-time draft of 1940 and the massive and unprecedented mock battles in Tennessee, Louisiana, and the Carolinas by which the skill and spirit of the Army were forged and out of which iconic leaders like Eisenhower, Bradley, and Clark emerged; Dickson narrates America's urgent mobilization against a backdrop of political and cultural isolationist resistance and racial tension at home, and the increasingly perceived threat of attack from both Germany and Japan."--Publisher's description

Prologue -- A rude awakening -- The Tree Army to the rescue -- A "phoney" war abroad and a mock war at home -- For the want of a nail -- "Your number came up": the 1940 peacetime draft -- Assembling the new army: "The blind leading the blind" -- The Battle of Tennessee and the "Yoo-Hoo" incident -- "Over the hill in October": Treason, sabotage, and the vote -- Stagecraft: The extraordinary preparations for the war in Louisiana -- The Battle of the Bayous -- Promotion and purge -- The Carolinas: The final scrimmage -- December 7, 1941 -- "Little Libya", Irish maneuvers, and Operation Torch -- Victory laps: V-E, V-J, and--later--The Double V