A great piece! Thank you for including the book recommendations--the broad histories are so useful in thinking about the different phases of the Army's history. Robert Mosher makes a good note here too, for another book.
Maybe you've done this, but I think an interesting reading list would be to get input on what biographies do people feel best capture the different phases of the Army's history. As with Audie Murphy, so much is learned about the institution through the stories of those who served.
Thanks Dan. Your suggestion is a good one! Biographies and autobiographies offer unique glimpses into an individual's mind in context to the happenings of great battles and wars. Hits a key theme that inside of strategy and operations is the story of the human experience that paints history.
I would suggest adding Paul Dickson’s The Rise of the GI Army 1940-1941 which describes the birth of the draft-based citizen soldier army that fought and won WW2 and then carried on into Korea and Vietnam.
I would add, with great respect, that Audie Murphy’s life after WW2 was far from being a happy one, and in fact he experienced great difficulty in readjusting himself to civilian life.
As a result of his wartime experiences he suffered badly from what we would nowadays call PTSD, and for a time became heavily dependent on prescription sleeping medications to treat his chronic depression and insomnia.
He had a violent temper, always sleeping with a loaded gun under his pillow, and got himself frequently into fights and trouble with the police, once being arrested and charged with attempted murder, and on several other occasions being released without charge owing to his status as a national hero.
He lost nearly all the money he made during his Hollywood acting career through bad investments and a gambling addiction, and was forced to file for bankruptcy to protect himself and his family from creditors.
So, all in all, for Audie Murphy, it was by no means a happy or successful transition from his heroic wartime service to a life out of uniform.
Too true and sad he was not alone being unable to successfully return home. Ira Hayes is another that comes to mind. The book by Karl Marlantes, What it is Like to Go to War is dedicated to the subject of the warrior experience and return to society.
A great piece! Thank you for including the book recommendations--the broad histories are so useful in thinking about the different phases of the Army's history. Robert Mosher makes a good note here too, for another book.
Maybe you've done this, but I think an interesting reading list would be to get input on what biographies do people feel best capture the different phases of the Army's history. As with Audie Murphy, so much is learned about the institution through the stories of those who served.
Thanks Dan. Your suggestion is a good one! Biographies and autobiographies offer unique glimpses into an individual's mind in context to the happenings of great battles and wars. Hits a key theme that inside of strategy and operations is the story of the human experience that paints history.
I would suggest adding Paul Dickson’s The Rise of the GI Army 1940-1941 which describes the birth of the draft-based citizen soldier army that fought and won WW2 and then carried on into Korea and Vietnam.
Thanks Robert for the excellent add.
Great article - thanks for sharing it.
I would add, with great respect, that Audie Murphy’s life after WW2 was far from being a happy one, and in fact he experienced great difficulty in readjusting himself to civilian life.
As a result of his wartime experiences he suffered badly from what we would nowadays call PTSD, and for a time became heavily dependent on prescription sleeping medications to treat his chronic depression and insomnia.
He had a violent temper, always sleeping with a loaded gun under his pillow, and got himself frequently into fights and trouble with the police, once being arrested and charged with attempted murder, and on several other occasions being released without charge owing to his status as a national hero.
He lost nearly all the money he made during his Hollywood acting career through bad investments and a gambling addiction, and was forced to file for bankruptcy to protect himself and his family from creditors.
So, all in all, for Audie Murphy, it was by no means a happy or successful transition from his heroic wartime service to a life out of uniform.
Too true and sad he was not alone being unable to successfully return home. Ira Hayes is another that comes to mind. The book by Karl Marlantes, What it is Like to Go to War is dedicated to the subject of the warrior experience and return to society.
I did not know that. He was not alone, even the greatest generation suffered from the trauma of war.