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The Rise of the G.I. Army, 1940-1941: 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. An important addition to American history, The Rise of the G. I. Army, 1940-1941 is essential to our understanding of America’s involvement in World War II.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published July 7, 2020
239 people are currently reading
1730 people want to read
About the author
Paul Dickson
138 books41 followersPaul Dickson is the author of more than 45 nonfiction books and hundreds of magazine articles. Although he has written on a variety of subjects from ice cream to kite flying to electronic warfare, he now concentrates on writing about the American language, baseball and 20th century history.
Dickson, born in Yonkers, NY, graduated from Wesleyan University in 1961 and was honored as a Distinguished Alumnae of that institution in 2001. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Navy and later worked as a reporter for McGraw-Hill Publications.
Since 1968, he has been a full-time freelance writer contributing articles to various magazines and newspapers, including Smithsonian, Esquire, The Nation, Town & Country, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post and writing numerous books on a wide range of subjects.
He received a University Fellowship for reporters from the American Political Science Association to do his first book, Think Tanks (1971). For his book, The Electronic Battlefield (1976), about the impact automatic weapons systems have had on modern warfare, he received a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism to support his efforts to get certain Pentagon files declassified.
His book The Bonus Army: An American Epic, written with Thomas B. Allen, was published by Walker and Co. on February 1, 2005. It tells the dramatic but largely forgotten story of the approximately 45,000 World War I veterans who marched on Washington in the summer of 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, to demand early payment of a bonus promised them for their wartime service and of how that march eventually changed the course of American history and led to passage of the GI Bill—the lasting legacy of the Bonus Army. A documentary based on the book aired on PBS stations in May 2006 and an option for a feature film based on the book has been sold.
Dickson's most recent baseball book, The Hidden Language of Baseball: How Signs and Sign Stealing Have Influenced the Course of our National Pastime, also by Walker and Co, was first published in May, 2003 and came out in paperback in June, 2005. It follows other works of baseball reference including The Joy of Keeping Score, Baseballs Greatest Quotations, Baseball the Presidents Game and The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary, now in it's second edition. A third edition is currently in the works. The original Dickson Baseball Dictionary was awarded the 1989 Macmillan-SABR Award for Baseball Research.
Sputnik: The Shock of the Century, another Walker book, came out in October, 2001 and was subsequently issued in paperback by Berkeley Books. Like his first book, Think Tanks (1971), and his latest, Sputnik, was born of his first love: investigative journalism. Dickson is working on a feature documentary about Sputnik with acclaimed documentarians David Hoffmanand Kirk Wolfinger.
Two of his older language books, Slang and Label For Locals came out in the fall of 2006 in new and expanded versions.
Dickson is a founding member and former president of Washington Independent Writers and a member of the National Press Club. He is a contributing editor at Washingtonian magazine and a consulting editor at Merriam-Webster, Inc. and is represented by Premier Speakers Bureau, Inc. and the Jonathan Dolger Literary agency.
He currently lives in Garrett Park, Maryland with his wife Nancy who works with him as his first line editor, and financial manager.
Dickson, born in Yonkers, NY, graduated from Wesleyan University in 1961 and was honored as a Distinguished Alumnae of that institution in 2001. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Navy and later worked as a reporter for McGraw-Hill Publications.
Since 1968, he has been a full-time freelance writer contributing articles to various magazines and newspapers, including Smithsonian, Esquire, The Nation, Town & Country, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post and writing numerous books on a wide range of subjects.
He received a University Fellowship for reporters from the American Political Science Association to do his first book, Think Tanks (1971). For his book, The Electronic Battlefield (1976), about the impact automatic weapons systems have had on modern warfare, he received a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism to support his efforts to get certain Pentagon files declassified.
His book The Bonus Army: An American Epic, written with Thomas B. Allen, was published by Walker and Co. on February 1, 2005. It tells the dramatic but largely forgotten story of the approximately 45,000 World War I veterans who marched on Washington in the summer of 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, to demand early payment of a bonus promised them for their wartime service and of how that march eventually changed the course of American history and led to passage of the GI Bill—the lasting legacy of the Bonus Army. A documentary based on the book aired on PBS stations in May 2006 and an option for a feature film based on the book has been sold.
Dickson's most recent baseball book, The Hidden Language of Baseball: How Signs and Sign Stealing Have Influenced the Course of our National Pastime, also by Walker and Co, was first published in May, 2003 and came out in paperback in June, 2005. It follows other works of baseball reference including The Joy of Keeping Score, Baseballs Greatest Quotations, Baseball the Presidents Game and The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary, now in it's second edition. A third edition is currently in the works. The original Dickson Baseball Dictionary was awarded the 1989 Macmillan-SABR Award for Baseball Research.
Sputnik: The Shock of the Century, another Walker book, came out in October, 2001 and was subsequently issued in paperback by Berkeley Books. Like his first book, Think Tanks (1971), and his latest, Sputnik, was born of his first love: investigative journalism. Dickson is working on a feature documentary about Sputnik with acclaimed documentarians David Hoffmanand Kirk Wolfinger.
Two of his older language books, Slang and Label For Locals came out in the fall of 2006 in new and expanded versions.
Dickson is a founding member and former president of Washington Independent Writers and a member of the National Press Club. He is a contributing editor at Washingtonian magazine and a consulting editor at Merriam-Webster, Inc. and is represented by Premier Speakers Bureau, Inc. and the Jonathan Dolger Literary agency.
He currently lives in Garrett Park, Maryland with his wife Nancy who works with him as his first line editor, and financial manager.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
January 20, 2021
I risk being the reviewer who complains that the forest has too many trees, or, conversely, the one who gripes about the lack of texture in a if-it's-Tuesday-it-must-be-Belgium overview. This one tends toward the first, in my opinion.
Dixon gets so into a blow-by-blow overview of a training exercise between two fictional armies that I found that as a reader I needed help drawing out some lessons and applications to real combat along the way. I would have liked to get some takeaways, innovations, epiphanies as they happened.
The opening is really engaging as he talks about the shrunken-down US Army and the culture in which it existed in jarring detail. The close, the after-action report, is apropos, and he carries it through for decades. I'm not sure if my patiencp or his writing lagged in the middle.
Dixon gets so into a blow-by-blow overview of a training exercise between two fictional armies that I found that as a reader I needed help drawing out some lessons and applications to real combat along the way. I would have liked to get some takeaways, innovations, epiphanies as they happened.
The opening is really engaging as he talks about the shrunken-down US Army and the culture in which it existed in jarring detail. The close, the after-action report, is apropos, and he carries it through for decades. I'm not sure if my patiencp or his writing lagged in the middle.
November 29, 2021
America let down its defenses following the end of World War I. In 1935, the US Regular Army numbered under 119,000 men and could fully fit into Yankee Stadium. In 1938, with increasing concerns of Hitler's military might and growing fear of America being pulled into another global conflict - President Roosevelt called for America to rearm. Paul Dickson superbly tells the story of how the US Army grew from 118,750 in 1935 to around 2.2 million on December 7, 1941, which doubled in size to around 4.5 million one year after Pearl Harbor in December 1942.
America had a lot of catching up to do, but managed to successfully rearm thanks to the likes of Marshall, Patton, Eisenhower and others. Marshall was appointed Army Chief of Staff by Roosevelt on September 1, 1939, the same day Germany invaded Poland, and relentlessly worked to establish the Officer Candidate School (OCS) and other needed training programs.
Following the peacetime draft in 1940 (as America was not yet at war), significant mock battle training maneuvers were held in Tennessee, Louisiana, and the Carolinas. These maneuvers provided eye opening training and many lessons learned, which needed to be followed up to prepare the G.I. Army for what was to come.
A huge bonus for me in reading this book, is that my Grandfather participated in the Louisiana maneuvers in 1941 as a Michigan National Guardsman, serving as an engineer and working around the pontoon bridges used for these maneuvers. So, it was particularly thrilling for me to read and learn more about these maneuvers. Following this, my Grandfather continued to serve during the war as a successful graduate of Marshall's OCS program (and continued to serve as a career Army Officer for many years after the war, ultimately retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel).
An important sub theme throughout the book, is the separate battle fought for racial integration of Blacks within the US Armed Forces - which is a very interesting topic in its own right and deserving of additional reading in stand-alone texts covering this topic.
If you are interested in learning about the buildup of the US Army prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, I highly recommend this book.
America had a lot of catching up to do, but managed to successfully rearm thanks to the likes of Marshall, Patton, Eisenhower and others. Marshall was appointed Army Chief of Staff by Roosevelt on September 1, 1939, the same day Germany invaded Poland, and relentlessly worked to establish the Officer Candidate School (OCS) and other needed training programs.
Following the peacetime draft in 1940 (as America was not yet at war), significant mock battle training maneuvers were held in Tennessee, Louisiana, and the Carolinas. These maneuvers provided eye opening training and many lessons learned, which needed to be followed up to prepare the G.I. Army for what was to come.
A huge bonus for me in reading this book, is that my Grandfather participated in the Louisiana maneuvers in 1941 as a Michigan National Guardsman, serving as an engineer and working around the pontoon bridges used for these maneuvers. So, it was particularly thrilling for me to read and learn more about these maneuvers. Following this, my Grandfather continued to serve during the war as a successful graduate of Marshall's OCS program (and continued to serve as a career Army Officer for many years after the war, ultimately retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel).
An important sub theme throughout the book, is the separate battle fought for racial integration of Blacks within the US Armed Forces - which is a very interesting topic in its own right and deserving of additional reading in stand-alone texts covering this topic.
If you are interested in learning about the buildup of the US Army prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, I highly recommend this book.
June 9, 2020
I highly recommend this detailed and comprehensive, yet engaging and readable, non-fiction study of the years leading up to America’s declarations of war in 1941. At times in history, great men and women arise to lead. In the United States, we know of the Founding Leaders. In the years before World War II, we were blessed with the similar ascension of citizens with vision and energy. Were these people perfect? No, but they creatively persevered. Some of them have names that we still remember. Many are lost to history- especially the brave men and women who volunteered to serve in our citizen army.
What was America like before World War II? It was an isolationist country, dealing with the effects of the Great Depression. The armed forces had basically been disbanded after World War I, about 180,000 members remained, about the size of Portugal’s army, with old and limited equipment and resources. In 1939, when Germany attacked Poland, some leaders realized that we were ill-prepared to even defend our country, let alone participate in a war.
How did we go in a little over two years, from a skeleton service to a force that waged war in Europe and Japan? That journey is the heart of this book. We get to know Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton and Marshall. We learn how they started the selective service and drafted 5 million to serve, how they trained these regular folk to be dedicated soldiers, how the Officer Candidate School was created, how factories were mobilized to work around the clock, how Patton developed his tank command. Many of us who enjoy reading about WWII may not have realized how important the various army maneuvers, such as in Louisiana, were in creating fighting force.The book also highlights the dreadful issue of segregation in the armed forces, a terrible blight on the armed forces.
Near the end of this inspiring book, a woman who was 12 years old when a large-scale military maneuver was held near her farmhouse, recalled watching the soldiers relaxing in her yard. She wondered how many of those precious boys made it back.
This is the forgotten story of how America forged a powerful Army before World War II. Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for an advance digital review copy. This is my honest review.
What was America like before World War II? It was an isolationist country, dealing with the effects of the Great Depression. The armed forces had basically been disbanded after World War I, about 180,000 members remained, about the size of Portugal’s army, with old and limited equipment and resources. In 1939, when Germany attacked Poland, some leaders realized that we were ill-prepared to even defend our country, let alone participate in a war.
How did we go in a little over two years, from a skeleton service to a force that waged war in Europe and Japan? That journey is the heart of this book. We get to know Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton and Marshall. We learn how they started the selective service and drafted 5 million to serve, how they trained these regular folk to be dedicated soldiers, how the Officer Candidate School was created, how factories were mobilized to work around the clock, how Patton developed his tank command. Many of us who enjoy reading about WWII may not have realized how important the various army maneuvers, such as in Louisiana, were in creating fighting force.The book also highlights the dreadful issue of segregation in the armed forces, a terrible blight on the armed forces.
Near the end of this inspiring book, a woman who was 12 years old when a large-scale military maneuver was held near her farmhouse, recalled watching the soldiers relaxing in her yard. She wondered how many of those precious boys made it back.
This is the forgotten story of how America forged a powerful Army before World War II. Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for an advance digital review copy. This is my honest review.
July 14, 2020
This is an interesting look at the United States' Declaration of War in 1941. The comprehensive research and brilliant writing make this a book that anyone can enjoy and understand. This is an important part of history that many need to learn more about and this book is a great resource.
August 29, 2020
“The Rise of the G.I. Army” is a well-written and enlightening account of how America prepared its armed forces for World War II. I’ve read a lot of World War II history, and I’ve always marveled at how quickly the United States went over to the offensive in World War II, both in the Pacific and in North Africa.
Dickson explains how, in the years leading up to World War II, America prepared itself for war. I had read in other books about the importance of the Louisiana and Carolina maneuvers in 1941 (my father participated in the Louisiana maneuvers), and I had some sense of how they had refined Army doctrine concerning logistics, movement and use of armor. But I didn’t know how important the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps was for training Army officers and future soldiers, or how General Marshal’s Office Candidate School laid the groundwork for a skilled officer corps by training standout NCOs to become junior officers.
One of the most dramatic and remarkable stories in the book is the House of Representatives’ decision, by a single vote in August 1941, to extend the term of service of the original draftees. Without that vote, aided by Speaker Sam Rayburn’s terrible swift gavel, the first round of draftees would have been sent home in October 1941 on the eve of Pearl Harbor. Marshall estimated that had the Army been dispersed at that time, the war would have lasted an additional two years and hundreds of thousands of Americans would have died.
Dickson also explores the tragic injustice of segregation in the armed forces, recounting the leadership of A. Phillip Randolph and others in demanding integration and fair treatment of black soldiers. Despite their efforts throughout the war, the “Double V” (victory in war, victory in desegregating the military) was not achieved until the last segregated unit was dissolved in 1954.
The book discusses the early careers of officers who would later become famous, like George Patton and Dwight Eisenhower, and also highlights the importance of leaders like Lesley McNair, Walter Krueger and Grenville Clarke in putting the U.S. on a war footing. At the top of the heap, George Marshall emerges as the indispensable leader—one has the sense that if he had not been where he was, America’s success in World War II might have been delayed or foregone altogether.
The book did a great job of filling in a big gap in my knowledge of World War II. Highly recommended!
Dickson explains how, in the years leading up to World War II, America prepared itself for war. I had read in other books about the importance of the Louisiana and Carolina maneuvers in 1941 (my father participated in the Louisiana maneuvers), and I had some sense of how they had refined Army doctrine concerning logistics, movement and use of armor. But I didn’t know how important the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps was for training Army officers and future soldiers, or how General Marshal’s Office Candidate School laid the groundwork for a skilled officer corps by training standout NCOs to become junior officers.
One of the most dramatic and remarkable stories in the book is the House of Representatives’ decision, by a single vote in August 1941, to extend the term of service of the original draftees. Without that vote, aided by Speaker Sam Rayburn’s terrible swift gavel, the first round of draftees would have been sent home in October 1941 on the eve of Pearl Harbor. Marshall estimated that had the Army been dispersed at that time, the war would have lasted an additional two years and hundreds of thousands of Americans would have died.
Dickson also explores the tragic injustice of segregation in the armed forces, recounting the leadership of A. Phillip Randolph and others in demanding integration and fair treatment of black soldiers. Despite their efforts throughout the war, the “Double V” (victory in war, victory in desegregating the military) was not achieved until the last segregated unit was dissolved in 1954.
The book discusses the early careers of officers who would later become famous, like George Patton and Dwight Eisenhower, and also highlights the importance of leaders like Lesley McNair, Walter Krueger and Grenville Clarke in putting the U.S. on a war footing. At the top of the heap, George Marshall emerges as the indispensable leader—one has the sense that if he had not been where he was, America’s success in World War II might have been delayed or foregone altogether.
The book did a great job of filling in a big gap in my knowledge of World War II. Highly recommended!
July 21, 2020
I love this book.
Many people believe the common narrative created in retrospect: that North Americans were ready to fight for justice in WWII. Of course, it's never that simple. Much has been simplified over the years.
What I mean is that context for the USA's side of WWII is a detailed tapestry. From interviews, newspapers, films, photos, political documents, declassified files, memoirs and other personal accounts, The Rise of the G.I. Army has everything I like in a history book. Even tidbits that I wasn't quite expecting like the Choctaw code talkers and how exhausted people truly were before the war.
It's disarming how often populists' words then are repeated in different ways today. The Isolationists' rationale still lives on. It's wild how much Roosevelt and Marshall foresaw and how much they pushed against such adversity. With such civility too (most times). Pays to be aware.
Racism within military service is addressed in respect to African Americans' unfair treatment and Japanese Americans for internment and the 442nd Regiment. Would have liked a tad more coverage from other viewpoints that could be found. Or when American troops liberated Nazi concentration camps later in the war. Perhaps that would have been too much of a tangent. Show of respect too maybe like omitting the Navajo code talkers (Navajo tradition discourages glorifying war).
Oh, and thank you for including nuggets of humor too. Good to know that people will always be people, Dickson. And the film names. I'll be sure to look them up later.
The Rise of the G.I. Army is the book to read for anyone who has questions on how North America went from a bankrupt country to a military respecting culture. Or why it took so long for North America to enter WWII despite previous knowledge of the carnage abroad. Yes, it doesn't go all the way (that's why the years are in the subtitle) yet many of those pivotal first steps are here.
I received the book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
Many people believe the common narrative created in retrospect: that North Americans were ready to fight for justice in WWII. Of course, it's never that simple. Much has been simplified over the years.
What I mean is that context for the USA's side of WWII is a detailed tapestry. From interviews, newspapers, films, photos, political documents, declassified files, memoirs and other personal accounts, The Rise of the G.I. Army has everything I like in a history book. Even tidbits that I wasn't quite expecting like the Choctaw code talkers and how exhausted people truly were before the war.
It's disarming how often populists' words then are repeated in different ways today. The Isolationists' rationale still lives on. It's wild how much Roosevelt and Marshall foresaw and how much they pushed against such adversity. With such civility too (most times). Pays to be aware.
Racism within military service is addressed in respect to African Americans' unfair treatment and Japanese Americans for internment and the 442nd Regiment. Would have liked a tad more coverage from other viewpoints that could be found. Or when American troops liberated Nazi concentration camps later in the war. Perhaps that would have been too much of a tangent. Show of respect too maybe like omitting the Navajo code talkers (Navajo tradition discourages glorifying war).
Oh, and thank you for including nuggets of humor too. Good to know that people will always be people, Dickson. And the film names. I'll be sure to look them up later.
The Rise of the G.I. Army is the book to read for anyone who has questions on how North America went from a bankrupt country to a military respecting culture. Or why it took so long for North America to enter WWII despite previous knowledge of the carnage abroad. Yes, it doesn't go all the way (that's why the years are in the subtitle) yet many of those pivotal first steps are here.
I received the book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
August 23, 2021
In the Nick of Time: American Preparation for War
Beyond interest in the major battles leading to victory in Europe and the Pacific, those who have read a good deal about World War II are aware of America’s awe-inspiring ramp-up of production of war materials, from tanks to ships to aircraft. The nation’s manufacturing genius has been rightly chronicled and praised, along with the role of women (Rosie the Riveter) in shipyards and on assembly lines.
Author Paul Dickson has focused on another astonishing transformation, the building of the American Army prior to Pearl Harbor under the direction of General George Marshall as Army Chief of Staff.
US military capability in 1939 barely met the standards of a third world country. Public disillusionment over the loss of life and treasure in World War I meant there was little support for military expenditure or a large peacetime army. Instead, there was the view that America should avoid entanglement in foreign wars. Most families had suffered economic hardship during the Great Depression. The social safety net to provide economic relief, created by FDR, had made great claims on government resources. But FDR cut army pay and veterans benefits in 1933.
As a result, a professional military career was very unattractive in the 1920s and 1930s. There was little chance of promotion. In 1939 the military spent $65 per man per year on training. No officers had experience directing large numbers of troops on a fast-moving modern battlefield, coordinating air power, armor, and mechanized deployment of forces. Indeed many were committed to cavalry and horse-drawn means of logistical supply.
Marshall thus had to contend with a host of challenges, ranging from isolationist sentiment to a lack of modern equipment to an aging officer corps to a lack of manpower itself. Dickson does a marvelous job telling the story of how Marshall threaded his way through Congress and dealt with FDR who, early on, had to be cajoled to increase military expenditure for a land army. (Roosevelt was a Navy guy, and saw sea power as the way to defend a nation insulated by two oceans.)
Instituting a peacetime draft in isolationist America was a tough sell and Marshall faced disaster by asking that the term of conscription be limited to 12 months. Without an extension, two-thirds of the army that Marshall had built and trained would be released between October and December, 1941. Draft extension passed the House of Representatives by only one vote, and that was achieved through legislative slight-of-hand by House Speaker Sam Rayburn.
Most impressive was how Marshall evaluated those to be given senior command in the war to come (Eisenhower and Patton among others) and built a pipeline to train the junior officers so critical to battlefield success. By Pearl Harbor he had built an army of 1.5 million soldiers and had created officer training schools turning out 45,000 young and able officers to provide leadership. Three-quarters of the Army’s lieutenants and captains in World War II were graduates of of these officer training schools and most returned to civilian life after the war.
Poverty and the Great Depression had taken their toll on the health of young men of draft age. Malnutrition, toothlessness, poor health and illness caused half the men drafted in the first 12 months to be sent home.
Marshall’s insistence on large scale maneuvers, generally known as the Louisiana Maneuvers but also held in North Carolina, California, and Upstate New York as well as states bordering Louisiana, revealed shortcomings in the army’s equipment and helped sort out competent officers from those who failed to meet the challenges of modern warfare. One example of the tendency to cling to tradition: The army was still acquiring horses for use in North Carolina maneuvers held just three weeks before Pearl Harbor.
But the scale and size of the maneuvers were designed precisely to sort out the critical requirements of a modern army and demonstrate the need for change. Taken together, the Louisiana maneuvers in 1941 involved 400,000 troops, about equal to the size of our active duty military today. Many of these troops remained in the field for five months.
Marshall was unbending when it came to protocol and no one, not even FDR, called him George. He was “General.” But he was sensitive to the needs of enlisted men and had disdain for the personal complaints of officers. He focused on troop morale, which meant addressing the needs of men for food, shelter and entertainment. He also invested in medical and dental treatment essential to the health of soldiers who would be asked to endure hardship on the battlefield.
One apparent blind spot for Marshall was his failure to create opportunity for African Americans. In this he was, unfortunately, a white man of his times and the fact that he was a graduate of Virginia Military Institute may have shaped his views. Dickson rightly calls out his failure to address racial prejudice much less provide equal opportunity for black officers and soldiers to show what they could do.
This is a well written book that explores the critical importance of Marshall’s leadership in the two years leading up to America’s entry into the war as well as his contribution to victory once the US entered the war. Clearly the initiatives he took were critical to America’s success on battlefields around the world from 1942 to 1945 and were implemented just in the nick of time.
Beyond interest in the major battles leading to victory in Europe and the Pacific, those who have read a good deal about World War II are aware of America’s awe-inspiring ramp-up of production of war materials, from tanks to ships to aircraft. The nation’s manufacturing genius has been rightly chronicled and praised, along with the role of women (Rosie the Riveter) in shipyards and on assembly lines.
Author Paul Dickson has focused on another astonishing transformation, the building of the American Army prior to Pearl Harbor under the direction of General George Marshall as Army Chief of Staff.
US military capability in 1939 barely met the standards of a third world country. Public disillusionment over the loss of life and treasure in World War I meant there was little support for military expenditure or a large peacetime army. Instead, there was the view that America should avoid entanglement in foreign wars. Most families had suffered economic hardship during the Great Depression. The social safety net to provide economic relief, created by FDR, had made great claims on government resources. But FDR cut army pay and veterans benefits in 1933.
As a result, a professional military career was very unattractive in the 1920s and 1930s. There was little chance of promotion. In 1939 the military spent $65 per man per year on training. No officers had experience directing large numbers of troops on a fast-moving modern battlefield, coordinating air power, armor, and mechanized deployment of forces. Indeed many were committed to cavalry and horse-drawn means of logistical supply.
Marshall thus had to contend with a host of challenges, ranging from isolationist sentiment to a lack of modern equipment to an aging officer corps to a lack of manpower itself. Dickson does a marvelous job telling the story of how Marshall threaded his way through Congress and dealt with FDR who, early on, had to be cajoled to increase military expenditure for a land army. (Roosevelt was a Navy guy, and saw sea power as the way to defend a nation insulated by two oceans.)
Instituting a peacetime draft in isolationist America was a tough sell and Marshall faced disaster by asking that the term of conscription be limited to 12 months. Without an extension, two-thirds of the army that Marshall had built and trained would be released between October and December, 1941. Draft extension passed the House of Representatives by only one vote, and that was achieved through legislative slight-of-hand by House Speaker Sam Rayburn.
Most impressive was how Marshall evaluated those to be given senior command in the war to come (Eisenhower and Patton among others) and built a pipeline to train the junior officers so critical to battlefield success. By Pearl Harbor he had built an army of 1.5 million soldiers and had created officer training schools turning out 45,000 young and able officers to provide leadership. Three-quarters of the Army’s lieutenants and captains in World War II were graduates of of these officer training schools and most returned to civilian life after the war.
Poverty and the Great Depression had taken their toll on the health of young men of draft age. Malnutrition, toothlessness, poor health and illness caused half the men drafted in the first 12 months to be sent home.
Marshall’s insistence on large scale maneuvers, generally known as the Louisiana Maneuvers but also held in North Carolina, California, and Upstate New York as well as states bordering Louisiana, revealed shortcomings in the army’s equipment and helped sort out competent officers from those who failed to meet the challenges of modern warfare. One example of the tendency to cling to tradition: The army was still acquiring horses for use in North Carolina maneuvers held just three weeks before Pearl Harbor.
But the scale and size of the maneuvers were designed precisely to sort out the critical requirements of a modern army and demonstrate the need for change. Taken together, the Louisiana maneuvers in 1941 involved 400,000 troops, about equal to the size of our active duty military today. Many of these troops remained in the field for five months.
Marshall was unbending when it came to protocol and no one, not even FDR, called him George. He was “General.” But he was sensitive to the needs of enlisted men and had disdain for the personal complaints of officers. He focused on troop morale, which meant addressing the needs of men for food, shelter and entertainment. He also invested in medical and dental treatment essential to the health of soldiers who would be asked to endure hardship on the battlefield.
One apparent blind spot for Marshall was his failure to create opportunity for African Americans. In this he was, unfortunately, a white man of his times and the fact that he was a graduate of Virginia Military Institute may have shaped his views. Dickson rightly calls out his failure to address racial prejudice much less provide equal opportunity for black officers and soldiers to show what they could do.
This is a well written book that explores the critical importance of Marshall’s leadership in the two years leading up to America’s entry into the war as well as his contribution to victory once the US entered the war. Clearly the initiatives he took were critical to America’s success on battlefields around the world from 1942 to 1945 and were implemented just in the nick of time.
July 20, 2020
Bravo
Once in a while along comes a book that enlightens and fills in a necessary gap. This is one of those books. To General Marshall the laurel wreath. To the Army the lesson of the Louisiana Maneuvers an 80+ year legacy of lessons learned. The bonus part of this book is the steady account of the road toward the integration of the Army. A hard but necessary lesson. Read this book, it gets out to the field while Marshsll still won a global victory.
Once in a while along comes a book that enlightens and fills in a necessary gap. This is one of those books. To General Marshall the laurel wreath. To the Army the lesson of the Louisiana Maneuvers an 80+ year legacy of lessons learned. The bonus part of this book is the steady account of the road toward the integration of the Army. A hard but necessary lesson. Read this book, it gets out to the field while Marshsll still won a global victory.
September 8, 2020
This is a fascinating look at what it took to create the US military needed to fight World War II from basically nothing. There are also some interesting and inspiring stories about real celebrities and high level politicians who were drafted or enlisted to fight in the war. The incredibly large scale war games that were conducted in 1941 (prior to Pearl Harbor) were critical for teaching skills needed in combat, but also for pointing out the vast deficiencies that existed in the military at the time.
Accounts of the Pentagon's unwillingness to racially integrate the armed services, even at a time of dire need for personnel, is very timely as the artifacts of American racism continue to plague our society.
Accounts of the Pentagon's unwillingness to racially integrate the armed services, even at a time of dire need for personnel, is very timely as the artifacts of American racism continue to plague our society.
December 16, 2020
“The Rise of the GI Army, 1940-1941: the forgotten story of how America forged a powerful army before Pearl Harbor,” by Paul Dickson (Atlantic Monthly, 2020). It’s not clear whether this story was forgotten, or had never been told. Other books include mentions of prewar military maneuvers, the installation of the draft, the strength of isolationism. But all that has been essentially in passing. Dickson portrays in great depth and detail everything that took place in the year before Pearl Harbor that enabled the United States to begin to fight back much more quickly than the Germans or Japanese expected. In 1939 the US army had fewer than 150,000 troops; the air corps barely existed; the officer ranks were full of superannuated generals (at least one had been in the service since the Spanish American War). The M-1 Garand rifle existed, but fewer than 2,000 were in soldiers’ hands and only 300 a month were being manufactured. Nobody had any experience handling large numbers of troops in the field, or supplying them, or organizing them. And the majority of Americans were vehemently opposed to getting involved in any fighting. Antiwar sentiment was so strong there was even an organization called the Veterans of Future Wars. But FDR understood what was going to come, and was doing all he could to prepare the country. Perhaps the most important move he made was to name George Marshall as Army chief of staff. I had known and admired Marshall for his brilliant invention of the Marshall Plan for recovery in Europe. But what he did to build an army? No idea. Not to get into details, but by Pearl Harbor the US had a well-trained army of 1.5 million soldiers; the army had been through three huge sets of increasingly realistic maneuvers in the South; Officer Candidate Schools had been created to turn out hundreds of thousands of new officers; weak officers had been purged and strong officers advanced—perhaps none more consequential (and unexpected) than the development of Dwight D. Eisenhower. About those maneuvers: Dickson describes them in gritty detail; for years afterward veterans would say that the fighting they encountered was nothing compared to the Louisiana maneuvers. One element Dickson includes that in earlier days would have gotten short shrift: the involvement of African Americans in the war effort. Black Americans wanted to fight; but it was not just the Jim Crow South that resisted them. It was most of the military and civilian establishment. Baby Boomers who knew A. Philip Randolph mostly as a far-too-moderate figure during the ‘60s civil right era had no idea how hard he fought to gain equal treatment for black Americans during the early 1940s. I could go on; the story this book tells is a revelation.
https://groveatlantic.com/book/the-ri...
https://groveatlantic.com/book/the-ri...
December 31, 2020
This was an interesting look at the prewar build of U.S. Army just before World War 2 after nearly two decades of budget and troop reductions after World War 1. Unlike the massive military budgets of today, the government stripped-down the military budgets prior to World War 2 (it even happened between WW2 and the Korean War). Just prior to this book I also read Douglas MacArthur's biography, American Caesar by William Manchester(highly recommended), which touched upon this period between world wars so this book was an excellent followup to it regarding military preparedness.
We also meet what would become household names during the war like Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton, George Marshall and Omar Bradley. Also playing the biggest part were those that would become the G.I's. Some started in the depression era Civilian Conservation Corp who would be tasked with infrastructure and related projects. the rest would later start when the draft was initiated in 1940 after it was felt, despite a persistent "America First" isolation sentiment, a stronger military was needed after events in Europe in 1939-40 heated up.
In 1941 the Army held multiple large scale exercises across the United States. It was during these maneuvers the G.I's learned to work together get familiarized with military equipment and acting like an army. Those in command also learned who were best for the jobs in leadership, equipment that was needed and the logistics involved. This played a big part in how the U.S. Army became the force it would become as the war evolved. Without this foresight and training beforehand, the war may have lasted a lot longer than it did.
The book is full of details and is easy to follow. I would recommend this for those who are interested in the U.S. military in this time period
We also meet what would become household names during the war like Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton, George Marshall and Omar Bradley. Also playing the biggest part were those that would become the G.I's. Some started in the depression era Civilian Conservation Corp who would be tasked with infrastructure and related projects. the rest would later start when the draft was initiated in 1940 after it was felt, despite a persistent "America First" isolation sentiment, a stronger military was needed after events in Europe in 1939-40 heated up.
In 1941 the Army held multiple large scale exercises across the United States. It was during these maneuvers the G.I's learned to work together get familiarized with military equipment and acting like an army. Those in command also learned who were best for the jobs in leadership, equipment that was needed and the logistics involved. This played a big part in how the U.S. Army became the force it would become as the war evolved. Without this foresight and training beforehand, the war may have lasted a lot longer than it did.
The book is full of details and is easy to follow. I would recommend this for those who are interested in the U.S. military in this time period
August 20, 2020
I have read a significant amount of writing covering this period in US and World history. Inspired to learn more as my Father was an early draftee and was shipped to the UK prior to the US entering the war. Also had 3 uncles serve in combat units. My Mother, a stereotypical 1950’s housewife built radios and packaged first aid kits during the war. No fanfare or “look what I did” from any of these. They are all gone now, no one to ask about these things. My Father was sitting on a transport in NYC harbor, headed to England when FDR spoke on the radio saying “none of our American boys will be sent overseas.” FDR lost one vote there. My endorsement of this book is that it tells of how much was done prior to December 7, 1941 and shows if this had not been done the war would have been even more costly and lengthy.
July 28, 2020
Paul Dickson once again delivers a bit of little known history in a highly readable, fun, and poignant way. This time, his subject is the time leading up to World War II when the US could have been caught with our pants down but, because of some key figures, and a bit of luck, we were able to muster an army that was able to lead to an allied victory. He is especially good at bringing the history into contemporary relevance by highlighting party squabbles that nearly created conditions that would have led to catastrophic consequences, as well as the ability during that time of crisis for inter party cooperation and a demand for excellence in government and the military, and the ongoing struggle for civil rights that was a constant issue in the formation of a new army. A wonderful read.
August 3, 2024
The Rise of the G. I. Army: 1940-1941
Paul Dickson
Paul Dickson’s 2020 work falls into the category of histories of the US prior to or just as the Second World War engulfed our isolationist nation. FDR wanted to help the British in their “darkest hour,” but was hamstrung. Our Army boasted fewer than 200,000 poorly trained and poorly equipped men.
This work shows the open and behind the scenes actions of the US Army, to rearm and train a modern force for a war that most knew was inevitably coming. Specifically, it looks at the efforts of General Marshall and the younger officers who would rise up to command the US war effort once Pearl Harbor brought the war to our doorstep. Officers who would soon become household names, such as Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton, figured into the training of the hopelessly unprepared army of 1940. Through their efforts, the US went from having an untrained army about the size of Portugal’s army to one of the largest, best trained, and best equipped forces in the world.
And the US needed such an army, because as soon as the war started, it found a large part of its standing army cut off then lost in the Philippines. It suddenly had US possessions in the Pacific to guard, plus Australia, New Zealand, and French colonies all but abandoned by France by the Vichy regime, possessions that must not fall into Japanese hands. Dickson’s work shows how the US began and continued a peacetime draft thanks to a slim and sometimes to a one-vote margin in the two years before Pearl Harbor. This ragged but growing army trained with old trucks covered with cardboard signs that read TANK and used stove pipes to substitute for mortars. The standard rifle was a pre-World War I model, first developed in 1906.
President Roosevelt and General Marshall could read the tea leaves of the war in Europe. And they were well aware of Japanese ambitions in China and Southeast Asia, as European powers fell to the Axis and colonial outposts were left essentially unguarded. The pair in Washington could see how overstretched Britain was to fight Germany and defend its empire.
Dickson examines all aspects of these times, from the politics of isolation and denial to the realities of Japanese and German aggression from Europe to North Africa to China.
Without a well-trained and growing army, the US just might be swept aside as easily as countries like France were, countries with well-defined defenses and large armies. The US navy alone—also depleted and unprepared—was not enough to guarantee peace and engage in a world war as a partner to Britain if it came to that. And it soon came to that.
I highly recommend this work for those who, like me, are fascinated by the early war years, a time when the US was caught unprepared and had so many forces coming against it. A time when there was no assured Allied victory and success hung in the balance.
Paul Dickson
Paul Dickson’s 2020 work falls into the category of histories of the US prior to or just as the Second World War engulfed our isolationist nation. FDR wanted to help the British in their “darkest hour,” but was hamstrung. Our Army boasted fewer than 200,000 poorly trained and poorly equipped men.
This work shows the open and behind the scenes actions of the US Army, to rearm and train a modern force for a war that most knew was inevitably coming. Specifically, it looks at the efforts of General Marshall and the younger officers who would rise up to command the US war effort once Pearl Harbor brought the war to our doorstep. Officers who would soon become household names, such as Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton, figured into the training of the hopelessly unprepared army of 1940. Through their efforts, the US went from having an untrained army about the size of Portugal’s army to one of the largest, best trained, and best equipped forces in the world.
And the US needed such an army, because as soon as the war started, it found a large part of its standing army cut off then lost in the Philippines. It suddenly had US possessions in the Pacific to guard, plus Australia, New Zealand, and French colonies all but abandoned by France by the Vichy regime, possessions that must not fall into Japanese hands. Dickson’s work shows how the US began and continued a peacetime draft thanks to a slim and sometimes to a one-vote margin in the two years before Pearl Harbor. This ragged but growing army trained with old trucks covered with cardboard signs that read TANK and used stove pipes to substitute for mortars. The standard rifle was a pre-World War I model, first developed in 1906.
President Roosevelt and General Marshall could read the tea leaves of the war in Europe. And they were well aware of Japanese ambitions in China and Southeast Asia, as European powers fell to the Axis and colonial outposts were left essentially unguarded. The pair in Washington could see how overstretched Britain was to fight Germany and defend its empire.
Dickson examines all aspects of these times, from the politics of isolation and denial to the realities of Japanese and German aggression from Europe to North Africa to China.
Without a well-trained and growing army, the US just might be swept aside as easily as countries like France were, countries with well-defined defenses and large armies. The US navy alone—also depleted and unprepared—was not enough to guarantee peace and engage in a world war as a partner to Britain if it came to that. And it soon came to that.
I highly recommend this work for those who, like me, are fascinated by the early war years, a time when the US was caught unprepared and had so many forces coming against it. A time when there was no assured Allied victory and success hung in the balance.
December 17, 2024
At the start of the second world war at the United States had a small army with almost no modern equipment. The Air Corps was in even worse shape. Three years later, the United States was prepared to put divisional sized elements ashore in a contested amphibious attack across the Atlantic. This book chronicles the human side of that transformation. (if you want to hear about our production, you’ll have to look elsewhere.)
The hero of the story is General Marshall, who understood the need to recruit and train the men and to turn over the officer corps, replacing elderly peacetime officers with younger aggressive wartime ones. The main themes of the book are the draft process and the series of large scale field training exercise exercises in the run up to war. There is a mix of Washington politics generals, making decisions and common soldiers having experience with the background of the national political climate.
The tone is hagiography-inflected narrative rather than analysis. The author is excited to tell us about the army pioneering its tank destroyer doctrine in exercises. We do not have a word about the fact that his doctrine fell apart in the field. The author does not at any point call out even one aspect of the mobilization process that was mistaken, or went badly.
Even so I learned quite a lot and was not frustrated by the author’s omissions. Some things that stuck:
- there was a tremendous surge of anti-war student activism in the late 30s. It was exactly the tone of student political protesters today. All of those people quietly enlisted when the time came.
- the physical health of the population in the 30s was really quite bad and the army and the public were shocked when it turned out how many people were suffering from malnutrition or untreated dental problems
- Marshall was acutely aware of the experience of political generals in the Civil War and was determined to keep the army under the control of West pointers and not allow part-time National Guard officers to take any senior roles.
- there had been a total turnover of best-practice equipment and tactics since World War I and the pre-war army had precisely no opportunities to acquire or try out modern kit. The pre-warm maneuvers were the first time when the army got to figure out what its trucks and radios could and could not do.
The hero of the story is General Marshall, who understood the need to recruit and train the men and to turn over the officer corps, replacing elderly peacetime officers with younger aggressive wartime ones. The main themes of the book are the draft process and the series of large scale field training exercise exercises in the run up to war. There is a mix of Washington politics generals, making decisions and common soldiers having experience with the background of the national political climate.
The tone is hagiography-inflected narrative rather than analysis. The author is excited to tell us about the army pioneering its tank destroyer doctrine in exercises. We do not have a word about the fact that his doctrine fell apart in the field. The author does not at any point call out even one aspect of the mobilization process that was mistaken, or went badly.
Even so I learned quite a lot and was not frustrated by the author’s omissions. Some things that stuck:
- there was a tremendous surge of anti-war student activism in the late 30s. It was exactly the tone of student political protesters today. All of those people quietly enlisted when the time came.
- the physical health of the population in the 30s was really quite bad and the army and the public were shocked when it turned out how many people were suffering from malnutrition or untreated dental problems
- Marshall was acutely aware of the experience of political generals in the Civil War and was determined to keep the army under the control of West pointers and not allow part-time National Guard officers to take any senior roles.
- there had been a total turnover of best-practice equipment and tactics since World War I and the pre-war army had precisely no opportunities to acquire or try out modern kit. The pre-warm maneuvers were the first time when the army got to figure out what its trucks and radios could and could not do.
July 14, 2024
Every once in a while, a book catches your eye because of the topic and then surprises you with its breadth and comprehensive treatment of the subject matter. The story of the Louisiana and Carolina Maneuvers in 1940 has long been of interest as an historian, a former member of the Maryland Army National Guard, a reenactor, and a wargamer. The insertion of film footage from these and other maneuvers into a series of Hollywood films of the day also caught my eye. Paul Dickson gives us the story of these maneuvers and others, the place these held in the complex efforts to prepare the American armed forces for their role in the already ongoing World War, and the wider social and political context and impact of these efforts.
The Rise of the G.I. Army, 1940-1941 is the story of America transitioning from peacetime to wartime, and ultimately its emergence as a superpower in the postwar world. The author presents the story of this evolution in almost 500 pages and 15 chapters, supported by 40 images (many from his own collection), a 13-page bibliography, and over 50 pages of End Notes. Dickson explores aspects as varied as the role of the Civilian Conservation Corps program, the response of the African American community to plans for military expansion, the role of journalists and Hollywood filmmakers, and the legacy of these exercises reaching beyond the impending war. What he has given us in this volume is a snapshot of American society, its politics, and its armed forces during this transition.
I disagree with him only with regard to the role of tank destroyers during the exercises, which was largely a construct injected by General McNair without reference to any hard data. When the tank destroyer units actually saw combat in North Africa, they quickly threw away the “lessons” of Louisiana and the Carolinas and started relearning tactics and rewriting doctrine. It’s worth adding that after World War II, the US Army removed the tank destroyers from the inventory.
Despite that quibble, I highly recommend this book even for the general reader who is interested in America at large in these years. Having borrowed this from my public library, I have actually ordered a personal copy to add to my own library.
The Rise of the G.I. Army, 1940-1941 is the story of America transitioning from peacetime to wartime, and ultimately its emergence as a superpower in the postwar world. The author presents the story of this evolution in almost 500 pages and 15 chapters, supported by 40 images (many from his own collection), a 13-page bibliography, and over 50 pages of End Notes. Dickson explores aspects as varied as the role of the Civilian Conservation Corps program, the response of the African American community to plans for military expansion, the role of journalists and Hollywood filmmakers, and the legacy of these exercises reaching beyond the impending war. What he has given us in this volume is a snapshot of American society, its politics, and its armed forces during this transition.
I disagree with him only with regard to the role of tank destroyers during the exercises, which was largely a construct injected by General McNair without reference to any hard data. When the tank destroyer units actually saw combat in North Africa, they quickly threw away the “lessons” of Louisiana and the Carolinas and started relearning tactics and rewriting doctrine. It’s worth adding that after World War II, the US Army removed the tank destroyers from the inventory.
Despite that quibble, I highly recommend this book even for the general reader who is interested in America at large in these years. Having borrowed this from my public library, I have actually ordered a personal copy to add to my own library.
May 29, 2022
Paul Dickson wrote a great pre-WWII history of the U.S Army. Dickson set out to write a history that establishes the Army as a powerful force before they entered the war. He revealed that George Marshall, architect of the WWII Army, learned lessons about organization and morale by running the CCC during the Depression. Marshall had the foresight to reorganize the divisions for the new realities of combat in Europe, unlike the older generals who still thought in terms of WWI static combat. The author did a great job weaving the America First, Veterans of Future Wars, Isolationism, and race into the fight for the draft. Unlike previous books, he shined light on the maneuvers, lessons learned from them, and the politics and hurt egos of the purge.
My biggest problem with the book is that little of it was spent on the incompetence of leadership, logistics nightmare, and the complete and utter unpreparedness of the troops going into North Africa. Rick Atkinson's An Army at Dawn reveals that the North African campaign was the true architect of the WWII Army, not the maneuvers. The maneuvers planted the seeds but if you follow the undertones of Dickson's book, it makes you think they went into NA waging modern war thanks to the Battle of the Bayous. No, the US Army learned how to wage war not in Louisiana, but in Africa.
Still, it's a good book to check out, even though the last two chapters could have been edited or deleted.
My biggest problem with the book is that little of it was spent on the incompetence of leadership, logistics nightmare, and the complete and utter unpreparedness of the troops going into North Africa. Rick Atkinson's An Army at Dawn reveals that the North African campaign was the true architect of the WWII Army, not the maneuvers. The maneuvers planted the seeds but if you follow the undertones of Dickson's book, it makes you think they went into NA waging modern war thanks to the Battle of the Bayous. No, the US Army learned how to wage war not in Louisiana, but in Africa.
Still, it's a good book to check out, even though the last two chapters could have been edited or deleted.
April 20, 2020
This the story of how the U.S. Army was formed, trained, and prepared for World War II. It is the story of General George C. Marshall as Chief of Staff, fought the Congress and the press to increase, train, evaluate and prepare the Army to defend the nation.
This is also the story of how newly-elected President Roosevelt and a few civilians prepared and then turned Isolationist America into a force to fight a World War.
Discover how the Civilian Conservation Corps came into being, how the Army was involved and how this civilian organization paved the way for Non-commissioned Officers (NCOs) in the new Army.
Learn the story of how the peacetime draft passes the House of Representatives by ONE vote.
See how General Marshall institutes the Officer Candidate School, turning promising enlisted soldiers into young field officers.
Here you will find how the three major field exercises in 1941 were used to evaluate men, equipment and new Army formations. General Marshall also used the results to prune the old officer corps and identify the officers that would lead the Allies to victory.
Exceptional research has been performed and compiled to present a story that flows and is easy to read.
An excellent resource for high school and college students and everyone interested in World War II, particularly the preparation and early days of the war.
This is also the story of how newly-elected President Roosevelt and a few civilians prepared and then turned Isolationist America into a force to fight a World War.
Discover how the Civilian Conservation Corps came into being, how the Army was involved and how this civilian organization paved the way for Non-commissioned Officers (NCOs) in the new Army.
Learn the story of how the peacetime draft passes the House of Representatives by ONE vote.
See how General Marshall institutes the Officer Candidate School, turning promising enlisted soldiers into young field officers.
Here you will find how the three major field exercises in 1941 were used to evaluate men, equipment and new Army formations. General Marshall also used the results to prune the old officer corps and identify the officers that would lead the Allies to victory.
Exceptional research has been performed and compiled to present a story that flows and is easy to read.
An excellent resource for high school and college students and everyone interested in World War II, particularly the preparation and early days of the war.
October 9, 2020
This book was of special interest to my husband because his dad's National Guard unit was activated in 1941--some six months before Pearl Harbor. While we've heard lots of Pearl Harbor and WWII stories from his mom, but the reasons his dad's unit was called up and his pre-war experiences are nearly nonexistent. Since the unit was stationed in Louisiana, it seems likely they were part of the training manuevers described in Paul Dickson's account of the period leading up to the outbreak of WWII.
The Rise of the G.I. Army details a rising concern in political and military circles in the late 1930s about America's military capacity to meet the growing threat of war in Europe. A strong isolationist sentiment challenged the need for focused military training and build-up, however.
Dickson asserts that the Depression-era work-relief program--the Conservation Civilian Corps-- set the model for the military retrenchment and was the source of many of the military leaders serving key roles in the war. Without the foresight of some key leaders--George Marshall significantly--the U.S. would have been far less prepared to fight WWII. It was his contention that the narrow vote in the House of Representatives in 1941 to extend the Selective Service Act "saved two million American lives and shortened the war...by two years."
The Rise of the G.I. Army details a rising concern in political and military circles in the late 1930s about America's military capacity to meet the growing threat of war in Europe. A strong isolationist sentiment challenged the need for focused military training and build-up, however.
Dickson asserts that the Depression-era work-relief program--the Conservation Civilian Corps-- set the model for the military retrenchment and was the source of many of the military leaders serving key roles in the war. Without the foresight of some key leaders--George Marshall significantly--the U.S. would have been far less prepared to fight WWII. It was his contention that the narrow vote in the House of Representatives in 1941 to extend the Selective Service Act "saved two million American lives and shortened the war...by two years."
December 7, 2021
Highly recommended. With the US in WWII, most accounts seem to begin with Pearl Harbor and the political environment that lead to it.
This book tells the story of the Army leaders (principally, George Marshall and SecWar Stimson) who recognized that the US could not avoid war and began in the late 1930s to prepare the US Army for combat.
Dickson's account is very readable. He provides the context for the Draft (and the battle over extending the initial draft term), the isolationist opposition, Marshall's focus on morale and leadership (including purging deadwood in the senior ranks) and the multiple large-scale exercises that served to both prepare the Army for logistics on an operational scale *and* highlight to the public that the 1939-41 Army was woefully under-equipped.
In almost every chapter Dickson highlights the effects of racial segregation in the Army and highlights the resistance of many Army leaders to integrating the force.
Given the centrality of the Louisiana Maneuvers and all of the other large scale exercises, it would have been helpful to include some maps showing the troop movements Dickson describes in the text. Even having lived in the area of two of the exercises he described, I found it necessary to refer to a separate map to make sense of some of the descriptions.
This book tells the story of the Army leaders (principally, George Marshall and SecWar Stimson) who recognized that the US could not avoid war and began in the late 1930s to prepare the US Army for combat.
Dickson's account is very readable. He provides the context for the Draft (and the battle over extending the initial draft term), the isolationist opposition, Marshall's focus on morale and leadership (including purging deadwood in the senior ranks) and the multiple large-scale exercises that served to both prepare the Army for logistics on an operational scale *and* highlight to the public that the 1939-41 Army was woefully under-equipped.
In almost every chapter Dickson highlights the effects of racial segregation in the Army and highlights the resistance of many Army leaders to integrating the force.
Given the centrality of the Louisiana Maneuvers and all of the other large scale exercises, it would have been helpful to include some maps showing the troop movements Dickson describes in the text. Even having lived in the area of two of the exercises he described, I found it necessary to refer to a separate map to make sense of some of the descriptions.
July 28, 2021
Was given this doc for an honest review.
I read this book months ago but have gotten so far behind on my reviews. Really a very telling story first about who were unprepared for any type of war if it would have happened in 1939, yet nineteen months later we were entering the war after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.
Here the author takes you the reader through the outdated equipment that was still being used much of it from World War One. How we only had barely 200,000 personnel. Yet the President along with George C. Marshall decided to conduct war games. Which actually was a good thing for many of the problems that came out of those games could be fixed, not all but some. Also could see the need for a draft, more equipment not just guns and ammo, but vehicles, tents, boots, socks, etc.
You also get to see which men truly start to stand out, Eisenhower, Bradley, Clark, and others. They have to deal with segregation and many other things that we really don’t think about in this day and age. Yes at times it was a little dry reading but overall I found this book to be very informative and worth the read.
I read this book months ago but have gotten so far behind on my reviews. Really a very telling story first about who were unprepared for any type of war if it would have happened in 1939, yet nineteen months later we were entering the war after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.
Here the author takes you the reader through the outdated equipment that was still being used much of it from World War One. How we only had barely 200,000 personnel. Yet the President along with George C. Marshall decided to conduct war games. Which actually was a good thing for many of the problems that came out of those games could be fixed, not all but some. Also could see the need for a draft, more equipment not just guns and ammo, but vehicles, tents, boots, socks, etc.
You also get to see which men truly start to stand out, Eisenhower, Bradley, Clark, and others. They have to deal with segregation and many other things that we really don’t think about in this day and age. Yes at times it was a little dry reading but overall I found this book to be very informative and worth the read.
February 9, 2023
A good overview of the state of the American army before Pearl Harbor, historian Paul Dickson makes a compelling case at how unprepared the U.S. was at the end of 1939 for armed conflict and how hard work led by U.S. Army Chief of Staff George Marshall were essential to creating a army, and culture that was necessary for the moment. Overcoming stiff opposition to America's neutral stance, the U.S. step-by-step prepared both the soldiers, and the nation for the challenge ahead. Difficulties from lack of material, continued prejudice against African-American G.I.s, and the comparative newness of thousands of officers training while on the job, the book shows how America's army went from being able to fit into Yankee Stadium, to a fighting force of over 11+ million men and women fighting at every corner of the world. While it does miss some of the more mundane aspects of military life (as well as the preparations done by the Navy), it is a perspective that has long been ignored and with his energetic style is treated to the attention it's due.
December 10, 2020
When my three kids asked my why I was reading a book about the formation of the G.I. Army prior to WWII, I said, "I like to see how something is created from nothing." That's a little simplistic, because there was a fighting force prior to the one Marshall and Patton helped to forge. But it was puny, and just like the American populace, it was malnourished and out of shape, thanks to the Great Depression. The policy and the personalities behind the transformation is a great story--and that's the one in this book.
Also, as an Army brat, reading books like this one that includes a lot of the humor that happens (or at least used to happen) between officers and just the lingo and scenes it paints in my mind is a little like a homecoming as the Army is my home state. In a crazy pandemic year, how nice it was to allow myself to pretend to be a kid on the side of the field watching Ranger football, or listening to my dad talk to his buddies about paratrooping mishaps.
Also, as an Army brat, reading books like this one that includes a lot of the humor that happens (or at least used to happen) between officers and just the lingo and scenes it paints in my mind is a little like a homecoming as the Army is my home state. In a crazy pandemic year, how nice it was to allow myself to pretend to be a kid on the side of the field watching Ranger football, or listening to my dad talk to his buddies about paratrooping mishaps.
March 28, 2023
In 1939, the U.S. Army, with 189,839 regular troops and officers, was ranked 17th in the world, behind Portugal. Regular Army units occupied 130 camps, posts, and stations nationwide. Approximately 50,000 soldiers served outside the United States, including forces occupying the Philippines and guarding the Panama Canal.
Paul Dickson's "The Rise of the G.I. Army 1940-1941: The Forgotten Story of How America Forged a Powerful Army Before Pearl Harbor" describes how the Army, under Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall's guidance, became a well-trained and formidable force nearly ten times its 1939 size by December 1941. The 1940 peacetime draft played a part, along with 1941's massive military maneuvers in Tennessee, Louisiana, and the Carolinas.
Dickson does a brilliant job of writing about this period in American history. "The Rise of the G.I. Army 1940-1941: The Forgotten Story of How America Forged a Powerful Army Before Pearl Harbor" is worth seeking out.
Paul Dickson's "The Rise of the G.I. Army 1940-1941: The Forgotten Story of How America Forged a Powerful Army Before Pearl Harbor" describes how the Army, under Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall's guidance, became a well-trained and formidable force nearly ten times its 1939 size by December 1941. The 1940 peacetime draft played a part, along with 1941's massive military maneuvers in Tennessee, Louisiana, and the Carolinas.
Dickson does a brilliant job of writing about this period in American history. "The Rise of the G.I. Army 1940-1941: The Forgotten Story of How America Forged a Powerful Army Before Pearl Harbor" is worth seeking out.
September 8, 2020
This is an excellent account of a little-known niche of American World War II history; how the US managed to grow a depleted Army of less than 120,000 in 1935 into a force of millions that defeated the most professional armies of the world by 1945.
Under george Marshall, the Army weeded out depleted officers and produced Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Mark Clark, George Patton, and more. The book is well written, exhaustively researched, and a tale entertaining to read.
One notable fact, Gen. George Marshall was as responsible as anyone for winning the war, and later engineering the peaceful reconstruction of Europe afterwards. But in a time when there's debate about military bases named for Confederate generals, nothing is named after George Marshall.
Under george Marshall, the Army weeded out depleted officers and produced Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Mark Clark, George Patton, and more. The book is well written, exhaustively researched, and a tale entertaining to read.
One notable fact, Gen. George Marshall was as responsible as anyone for winning the war, and later engineering the peaceful reconstruction of Europe afterwards. But in a time when there's debate about military bases named for Confederate generals, nothing is named after George Marshall.
December 15, 2020
It was quite an accomplishment for the United States to go from a 100,000 man Army in 1939 to a 2,000,000 man army in 1941. This is largely attributable to Franklin Roosevelt‘s choice of George Marshall to head of the civilian conservation Corps in 1936 which was run by the Army; and then by elevating him to the US Army chief of staff in 1939 where he aggressively got American ready for war in less than two years. Marshall did this by streamlining the command system in the US Army and also by running to large scale maneuvers in 1939 in 1940 to test out the command structure and modify the army as required. A largely unknown part of World War II history.
March 9, 2020
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. Even though the timeframe of this book is pre-Pearl Harbor it can rightly be included with histories of World War 2. Very little had been written about the struggles of Marshall, Patton, Eisenhower, and Roosevelt in getting the United States ready for a war they could see coming. Much is said here about the draft and its controversies and the war games used to prepare the troops and generals for the coming fight. With this finely crafted book we now have a better understanding of the pre-war army and its leaders.
July 21, 2020
I’m same age as author, born and raised in Washington DC, and thought I knew pre WW2 history well. Paul Dickson gave great insight into the divided opinions about our government’s leadership. I was not aware of the deep distrust of the FDR administration. I was aware of the racial bigotry that existed in the country and in the nations capital. We’re still paying the price for shameful treatment of our black fellow citizens and will continue to do so for many years to come. Mr. Dickson did a masterful job of explaining the racial intolerance in that time period.
June 12, 2022
wow, this was a great book. I bought it on a whim at the airport, and never put it down on the plane. Why i liked it so much? it really made clear how great George Marshall was. I was especially taken by the value in restructuring the Army prior to WW2. The Louisiana and other big exercise this book is sort of about, was basically a tool to figure out who was capable and who wasnt
I was also taken aback but the statistics on how underfed our young men were in the middle of the Depression; having an Army turn away possible soldiers is amazing to me.
I was also taken aback but the statistics on how underfed our young men were in the middle of the Depression; having an Army turn away possible soldiers is amazing to me.
July 11, 2022
Excellent Historical Presentation
This is a factual and well documented presentation of a critical period of pre WWII history in America. I am in my 70's and well remember many of the participants, politicians and survivors who were themselves professional men and women in their 30's to 60's who were still active in my youth. I have long been a student of American and military history but this well written and well documented book brings this period of time into great clarity.
An interesting, informative and easy read.
This is a factual and well documented presentation of a critical period of pre WWII history in America. I am in my 70's and well remember many of the participants, politicians and survivors who were themselves professional men and women in their 30's to 60's who were still active in my youth. I have long been a student of American and military history but this well written and well documented book brings this period of time into great clarity.
An interesting, informative and easy read.
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