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Selected Speeches and Statements of General of the Army George C. Marshall
An insight to the General of the US Army in which selected speeches and statements are reprinted for the sake of history covering the period of 1 October 1938 to a speech he gave at the 79th Congress 1st Session 16 June, 1945. This book includes most of General Marshall's important public statements before, during, and near the end of the Second World War.
263 pages, Hardcover
First published June 30, 1945
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February 28, 2017
General George C. Marshall is often forgotten about today in discussions surrounding the Second World War and the various high ranking military leaders of various nations; flamboyancy to some degree has its staying power I imagine to the American Psyche. Promoted to Chief of Staff of the Army the same day that the Germans invaded Poland (1 September 1939) he maintained his efforts at having an Army trained and put up to speed even before the Nazi invasion of Poland. The book of Speeches and Statements opens up at 1 October, 1938 at the Maxwell Air Field in Alabama (and concludes on Speech to the UN on 16 June 1945 in between the German and Japanese surrenders.)
The Statements to the US Congress in both Chambers and across the aisle informs the reader that this was certainly a different time in American society. His planning was effective and in my view the USA has never had a better organizer of the Army in terms of current and future need. A graduate of VMI in 1901 he would literally serve his country until his death in 1959. Sir Winston Churchill came across the ocean to see him in “Ward 8” of the Walter Reed Medical Center before his death in 1959. He was the outside choice for the position of Chief of Staff (CoS) for the US Army – his dissenting voice with logistical reasons behind it in the face of “yes men” earned his respect by FDR. His dissenting voice was supported with reasons why he wouldn’t recommend the aircraft that FDR wanted to send to Europe be sent, unless the full consideration of concerns and realities were addressed. It’s obvious that after reading of his Congressional Testimony he had a wonderful memory and could rattle off numbers of men, materiél, and future needs in a split of a moment without the use of notes. The United States and our Allies were all better off for his being in the position he was assigned. General Marshall’s points to the House and Senate hearings always were dignified and up front and personal with no hidden agenda with the one exception of merely having an Army worth the effort. This “effort” of the National Emergency as it was dubbed from October 1938 to January 1942 required an able person and logistician. George Marshall was all of these and never have I come across anything where he himself would look upon himself woefully when his stepson was killed in the Italian Campaign during the Second World War.
Major H.A. DeWeerd is the author of this book; the version I have has his original signature in it to which he addresses a friend (as a gift book) with “…good wishes…” Yet another point that books simply outlast people and one of the reasons I look sometimes for that “oddball” book that is no longer in print. To the case of history this book has long been forgotten but to me it is a treasure to keep of an era that has long ago departed. Soon, the last of the WW II Veterans will depart for good as well in present day. Simply a terrific book with full statements and speeches as provided by General Marshall.
The Statements to the US Congress in both Chambers and across the aisle informs the reader that this was certainly a different time in American society. His planning was effective and in my view the USA has never had a better organizer of the Army in terms of current and future need. A graduate of VMI in 1901 he would literally serve his country until his death in 1959. Sir Winston Churchill came across the ocean to see him in “Ward 8” of the Walter Reed Medical Center before his death in 1959. He was the outside choice for the position of Chief of Staff (CoS) for the US Army – his dissenting voice with logistical reasons behind it in the face of “yes men” earned his respect by FDR. His dissenting voice was supported with reasons why he wouldn’t recommend the aircraft that FDR wanted to send to Europe be sent, unless the full consideration of concerns and realities were addressed. It’s obvious that after reading of his Congressional Testimony he had a wonderful memory and could rattle off numbers of men, materiél, and future needs in a split of a moment without the use of notes. The United States and our Allies were all better off for his being in the position he was assigned. General Marshall’s points to the House and Senate hearings always were dignified and up front and personal with no hidden agenda with the one exception of merely having an Army worth the effort. This “effort” of the National Emergency as it was dubbed from October 1938 to January 1942 required an able person and logistician. George Marshall was all of these and never have I come across anything where he himself would look upon himself woefully when his stepson was killed in the Italian Campaign during the Second World War.
Major H.A. DeWeerd is the author of this book; the version I have has his original signature in it to which he addresses a friend (as a gift book) with “…good wishes…” Yet another point that books simply outlast people and one of the reasons I look sometimes for that “oddball” book that is no longer in print. To the case of history this book has long been forgotten but to me it is a treasure to keep of an era that has long ago departed. Soon, the last of the WW II Veterans will depart for good as well in present day. Simply a terrific book with full statements and speeches as provided by General Marshall.
Displaying 1 of 1 review