The War of Words by Molly Guptill Manning

 

First Line: When Dean Chatlain led his unit into battle in Southern Tunisia in early 1943, he did not expect the day's events would turn him into a literary hero.

 

Hitler's Germany was #1 in the number of newspapers published and sold. His propaganda budget was $134 million per year. When the United States entered World War II, US Army Chief of Staff George Marshall and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt knew that something had to be done to combat the Nazis' campaign of misinformation. The best defense was to lessen censorship and to let American troops bring the truth into focus by writing and disseminating it themselves. 

 

By war's end, over 4,600 unique GI publications had been printed around the world. In newsprint, troops made sense of their hardships, losses, and reasons for fighting, and these newspapers became the heart and soul of their units. They were kept by the soldiers and mailed back home to their loved ones, with strict instructions to save them all. 

 

From Normandy to the shores of Japan, American soldiers exercised a level of free speech the military had never known before... or since. As in her When Books Went to War (one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read), Molly Guptill Manning does a masterful job of showing what went into the creation of these GI newspapers. How typewriters, paper, mimeograph machines and stencils-- everything that the soldiers would need to create their newspapers-- were gathered and shipped. She shows the opposition George Marshall faced in putting this program together as well as how stateside newspapers enthusiastically joined forces with him. There were some mighty tender egos to be reckoned with, and I enjoyed how soldiers found ways to circumvent them to say what they wanted to say.

 

Probably the most important lesson learned by the War Department at this time was the fact that keeping soldiers and civilians in the dark actually lowered morale. At the beginning of America's entry into World War II, morale was very low. Soldiers couldn't understand why they were being sent to Europe when it was the Japanese who'd attacked Pearl Harbor. Why weren't they being sent to the Pacific? When the War Department eased up on censorship and began to let people know what was going on, morale skyrocketed. Soldiers knew what they were fighting for, and civilians were now eager to do their part in the war effort. 

 

There are so many powerful personalities to learn about in The War of Words. So many amazing stories of what had to be done to keep getting those newspapers into the hands of the troops. So many lessons those in power had to learn. (For instance, the need to provide news aimed at troops who were Black, Japanese-American, Native American, and women.)

 

On a personal note, as I read The War of Words, I was constantly reminded of my mother and a good friend who put their heads together to create a hometown newspaper for my cousin who was serving in Vietnam. Filled column by column with juicy gossip from my little farm town, it kept my cousin informed of what was going on at home-- and it became so popular that it was put on the bulletin board for everyone else to enjoy-- and they did even though they didn't know the people being gossiped about.

 

Never underestimate the power of words. 

The War of Words: How America's GI Journalists Battled Censorship and Propaganda to Help Win World War II

by Molly Guptill Manning

ASIN: B0BZJW7S7H

Blackstone Publishing © 2023

eBook, 323 pages

 

Non-Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley