After drilling troops during the American Revolution, Baron
Friedrich von Steuben reportedly noted that although one could tell
a Prussian what to do and expect him to do it, one had to tell an
American why he ought to do something before he would comply.
Although such individualistic thinking is part of the democratic
genius of American society, it also complicates efforts to train
and educate citizen-soldiers.
For more than three decades, the U.S. Army's "Troop Information"
program used films, radio programs, pamphlets, and lectures to stir
patriotism and spark contempt for the enemy. Christopher S. DeRosa
examines soldiers' formal political indoctrination, focusing on the
political training of draftees and short-term volunteers from 1940
to 1973.
DeRosa draws on the records of the army and the Department of
Defense's information offices, the content of the indoctrination
materials themselves, and soldiers' recollections in analyzing the
political messages the nation conveyed to its army during three
decades of conscription. He examines how the program took root as
an army institution, how its technique evolved over time, and how
it interacted with the larger American political culture. In so
doing, he explores the implications of trying to impose a political
consensus on the army of a democracy.
General
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