The Army Combat Historian And Combat History Operations: World War I to the Vietnam War

In World War I, Major General Pershing proposed the idea of establishing a historical office within the AEF headquarters. The War Department reorganised the General Staff to include a Historical Branch. Evidence shows that soldiers acting as historians went "down range," albeit not into combat. By World War II, the situation had changed – whether S.L.A. Marshall's popping out of a billet in Sibret as a shells exploded on the road; Forrest Pogue's typing "on a little camp desk under an apple tree;" Chester Starr's terrain reconnaissance in the Mediterranean theater, or Ken Hechler's command of a four-man historical team interviewing soldiers at the Remagen Bridge and searching through secret documents – the World War II combat historians were there behind and on the front lines with a notebook in one hand and their carbine in the other hand, ever ready to collect battlefield information.   Eight historical service detachments were deployed to Korea. The youngest commander, 1st Lieutenant Bevin Alexander, noted "We were on the front lines the whole time… We would interview the people afterwards and create a battle study." After the Korean War, the duties of the combat historian further evolved as what became the Center of Military History published doctrine about military history detachments (MHDs). As America’s immersion in Vietnam escalated, there was concern regarding historical coverage. Chief of Military History Brigadier General Hal Pattison established a network of historical teams to collect information on the U.S Army in the war. A major development in the history program and in deploying MHDs came with the establishment of Headquarters, U.S. Army Vietnam (USARV) under General William C. Westmoreland’s command. In 1965, the history office was organised at Headquarters, U.S. Army Vietnam (USARV). MHDs were deployed across Vietnam, conducting combat after action interviews, and collecting documents. This study focuses on U.S. Army historical programs during combat operations from World War I to the Vietnam War with particular attention on the combat historians, those individuals deployed to a theater of war with the mission of documenting the actions of that theater for current and future historical use.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Preface   Chapter 1: World War I and the Beginning of Army Wartime History Operations Chapter II: Post-World War I Army Military History Operations Chapter III: Establishing the World War II Army Historical Program Chapter IV: Training the World War II Combat Historian Chapter V: Historical Program in the European Theater of Operations Chapter VI: Army Combat Historians in the Pacific Theater Chapter VII: Army Combat History Operations in the Mediterranean Theater Chapter VIII: Post-World War II Army Military History Doctrine Chapter IX: Korean War and Army Combat History Operations Chapter X: Post Korean War Army Military History Doctrine Chapter XI: The Vietnam War and Army Combat History Operations   Epilogue Appendix A: Marshall's How To Do It for Historical Officers Bibliography Endnotes Index

About the Author :
Dr. Kathryn Roe Coker received a doctorate in history from the University of South Carolina. She was the appraisal archivist at the South Carolina Department before serving for thirty years as an historian for the Department of the Army (DA). She has written extensively, and is the author of Virginia POW Camps In World War II (2022) and Georgia POW Camps In World War II (2019), both with Jason Wetzel. Jason Wetzel has an MA in education and history from Georgia State University. The bulk of his working life was in telecommunications, with side forays as a high school teacher and a Department of the Army historian. His interest is World War II history. His mother was an Australian war bride, and he is an Australian war baby. Dahlonega, Georgia, is his home.

Review :
"I recommend this book to all who are interested in or responsible for U.S. Army history or historical programs."-- "ARMY Magazine" "...will be of use to government and public historians, as well as to the general reader who is interested in how many of the iconic works of American military history came to be."-- "Journal of Military History" "The story is interesting, the characters are well-outlined, and the reader will be informed and engaged throughout."-- "ARGunners.com" "...you will discover what went into producing the official histories we often rely on as tabletop scenario sources."-- "Historical Miniatures Gaming Society" "How is history useful for an operational commander or to soldiers in general? What role does history have for doctrine and training to the U.S. Army as an institution? These are questions this book answers as the authors narrate the development combat historian and the evolving role of combat historians as they develop history into a useful tool for informing training, operations, and doctrine development."-- "New York Journal of Books"