26 Whole Number 227
Figure 5 is an envelope mailed in
December 1944 from New Mexico by a
husband to his wife, who was affected
with a “peculiar medical condition”.
Lets hope there were secrets only on one
end of the correspondence.
couple was one of the lucky ones, where he was as-
which seem to offer the soundest basis for predicting
signed in the US in a location where he could get home
happiness in marriage…in the order of their
once in awhile on a furlough.
importance….Look for a girl:
Having already gotten married, the above couples
1. Whose parents were happily married
were already focused on what to do after the war—
2. Who was happy in childhood
home, work, and children. The same question of “what
3. Who got on with her mother
to do after the war” was also being asked by soldiers
4. Who experienced home discipline that was firm
and sailors even as they were in the trenches and gun
but not harsh
tubs. Between 1943 and 1945, at the direction of the
5. Who was strongly attached to her mother
War Department, the American Historical Associa-
6. Who was strongly attached to her father
tion (AHA) produced the GI Roundtable series of 42
7. Who got on with her father
pamphlets intended to foster discussion among GIs
8. Who had parents who were frank about sex
on topics ranging from “Do You Want Your Wife to
9. Who was not punished often or severely in
Work after the War?” to “What Shall Be Done with
childhood
Germany?” with stops in-between at “What Is the
10. Whose attitude toward sex is free from disgust
Future of Television?” and “Shall I Go Back to
or aversion.”
School?” The main reason for the pamphlets was con-
cern among military and civilian leaders that enlist-
With all this in the background, there were a large
ees formed a potentially restless, dangerous, and un-
number of letters written between soldiers and sailors
controllable group (particularly among those stationed
overseas and women at home. Sometimes the letters
overseas) who were likely to
have difficulty adjusting back
to civilian lives. The US Army
sought the pamphlets as part of
a larger effort to prepare for the
transition to the postwar world.
The Army had adopted and
adapted a program used by the
British military. In the pro-
gram, leisure-time discussion
groups were structured to
“guide” discussion into certain
topic areas, represented by the
pamphlets. One of these was
titled “Can War Marriages Be
Made to Work?’, and offered
Figure 6 was mailed by a “90 Day Wonder” Officer Candidates School (OCS)
the following as “qualifications
attendee. These junior officers completed the officer’s training in only 90 days,
compared to the four years required for a commission at the service academies.
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