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ix Foreword During World War I, Truman Smith acquired a distinguished record as an infantry officer commanding a company and later a battalion in combat. After the war he served in the occupation troops stationed in Coblenz. Then, in the twenty years between the world wars, he spent two four-year tours in Germany as an assistant military attaché and, then, as the military attaché. During the first tour in the 1920s, he became good friends with several of the German officers and was able to maintain those friendships after Hitler became dictator. Between these tours, he attended several of the army schools in the United States, and, at Fort Benning, he became one of the select group known as the Marshall Men. He also spent two years as a battalion commander in Hawaii. Although he developed diabetes, which in the army requires retirement, General George C. Marshall returned him to active duty. The chief of staff knew that he was the best American expert on the German army and, throughout the war, relied on him for his knowledge. After the war, the Smiths traveled extensively and kept up with friends, including Charles Lindbergh and Herbert Hoover. Truman Smith also stayed in touch with his German army friends, including Hans Speidel, a World War II general who became a NATO commander . Both of the Smiths wrote memoirs. Kay’s complemented Truman’s, since she offered accounts of several situations in his career that he merely mentioned. She outlived him by twenty-two years and was active until the last days of her life. Henry Gole is well qualified to write a biography of Truman Smith. In addition to the invaluable memoirs of Truman and Kay Smith, he had access to their correspondence and conducted extensive research of relevant books and articles. His experience as a soldier has helped him understand Smith’s military career. He left college to fight in Korea as an infantryman and then finished college , earned two graduate degrees, and taught high school. When he heard President Kennedy’s inaugural speech encouraging Americans to ask what they could do for their country, he volunteered and took a sizable cut in his salary to become a second lieutenant. x Foreword Then he attended the Basic Infantry Officer Course at Fort Benning, Ranger training, and jump school and eventually joined Special Forces. He saw combat in Vietnam with that elite organization. Henry studied at Stanford under the noted historian Gordon Craig and spent a year in Germany. Later, he served there four years as the assistant military attaché. With this background, he was an excellent teacher at West Point and the Army War College. It was my good fortune to meet and become a good friend of Henry’s when we both arrived at West Point in the summer of 1977. Later, in another visiting professor year, we became reacquainted at the Army War College. After he retired, Henry continued to teach at the War College. He earned his doctorate under the distinguished historian Russell Weigley. This is the fourth book he has published since he retired from the army, and it is my hope that he will write more in the future. Edward M. Coffman ...

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