American Girls, Beer, and Glenn Miller: GI Morale in World War II

Epilogue

179 Epilogue The war was over, and GIs marveled at the massive destruction in Germany . The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment was sent to Berlin, which was well within the Russian zone of control. There really was not much to do except man checkpoints and try to maintain at least correct relations with the Russians who had taken this city. In the Friedenau area of Berlin the officers found an intact building and set up an officers’ mess. There was not much extra to eat, but the paratroop officers found a lot to drink. They had rationed and nonrationed drinks. Rye, scotch, and a little bourbon were available, but rum and gin were nonrationed, and the GIs had a choice of such drinks as Alexander’s Sister, American Beauty, Cabaret Cocktail, or Champs-Élysées. Of course, German beer was on their“wine list.” The 504th did not jump into Berlin, but at least the paratroopers could enjoy their spare time.1 Corporal Thomas R. St. George had enough of soldiering in the Pacific and was ready to go back to civilian life, eventually becoming a well-known author and Hollywood screenwriter. Ironically, during his GI days he found a WAC sergeant, fell in love with her, married, and lived in bliss until her death in 1994. Linzy returned to Sybil in Little Rock, Eugene Mazza went back to Brooklyn, and Keith Winston arrived back in Philadelphia with a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. All of these GIs are now gone, as is Carole Landis. Sergeants Don Malarkey and Bill Guarnere are old soldiers who mourned the passing of their beloved commander, Richard Winters. Their exploits were immortalized in the successful HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. Mary Ann Reed Bowen and Maralyn Howell Buillion reside in Oxford, Mississippi, both living active lives and enjoying their friends and their social activities. Journalist and author Tom Brokaw wrote, “This is the greatest generation any society has produced.”2 One could not contest the truth of Brokaw’s judgment about those who served from the call-up of 1940 to the massive buildup of American forces from 1941 to the end of World War II in 1945. Professor 180 American Girls, Beer, and Glenn Miller Douglas Brinkley has pointed out that President Ronald Reagan’s great speech delivered on the fortieth anniversary of D-Day in 1984, “Boys of Pointe du Hoc,” began a reevaluation of the war, and from that time the Second World War became a“good war,”noble in its ideals of liberation and democracy. The greatest generation arose because there was forward-looking, solid leadership by dedicated men and women. George C. Marshall as army chief of staff, Brehon Somervell as head of the Army Service Forces, and Ovita Culp Hobby as the head of the WACs serve as examples of that committed and highly motivated leadership. Osborn and Byron accepted the mission of providing for the soldier, building his morale under the difficult circumstances of combat or the confusion that the newly drafted soldier felt. When one considers World War II, the names of Frederick Osborn or Joseph Byron seldom occupy any time. However, without Osborn and Byron, the job of winning the war could have been more difficult. Wilbur Todd, a GI who served in an ordnance unit and saw action in the European theater of operations, including the Battle of the Bulge, recalled,“I could not have survived without the service clubs.”3 Almost every World War II GI interviewed remembered the PX and the Special Services with a favorable attitude. Having first-run movies on a post or in a battered German barn was important, and being able to buy a pack of smokes on a GI’s monthly pay of fifty dollars meant a great deal. Both institutions, the PX and Special Services, survived the war and continue to serve the GIs of the twenty-first century. With the war over, Byron and Osborn left the service with a sense of accomplishment . Osborn resigned in the fall of 1945 and began to take up his work on population, but in 1946 George Marshall called him back to Washington. Marshall convinced Osborn to work with the United Nations’ Atomic Energy Commission. He continued his UN work until 1950. In 1954 he helped to found the Eugenics Quarterly and expressed concerns with the population explosion in the third world. In January 1981, at the age of ninety-two, Frederick Osborn died. Byron took off his uniform...