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

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments A half century has passed since the guns of Europe and Asia fell silent, and the number of military veterans and civilian participants slowly shrinks. It has taken five decades for many of those who fought to speak about what they did. Those of us who as children gathered tin cans and newspapers and filled Red Cross boxes for the wounded look with some pride at having been a part of that great seminal event in the history of the United States. I give thanks for the many veterans who spent time talking with me. In my Veterans of Foreign Wars post, we have a few World War II GIs, and we say with awe that one was on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. Civilians such as Mary Ann Bowen and Maralyn Howell Bullion gave generously of their time to answer questions and recall emotions. I thank them all. I must give a special place for Tim Frank, who did research for me at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland. His knowledge of the archives is great, and this book is complete simply because of his work. I must also praise Betty Bradbury of Bloomington , Indiana, who took my often messy manuscript and turned it into usable material for the University of Missouri Press. I am indebted to Clair Willcox, Sara Davis, and Annette Wenda of the press, who have guided me through the process of producing a readable book. Fifty years ago my wife and I married. For five decades she has been my staunchest critic and checked every comma, semicolon, and the like. There would be no books without her. American Girls, Beer, and Glenn Miller ...