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  • Old Glory Stories: American Combat Leadership in World War II
  • Earl A. Reitan
Old Glory Stories: American Combat Leadership in World War II. By Cole C. Kingseed. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2006. ISBN 1-59114-440-X. Photographs. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xi, 345. $36.95.

Col. Cole C. Kingseed retired from the U.S. Army after thirty years of active duty to pursue a career as a writer and public speaker. He has a Ph.D. in history from Ohio State University. In the first half of the book, Kingseed summarizes and evaluates the military careers of twenty-four U.S. generals: theatre commanders MacArthur, Eisenhower, and Stillwell; army group commanders Bradley, Clark, and Devers; army commanders Wainwright, Krueger, Eichelberger, Buckner, Hodges, Patton, Simpson, and Patch; corps commanders Collins, Gerow, Corlett, Truscott, and Harmon (briefly); airborne commanders Ridgway, Gavin, Maxwell Taylor, William N. Miley, and Joseph M. Swing. Presiding over all—identifying and developing talent, observing performance, and moving generals like chess pieces from one assignment to another—looms the grand eminence, Gen. George C. Marshall.

Kingseed presents brief biographies of each general, with special attention to the challenges he faced in World War II. He traces their interactions from West Point and the First World War, through the doldrums of the interwar period, to the great opportunities for distinction offered by the Second World War. He notes historiographical controversies generated by some of them. He offers succinct but well-considered assessments. He also points out their personal rivalries. This is not a book that breaks new ground, but it is an interesting, well-written, balanced summary that will please military historians and thoughtful readers. It is based on well-known printed primary and secondary sources.

Points of interest include the continuing interaction of Marshall and Eisenhower in evaluating officers; a mildly negative assessment of Bradley and a positive view of the virtually unknown Gen. Jacob Devers; a positive assessment of Gen. Alexander Patch and the usually overlooked accomplishments of the U.S. Seventh Army. A welcome feature is the considerable attention given to the involvement of the U.S. Army in the Pacific theatres. Great corps commanders—Collins, Gerow, Corlett, and Truscott—are scattered through several chapters. I wish Kingseed had brought them together in one chapter. It would have been a good way to explain the oft-misunderstood role and importance of corps and the corps commander in ground warfare. Regrettably Troy Middleton is mentioned only in passing. Kingseed obviously is a great admirer of Truscott, whose main distinction (among many) was as a corps commander. The author devotes a separate chapter to the airborne commanders, who were a special breed.

The second half of the book consists of eight biographical studies of officers [End Page 575] who distinguished themselves as leaders. These begin with Paul Tibbets, who piloted the Enola Gay over Hiroshima, and conclude with America's most decorated soldier, Audie Murphy, who is described as "a battlefield genius." Two African Americans are included, one of them a woman (Charity Adams Early of the Women's Army Corps). Each of these chapters sketches out the personal background of the subject, gives detailed attention to their service in World War II, and concludes with their postwar career. Several of the subjects were interviewed by the author. Individually and collectively, these chapters give valuable insights into the warriors who made the U.S. Army in World War II a victorious fighting machine.

Earl A. Reitan
Normal, Illinois
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