Yank: The Army Weekly: Reporting the Greatest Generation

Confessions upfront: My husband has become a WWII collector--and anything about that time interests him (and I hear about it). Why? His father was in the 8th Army Corps of Engineers and left a wife and two small boys alone at home. WWII shaped the way both of his parents looked at the world until their final breath. YANK, the Army Weekly was a magazine written and managed completely by men in the army--many who where cartoonists, artists, photographers and reporters before. The Mail Call section was letters from soldiers who could beef about something--no matter on which of the six continents he was stationed. With a circulation of 2,250,000, each issue cost the soldier five cents because it was thought if the soldier paid, he'd respect it more. It had 21 editions in 17 countries. Much of the magazine was produced at headquarters in New York City and then shipped for printing around the world where local staff added a few stories for that area. YANK was read because it was believable--telling about the indignation and frustration. The staff members were also lowly soldiers who understood all to well the boredom and moments of terror of the EM (enlisted men). Their rank excluded them from the same privileges of the fighting soldier. They understood--and that was shown in the articles, photos of soldiers, cartoons and letters. They also understood the loneliness, thus the great photos of pin-ups (beautiful women). YANK was the authentic voice: friend, confidant and entertainer. Wonderful stories, sad stories and much more, including great photographs, make up this book. You will enjoy it if you like history from the common man's viewpoint or just personal stories. Armchair Interviews says: On the scene and on the money, YANK's hard-working and risk-taking staff spoke to soldiers who now speak to us through this book. Great gift for fathers or grandfathers or your local library or senior center.

There is not much more I can add because so much has already been covered in the current reviews. I would, however, like to say THANK YOU to Barrett McGurn for his work on this book and....for inlcuding my father, Mason Pawlak in this book. Please see page 50 and others to include pg. 45, "Pawlak's cover photo of Angaur", where my dad received his purple heart after an explosion. I grew up viewing photos,listening to many stories and of course watching the old time show, 'Combat' in our home. I am very proud of my dad and all other service men who gave me my freedom. I am also proud of the most difficult task of fighting a war and carrying many cameras and being in the front lines to bring the stories of this battle back to life for all of us. Pictures tell stories and give us each fragments of the past....I am eternally grateful to all who served, shared, died and lived to tell in beautiful masterpieces such as this! I love you dad, your daughter.

The Greatest Generation also produced some great artists and writers - from Bill Mauldin and Andy Rooney to Ralph Martin and Barrett McGurn - men who covered the war "up front" and - being on the side of the average "GI" - more than once caught the wrath of high-ranking military "brass"(e.g. George Patton). For millions of enlisted men and women of "The Greatest", YANK was a common consciousness - and through the letters column, their common voice. How the magazine began, ran, survived, and earned its ultimate tribute - the trust and affection of soldiers, sailors, airmen in every theater of war - is a story McGurn tells through his personal experience from the battle line to MacArthur's anteroom. His account of the men who risked - and sometimes lost - life to get YANK's stories and photos adds a special dimension to the history of WW II. They were there. McGurn's book takes you with them all the way. YANK survived because General George Marshall had the wisdom to appreciate its major contribution to the morale of its millions of readers - men and women we now know as The Greatest Generation. How YANK did this is a great read.

This unique history of a unique war 'necessity' includes photos and remembrances of a war correspondent, Barrett McGurn, who covered the Western Pacific for fourteen months in 1943-44, and his associates as they put together YANK for the soldiers out on the field. This was written for the combatants in all the different services in the War. It was free to the troops in combat and considered an official War Department publication. The five-cent price for all others was a token rate because 'the theory was that no one would read what he received for free.' Many things were censored, but it is the record of the enlisted men as they recorded the true happenings in their own way in a week-by-week diary. Some wrote poems to express their despair and loneliness away from their families 'back home.' It went on sale for the first time June 17, 1942 and was dreamed up by Colonel White. Designed by President FDR and Secretary of War Stimson as a way to let the military at the lowest levels 'blow off steam' and also read what others were thinking, the circulation exceeded 2.5 million in forty-one countries and the readership topped four million. George Baker created the "Sad Sack" cartoon which made him popular after the war ended. Mr. McGurn, at the age of 25, in 1939 had gone abroad as a foreign correspondent for the 'Tribune.' He had started out as a cub reporter in the late '30s on the 'New York Herald Tribune.' He wrote "The United Nations was about to be founded in San Francisco. It would put an end to wars!" Don't we wish?! After Joe McCarthy (no relation to the senator from Wisconsin) took over as editor of YANK, the paper included a weekly pinup of women "to boost morale." Betty Grable was by far the most popular. Others included Dinah Shore, Jane Russell, Ava Gardner, Jean Harlow, Gypsy Rose Lee, Barbara Stanwyck, and Ingrid Bergman (shown in the book on the cover as a farm girl). There were 150 editions total during the War. The last cover showed a copy of an Army 'Honorable Discharge' certificate "as a testimonial of honest and faithful service to this country" signed by Dwight W. Eisenhower. This was a one of a kind publication, never to be repeated. The photos are varied and interesting, but the written report of action in New Guinea and the Phillippines was history in the making. Mr. McGurn has written AMERICA'S COURT: SUPREME COURT, PILGRIM'S GUIDE TO ROME, and DECADE IN EUROPE. He spent twenty years in Europe, North Africa, and Asia as a correspondent and then a Foreign Service officer.

This book covers something about World War II that is completely new to me: a news magazine put out by soldiers for soldiers. It is a history of "YANK", a publication done completely by enlisted men, for the typical enlisted soldier. Although there were officers in charge, the content was exclusively done by the EMs. The worldwide corespondents, artists and cameramen often put therselves in serious danger to "get the story" and present it to their readers. There wasn't any sugarcoating of the news, and officers took a real beating in the pages of this paper. I can imagine my own father, resting somewhere beside his tank in Europe, reading this publication, and thoroughly enjoying it! This is a very good subject about which most of us in this generation know nothing, so I highly recommend reading this book!