|. General Eisenhower used all I
and E forces at his command in
preparing his veterans for the in-
vasion of the Normandy coast. Each
‘|week. special articles were run in
Yank which had a weekly circula-
tion of 550,000 in the ETO. War-
week, an orientation supplement
was published every week in the
U.S. Army daily, Stars and Stripes. |
|The American Forces network and
Armed Forces Radio Service pro-
vided a series of programs covering
*| pre-invasion material, pamphlets}
s}were distributed about the enemy.
Tips about German tricks by vet-
erans who had fought them in Italy
Jand North Africa were passed onto
‘invasion troops.

As a result of the campaign came
this statement from Gen. George C.
Marshall: “From every portion of
the line where our men were fight-
ing came reports of aggressive ac-j)
tion, skill and high morale dis-
|played by the American soldier.
Those engaging in their first com-
bat carried themselves like veterans
‘lof experienced divisions. This
probably was the most reassuring
prospect to ourselves and the most
depressing to our enemy.”

A chaplain of an infantry regi-
ment serving in Italy and Sicily
made this comment on passing in-
formation up to ‘the men in com-
bat: “The lack of information and
the resultant frustration is one of
the biggest handicaps of morale.”

Another important mission of the
JI and E office is the U. S. Armed
|Forces Institute, better known to
GI’s over the world asthe “Fox-
hole University’ USAFI (pro-
nounced U-saf-ee) is the world’s}
largest correspendence school. Sol-
diers who lack but a year or so. of
the school education have taken)
courses and received their diplomas
while fighting in the front lines.
Many others have gained college
credits all for the nominal fee of $2
for the first course. Others who
wished to learn a new trade did so
in their off-duty hours.

-It has been shown that. the great-|
est thing in maintaining morale is
to keep the men informed. To this
end, the Information and Education
|Division of the Army has come a
long way in convincing the GI that
what they are doing is of impor-
tance in winning the war.

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