The GI War

by Ralph G. Martin

Large 8vo. 8" to 9 3/4" tall

402 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Ralph G. Martin was an American journalist who authored or co-authored about thirty books, including popular biographies of recent historical figures, among which, Jennie, a two-volume (1969 and 1971) study of Winston Churchill's American mother, Lady Randolph Churchill, became the most prominent bestseller. Other successful tomes focused on British royal romance (Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson in 1974, as well as Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1985) and on the Kennedy family (John F. Kennedy in 1983 and Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. in 1995).

Born in Chicago, Martin was eight years old when his family moved to Brooklyn, New York. He studied at City College of New York and, subsequently, the University of Missouri, where he graduated in 1941 with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

Twenty-one years old upon receiving his diploma, Martin decided to hitchhike and found a newspaper job at the Box Elder News Journal which served Brigham City, the county seat of Utah's Box Elder County. In December, following the U.S. declaration of war in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Martin enlisted in the Army and spent the war as a combat correspondent for the Armed Forces newspaper Stars and Stripes and the Army weekly magazine, Yank. In 1944, after having interviewed New York City's mayor, Fiorello La Guardia, for Yank, Martin asked La Guardia to perform his marriage ceremony to Marjorie Pastel.

Returning to civilian life in 1945, Martin began working as editor for news and analysis publications Newsweek and The New Republic and became executive editor at decorating and domestic arts magazine House Beautiful. During the months preceding the 1952 and 1956 presidential elections, he served as a member of the campaign staff for the Democratic nominee, Adlai Stevenson.

Having lived for years in the Connecticut town of Westport, near New York City, Martin moved to the Kendal on Hudson retirement community in another of the city's suburbs, Sleepy Hollow, where he died seven-and-a-half weeks before his 93rd birthday. He and his wife Marjorie were the parents of two daughters and a son.

Reviews

[Lee Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a teenager when I read this book. It was one of the first books I read that made me feel what it was like to be an American soldier in combat. I was on the beach on D-Day, with the troops in Anzio, fighting Nazis through Europe, and felt the happiness when the war ended on V-J Day. This book amazed me.

[Tomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written book from the perspective of those who actually fought WWII. The epilogue was an excellent addition, showing the problems vets had when they came home.

[David Ritter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great WWII history. Found at a used book store, glad I did. Has an overall history of the wars major battles, but the emphasis is on individual recollections and narratives. I was most impressed with the epilogue, which recounted the struggles of returning vets to transition to civilian life, including (what we would now recognize as)PTSD, the lack of jobs, and racism. Was even more surprised to see that the author of this 1967 book just recently died. Recommended highly for all fans of WW2 history.