Introduction
1. Ernie Pyle, Here Is Your War: The Story of GI Joe (New York: World Publishing, 1945), 304. In 1943, Pyle was covering the war front in Northern Africa.
2. “Army to Issue Video Series of Combat Pix,” Billboard, 15 December 1951, 5.
3. “Army to Issue Video Series of Combat Pix,” 5.
4. J. William Fulbright, The Pentagon Propaganda Machine (New York: Liveright, 1970), 70. The recognition of the importance of the series as an informational platform for the army served as a magnet to draw much of the criticism that this study addresses.
5. See RG 111, motion pictures 111-LC-30189 through 111-30197, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
6. See Big Picture film “Why NATO?,” ARC Identifier 2569670/Local ID 111-TV-402.
7. John A. Hannah, “Doctrine for Information and Education,” Army Information Digest 8, no. 7 (July 1953): 4.
8. See Big Picture film “America on the Move,” ARC Identifier 2569784/Local ID 111-TV-549. This episode appeared close to the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
9. See Big Picture film “The Feminine Touch,” Local ID 111-TV-780, accessed 14 August 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th43sM7P2Fc.
10. See Big Picture film “Your Military Neighbor,” Local ID 111-TV-675, accessed 18 August 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=MloNbS1kjtw.
11. See Anna Froula and Stacy Takacs, eds., American Militarism on the Small Screen (New York: Routledge, 2016), 2.
Chapter 1. “Welcome to The Big Picture”
1. Jan Uebelherr, “Carl Zimmermann, 96, Was Silver-Haired Dean of Milwaukee Broadcast News,” Journal-Sentinel, 11 April 2014, http://archive.jsonline.com/news/obituaries/carl-zimmermann-96-was-silver-haired-dean-of-milwaukee-broadcast-news-b99241298z1–254968761.html/. During the war, NBC’s Army Hour regularly broadcast Zimmermann’s reports. He received the Bronze Star medal for frontline reporting.
2. Carl Flint would serve as the chief, Services Films Office, of the Production Division, for the Army Pictorial Center, 1954–1963. William Brown would also work for the APC in the Production Division.
3. Kirby had previously served as the chief of Radio Branch, Bureau of Public Relations, in the War Department during World War II. See George Raynor Thompson, Dixie R. Harris, Pauline M. Oakes, and Dulany Terrett, The Signal Corps: The Test, December 1941–July 1943 (Washington, DC: Center of Military History, 2003), 194–195.
4. See Big Picture film “The First Forty Days in Korea,” ARC Identifier 2569439/Local ID 111-TV-169. To underscore his credibility, Zimmerman wore his military uniform complete with four left-sleeve hash marks, each reflecting six months of experience in a combat zone.
5. See Big Picture films “The First Forty Days in Korea,” ARC Identifier 2569439/Local ID 111-TV-169, through “The UN Line Is Stabilized While Truce Talks Continue,” ARC Identifier 2569451/Local ID 111-TV-181.
6. See Big Picture film “The First Forty Days in Korea,” ARC Identifier 2569439/Local ID 111-TV-169.
7. See “The First Forty Days in Korea.”
8. See Big Picture films “The United Nations Offensive,” ARC Identifier 2569441/Local ID 111-TV-171 and “The UN Forces Cross the 38th Parallel,” ARC Identifier 2569447/Local ID 111-TV-177.
9. Paul M. Edwards, To Acknowledge a War: The Korean War in American Memory (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000), 16.
10. For a comprehensive explanation of the American exceptionalist model see Seymour M. Lipset, American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword (New York: Norton, 1996).
11. Historian Christian Appy explains this as a dimension of 1950s culture: fighting to protect loved ones at home, with the military serving as a “military melting pot of democratic values.” See Lisa M. Mundey, American Militarism and Anti-Militarism in Popular Media, 1945–1970 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2012), 6.
12. For examples see Big Picture episodes, “The Citizen Soldier” (TV-184), “NATO Maneuvers” (TV-291), “Southeast Asia Treaty Organization” (TV-403), and “Alaskan Earthquake” (TV-670).
13. For examples see Big Picture episodes “Citizen, Soldier, and Taxpayer Too” (TV-194), “The Soldier Patient” (TV-293), “People to People” (TV-430), and “Your Military Neighbor” (TV-675).
14. Mundey, American Militarism, 28.
15. Nicholas Worontsoff Jr. (retired, Spring, TX), correspondence with the author, 9 September 2018. The referenced episode was “The Fort Monmouth Story” (TV-442).
16. D. J. Kinney, “Selling Greenland: The Big Picture Television Series and the Army’s Bid for Relevance during the Early Cold War,” Centaurus 55 (2013): 346.
17. Letter from MG H. P. Storke, CINFO, to MG L. L. “Chubby” Doan, Chief Armor Section, US Continental Army, 24 January 1958. The letter acknowledged receipt of the recommendation by the OCINFO. RG 319.4.1-a1, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD (hereafter NARA).
18. Memo from COL W. L. Weaver Chief, TID, to COL W. L. Slisher, Chief Information Section, Fifth US Army, 21 September 1959. RG 319.4.1-A1 47–20–311.25, General Correspondence, 1959, NARA.
19. Memo from Weaver to Slisher.
20. Lawrence H. Suid, Guts and Glory: The Making of the American Military Image in Film (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2002), 62. Here Suid is describing the production of military-related films by the navy in particular, but all services in general, and their agendas of garnering support.
21. Kinney, “Selling Greenland,” 348. See also Andrew Bacevich, The Pentomic Era: The U.S. Army between Korea and Vietnam (Washington, DC: National Defense University Press, 1986), and Brian McAllister Linn’s Elvis’s Army: Cold War GIs and the Atomic Battlefield (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016).
22. Kinney, “Selling Greenland,” 348.
23. See Big Picture films “Salute to the Navy” (TV-569, 1962), “Salute to the Air Force” (TV-586B, 1963), and “Salute to the U.S. Coast Guard” (TV-621, 1964). The episode celebrating the navy aired close on the heels of the Cuban Missile Crisis and included footage of nuclear-ready missiles on parade in Red Square.
24. See US Congress, House, Subscription Television: Hearings before the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, 85th Cong., 2d sess., 1958, 490–492. AMVETS is the American Veterans service organization that advocates for its members. Founded in 1944 by veterans, it has a congressional charter.
25. US Congress, House, Subscription Television.
26. Charles O. Porter (OR). “The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag,” 103 Cong. Rec. A4173 (1957).
27. “Report of the National Rifle Association,” 114 Cong. Rec. 16506–16507 (1968).
28. J. William Fulbright (D-AR). “Introduction of a Bill Requiring the Secretary of Defense to Submit Regular Reports with Respect to the Kinds and Amounts of Information Released for Distribution to the Public by the Department of Defense,” 115 Cong. Rec. 37249–37250 (1969).
29. Christopher H. Sterling and John M. Kittross, Stay Tuned: A History of American Broadcasting (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2002), 279.
30. They were NBC, CBS, ABC, DuMont, and their affiliates.
31. David Halberstam, The Fifties, reprint (New York: Ballantine Books, 1994), 184.
32. Gary R. Edgerton, The Columbia History of American Television (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007), 103.
33. Halberstam, The Fifties, 186.
34. Frieda Barkin Hennock, President Truman’s FCC commissioner, and first female to fill that position, was responsible for the task of sorting things out.
35. William Boddy, Fifties Television: The Industry and Its Critics (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990), 49.
36. Boddy, Fifties Television, 50.
37. NBC was established in 1926, CBS in 1927, ABC in 1943, and DuMont in 1946.
38. Edgerton, Columbia History of American Television, 103.
39. Edgerton, 103.
40. “Television Facts and Statistics,” Television History—The First 75 Years: 1950–1959, accessed 17 April 2018, http://www.tvhistory.tv/facts-stats.htm.
41. Thomas Doherty, Cold War, Cool Medium: Television, McCarthyism, and American Culture, rev. ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005), 4.
42. Doherty, Cold War, 5.
43. Jonathan Kahana, Intelligence Work: The Politics of American Documentary (New York: Columbia University Press, 2008), 273.
44. Doherty, Cold War, 2.
45. Although the HUAC hearing followed on the heels of Senator Estes Kefauver’s televised investigation into organized crime in America, it was the anticommunist forum that generated more Cold War angst among Americans. See Doherty, Cold War.
46. Alan Nadel, “Cold War Television and the Technology of Brainwashing,” in American Cold War Culture, ed. Douglas Field (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005), 152. The sobriquet “Tail Gunner Joe” is in reference to Senator Joseph McCarthy’s World War II service in the US Army Air Corps.
47. Alex McNeil, Total Television, rev. ed. (New York: Penguin Books, 1996), 141.
48. See Thomas Doherty, Projections of War: Hollywood, American Culture, and World War II, rev. ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993).
49. Nancy Bernhard, U.S. Television News and Cold War Propaganda, 1947–1960 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 135.
50. Bernhard, U.S. Television News, 133.
51. Bernhard, 135.
52. That would have been equivalent to eighty-five shows of thirty minutes each during that year for the DOD. See Encyclopedia.com, s.v. “Hollywood and Television in the 1950s: The Roots of Diversification,” accessed 21 April 2018, http://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/hollywood-and-television-1950s-roots-diversification.
53. Bernhard, U.S. Television News, 135. As a snapshot, the US Census Bureau records the total population of the United States as 151.3 million in 1950.
54. The March of Time series consisted of short documentary-style films on contemporary subjects created for theater viewing. It ran from February 1935 until August 1951. Their length varied between two and twenty minutes.
55. Established in 1940, the award named after philanthropist and businessman George Peabody honors excellence in radio and television in seven categories: news, children’s programming, entertainment, documentaries, education, interactive programming, and public service. It is the oldest electronic media award in the United States. The Emmy award recognizes excellence in television programming. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences established the award in January 1949.
56. Craig Allen, Eisenhower and the Mass Media: Peace, Prosperity, and Prime-Time TV (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993), 8.
57. It was Rosser Reeves of the Ted Bates Agency in New York who coached Eisenhower on his camera presence and diction.
58. Bernhard, U.S. Television News, 143.
59. Evan Thomas, Ike’s Bluff: President Eisenhower’s Secret Battle to Save the World (New York: Back Bay Books, 2012), 16.
60. Walter L. Hixson, Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture, and the Cold War, 1945–1961 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997), 22.
61. The DuMont Television Network was an early rival to NBC and CBS. It began operations in 1946 but succumbed to the costs of broadcasting, FCC regulations that restricted its growth, and competition for viewership. It terminated operations in 1956.
62. Robert P. Keim later served as a campaign manager, then president of the Advertising Council, Inc., New York, after completing his time in the service.
63. For additional information regarding DOD concerns about the programming of the Armed Forces Hour see Bernhard, U.S. Television News, 140–142.
64. Hostilities commenced when communist forces crossed the border into the South on 25 June 1950.
65. John R. Steelman as quoted in Bernhard, U.S. Television News, 117. Steelman served in his position as presidential assistant from 1946 to 1953. After Truman departed office he remained for a short period in his capacity to assist the new president, Dwight Eisenhower. Steelman’s position later evolved into that of the White House chief of staff.
66. During the period of the Cold War the “East” referred to those nations generally aligned with the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China, and communism. The “West” referred to those states aligned with the United States, Western Europe, and democracy.
67. J. Fred MacDonald, Television and the Red Menace: The Video Road to Vietnam (New York: Praeger, 1985), 34.
68. NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. For an excellent summary of the period, see Robert J. McMahon’s The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003).
69. Karal Ann Marling, As Seen on TV: The Visual Culture of Everyday Life in the 1950s (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994), 250. Marling provides a contextual understanding of the importance of this particular event.
70. “Television Facts and Statistics.”
71. Salomon conceived the show while serving as a lieutenant commander in the US Navy during World War II. He later gained recognition as a special projects coordinator and producer for NBC Television.
72. Bennett conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestration throughout the filming. By 1963, the soundtrack had grossed approximately $4 million in album sales. Salomon and Rodgers also received the Distinguished Service Medal from the navy.
73. MacDonald, Television and the Red Menace, 112.
74. The series’ original title was Conquest of the Air.
75. A. William Bluem, Documentary in American Television: Form, Function, Method (New York: Hastings House, 1972), 165.
76. Bluem, Documentary in American Television, 164.
77. Bernhard, U.S. Television News, 147.
78. See “The Interviews: Perry Wolff,” Archive of American Television, Television Academy Foundation, accessed 19 October 2020, http://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/perry-wolff?clip=66379#interview-clips.
79. “The Interviews: Perry Wolff.”
80. Bernhard, U.S. Television News, 145.
81. Bluem, Documentary in American Television, 145.
82. See Big Picture film “TV in the Army,” ARC Identifier 2569535/Local ID 111-TV-265.
83. “TV in the Army.”
84. “TV in the Army.”
85. “TV in the Army.”
86. See Big Picture film “Pictorial Report No. 23,” Local ID 111-TV-342, accessed 5 February 2021, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl1pJrxM89I. This segment on the TV Mobile Unit was part of a larger episode that also addressed several areas of research and technological advancement in the army.
87. Suid, Guts and Glory, 12.
88. Suid, 92.
89. Bernhard, U.S. Television News, 142.
90. See Big Picture film, “The Big Red One,” ARC Identifier 2569480/Local ID 111-TV-210.
91. See Big Picture film “A Day in Korea,” ARC Identifier 2569466/Local ID 111-TV-196.
92. That pronouncement described the purpose of the show that emphasized the greater struggle against communism and to elicit continued public support in that effort. See Big Picture film “Korean Wind-Up,” ARC Identifier 2569505/Local ID 111-TV-235.
93. The APC distributed this episode so widely that it was eventually withdrawn from the catalog.
94. See Big Picture films “Pictorial Report No. 2,” ARC Identifier 2569477/Local ID 111-TV-207, and “Pictorial Report No. 4,” ARC Identifier 2569510/Local ID 111-TV-240. South Korea officially declared its independence on 17 August 1948.
95. Reference is to a 23 September 1942 New York Post article cited in “Early Press Clippings on Army Movie Makers Reviewed,” In Focus 7, no. 2 (March 1962): 2. The facility would undergo several name changes, evolving from the Signal Corps Photographic Center, to the Signal Corps Pictorial Center (1953), and finally the Army Pictorial Center (1956).
96. Richard Koszarski, “Subway Commandos: Hollywood Filmmakers at the Signal Corps Photographic Center,” Film History 14, no. 3–4 (2002): 299.
97. “Deadline on Film Site Nears,” New York Times, 19 December 1971, A19.
98. Thomas M. Pryor, “By Way of Report: Army Film Makers Set-up Cameras Here—A White Elephant Finally Pays Off,” New York Times, 1 February 1942, X4.
99. Reference is to a 14 January 1942 Variety article cited in “Early Press Clippings,” 2.
100. See Ladislas Farago, The Game of the Foxes: The Untold Story of German Espionage in the United States and Great Britain during World War II (New York: David McKay, 1971), 493.
101. Paul Caster, “Behind the Scenes in Army Film Making,” Army Digest 22, no. 6 (June 1967): 43.
102. Pryor, “By Way of Report,” X4.
103. “Deadline on Film Site Nears,” New York Times, 19 December 1971, 19.
104. “Deadline on Film Site Nears,” 19.
105. Sarah Kershaw, “The Best Years of Their Lives,” New York Times, 21 September 1996, 21.
106. Arthur Laurents, Original Story By: A Memoir of Broadway and Hollywood (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000), 28.
107. Herbert Mitgang, “Big Picture by the Numbers,” New York Times, 23 October 1960, X13.
108. Peter B. Flint, “John Huston, Film Director, Writer and Actor, Dies at 81,” New York Times, 29 August 1987, 1. The Legion of Merit is a military award given for exceptionally meritorious conduct and outstanding achievements. It ranks just below the Silver Star and receives high regard.
109. Among his achievements were an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for My Fair Lady (1964).
110. “Jackson P. Pokress [recollections],” Army Pictorial Center, updated 16 September 2020, http://www.armypictorialcenter.com/jackson_b_pokress.htm.
111. For individual examples see the personnel roster posted at the Army Pictorial Center, Signal Corps Photographic Center, last updated 9 June 2019, http://www.armypictorialcenter.com/personnel_roster.htm.
112. Audie Murphy was America’s most decorated hero of World War II, having earned the Medal of Honor among his many awards and citations, including a battlefield commission to lieutenant. After the war he had a presence in Hollywood appearing in a variety of Westerns and action-adventure films.
113. See Big Picture film “Challenge of Ideas,” ARC Identifier 2569750/Local ID 111-TV-512.
114. Hanson Baldwin authored several military novels, Helen Hayes was an award-winning actress known for her film My Son John about the intrusion of communism into the life of an American family, Lowell Thomas was a popular radio broadcaster, and Frank McGee was a well-known television correspondent and news anchor.
115. Uldis Kruze, “Comedy on the Front Lines of the Cold War: Bob Hope’s Christmas Specials during the Vietnam War,” in The Cold War and Entertainment Television, ed. Lori Maguire (Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars, 2016), 231.
116. See Tony Shaw, Hollywood’s Cold War (Amherst: University of Massachusetts, Press, 2007), 200. Shaw provides an understanding of the enduring links between Hollywood and the Pentagon during the early decades of the Cold War.
117. See Big Picture film “A Nation Builds under Fire,” ARC Identifier 2569876/Local ID 111-TV-695.
118. “A Nation Builds under Fire.”
119. Humphrey would soon distance himself from any stance that supported the war under pressure from the growing antiwar movement and his desire to seek the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1968.
120. “A Nation Builds under Fire.”
121. “A Nation Builds under Fire.”
122. Bluem, Documentary in American Television, 150.
123. Bluem, 150.
124. Bluem, 147.
125. “The Army’s Big Picture,” TV Guide 10, no. 52 (29 December 1962): 9.
126. Suid, Guts and Glory, 302.
127. See Big Picture film “Hidden War in Vietnam,” ARC Identifier 2569797/Local ID 111-TV-562.
128. Bluem, Documentary in American Television, 147.
129. Bluem, 144.
130. “The Army’s Big Picture,” 9.
131. See “History,” Army Pictorial Center, accessed 23 June 2018, http://www.armypictorialcenter.com/what_was_apc_scpc.htm. Although the APC converted to 16 mm, the preferred standard for stage productions remained 35 mm.
132. “The Color Revolution: Television in the Sixties,” Television Obscurities, last updated 26 April 2018, http://www.tvobscurities.com/articles/color60s/.
133. The one exception was a short twelve-episode Big Picture collection titled “Army in Action” that traced the service’s history from World War I to the conclusion of World War II (TV-634 through TV-643).
134. Bluem, Documentary in American Television, 168.
135. Bluem, 168. The Twentieth Century aired on CBS from October 1957 to January 1970. The narrator was Walter Cronkite. His focus was on news and cultural and historic events.
136. Froula and Takacs, American Militarism on the Small Screen, 4.
137. “The First Forty Days in Korea.”
138. “A Nation Builds under Fire.” It is interesting to note the use of the statement “men and women” of the army at a time when the military was not yet stressing diversity and inclusiveness.
139. The full title of the annex to the Armistice Agreement was “Terms of Reference for Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission.”
140. See Big Picture film “Military Police Town Patrol,” Local ID 111-TV-325, accessed 22 June 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_-UbRxlxCk.
141. “Military Police Patrol.”
142. The government issued the last draft call on 7 December 1972, but the process to end conscription began in Congress as early as 1969.
143. See Big Picture film “Screaming Eagles in Vietnam,” Local ID 111-TV-714, accessed 10 June 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUXxGjCSWI0.
144. Jeffrey Crean, “Something to Compete with ‘Gunsmoke’: ‘The Big Picture’ Television Series and Selling a ‘Modern, Progressive and Forward Thinking’ Army to Cold War America,” War & Society 35, no. 3 (August 2016): 206. MG G. S. Meloy, chief of information, made the comment as the army struggled with its decision whether to seek commercial endorsement or produce an independent, sponsor-free series.
145. Letter from LTG Charles D. Palmer, Commander, Sixth U.S. Army, to MG H. P. Storke, CINFO, 21 March 1959, RG 319.4.1-A1 47-20-311.25, General Correspondence, 1959. NARA.
146. Aside from numerous military-themed films, filmstrips, and recordings, Big Picture titles were available for selection under a variety of subcategories such as Armor, Atomic Power, World War II, and Public Information.
147. See Chapter 3, “Operations,” Paragraph 26, “Film Booking Procedure,” Subparagraph e, “Civilian Requests,” in US Department of the Army, Audio-Visual Support Center Operations, Field Manual 11-41 (Washington, DC: US GPO, 28 November 1966).
148. Memo from COL W. L. Slisher, Chief Information Section, Fifth US Army, to COL W. L. Weaver, Chief, TID, 16 September 1959, RG 319.4.1-A1 47-20-311.25, General Correspondence, 1959, NARA.
149. For description of the area see John B. Wilson, CMH Pub 60–14, Maneuver and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades, Army Lineage Series (Washington, DC: Center for Military History, 1998), 218–219.
150. Senator Fulbright, speaking on S. 3217, on 5 December 1969, 91st Cong., 1st sess., 115 Cong. Rec. pt. 28: 37251.
151. 115 Cong. Rec. pt. 28: 37253–5.
152. See the Richmond Times-Dispatch for those years.
153. Richard L. Forestall, “Virginia: Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990,” US Bureau of the Census, accessed 23 June 2020, http://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/va190090.txt.
154. The census numbers for the Des Moines SMSA for the years 1960 and 1970 were 266,315 and 313,562 respectively. See “Population for Iowa Metropolitan Areas and Geography Components: 1950–2000,” State Library of Iowa, State Data Center, accessed 26 June 2020, http://www.iowadatacenter.org/datatables/MetroArea/metropop19502000.pdf.
155. Gene Plotnik, “TV-Films Reviews: The Big Picture,” Billboard, 11 October 1953, 16.
156. Ziv Television Programs, Inc. (Ziv-TV) was a firm that specialized in distributing first-run television syndication programs through the 1950s. It produced recorded television programs and sold them to television stations. The American Research Bureau (ARB) was an organization that measured and tracked television viewing in all US markets during the 1950s and 1960s. It was the forerunner of the Arbitron system.
157. “TV-Film Industry Leader,” Billboard, 14 June 1952, 1.
158. “TV-Film Industry Leader,” 1
159. “How Stations Rate Non-Network TV Shows,” Billboard, 6 September 1952, 18.
160. “Billboard 1st Annual TV Film Show Awards,” Billboard, 21 February 1953, 20.
161. “Victory Pulls Biggest Votes with Documentary Victory,” Billboard, 31 July 1954, 5.
162. Doug Bailey, “Radio News and Teleoptics,” Maryland News, 6 November 1952.
163. Bailey, “Radio News and Teleoptics.”
164. “Telepix Reviews,” Variety, 12 November 1952.
165. The ARB based its ratings on the percentage of televisions, in a particular market, watching a particular show at a specified time.
166. Memo from COL George R. Creel, Chief, Civil Liaison Division, to Commander, US Army Exhibit Unit, 16 October 1958, RG 319.4.1-A1 47–18–311.25, General Correspondence, 1958, NARA.
167. Memo from LTC F. K. Tourtellotte, Deputy Chief, TID, to Chief, Army Exhibit Unit, 30 December 1958, RG 319.4.1-A1 47–20–311.25, General Correspondence, 1959, NARA.
168. Letter from LTC Kenneth Lay, Deputy Chief, Information Division, USAREUR, to Office of the CINFO, 4 March 1957, RG 319.4.1-A1 47–18–311.25, General Correspondence, 1957, NARA.
169. Letter from Lay to Office of the CINFO.
170. Memo from COL Daniel Parker, Chief, PID, to COL Morton P. Brooks, Chief, Information Division, USAREUR, 26 November 1957, RG 319.4.1-A1 47–18–311.25, General Correspondence, 1957, NARA.
171. Letter from MG H. P. Storke, CINFO, to MG L. L. “Chubby” Doan, Chief Armor Section, US Continental Army, 24 January 1958, RG 319.4.1-a1 47–18–311.25, General Correspondence, 1958, NARA. The letter acknowledged receipt of the recommendation by the OCINFO.
Chapter 2. Making the Army Relevant Again
1. D. J. Kinney, “Selling Greenland: The Big Picture Television Series and the Army’s Bid for Relevance during the Early Cold War,” Centaurus 55 (2013): 346.
2. Comment made by Maj. Gen. G. S. Meloy, army chief of information, as quoted in Jeffrey Crean, “Something to Compete with ‘Gunsmoke’: ‘The Big Picture’ Television Series and Selling a ‘Modern, Progressive and Forward Thinking’ Army to Cold War America,” War & Society 35, no. 3 (August 2016): 209.
3. See Big Picture film, “The Eyes and Ears of the Army,” ARC Identifier 2569462/Local ID 111-TV-192.
4. Kinney, “Selling Greenland,” 345.
5. Donald A. Carter, CMH Pub 76–3, The US Army before Vietnam: 1953–1965 (Washington, DC: Center for Military History, 2015), 10.
6. See Walter G. Hermes, “The Army and the New Look,” in American Military History, ed. Maurice Matloff (Washington, DC: Center of Military History, 1989), 572.
7. See A. J. Bacevich, The Pentomic Era: The U.S. Army between Korea and Vietnam (Washington, DC: National Defense University Press, 1986), and Donald A. Carter, The U.S. Army before Vietnam: 1953–1965 (Washington, DC: Center of Military History, 2015) for a fuller discussion of the army’s resourcing challenges.
8. Kinney, “Selling Greenland,” 350.
9. See Big Picture film “Tools for a Modern Army,” ARC Identifier 2569478/Local ID 111-TV-208.
10. “Tools for a Modern Army.”
11. See Big Picture film “Guided Missiles,” ARC Identifier 2569515/Local ID 111-TV-245.
12. See Big Picture films, “The Steel Ring,” ARC Identifier 2569526/Local ID 111-TV-256, and “Atomic Battlefield,” ARC Identifier 2569664/Local ID 111-TV-396.
13. See Big Picture film “Army Satellites,” ARC Identifier 2569665/Local ID 111-TV-397.
14. “Army Satellites.”
15. The air force established a secret film unit in Laurel Canyon near Hollywood in 1947. Also known as the Lookout Mountain Laboratory, it would evolve into the US government’s largest, and by some estimates most comprehensive, film studio during the Cold War. The facility employed numerous Hollywood experts and emerging technologies to produce thousands of hours of film footage and still images recording America’s scientific and technological achievements. For a fuller understanding of its contributions, see Kevin Hamilton and Ned O’Gorman, Lookout America! The Secret Hollywood Studio at the Heart of the Cold War (Hanover, NH: Dartmouth College Press, 2019).
16. “Army Satellites.”
17. Dr. Wernher von Braun pioneered rocket development and space exploration for the United States in the aftermath of World War II. He arrived in America through Operation Paperclip, a program that brought former National Socialist scientists, technicians, and engineers from Germany to the West as competition in the Space Race with the Soviet Union was beginning.
18. Kinney, “Selling Greenland,” 347.
19. “BP’s Coming Season to Offer Public Look at the ‘Modern Army,’” In Focus 4, no. 8 (September 1959): 3. In Focus was the monthly newspaper released by the Army Pictorial Center. Similar to any military newsletter, it focused on the activities of the personnel serving at the center, from the routine such as promotions and recreational events to providing the progress status of upcoming production releases.
20. “BP’s Coming Season,” 3.
21. “BP’s Coming Season,” 3.
22. See Big Picture film “Operation Blue Jay,” ARC Identifier 2569497/Local ID 111-TV-227.
23. “Operation Blue Jay.”
24. “Operation Blue Jay.”
25. Kinney, “Selling Greenland.”354.
26. See Big Picture film “Research and Development in the Arctic,” ARC Identifier 2569635/Local ID 111-TV-366.
27. See Big Picture film “Icecap,” Local ID 111-TV-664, accessed 8 May 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-i01zZIrRE.
28. See Big Picture film “City under the Ice,” ARC Identifier 2569752/Local ID 111-TV-514.
29. See Big Picture film “U.S. Army and the Boy Scouts,” ARC Identifier 2569758/Local ID 111-TV-520.
30. See Big Picture film “Science Moves the Army,” ARC Identifier 2569856/Local ID 111-TV-668.
31. See Big Picture film “Pioneering for Tomorrow,” Local ID 111-TV-815, accessed 5 May 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6qGLuJN0vw.
32. See Big Picture film “The U.S. Army in Space and under the Sea,” Local ID 111-TV-819, accessed 5 May 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2t9I9EBWdA.
33. Ibid.
34. See Big Picture film “Top of the World,” Local ID 111-TV-543, accessed 5 May 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T0Wfwec20s.
35. See “Screen Guild Urges Army Unit Boycott,” New York Times, 25 October 1967, 41. The SAG protested against the APC rate of pay for actors, which was $60.88 a day versus the industry standard of $100.
36. Lisa M. Mundey, American Militarism and Anti-Militarism in Popular Media, 1945–1970 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2012), 99. Mundey provides a comprehensive overview of how much of the American popular culture of the early Cold War period reflected antimilitarism.
37. Mundey, American Militarism, 100.
38. See United States Army Recruiting Command, 16 November 2016, http://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXW06uco/wiki/United_States_Army_Recruiting_Command.html.
39. See Big Picture film “Exercise Arctic Night,” ARC Identifier 2569606/Local ID 111-TV-337.
40. The Universal Military Training and Service Act of 1951 provided the president with the authority to induct citizens for four years and lowered the draft age to 18. See United States Army Recruiting Command website.
41. Crean, “Something to Compete with ‘Gunsmoke,’” 208.
42. Mundey, American Militarism, 102.
43. Crean, “Something to Compete with ‘Gunsmoke,’” 211.
44. Memo, Colonel Robert V. Shinn, Chief PID, to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, 31 December 1958, RG 319-A1 47–18–311.25, General Correspondence, 1958, National Archives at College Park, Maryland (hereafter NARA).
45. Anna Froula and Stacy Takacs, eds., American Militarism on the Small Screen (New York: Routledge, 2016), 5.
46. Froula and Takacs, American Militarism on the Small Screen, 142.
47. Froula and Takacs, 143.
48. Froula and Takacs, 143.
49. Lawrence H. Suid, Guts and Glory: The Making of the American Military Image in Film (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2002), 144.
50. Suid, Guts and Glory, 144.
51. Donald A. Carter, The U.S. Army before Vietnam: 1953–1965 (Washington, DC: Center of Military History, US Army, 2015), 11.
52. Stanley Field, “The Big Picture.” Journal of Broadcasting 125 (1962): 126.
53. Nancy Bernhard, U.S. Television News and Cold War Propaganda, 1947–1960 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 135.
54. Bernhard, U.S. Television News, 135.
55. Letter, MG G. S. Meloy, Chief of Information, to the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, 18 September 1956, RG 319-A1 47–15–311.25, General Correspondence, 1956, NARA.
56. Crean, “Something to Compete with ‘Gunsmoke,’” 211.
57. Memo from COL John O. Weaver, Chief Troop Information Division, to Chief, Motion Picture Branch, APC, 20 October 1959. NARA, RG 319.4.1-A1 47–20–311.25, General Correspondence, 1959.
58. Letter from MG G. S. Meloy, CINO, to Mr. William Grant, President KOATV-Radio, Denver, Colorado, 6 May 1957, RG 319.4.1-A1 47–18–311.25, General Correspondence, 1957, NARA.
59. Letter from MG H. P. Storke, CINFO, to MG Emerson C. Itschner, Chief of Engineers, 22 December 1958, RG 319.4.1-A1 47–18–311.25, General Correspondence, 1958, NARA.
60. Memo from COL John O. Weaver, Chief, Troop Information Division, to Chief Motion Picture Branch, APC, 7 December 1959, RG 319.4.1-A1 47–20–311.25, General Correspondence, 1959, NARA.
61. Navy Log aired on CBS, 1955–1956 at 8:00 p.m. EST, then on ABC, 1956–1958 at 8:30 p.m., then 10:00 p.m. EST.
62. See Big Picture film “Atrocities in Korea,” ARC Identifier 2569512/Local ID 111-TV-242.
63. “Atrocities in Korea.”
64. At this time the “Big Four” powers consisted of the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. The diplomatic atmosphere was delicate, as the United States and Great Britain were supporting the revitalization of West Germany and did not want to endanger any concessions they sought from the Soviets.
65. “Congressmen Hit Army Film Curb,” New York Times, 9 January 1954, 2.
66. “Congressmen Hit Army Film Curb.”
67. Senator Charles E. Potter speaking on S. Res 178, “Appointment of a Committee by United Nations to Investigate Communist Atrocities in Korea,” 11 January 1954, 83rd Cong., 2nd sess. 100 Cong. Rec. pt. 1: 89–128.
68. Rep. R. Thurmond Chatham speaking on “Christian Weapons Can Defeat the Reds,” 9 February 1954, 83rd Cong., 2nd sess., 100 Cong. Rec. pt. 2: A1045.
69. The New York Times recorded that long-awaited release in its television column that month. “Television in Review: Atrocities in Korea Finally Presented,” New York Times, 8 February 1954, 30:7.
70. Senator Fulbright, speaking on S. 3217, on 5 December 1969, 91st Cong., 1st sess., 115 Cong, Rec. pt. 28: 37249.
71. Crean, “Something to Compete with ‘Gunsmoke,’” 213. Maj. Gen. Harry P. Storke served as army chief of information from 10 September 1957 to 31 May 1959.
72. See Big Picture film “Your Defense” ARC Identifier 2569667/Local ID 111-TV-399.
73. Senator Fulbright, speaking on S. 3217, on 5 December 1969, 91st Cong., 1st sess., 115 Cong. Rec. pt. 28: 37250. The cost breakdown was Production and Distribution: $881,000.00, Personnel Salaries: $20,466.00, and Flyers-including material: $1,063.34. By comparison, the budget was $971,445 in 1952.
74. Honorable Charles E. Bennett speaking on Stop Tax-Paid Military Trips for Public Relations Purposes, 19 November 1970, 91st Cong., 2nd sess., 116 Cong. Rec. pt. 28: 38268.
75. Bennett, on Stop Tax-Paid Military Trips.
76. Senator Fulbright speaking on Department of Defense Appropriations, 1971, 8 December 1970, 91st Cong., 2nd sess., 116 Cong. Rec. pt. 30: 40428–40430.
77. Fulbright, on Department of Defense Appropriations.
78. Fulbright, on Department of Defense Appropriations.
79. J. William Fulbright, The Pentagon Propaganda Machine (New York: Liveright, 1970), 148. The work represents Fulbright’s collected research on the issue. In his acknowledgements the senator gives credit to Edward A. O’Neill for assistance in preparation of the book.
80. See Big Picture film “Hidden War in Vietnam,” ARC Identifier 2569797/Local ID 111-TV-562.
81. See Big Picture film “Why Vietnam?” ARC Identifier 2569861/Local ID 111-TV-674. The reference is to British prime minister Neville Chamberlain’s disastrous placation of Adolph Hitler in 1938, which opened the door to further German aggressions.
82. Fulbright, Pentagon Propaganda Machine, 70.
83. Fulbright, 70.
84. Fulbright, 71.
85. Fulbright, 152. “V-films” is a reference to Victory Films produced by government or contracted agencies to support the war effort during World War II. They included propaganda and training films.
86. See “William W. Quinn, 92, General and Former Intelligence Officer,” New York Times, 12 September 2000, http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/12/us/william-w-quinn-92-general-and-former-intelligence-officer.html.
87. Crean, “Something to Compete with ‘Gunsmoke,’” 205.
88. Maj. Gen. Charles G. Dodge, as quoted in Paul Breen Gardner, “The Increasing Gap between Words and Deeds: Teaching Public Affairs at the Colleges of the Army from Academic Year 1947 through Academic Year 1989” (PhD diss., Kansas State University, 2014), 160, http://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/17550/PaulGardner2014.pdf?sequence=1.
89. Gardner, “Increasing Gap between Words and Deeds,” 161.
90. For a comprehensive understanding of how the American exceptionalist consensus shaped the thinking of the contemporary society see Seymour M. Lipset, American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword (New York: Norton, 1996).
91. “Army’s Famed Series Signs Off, ‘The Big Picture’ Fades from TV Screen,” Stars and Stripes (Pacific Edition), 16 July 1971, 3.
92. The Freedoms Foundation is a nonprofit educational organization established in 1949 by a duo of advertising executives who sought to reestablish the nation’s Christian heritage and believed that the nation was in a battle for the minds of men with the Soviet East.
93. See “Medals for Mettle,” In Focus 5, no. 2 (March 1960): 6, caption.
94. “Army’s Famed Series Signs Off,” Stars and Stripes (Pacific Edition), 16 July 1971, 3.
Chapter 3. A Big Picture of the Cold War
1. See Big Picture film “Korean Wind-Up,” ARC Identifier 2569505/Local ID 111-TV-235.
2. See Big Picture film “Soldier in Berlin,” ARC Identifier 2569502/Local ID 111-TV-232.
3. J. Fred MacDonald, “The Cold War as Entertainment in Fifties Television,” Journal of Popular Film 7, no. 1 (1978): 3.
4. These included NSC 4 in December 1947, NSC 10/2 in June 1948, NSC 20/4 in November 1948, and NSC 68 in April 1950.
5. Political theorist Joseph S. Nye coined the term “soft power,” which referred to the indirect, nonconfrontational manner that nations could exert their influence on one another. See Joseph S. Nye, Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (New York: Public Affairs, 2004, 5.
6. Kenneth Osgood, Total Cold War: Eisenhower’s Secret Propaganda Battle at Home and Abroad (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2008), 48.
7. Kennan was also instrumental in development of the series of NSC documents between 1947 and 1950. See Osgood, Total Cold War, 38–40. Also see George F. Kennan, George F. Kennan: Memoirs, 1925–1950 (New York: Pantheon Books, 1967), 292–295.
8. See Big Picture film “Armed Forces Assistance to Korea,” ARC Identifier 2569541/Local ID 111-TV-271.
9. See Big Picture film “Korea and You,” ARC Identifier 2569757/Local ID 111-TV-519.
10. “Expert Asserts 1/3 PWs Yielded to Brainwashing,” Stars and Stripes, 24 February 1956, 7.
11. “Report GIs in Korea Too Soft,” Chicago Defender, 10 January 1959, 9.
12. “Report GIs in Korea Too Soft,” 9.
13. The military issued the code under Executive Order 10631 on August 17, 1955. See details at Wikipedia, s.v. “Code of the United States Fighting Force,” last modified 8 December 2020, 17:12, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_the_United_States_Fighting_Force.
14. Hollywood took steps in that direction by turning Richard Condon’s 1959 novel The Manchurian Candidate into a critically acclaimed film in 1961. It relates the uncomfortable story of a politician’s son whom the communists capture during the Korean War, hold as prisoner, brainwash, and then release back to the United States.
15. See Big Picture film “Escape from a Prisoner of War Camp,” ARC Identifier 2569590/Local ID 111-TV-320.
16. See Big Picture film “Defense against Enemy Propaganda,” ARC Identifier 2569629/Local ID 111-TV-360.
17. “Defense against Enemy Propaganda.”
18. See Big Picture film “Code of the Fighting Man,” ARC Identifier 2569693/Local ID 111-TV-428.
19. “Code of the Fighting Man.”
20. See Big Picture film “Character Guidance,” ARC Identifier 2569694/Local ID 111-TV-429.
21. For additional insight into the use of propaganda by the United States during this time see Osgood, Total Cold War, and Lori Lyn Bogle, The Pentagon’s Battle for the American Mind (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2004).
22. See Big Picture film “Challenge of Ideas,” ARC Identifier 2569750/Local ID 111-TV-512.
23. “Challenge of Ideas.”
24. “Challenge of Ideas.”
25. See Big Picture film “Soldier in Europe,” ARC Identifier 2569507/Local ID 111-TV-238.
26. The acronym USAREUR stands for United States Army Europe.
27. One of the engines that drove this fear was the spectacle of the McCarthy HUAC hearings during the 1950s. See John E. Haynes, Red Scare or Red Menace? American Communism and Anticommunism in the Cold War Era (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1996).
28. See John W. Lemza, American Military Communities in West Germany: Life in the Cold War Badlands, 1945–1990 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2016), figure 1.3.
29. USMAAG was the United States Military Assistance Advisory Group. Prior to 1955 in West Germany, its mission was to assist in training the host nation paramilitary police force in the use of conventional weapons and tactics. After 1955 it supported the Bundeswehr (new West German Army).
30. Gemütlichkeit is the German term for feelings of cordiality and friendliness.
31. See Big Picture film “German Youth Activities,” ARC Identifier 2569513/Local ID 111-TV-243.
32. “German Youth Activities.”
33. See Big Picture film “Operation Friendly Hand,” ARC Identifier 2569605/Local ID 111-TV-336. By 1953, Milcom families participating in Operation Friendly Hand had hosted 150 West German children. That number rose to 600 in 1954.
34. Memo from BG E. A. Brown Jr., Deputy Chief of Information and Education, to Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, 16 April 1956, RG 319.4.1-A1 47-15-311.25, General Correspondence, 1956, National Archives at College Park, Maryland (hereafter NARA).
35. Memo from C. Herschel Schooley, Director, DOD, Office of Public Information, to MG G. S. Meloy, CINFO, 9 April 1956, RG 319.4.1-A1 47-15-311.25, General Correspondence, 1956, NARA.
36. Memo from BG E. A. Brown Jr. to Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.
37. Memo from BG E. A. Brown Jr. to Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.
38. See Osgood, Total Cold War, 232–242.
39. See Big Picture film “Germany Today,” ARC Identifier 2569714/Local ID 111-TV-455.
40. See Big Picture film “The West Berlin Struggle,” ARC Identifier 2569836/Local ID 111-TV-628.
41. See Big Picture film “The Border Watchers,” Local ID 111-TV-789, accessed 15 July 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK1E4HK0vs8.
42. See Big Picture film “Soldier in Austria,” ARC Identifier 2569539/Local ID 111-TV-269. The United States participated in the partitioning of Austria with the other Western Allies (France and the United Kingdom) and the Soviets beginning in April 1945. That concluded in July 1955, when Austria received full independence after a promise of perpetual neutrality.
43. For political reasons, President Charles De Gaulle withdrew France from NATO in 1966 and demanded the withdrawal of all American troops from French soil by 1 April 1967. At the time, this was a blow to the integrity of the organization and the American containment strategy.
44. See Big Picture film “Ready around the World,” Local ID 111-TV-717, accessed 10 August 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ok6ydHLDOs.
45. “Ready around the World.”
46. The US and its Western allies established NATO with the signing of a mutually supportive charter by the original twelve member nations in April 1949.
47. See Big Picture film “NATO: Partners in Peace,” ARC Identifier 2569537/Local ID 111-TV-267.
48. See Big Picture film “NATO Maneuvers,” ARC Identifier 2569561/Local ID 111-TV-291.
49. Osgood, 110.
50. Ibid.
51. See Big Picture film “Why NATO?” ARC Identifier 2569670/Local ID 111-TV-402.
52. See Big Picture film “NATO: The Changed Face of Europe,” ARC Identifier 2569840/Local ID 111-TV-632.
53. See Big Picture film “Salute to the Canadian Army,” Local ID 111-TV-414, accessed 25 September 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uf9WJhvanU.
54. Letter from LTC W. A. Milroy, Director of Public Relations, Canadian Army, to MG H. P. Storke, CINFO, 9 December 1958, RG 319-A1 47-20-311.25, General Correspondence, 1958, NARA.
55. See Big Picture film “Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) Nations,” ARC Identifier 2569671/Local ID 111-TV-403.
56. “1,500 U.S. Troops Sent to Bolster Berlin Force: Johnson Says U.S. Pledges Lives for Berlin,” Stars and Stripes (European), 20 August 1961, 1.
57. See Big Picture film “Road to the Wall,” ARC Identifier 2569795/Local ID 111-TV-560.
58. “Road to the Wall.”
59. “Road to the Wall.”
60. See Big Picture film “Pentagon Report,” ARC Identifier 2569810/Local ID 111-TV-580.
61. “Pentagon Report, 1963.”
62. Under tutelage of Khrushchev, East Germany began construction of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961. See Mary Fulbrook, The Divided Nation: A History of Germany, 1918–1990 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).
63. “Pentagon Report, 1963.”
64. See Big Picture film “Hidden War in Vietnam,” Local ID 111-TV-562, accessed 9 June 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wgUFXsxtyQ.
65. See Big Picture film “The Fight for Vietnam,” Local ID 111-TV-574, accessed 9 June 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-lzJq5dKao.
66. Controversy surrounded the incident between North Vietnamese gunboats and the US Navy in August 1964. President Lyndon Johnson used it as a reason to step up American military involvement in the region and generated the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. See Stanley Karnow, Vietnam: A History (New York: Penguin, 1997), 387–392.
67. See Big Picture film “Action Vietnam,” Local ID 111-TV-654, accessed 9 June 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ04y43WgaQ.
68. David E. James, “Documenting the Vietnam War,” in From Hollywood to Hanoi: The Vietnam War in American Film, ed. Linda Dittmar and Gene Michaud (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1990), 244–245.
69. The reference is to famed director Frank Capra, who used that technique in creating the World War II film series Why We Fight. See Claudia Springer, “Military Propaganda: Defense Department Films from World War II and Vietnam,” Cultural Critique, no. 3 (Spring 1986): 153.
70. “Action Vietnam.”
71. Big Picture film “The Unique War,” Local ID 111-TV-680.
72. Springer, “Military Propaganda,” 156.
73. Tony Shaw, Hollywood’s Cold War (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2007), 245.
74. See “The Unique War.” See Big Picture film “The Fight for Vietnam,” Local ID 111-TV-574, accessed 9 June 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-lzJq5dKao.
75. Springer, “Military Propaganda,” 161.
76. “The Unique War.”
77. See Big Picture film “Progress to Peace,” Local ID 111-TV-792, accessed 10 July 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEhNJB4enRo.
78. “The 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam (1965–1970),” Local ID 111-TV-807, and “Mission in Action,” Local ID 111-TV-809.
79. Scott Laderman, “Small Screen Insurgency: Entertainment Television, the Vietnamese Revolution, and the Cold War, 1953–1967,” in American Militarism on the Small Screen, ed. Anna Froula and Stacy Takacs (New York: Routledge, 2016), 165.
80. Laderman, “Small Screen Insurgency,” 175.
81. See Big Picture film “The First Forty Days in Korea,” ARC Identifier 2569439/Local ID 111-TV-169.
82. MacDonald, “Cold War as Entertainment,” 14.
Chapter 4. The Big Picture through an Exceptionalist Lens
1. See Big Picture film “America on the Move,” ARC Identifier 2569784/Local ID 111-TV-549. The APC released the episode in 1962.
2. “America on the Move.”
3. “America on the Move.”
4. Winthrop’s words came as he first saw the coastline of Massachusetts and proclaimed the importance of the future colony. See Daniel J. Boorstin, The Americans: The Colonial Experience (New York: Random House, 1958), 3.
5. See Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, trans. Gerald Bevan (New York: Penguin, 2003), 336.
6. See Hector St. John Crèvecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer: Letter III—What Is An American, The Avalon Project, accessed 12 August 2019, http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/letter_03.asp.
7. See Michael Kackman, Citizen Spy: Television, Espionage, and Cold War Culture (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005), xxxii, and Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities (New York: Verso, 2006). While Anderson’s focus is primarily print media, Kackman develops an understanding of the effect of film and the visual media in creating a collective identity.
8. “America on the Move.”
9. Edward H. Judge and John W. Langdon, The Cold War: A History through Documents (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall), 114.
10. Judge and Langdon, The Cold War, 114.
11. See Big Picture film “Army in Action—Years of Menace,” ARC Identifier 2569843/Local ID 111-TV-645. This 1965 episode highlights numerous global threats to the democratic West and neutral nations posed by communist forces led by the Soviets and the Chinese.
12. “America on the Move.”
13. “America on the Move.”
14. Thomas Palmer, “Why We Fight: A Study of Indoctrination Activities in the Armed Forces” (PhD diss., University of South Carolina, 1971), 182.
15. See Russell O. Fudge, Why? The Story of Information in the American Army, part 2, (Carlisle Barracks: Armed Forces Information School, 1949), 2.
16. Palmer, “Why We Fight,” 181.
17. Palmer, “Why We Fight,” 8.
18. John A. Hannah, “Doctrine for Information and Education,” Army Information Digest 8, no. 7 (July 1953): 4. Dr. Hannah served as assistant secretary of defense for manpower and personnel (1953–1954). He was also the first chairman of the US Commission on Civil Rights (1957–1969) and the president of Michigan State University (1941–1969).
19. Hannah, “Doctrine for Information and Education,” 5.
20. See Kenneth Osgood, Total Cold War: Eisenhower’s Secret Propaganda Battle at Home and Abroad (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2008), 253.
21. Osgood, Total Cold War, 256. This was a recurring theme in both the USIA programs and many Big Picture episodes.
22. Osgood, 254.
23. Elaine Tyler May, Homeward Bound (New York: Basic Books, 2008), 9.
24. May, Homeward Bound, 91.
25. May, 91.
26. This study examines the way that the Big Picture addressed integration, diversity, and the emerging role of women in greater detail in chapter 4.
27. See Big Picture film “Preamble to Peace,” Local ID 111-TV-373, accessed 14 July 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw9RV-gj0.
28. Shirley Horner, “McCarthy’s Purge at Fort Is Recalled,” New York Times, 3 July 1983, NJ2.
29. See Big Picture film “Our Heritage,” Local ID 111-TV-684, accessed 23 July 2019, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTiup_LNBwo.
30. “Our Heritage.”
31. See Big Picture film “Pictorial Report No. 26,” ARC Identifier 2569622/Local ID 111-TV-353.
32. “Pictorial Report No. 26.”
33. Memo from MG G. S. Meloy, CINFO, to Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower, Personnel and Reserve), 31 October 1956, RG 319.4.1-A1 47–15–311.25, General Correspondence, 1956, National Archives at College Park, Maryland (hereafter NARA).
34. See Big Picture film “Ottumwa, U.S.A.,” ARC Identifier 2569655/Local ID 111-TV-387.
35. “Ottumwa, U.S.A.”
36. “Ottumwa, U.S.A.”
37. Letter from MG H. P. Storke, CINFO, to Mr. H. S. Byrum, Manager, Ottumwa Chamber of Commerce, 15 January 1958, RG 319.4.1-A1 47–18–311.25, General Correspondence, 1958, NARA.
38. See Big Picture film “U.S. Army and the Boy Scouts,” ARC Identifier 2569758/Local ID 111-TV-520.
39. “US Army and the Boy Scouts.”
40. “US Army and the Boy Scouts.”
41. John Daly was a well-known popular radio and television personality on CBS and ABC. The APC used his presence on this Big Picture episode because his familiar face could enhance its message by securing a closer connection with the public.
42. Bruce Cumings, The Korean War: A History (Modern Library: New York, 2010), 210.
43. Cumings, The Korean War, 217.
44. John W. Lemza, American Military Communities in West Germany: Life in the Cold War Badlands, 1945–1990 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2016), 14.
45. Cumings, The Korean War, 219.
46. Cumings, 219.
47. See Elaine Tyler May’s description of the importance of the home in American Cold War society and culture in Homeward Bound, 13.
48. See Big Picture episodes “Soldier in Europe” (TV-238), “Why NATO?” (TV-402), “Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) Nations” (TV-403), “Decade of NATO” (TV-491), and “Partners in Freedom” (TV-617).
49. May, Homeward Bound, 13.
50. May, 95.
51. Presidential Executive Order 10013 was the basis for creation of the committee.
52. Jonathan P. Herzog, The Spiritual-Industrial Complex: America’s Religious Battle against Communism in the Early Cold War (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), 117.
53. Herzog, Spiritual-Industrial Complex, 121. This training became part of the military’s effort to rectify perceptions of the moral laxity and lack of resolve that elites believed were plaguing the armed forces during the early years of the Cold War. This is part of the discussion surrounding the Big Picture episode “Character Guidance’ (TV-429).
54. In July 1956, Eisenhower approved a Joint Resolution of the 84th Congress (P.L. 84–140) that declared the motto must appear on US currency.
55. J. Fred MacDonald, “The Cold War as Entertainment in Fifties Television,” Journal of Popular Film 7, no. 1 (1978): 24.
56. See Big Picture film “Religious Emphasis Day in Philadelphia,” ARC Identifier 2569674/Local ID 111-TV-407.
57. Tony Shaw, Hollywood’s Cold War (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2007), 113–115.
58. The show first aired on ABC on 12 February 1952, and the last episode appeared on the DuMont network on 8 April 1957.
59. MacDonald, “Cold War as Entertainment,” 22. As MacDonald notes, Sheen’s telecasts, as well as other contemporary religious programming, set a tone that was largely “political-religious” in their presentation.
60. See Lori Lyn Bogle, The Pentagon’s Battle for the American Mind (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2004), 50.
61. See Big Picture film “The Chaplain and the Commander,” ARC Identifier 2569768/Local ID 111-TV-532.
62. Bogle, Pentagon’s Battle, 50.
63. “Religious Emphasis Day in Philadelphia.”
64. Broger served in that position from 1958 to 1984.
65. Militant Liberty had a number of advocates in Congress. Among them were Senators Thomas E. Martin (R-IA) and Strom Thurmond (R-SC). Each provided remarks to the Congressional Record and participated in hearings regarding its usefulness. See “Militant Liberty: Antidote for Communism,” Congressional Record, 5 January 1956, A25, and U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Armed Services, Military Cold War Education and Speech Review Policies, 87th Cong., 2d sess. 1962, Part 3, 1035.
66. Osgood, Total Cold War, 317, and Lori Bogle’s description of the program in The Pentagon’s Battle for the American Mind, 127.
67. Osgood, Total Cold War, 317.
68. See Big Picture film “You in Japan,” Local ID 111-TV-354, accessed 1 August 2019, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V-T0FrC7zo.
69. From text of speech by Joseph McCarthy at Wheeling, West Virginia, 9 February 1950. See History Matters, GMU, accessed 25 July 2019, http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6456/. For a full understanding of Christian anticommunist initiatives and the link with McCarthyism, see also John E. Haynes, Red Scare or Red Menace? American Communism and Anticommunism in the Cold War Era (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1996).
70. For a fuller description of the Freedom Foundation’s principles and their strong links with President Eisenhower see Bogle, Pentagon’s Battle, 77–80.
71. In 1967, the Freedoms Foundation presented Broger with their Madison Award in recognition of his efforts as the director of AFI&E to spread the exceptionalist ideals of America.
72. Freedoms Foundation is a nonprofit organization that received grants from a number of conservative organizations, including Civitan International, during the 1940s and 1950s.
73. That link continued even as successive military leaders retired then went to work on the staff of the foundation. These included Maj. Gen. Harlan N. Hartness, former director of the Armed Forces Information and Education Program; Adm. Felix Stump, former commander of US naval forces in the Pacific; and Admiral Radford. See “Retired General Joins Freedoms Foundation,” New York Times, 12 February 1956, 85, and “Freedoms Foundation Names Admiral as Aide,” New York Times, 14 October 1958, 6.
74. See Big Picture film “People to People,” ARC Identifier 2569695/Local ID 111-TV-430.
75. See Big Picture film “The USAREUR Story (Part II),” ARC Identifier 2569777/Local ID 111-TV-542. USAREUR is the acronym for United States Army Europe.
76. CONUS was the military acronym for Continental United States. See Big Picture film “Of Soldiers and Altars” (TV-690), US Army Chaplaincy, Office of the Chief of Information, Army Pictorial Center, accessed 19 July 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez9pw0PMTvg.
77. “Of Soldiers and Altars.”
78. See Big Picture film “Soldiers’ Heritage,” ARC Identifier 2569679/Local ID 111-TV-412.
79. “Soldiers’ Heritage.” “Manifest Destiny” was a popular cultural belief that evolved in the United States during the early 1800s to explain the nation’s expansion as a God-given right. Historians often fold it into an understanding of American exceptionalism as a characteristic that sets the United States apart from other nations.
80. Tomb of the Unknowns, or the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, is located in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Opened in 1921, it remains a popular historic tourist attraction.
81. “The Big Picture Fades from TV Screen,” Stars and Stripes (Pacific Edition), 16 July 1971, 3.
82. See Big Picture film “The Common Defense,” ARC Identifier 2569697/Local ID 111-TV-433.
83. See Big Picture film “To Keep and Bear Arms,” ARC Identifier 2569792/Local ID 111-TV-557.
84. “To Keep and Bear Arms.”
85. “To Keep and Bear Arms.”
86. “Report of the National Rifle Association,” 114 Cong. Rec. 16506–16507 (1968).
87. See “To Keep and Bear Arms.”
88. See “Senator Robert F. Kennedy in Memoriam,” 114 Cong. Rec. 16497–16504 (1968). Gaining political momentum after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, the Gun Control Act of 1968 passed. It limited the mail order purchase of weapons.
Chapter 5. A Big Picture of the Army Way of Life
1. John Labella (former Army officer and 1976 West Point graduate), correspondence with the author, 11 September 2018.
2. Memo to the Secretary of the Army from MG H. P. Storke, CINFO, 14 November 1958, RG 319.4.1-A1 47–18–311.25, General Correspondence, 1958, National Archives at College Park, Maryland (hereafter NARA).
3. Letter to MG H. P. Storke, CINFO from Leslie R. Groves, VP Sperry Rand Corporation, 1 December 1959, RG 319.4.1-A1 47–18–311.25, General Correspondence, 1958, NARA. During World War II, Lt.Gen. Leslie R. Groves supervised the project to construct the Pentagon and oversaw the development of the Manhattan Project.
4. Memorandum for Record, COL S. K. Eaton, Executive, to MG Storke, CINFO, 3 December 1958, RG 319.4.1-A1 47–18–311.25, General Correspondence, 1958, NARA.
5. Memo from MG H. P. Storke, CINFO, to the GEN Maxwell D. Taylor, Army Chief of Staff, 21 May 1959, RG 319.4.1-A1 47–20–311.25, General Correspondence, 1959, NARA.
6. See Big Picture film “Famous Generals—Pershing,” Local ID 111-TV-588, accessed 26 July 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJjzSZaAjuk.
7. Aaron Blake, “The Long Decline of Veterans in Congress—in 4 Charts,” Washington Post, 11 November 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2013/11/11/the-long-decline-of-veterans-in-congress-in-4-charts/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.14b39b8e4d0a.
8. Blake, “The Long Decline of Veterans in Congress.”
9. The fact that the episodes “Hawaiian Defense” (TV-237, 1953) and “Soldier in Hawaii” (TV-352, 1956) did air earlier may have influenced that decision.
10. See Big Picture film “The Citizen Soldier,” ARC Identifier 2569454/Local ID 111-TV-184.
11. See Big Picture film “Information and Education Overseas (Part I), Dependent Schools (Part II)” ARC Identifier 2569468/Local ID 111-TV-198.
12. “Information and Education Overseas.”
13. See Big Picture film “All the Word to All the Troops,” Local ID 111-TV-810, accessed 30 July 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZFuExqYICU. “The Story of American Forces Network” (TV-583) describes the genesis of the military’s extensive communications system, established by Generals Eisenhower and Marshall in July 1943, and of its lowly birth in a wartime London basement.
14. See “Information and Education Overseas (Part I), Dependent Schools (Part II).”
15. See “Information and Education Overseas (Part I), Dependent Schools (Part II).” Access to education was central to how Americans viewed themselves as an exceptional people. Overseas schools for service members’ families quickly evolved into the extensive network known as Department of Defense Dependent Schools system (DoDDS), with facilities in most of the nations where the US armed forces had troops. During the height of the Cold War this included West Germany, Japan, and South Korea.
16. See Big Picture film “Education in the Army,” ARC Identifier 2569549/Local ID 111-TV-279.
17. “Education in the Army.”
18. There was great depth to the types of skills training offered. For example, episodes such as “Pictorial Report No. 4” (TV-240) and “Pictorial Report No. 17” (TV-322) provided insights into training for radio operators, flamethrower operators, chemical warfare specialists, mechanics, and stevedores.
19. See Big Picture film “Education in the Army,” ARC Identifier 2569470/Local ID 111-TV-200.
20. “Education in the Army.”
21. See Big Picture film “Graduate: Reserve Officers’ Training Corps,” ARC Identifier 2569659/Local ID 111-TV-391.
22. “Graduate: Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.”
23. See Big Picture film “R.O.T.C.—A Pattern for Progress” ARC Identifier 2569824/Local ID 111-TV-609.
24. See Big Picture film “Duty, Honor, Country,” ARC Identifier 2569456/Local ID 111-TV-186.
25. See Big Picture film “West Point—Education for Leadership,” Local ID 111-TV-515, accessed 31 July 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asDSATnrr10.
26. See Big Picture film “The OCS Story,” Local ID 111-TV-715, accessed 31 July 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-yMmm8rjKM.
27. Department of Defense, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, Selected Manpower Statistics, FY 1997 (Washington, DC: Washington Headquarters Services, 1997), 68–69.
28. Department of Defense, Selected Manpower Statistics, 60.
29. Department of Defense, 71.
30. Department of Defense, 71.
31. See Big Picture film “Young American Leaders,” Local ID 111-TV-804, accessed 31 July 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9U7aBHpT18.
32. “Young American Leaders.”
33. “Young American Leaders.”
34. Morris J. MacGregor Jr., Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940–1965, Defense Studies Series, Center of Military History, 395, last updated 12 December 2019, http://history.army.mil/html/books/050/50–1-1/index.html, 522.
35. MacGregor, Integration of the Armed Forces, 522.
36. MacGregor, 522
37. MacGregor, 522.
38. See “Rolling to the Rhine,” U.S. War Department, accessed 2 August 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkphoTLLmqg, a history of the Red Ball Express during World War II. The majority of the vehicle drivers were African American.
39. During the war the unit received eight presidential citations, and its soldiers received 9,486 Purple Hearts, 52 Distinguished Service Crosses, and 21 Medals of Honor.
40. See “U.S. Sixth Corps,” Local ID 111-TV-219 at 6:05.
41. See Big Picture film “The History of Cavalry,” ARC Identifier 2569650/Local ID 111-TV-382.
42. See Big Picture film “OCS Fort Sill,” ARC Identifier 2569759/Local ID 111-TV-521.
43. “OCS Fort Sill.”
44. See Tony Shaw, Hollywood’s Cold War (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2007), 179–181, for how the race issue precipitated a reaction from Hollywood. See also Mary L. Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000), for a more comprehensive understanding of how America’s racial problems cast a negative image abroad.
45. Primetime television shows such as I Spy (1965) and Julia (1968) dealt with issues that included a racially integrated team of undercover operatives and a single black professional mother.
46. Information about the Baumholder incident comes only from local police reports and personal interviews. According to findings there were hundreds of soldiers involved. There is an absence of information regarding the riot in the Stars and Stripes, and US military officials issued no statements. Information about the Berlin incident is in “Army Doing Its Best to Bridge Racial Gap,” Stars and Stripes, 9 September 1970, 4.
47. See Bettie J. Morden, The Women’s Army Corps, 1945–1978 (Washington, DC: Center of Military History, US Army, Washington, DC, 2000), chapter 2, 41.
48. See United States Census of Population 1960: Americans Overseas, vol. 3: Selected Area Reports (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1964), Table B.
49. See “Demographics of the US Military,” Council on Foreign Relations, last updated 13 July 2020, http://www.cfr.org/article/demographics-us-military.
50. See “The Role of Nursing in the Military,” Carrington College, accessed 3 August 2018, http://carrington.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/role-of-nursinging-military.jpg. During the Korean War 500 nurses served in combat zones, and during the Vietnam conflict over 7,000 served in that theater.
51. See Big Picture film “The WAC Is a Soldier, Too,” ARC Identifier 2569547/Local ID 111-TV-277.
52. “The WAC Is a Soldier Too.”
53. See Big Picture film “The Feminine Touch,” Local ID 111-TV-780, accessed 14 August 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th43sM7P2Fc.
54. “The Feminine Touch.”
55. The Army contracted the Battelle Institute, a private nonprofit research and development company, to conduct the study. Its short title was the Army 75 Study. United States Department of the Army, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, Directorate of Personnel Studies and Research, The Army 75 Personnel Concept Study (Washington, DC: Office of Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, 1969).
56. Beth Bailey, America’s Army: Making the All-Volunteer Force (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009), 141.
57. Bailey, America’s Army, 141.
58. Bailey, 154.
59. Bailey, 155.
60. Bailey, 136.
61. It is important to note that the word “Too” in the title “The WAC Is a Soldier Too” implies a male soldier. At the time, men were the presumed universal referent.
62. See Big Picture film “Nurses in the Army,” ARC Identifier 2569560/Local ID 111-TV-290.
63. In some regards this did appear as timely in the wake of President Kennedy’s creation of the Commission on the Status of Women in 1961, together with the approval of the birth control pill, Helen Gurley Brown’s publication of Sex and the Single Girl in 1962, and Betty Friedan’s publication of The Feminine Mystique in 1963. See Ruth Rosen, The World Split Open: How the Modern Women’s Movement Changed America (New York: Penguin Books), 2006.
64. See Big Picture film “The Army Nurse,” Local ID 111-TV-783, accessed 4 August 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H14LqfMFCYI.
65. Sam Lebovic, “‘A Breath from Home’: Soldier Entertainment and the Nationalist Politics of Pop Culture during World War II,” Journal of Social History 47, no. 2 (2013): 264.
66. Lebovic, “‘A Breath from Home,’” 264.
67. Lebovic, 263.
68. “U.S.O. in the Cold War,” New York Times, 15 November 1960, 78.
69. “U.S.O. in the Cold War.”
70. “U.S.O. in the Cold War.”
71. See Big Picture film “United Service Organization (USO): Wherever They Go,” ARC Identifier 2569724/Local ID 111-TV-467.
72. See Big Picture film “USO Wherever They Go,” Local ID 111-TV-697, accessed 6 August 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUXA50AeeXw.
73. “USO Wherever They Go.”
74. “USO Wherever They Go.”
75. See Big Picture film “Soldiers in Greasepaint,” Local ID 111-TV-611, accessed 15 August 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbw30USohhI. Celeste Holm was a popular contemporary Academy Award–winning actress of stage, screen, and television.
76. “Soldiers in Greasepaint.”
77. “Soldiers in Greasepaint.”
78. James Paashe, “Citizen Bob: Hope’s Transmedia Patriotism,” paper presented at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Atlanta, GA, April 2016, 2.
79. Paashe, “Citizen Bob,” 6.
80. Meredith Lair, Armed with Abundance: Consumerism and Soldiering in the Vietnam War (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2011), xiii. Lair’s book offers a more comprehensive discussion of the dichotomy that existed for the military in Vietnam, fighting a war and maintaining morale.
81. Bob Hope appeared in seven separate Big Picture episodes, more than any other individual.
82. See Big Picture film “Army Talent Show,” Local ID 111-TV-315, accessed 6 August 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWjMZm8AeLk&index=51&list=PL8914666A000F8459.
83. Berry enjoyed a long career as a television sitcom actor and stage performer from the mid-1950s to the early 2000s, appearing in shows such as F Troop and Mayberry, RFD. Berry also served in the Army Special Services together with Sergeant Leonard Nimoy.
84. See Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Executive Order 10673—Fitness of American Youth, July 16, 1956,” The American Presidency Project, accessed 8 August 2018, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=106373.
85. See “The Federal Government Takes on Physical Fitness,” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed 8 August 2018, http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Physical-Fitness.aspx.
86. See Big Picture film “Sports for All,” ARC Identifier 25699518/Local ID 111-TV-248.
87. See Big Picture film “Helsinki Olympics,” ARC Identifier 2569520/Local ID 111-TV-250.
88. See Big Picture film “Shape of the Nation,” ARC Identifier 25699812/Local ID 111-TV-582.
89. “Shape of the Nation.” Bob Hope’s reputation was legend. As Uldis Kruze notes, “By the early 1970s, Hope’s popularity was so high that he was ranked third after Jesus as the most admired person in America.” See Kruze, “Comedy on the Front Lines of the Cold War: Bob Hope’s Christmas Specials during the Vietnam War,” in The Cold War and Entertainment Television, ed. Lori Maguire (Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars, 2016), 231.
90. “Shape of the Nation.”
91. See Big Picture film “The Army’s All-Americans,” ARC Identifier 25699802/Local ID 111-TV-568.
92. See Big Picture film “Operation Scoreboard,” Local ID 111-TV-656, accessed 6 August 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ_nMDpG_C4.
93. On March 4, 1968, Johnson issued Executive Order 11398. See Lyndon B. Johnson, Executive Order 11398—Establishing the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, The American Presidency Project, 04 March 1968, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=106174.
94. See Big Picture film “The Army’s Civilians,” Local ID 111-TV-726, accessed 8 August 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi8KnmVz140.
95. William Gardner, ch. 4: Personnel, “Civilian Personnel,” Department of the Army Historical Summary (DAHSUM) for the Fiscal Year 1969 (Washington, DC: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1969), 47 [hereafter DAHSUM, FY 1969. The DAHSUM series is available through the U.S. Army Center for Military History.
96. Gardner, “Civilian Personnel,” 48.
97. See Big Picture film “The Army’s Civilians.”
98. DAHSUM, FY 1969, 50.
99. See Big Picture film “Tools for a Modern Army,” ARC Identifier 25699478/Local ID 111-TV-208.
100. “Tools for a Modern Army.”
101. See Big Picture film “Science Moves the Army,” ARC Identifier 2569856/Local ID 111-TV-668.
102. “Science Moves the Army.”
103. As the Cold War continued to unfold through the 1970s and 1980s, the military-industrial complex continued to grow until that collaboration developed its own power base, overshadowing President Eisenhower’s warning about that possibility in January 1961. His concerns also included the potential of Cold War profiteering. See Evan Thomas, Ike’s Bluff: President Eisenhower’s Secret Battle to Save the World. New York: Back Bay Books, 2012, 281.
104. See Big Picture film “Foreign Nationals,” Local ID 111-TV-314, accessed 8 August 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kb3sEC5yz0.
105. An example of one such labor agreement is at the 1959 NATO SOFA Supplementary Agreement that outlined the conditions and guidelines of local national (LN) employment, not the hiring quotas that were the responsibility of local area military commanders, Article 56, Labor, of the “Agreement to Supplement the Agreement between the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty Regarding the Status of Their Forces with Respect to Foreign Forces Stationed in the Federal Republic of Germany,” 3 August 1959. See “NATO SOFA Supplementary Agreement,” accessed 3 February 2021, http://www.pref.okinawa.jp/site/chijiko/kichitai/sofa/documents/germany02-2.pdf.
106. See Big Picture film “The Army’s Civilians,” Local ID 111-TV-726, accessed 10 July 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi8KnmVz140.
107. See Big Picture film “Your Military Neighbor,” Local ID 111-TV-675, accessed 18 August 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MloNbS1kjtw.
108. See Big Picture film “Alexandria: City of Understanding,” ARC Identifier 2569643/Local ID 111-TV-375. Alexandria, Virginia, is located just outside the District of Columbia. It is home to many military personnel assigned to one of the nearby military facilities that include the Pentagon, Fort Myer, and Fort Belvoir.
109. “Alexandria—City of Understanding.”
110. “Alexandria—City of Understanding.”
111. See Big Picture film “Citizen Soldier—Community Leader,” Local ID 111-TV-816, accessed 18 August 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7mAyjizAR0.
112. See Big Picture film “The Army’s Other Role,” Local ID 111-TV-812, accessed 18 August 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqAFDrZ_Bis.
113. “The Army’s Other Role.”
114. “Citizen Soldier—Community Leader.”
115. For a fuller understanding of the emergence of the all-volunteer force see Thomas W. Evans, “The All-Volunteer Army after Twenty Years, Recruiting in the Modern Era,” Army History PB-20–93–4, no. 27 (Summer 1993): 40–46.
116. See Big Picture film “Your Military Neighbor,” Local ID 111-TV-675, accessed 18 August 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MloNbS1kjtw.
117. See Big Picture film “Boys Town, U.S.A.,” ARC Identifier 2569615/Local ID 111-TV-346.
118. Letter from William T. Ellington, Acting Chief, R-T Branch, APC, to Mr. E. C. Gardner, Dean-Registrar, Freed-Hardeman College, Henderson, Tennessee, 10 July 1957, RG 319.4.1-A1 47–18–311.25, General Correspondence, 1957, NARA.
119. Letter Ellington to Gardner.
120. See Big Picture film “Army Digest No. 3,” Local ID 111-TV-479, accessed 1 March 2019, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPHrQ_CK0Zw.
121. “Army Digest No. 3.”
Conclusion
1. See “Li’l Tigers Star in ‘Stripes’ Story on U.S. TV,” Stars and Stripes (Pacific Edition), 19 March 1960, 23.
2. See “Army’s Famed Series Signs Off, ‘The Big Picture’ Fades from TV Screen,” Stars and Stripes (Pacific Edition), 15 July 1971, 3.
3. “Army’s Famed Series Signs Off.”
4. See Big Picture film “U.S. Army and the Boy Scouts,” ARC Identifier 2569758/Local ID 111-TV-520.
5. See Big Picture film “The History of Cavalry,” ARC Identifier 2569650/Local ID 111-TV-382.
6. See Big Picture film “Hidden War in Vietnam,” Local ID 111-TV-562, accessed 10 July 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wgUFXsxtyQ.
7. As this study discussed earlier, it is also important to note that collections and archives have notable absences of episodes, which at times offers a challenge to a deeper evaluation of the film series.
8. Kenneth D. Alford (military historian and author), conversation with author, Midlothian, VA, July 2018.
9. “The Big Picture Fades from TV Screen,” Stars and Stripes (Pacific Edition), 16 July 1971, 3.
10. See Big Picture film “Third Division in Korea,” Local ID 111-TV-302, accessed 10 May 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjp0mvdLEaM. This closing was typical of those used at the conclusion of each episode by the narrators associated with the show. In this case, M.Sgt. Stuart Queen made the comment.
11. “Deadline on Film Site Nears,” New York Times, 19 December 1971, A19. Following this, the Department of Defense concentrated all audiovisual operations at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California.