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Carroll Steinbeck letters to parents, May - June, 1944

Carroll Steinbeck to Alfred and Vira Steinbeck Page 5

FOR A STRONG AND UNITED AMERICA

SALUTE THE INFANTRY!
by Lesley J. McNair
Commanding General, Army Ground Forces

TRIBUTE. Lieutenant General McNair delivers a stirring eulogy on the men who do their fighting on foot. It's a message every mother of an infantry soldier should read.

I SALUTE the men of the infantry because they are and always have been the decisive factor in battle.
Especially do I salute them now because, overshadowed by the glamour of the flashing plane and the clanging tank, they have been neglected by those for whom they fight, suffer, and die. And while the headlines and the newstreels concentrate on the more spectacular arms, the old dependable foot soldier slowly but surely seals the victory.
Ever since the lightning conquest of Poland the public has been dazzled by mechanized war. Envisioning German might solely in terms of dive bombers and armor, laymen forgot that for every armored division, the Nazis had a dozen or so divisions of foot soldier.s Thrilling to the achievements of our own airmen and tankmen, even the family of the American infantryman at home tends to forget that it is he who has wrested bloody victory from the Pacific jungles to the crags of Italy, yard by yard.
Today we are dedicated to a fight to the finish. Yet despite the public's fascination with the mechanized phase of modern war, we in the service know full well that the finish must come on land - not on the sea or in the air - and that the decisive struggle will be fought by the infantry and its supporting arms and services. For fixed defenses like those of Fortress Europe can be taken and held only by the foot soldier.

IN NO sense does this deprive our naval and air forces of the appreciation and applause they are earning so richly. Today all of our forces are welded into a combat team in a fashion unprecedented in history. Yet the infantry is the only arm that can win a decision. And the contribution of the other arms is measured by the aid they give to the infantry.
Traditionally the infantry is the Queen of Battles. But is has more tricks today than in 1918. Mothers of the infantry may well be proud of the fact that to this battle-honored branch, now come the all-around champions of the Army - the lads with outstanding versatility.
For the foot soldier today must be far more than merely robust and durable. He must be keen and alert to master the intricacies of some fifteen weapons. He must be inherently ingenious, resourceful, and self-reliant, for not since the Indian wars has the individual soldier been so much on his own. He must have intelligence, initiative and cunning, because he faces the craftiest of fores. And since he ultimately faces them toe to toe, hand to hand, he must, above all, have guts. For the cold courage of the bayonet duel is different from all other brands of courage.

THESE attributes the American foot soldier has shown us both in his lightning advance through Sicily and in his tortuous progress on New Georgia, where six days and nights of bitter battle netted 300 yards. He has demonstrated them in the blistering desert, the steaming jungle, the frozen Aleutians,  the Italian mud, in weeks of relentless rain, in forty-eight-hour marches, in days and nights without food or water or proper sleep. And he tops off those ordeals by stopping the best the enemy can offer, like "battle-green" foot sloggers who stopped the famous Tenth Panzer Division at El Guettar!
Today every newspaper reader follows our operations on his war map. Let me remind you that those front lines are simply where the infantryman is - week upon week, month upon month without respite. True, he is magnificently supported by artillery and air, but this support is behind and above him. In front of him there is nothing but the enemy!
We see the basic principle at work in every theater of operations. Attu was conquered when practically ever Jap there was killed, although we had sea and air superiority in that area for months. Kiska was evacuated only because the Japs there knew they faced the same fate as those on Attu. Thus the Alaskan campaign ended when the enemy was defeated on land with rifle and bayonet - not before.

IN AFRICA, New Guinea, the Solomons, the Gilberts, on Tarawa, step-by-step progress is measured by the same action. Our control of the sea and air of Italy is complete and overwhelming, yet the going on land has been tough. Over terrain so rough that is takes eight men to carry a litter, advances come only when infantrymen climb those crags and throw the enemy out of his protective caves, bodily.
The might of the German Army has stemmed from its infantry; the most formidable branch of the Japanese forces is their foot soldiers. Our progress along the road to victory must be paced off by the man with the rifle, by his brains, his fortitude, and his fighting heart.
We are fighting this war to the finish. And whether he travels to work in a glider or a truck; a jeep, a parachute or a landing craft, that finish will be fought by the infantryman on foot.
The infantryman has the post of honor. He is in the vanguard. He finds pride and satisfaction in doing, enduring, and giving the most.
Mothers of the infantry, I salute your sons!

Saving...

FOR A STRONG AND UNITED AMERICA SALUTE THE INFANTRY! by Lesley J. McNair Commanding General, Army Ground Forces TRIBUTE. Lieutenant General McNair delivers a stirring eulogy on the men who do their fighting on foot. It's a message every mother of an infantry soldier should read. I SALUTE the men of the infantry because they are and always have been the decisive factor in battle. Especially do I salute them now because, overshadowed by the glamour of the flashing plane and the clanging tank, they have been neglected by those for whom they fight, suffer, and die. And while the headlines and the newstreels concentrate on the more spectacular arms, the old dependable foot soldier slowly but surely seals the victory. Ever since the lightning conquest of Poland the public has been dazzled by mechanized war. Envisioning German might solely in terms of dive bombers and armor, laymen forgot that for every armored division, the Nazis had a dozen or so divisions of foot soldier.s Thrilling to the achievements of our own airmen and tankmen, even the family of the American infantryman at home tends to forget that it is he who has wrested bloody victory from the Pacific jungles to the crags of Italy, yard by yard. Today we are dedicated to a fight to the finish. Yet despite the public's fascination with the mechanized phase of modern war, we in the service know full well that the finish must come on land - not on the sea or in the air - and that the decisive struggle will be fought by the infantry and its supporting arms and services. For fixed defenses like those of Fortress Europe can be taken and held only by the foot soldier. IN NO sense does this deprive our naval and air forces of the appreciation and applause they are earning so richly. Today all of our forces are welded into a combat team in a fashion unprecedented in history. Yet the infantry is the only arm that can win a decision. And the contribution of the other arms is measured by the aid they give to the infantry. Traditionally the infantry is the Queen of Battles. But is has more tricks today than in 1918. Mothers of the infantry may well be proud of the fact that to this battle-honored branch, now come the all-around champions of the Army - the lads with outstanding versatility. For the foot soldier today must be far more than merely robust and durable. He must be keen and alert to master the intricacies of some fifteen weapons. He must be inherently ingenious, resourceful, and self-reliant, for not since the Indian wars has the individual soldier been so much on his own. He must have intelligence, initiative and cunning, because he faces the craftiest of fores. And since he ultimately faces them toe to toe, hand to hand, he must, above all, have guts. For the cold courage of the bayonet duel is different from all other brands of courage. THESE attributes the American foot soldier has shown us both in his lightning advance through Sicily and in his tortuous progress on New Georgia, where six days and nights of bitter battle netted 300 yards. He has demonstrated them in the blistering desert, the steaming jungle, the frozen Aleutians, the Italian mud, in weeks of relentless rain, in forty-eight-hour marches, in days and nights without food or water or proper sleep. And he tops off those ordeals by stopping the best the enemy can offer, like "battle-green" foot sloggers who stopped the famous Tenth Panzer Division at El Guettar! Today every newspaper reader follows our operations on his war map. Let me remind you that those front lines are simply where the infantryman is - week upon week, month upon month without respite. True, he is magnificently supported by artillery and air, but this support is behind and above him. In front of him there is nothing but the enemy! We see the basic principle at work in every theater of operations. Attu was conquered when practically ever Jap there was killed, although we had sea and air superiority in that area for months. Kiska was evacuated only because the Japs there knew they faced the same fate as those on Attu. Thus the Alaskan campaign ended when the enemy was defeated on land with rifle and bayonet - not before. IN AFRICA, New Guinea, the Solomons, the Gilberts, on Tarawa, step-by-step progress is measured by the same action. Our control of the sea and air of Italy is complete and overwhelming, yet the going on land has been tough. Over terrain so rough that is takes eight men to carry a litter, advances come only when infantrymen climb those crags and throw the enemy out of his protective caves, bodily. The might of the German Army has stemmed from its infantry; the most formidable branch of the Japanese forces is their foot soldiers. Our progress along the road to victory must be paced off by the man with the rifle, by his brains, his fortitude, and his fighting heart. We are fighting this war to the finish. And whether he travels to work in a glider or a truck; a jeep, a parachute or a landing craft, that finish will be fought by the infantryman on foot. The infantryman has the post of honor. He is in the vanguard. He finds pride and satisfaction in doing, enduring, and giving the most. Mothers of the infantry, I salute your sons!