There is a saying current today in America, "Tell it like it is' -- General S.I.A. Marshall has been doing just that for years in his accounts mainly of the United States Army in action from World War II -- 'Island Victory', 'Night Drop' -- to Vietnam -- 'Battles of the Monsoon' and many another campaign. The General has always been army, he was the youngest commissioned officer in the U.S.A. at age 17 in 1917 since then he has made it his business to follow the gun. In 'Battles of the Monsoon, although the General must now be 68 he casually mentions bucketing over Vietnam at 500' in a helicopter trying to figure out if the people below were friends or foes! During World War II he was a combat historian U.S.A. who soon became fed up with the way the job was being done -- not enough participants were questioned, too much emphasis on staff planning, often those units involved were transferred to other sectors before their story could be learned, questioning often took place months after the events, and worst sin of all, the historian was not thoroughly familiar with front line conditions. One can visualize the General's jowls quivering with indignation. Marshall made it a point to go to the front to speak to the combatants as soon as possible after the action had occurred. The men would be gathered together and each one asked what had happened -- what he had seen and done. The trick was to get one of them talking freely. Soon the others would join in correcting mistakes or jogging memories. The sessions provided a catharsis for the troops, it is always cheerful to know that someone else was so frightened that he forgot to pull the trigger, and of course Marshall got his account, fresh and accurate. He could not only pinpoint a platoon's position he knew where each man had been and what he had done. (Perhaps it was there sessions that somewhat soured him on the rear echelon with its penchant for attributing victory to planning). His trips to the front gave him an eye for terrain and a deep understanding of the tactical problems involved in each unit's set of objectives. Grand Slam's enthusiasm for the front often got the better of him, on one occassion he and the late Ernest Hemingway went hell bent for leather into Paris before the Allies, proceeding to a bar to await the arrival of the troops. This scene is delightfully described in the General's 'Battle at Best'. The last exploit of Grand SLAM was his debut as a television star for the Columbia Broadcasting System during the Arab-Israeli War. How did he make out? CBS's coverage was magnificent but whenever the General was on camera everyone else could have gone home. The Wargamer will find his books treasure chests of information which can be applied to his own game because the General tells it the way it is. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 95 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1970 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com