Cold War Christmas
The cover art of the 1946 December edition of Foreign Service magazine takes us to the early days of the Cold War era.
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This cover art for the December 1946 edition of Foreign Service magazine, a publication of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW), depicts a young man getting the family Santa suit out of a trunk in the attic, a trunk which also holds his uniform. It seems that he is home now, living a life outside of the military, but the illustration indicates that his time in service is still an important part of who he is after coming home.
December 1946
December 1946 was a pivotal month in a pivotal year in world history and for the armed forces of the the United States. It was on December 31st, 1946 that President Harry S. Truman signed Proclamation 2714, the Cessation of Hostilities of WWII. 1945 is often cited as the end of WWII because of VE Day (Victory in Europe Day) on May 8th and Japan's surrender in September.1 But in 1946 war activities and service continued and the Nuremburg Trials to hold Nazi leaders accountable for war crimes were completed.2 Anyone in U.S. military service until the end of 1946 was officially a veteran of WWII.
"Although a state of war still exists, it is at this time possible to declare, and I find it to be in the public interest to declare, that hostilities have terminated. NOW THEREFORE, I, HARRY S. TRUMAN, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the cessation of hostilities of World War II, effective twelve o'clock noon, December 31, 1946." (Truman proclamation)
- from Presidential Proclamation 2714, Cessation of Hostilities of WWII, signed by President Harry S. Truman on December 31, 19463
December 1946 also closed a long year of international organizing and was at the beginning of a new Cold War era in geopolitics. 1946 was the year of the first meeting of the UN (United Nations) and its first sessions of the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council, the re-founding of INTERPOL (The International Criminal Police Organization) since the Nazis had taken it over4, the initiation of the ISO (International Standards Organization)5, and through President Truman's executive order, the establishment the National Intelligence Authority which would become the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency of the United States) the following year.6 There was widespread concern for maintaining international peace and security.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, in speaking at the 47th National Encampment of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, in Boston, Massachusetts in 1946 said, "there is still the clashing of nationalistic aims and hopes and, more particularly, fears; there are new economic, political and physical pressures, new hatreds, prejudices, understandable ambitions for revenge--all the inevitable aftermath of World War. They cover the earth as the enemy of international harmony."7 To today's ears, this statement could sound both painfully current and a bit dated. It was the early days of Cold War, and security against another hot war would be a challenge.
Universal Military Training
Due to the concern about future international conflicts, in 1945 and 1946 the topic of Universal Military Training (UMT) was debated among many Americans, in the media and in the government. Plans varied but most of them included about six months of mandatory military training for men of service age. Opinions ranged from extreme support to extreme opposition, and in the middle was an ambivalent majority. Most Americans supported UMT but didn't necessarily see it as a priority.8
"You will recall the critics of Selective Service in the tense months of 1940--imitated more recently by the critics of the project for Universal Military Training--crying that military service would stifle initiative, curb imagination, and produce unthinking robots. Actual experience in our country is the exact contrary. Military service has broadened minds, opened up new horizons, and increased both a realizations of our nation's meaning and a sense of international responsibility." 9
- from remarks of General Dwight D. Eisenhower at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention, Boston, Massachusetts, 1946
The remarks from General Eisenhower above were given at a VFW meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, in the fall of 1946, and the full text of his speech at the meeting was reprinted in the December 1946 edition of the VFW's Foreign Service magazine. A year prior, President Truman had addressed a Joint Session of Congress on the topic:
"Modern war is fought by experts--from the atomic scientist in his laboratory to the fighting man with his intricate modern weapons. The day of the minute man who sprang to the flintlock hanging on his wall is over. Now it takes many months for men to become skilled in electronics, aeronautics, ballistics, meteorology, and all the other sciences of modern war. If another national emergency should come, there would be no time for this complicated training. Men must be trained in advance."10
- from President Harry S. Truman's Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on Universal Military, October 23, 1945
It was a time when there was no clear answer what would be the right kind of preparedness, given all the new technological warfare tools. People also wanted to see what came from the efforts of the United Nations, which was to be at the forefront of determining what strategies would best prevent more war, and how to prepare for further international conflict if it came to it. But time simply ran out for the Universal Military Training debate:
"Ultimately, it was the growing Cold War that settled the issue. Without the threat of the draft breathing down their necks, young men stopped enlisting. When Czechoslovakia 'fell' to communism in early 1948, US combined forces were understrength by almost 150,000 men, prompting Truman to ask for a reinstatement of the draft. When the Soviet Union cut off access to West Berlin a few months later, Congress obliged. The peace-time draft was back. This time, however, it was clear that conscription was not meant as an emergency measure, even as it had been in 1940. It was to become the new normal, through both peace and war, at least through the immediate future."11
-"Military Service and the Draft Post-World War II", The National WWII Museum.
Foreign Service magazine and the VFW
As stated on their current website, "the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is a nonprofit veterans service organization comprised of eligible veterans and military service members from the active, guard and reserve forces." As early as 1898 they established local units around the country “to secure rights and benefits” for those who had served in foreign wars, and have currently grown to a membership of 1.5 million.
The magazine publication of the VFW has changed over the years. It began as a four-page newsletter, became Foreign Service magazine, and today exists in the form of the VFW Magazine and the VFW Podcast. The stated purposed of publishing is to take up "the cudgels on behalf of war veterans. From travel pay to a bonus to the GI Bill to VA health care."12
In the December 1946 edition of Foreign Service, the main articles dealt with these topics: advocating for Universal Military Service, an article entitled "Man's War Against War" in support of the United Nations' peace efforts, a pros and cons article about unemployment pay for veterans and the so-called "52-20 Club"--one year of unemployment for veterans after leaving service, and an article entitled "Uncle Sam Seeks 40,000 Survivors of Veterans Entitled to Apply for Social Security Funds," which urged veterans’ family members to apply before the deadline ran out.
A section called Notices at first seems to have the format of help wanted ads--small text blurbs stuffed into three solid text pages--is in fact comprised almost entirely of wives and relatives seeking others who served with their lost loved ones in order to learn more about their time in the field or veterans seeking each others’ assistance in confirming the events of their service.
"...any information concerning my son..."
"Would appreciate information concerning the death of my husband..."
"...needs help from some of the following A.E.F. men to establish service connection for disabilities suffered..."
"Would appreciate any news concerning our son..."
Beyond the notices printed, are the many that waited for space. A warning on the top right of the first Notices page reads, "Attention! There are hundreds of notices on hand awaiting publication. It is the desire and intention of the editors to eventually print all that are submitted as space is available. However, each must await its turn and authors of notices are requested not to enter into any unnecessary correspondence because their notices do not appear as promptly as desired."13
Another Kind of Service
Returning to the 1946 Boston meeting of the VFW, here are the opening remarks, by a first-term U.S. House Representative, John F. Kennedy:
"It is a great honor and pleasure for me this morning to open the 47th National Encampment of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Thankful for the great honor you have accorded me, I am most happy to welcome you to Boston.
"It seems to me most appropriate that this Encampment should be held in this ancient city. The old landmarks of this country’s struggle for liberty are near this meeting place – Faneuil Hall, Bunker Hill, the Old North Church. They are part of our American history and they are part of Boston. But there are other symbols of our fight for freedom – living symbols – and they are the young men of Boston and of Massachusetts, some of whom are here today, who in this recent war carried on the fighting tradition of this great state. In this war, as in all the wars of our history, the men from Massachusetts were among the first to be committed to battle."14
- from remarks of then U.S. House Representative John F. Kennedy at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention, Boston, Massachusetts, September 2, 1946
Fourteen years after John F. Kennedy opened the VFW encampment meeting in Boston, at which Eisenhower gave his address promoting Universal Military Service, Kennedy would go on to propose a new Peace Corps program while campaigning for president in 1960, still in the midst of the Cold War.
"How many of you who are going to be doctors, are willing to spend your days in Ghana? Technicians or engineers, how many of you are willing to work in the Foreign Service and spend your lives traveling around the world? On your willingness to do that, not merely to serve one year or two years in the service, but on your willingness to contribute part of your life to this country, I think will depend the answer whether a free society can compete. I think it can! And I think Americans are willing to contribute."15
- remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on October 14, 1960
While we do not currently have Universal Military Service in the form it was proposed after WWII, the idea of a civilian program for building security and continuing the goal of fostering cooperation and understanding between nations did take root, in the form of the Peace Corps.
Do you think there should be some sort of Universal Military Training? What do you think civilians could do to help promote or contribute to international peace and security?
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Library of Congress. "World War II." Accessed: 12/11/22. https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/great-depression-and-world-war-ii-1929-1945/world-war-ii/.
Department of State, Office of the Historian. "The Nuremberg Trial and the Tokyo War Crimes Trials (1945–1948)." Accessed: 12/11/22. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/nuremberg.
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. " CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES OF WORLD WAR II."Accessed: 12/10/2022. https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/proclamations/2714/cessation-hostilities-world-war-ii.
INTERPOL. "Key Dates." Accessed: https://www.interpol.int/en/Who-we-are/Our-History/Key-dates.
ISO. " ISO celebrates 70 years." Accessed 12/11/22: https://www.iso.org/news/2017/02/Ref2163.html.
U.S. Government Publishing Office. "The Evolution of the U.S. Intelligence Community-An Historical Overview." Accessed: 12/11/2022. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-INTELLIGENCE/html/int022.html.
Full text of speech by Dwight D. Eisenhower. “For a Lasting Peace” Foreign Service 34, no. 4 (December): 25-27.
The National WWII Museum. "Military Service and the Draft Post-World War II" Accessed: 12/11/2022. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/military-service-and-draft-post-world-war-ii.
Full text of speech by Dwight D. Eisenhower. “For a Lasting Peace” Foreign Service 34, no. 4 (December): 25-27.
UC Santa Barbara: The American Presidency Project. "Harry S. Truman: Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on Universal Military Training". Accessed: 12/11/2022. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-before-joint-session-the-congress-universal-military-training.
The National WWII Museum. "Military Service and the Draft Post-World War II" Accessed: 12/11/2022. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/military-service-and-draft-post-world-war-ii.
Veterans of Foreign Wars. "About Us." Accessed: 12/10/2022. https://www.vfw.org/about-us.
“Notices and Reunions” Foreign Service 34, no. 4 (December): 37.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. " Remarks of John F. Kennedy at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention, Boston, Massachusetts, September 2, 1946." Accessed: 12/10/2022. https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/boston-ma-19460902.
"Founding Moment." Peace Corps. Accessed: 12/11/2022. https://www.peacecorps.gov/about/history/founding-moment/#.
I was not aware that 1946 was such a pivotal year. Thank you for the details, and for elaborating the role of the VFW. Universal service is indeed a complex issue, which the Peace Corps only partially addressed.
I was very impressed, and a bit surprised, to see this fine article. Just wanted to note that as I read along, I could hear the voices; wondering where IKE was going to hesitate as he sometimes did.
I have lived in New England almost sixty years. I grew up in Western New York where there is an accent. College was in Kansas, definitely a midwestern accent; so, when JFK was running for president against Richard Nixon, I would wonder if the people even knew what he was saying, because I had a hard time too. One of my older cousins served in Germany, in the American Army of Occupation. He was still able, (1947-49) to freely visit old family sites in parts of Germany that reverted back to Poland and would soon become inaccessible. Thank you again for your article.