Only a small percentage of the sixteen million servicemen called up 
during World War II saw front-line service. For the others, war involved 
training, reinforcement depots, tedious assignments, and lots of 
waiting. Herman J. Obermayer was one of those who earned a combat 
star without ever coming close enough to a battlefront to hear or see 
booming guns. Nonetheless, his letters then, and his reflection on 
them now, reveal important aspects of the war and the wartime world.

    From school, from basic training, and later from Europe, Obermayer 
wrote home with vivid descriptions of life in the Army. Reflective and 
observant, he recorded his views of both French and German reactions 
to the American occupation force, race relations among enlisted men, 
and the problems of supplying the troops as they crossed Europe after 
the Normandy invasion.

    One of the few people alive today to have seen Hermann Goering, 
Rudolf Hess, and other leaders of Third Reich, Obermayer wrote 
compellingly about the Nazis on trial at Nuremberg, describing 
Goering's leadership qualities when stripped of the symbols of rank. 
A Jew himself, Obermayer explained his reactions at the trials when 
he witnessed the first documentary confirmation that six million Jews 
had been killed in the Holocaust. He knew and wrote about the official 
U.S. Army hangman at Nuremberg.

    Readers will find in Obermayer's letters and connective 
commentary a welcome tendency to look for what went on beneath 
the surface, a challenging view of how his experiences cast light on 
today's politics and issues, and an engrossingly human story of war 
behind the lines.

_________________________________________________________

HERMAN J. OBERMAYER was born and raised in Philadelphia. After 
a successful career as a journalist and as the editor-publisher of two 
daily newspapers, he enjoyed a second career as a newspaper 
management consultant in countries emerging from communism. He 
lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife of fifty years.


Number Ninety-eight: Texas A&M University Military History Series


What people are saying about this book

". . . stands out not only for its acute observations about everyday life 
in the Army but for its insights into world-historical events going on in 
the background."—Commentary, October 2005

". . . a poignant memoir."—Wall Street Journal

"Today's military commanders could benefit from the lessons found in 
Herman Obermayer's letters from 60 years ago. This book could easily 
have been called 'Six Days Ago' for the astonishing relevance of the 
story it tells to our soldiers today, and the role of the American military 
in the world. Obermayer is a witness to history. As a young Jewish GI, 
he looked Goering in the eye and lived to tell about it. From Dartmouth 
to honorable discharge and beyond, Obermayer's story is a shining 
example of what Tom Brokaw has called 'The Greatest Generation.'"
—Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor, NBC Nightly News

"Herman Obermayer has given historians and interested citizens a 
soldier’s view of World War II. He has given us not only his wonderfully 
descriptive letters of life during the 1940s, as a soldier in the crusade 
in Europe, but just as importantly he gives the reader the benefit of his 
observations of the contemporary world juxtaposed against World War II 
experiences."—Gordon R. Sullivan, General, USA Retired, Former 
Chief of Staff United States Army, President of the Association of the 
United States Army

"We need more memoirs/anthologies like Herman Obermayer’s. 
Obermayer is a good storyteller. Historians of American military history, 
especially the human dimension of war, will find these letters a valuable 
source."—G. Kurt Piehler, University of Tennessee

". . .unusually thoughtful and well written. There are letters and 
memoirs out there, of course. But this set has its own special 
qualities."—Donald J. Mrozek, Kansas State University

"Like a pipeline traversing a foreign countryside, Soldiering uses 
ordinary materials to link its readers to something vital: the knowledge 
that war encompasses more than battlefield heroics. It transforms 
those who take part in it, however bravely, at whatever remove."
—Baltimore Sun, May 1, 2005

". . . an interesting account of life in liberated Paris and occupied 
Germany, including an eyewitness report on one of the historic legal 
proceedings at Nuremberg."—National Review

"A revealing march back in history. Through an unusually complete 
set of letters from a dutiful son-correspondent, Herman Obermayer 
reminds us how different things were in World War II: the crowded 
troopships, the astonishingly supportive public and press, the 
privileges of officers (and the resentment of enlisted men), and the 
(relative) indifference to the massive destruction of war.  But there 
are also the similarities: the travails of occupation, the complexities
of logistics, the problems of medics, and the never-ending 
exaggerations of the rumor mill."—James R. Schlesinger, former 
Secretary of Defense and Director of Central Intelligence

"Herman Obermayer's interestingly written account of his experience 
as a GI in the United States and in France in World War II will 
resonate with those who served at that time.  And for those presently 
interested in the relation between an army of occupation and the 
residents of the occupied country, his story will prove equally 
informative."—William Rehnquist

"Herman Obermayer has provided a compelling, first-hand chronicle of 
World War II in the form of letters home. Most collections of letters 
provide brief, episodic insights to persons and select events, but 
Obermayer's collection, accompanied by photographs, covers, week by 
week and often day by day, the history of a young, enlisted soldier 
whose acute perceptiveness foreshadows a career in journalism. It gives 
wonderful insight into the attitudes and values of the time. He makes 
some wonderful connections to present day matters that are a real 
bonus. Truly a great read!"—General Jack N. Merritt, U.S. Army, Retired