What's an Army? (mp3)

Army Day Program (25:35)

With Ken Burns taking us on a happy journey down memory lane with THE WAR on PBS, I thought this would be a good time to release this transcription created for WHDH AM 850 in Boston. This program originally aired on Army Day, April 6, 1948.

It’s an outstanding piece of local radio production from a time when television was just beginning its short battle to dominate America’s free time. The performances here are top-notch, if a bit heavy on melodrama, but this is World War II we’re talking about. Roughly half of the program takes us from the Battan Death March through Tokyo, while the second half starts in training camp and heads for the fields of Europe.

Memories were fresh when this was written, and there is a surprising candor found in describing the failures and hardships of war in a time when history teaches us that America was proud of its victory. The pride is there, along with the belief that America can accomplish any task, but it’s tempered by the grim realities that soldiers faced. You’ll get a more complete picture of how America felt in the first years back home after the war when you listen.

The program was recorded on a set of three 78RPM acetates, but the sound quality is a bit better than you might expect. It’s far from noiseless high fidelity, but its very listenable throughout. To save you some time downloading, and because of the lower source quality, I’ve broken with tradition and encoded this at 128kbps.

This program is one of my favorite finds because of its interest as a piece of radio and American history. Not as much fun as disco, but a big part of the reason why I do what I do. I hope you enjoy.