Archives of Memory: a Soldier Recalls World War II
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University of Kentucky UKnowledge Military History History 1990 Archives of Memory: A Soldier Recalls World War II Alice M. Hoffman Pennyslvania State University. Howard S. Hoffman Bryn Mawr College Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Hoffman, Alice M. and Hoffman, Howard S., "Archives of Memory: A Soldier Recalls World War II" (1990). Military History. 5. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_military_history/5 Archives OF Memory Archives OF Memory A SOLDIER RECALLS WORLD WAR II Alice M. & Howard S. Hoffman THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY Frontispiece: Howard Hoffman at Longwy, France, January 1945 Copyright © 1990 by The University Press of Kentucky Paperback edition 2009 The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved. Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008 www.kentuckypress.com The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows: Hoffman, Alice M., 1929- Archives of memory: a soldier recalls World War II / Alice M. & Howard S. Hoffman. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p .) and index. ISBN-lO: 0-8131-1718-6 (cloth: alk. paper) 1. Hoffman, Howard S., 1925- 2. World War, 1939-1945-Personal narratives, American. 3. World War, 1939-1945---Campaigns-Western. 4. Soldiers-United States-Biography. 5. United States-Army-Biography. 6. Oral history. 1. Hoffman, Howard S., 1925- . II. Title. D811.H648 1990 940.54'21'092-dc20 90-12759 [B) CIP ISBN-13: 978-0-8131-9249-9 (pbk: acid-free paper) This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials. §@ Manufactured in the United States of America. ~.Y.'I~ Member of the Association of 'I~ - American University Presses The stream of thought flows on; but most of its segments fall into the bottomless abyss of oblivion. Of some no memory survives the instant of their passage. Of others, it is confined to a few moments, hours or days. Others again, leave vestiges which are indestructible, and by means of which they may be recalled as long as life endures. Can we explain these differences? - William James This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Maps viii Foreword by Forrest C. Pogue ix Foreword by Charles T. Morrissey xii Introduction 1 Biographical Note on Howard Hoffman 8 1. A Psychological Overview of Memory 10 2. Stateside Experiences: First Recall Document 24 3. Stateside Experiences: Analysis of Memories 48 4. The Italian Campaign: First Recall Document 63 5. The Italian Campaign: Analysis of Memories 75 6. From Southern France to the Elbe: First Recall Document 88 7. From Southern France to the Elbe: Analysis of Memories 124 8. War's End and Return to Civilian Life: First Recall Document 139 9. War's End and Return to Civilian Life: Analysis of Memories 142 Conclusion 144 Appendix 1. The Italian Campaign: Second Recall Document 155 Appendix 2. Daily Log, Company C, Third Chemical Mortar Battalion 168 Appendix 3. Combat Units Supported by Hoffman's Company 188 Notes 189 Acknowledgments 194 Index 196 Illustrations follow page 112 Maps The Road to Rome 78 France to Germany 126 The Vosges Mountains 132 The Bulge 133 Foreword Forrest C. Pogue It is a pleasure to contribute this foreword to Alice and Howard Hoffman's study of his memory of experiences as a young soldier in World War II. Going beyond transcription of taped interviews, the authors have analyzed the reliability and stability of long-term mem ory and have checked Howard's recollections against accounts of the same incidents recorded shortly after they occurred. In the process the Hoffmans have talked with Howard's fellow soldiers and have exam ined unit histories, personal documents, after-action reports, official journals, and other written accounts. They have also endeavored to check their conclusions about memory against the writings of psychol ogists. The result is a striking contribution to oral history. My own interest and experience in what is now called oral history brought me into contact with Alice Hoffman at the second National Colloquium on Oral History at Arden House, New York, in November 1967. At this meeting the new Oral History Association adopted a constitution and elected officers. I was asked to be a speaker. Alice Hoffman recalls that during the meeting Cornelius Ryan and I made contradictory statements about the value of interviews for the histo rian; she says that these statements gave her the idea for the experi ment she and her husband have since conducted, on which the present book reports. Cornelius Ryan, whose The Longest Day (1959) was an extremely popular book on the Normandy invasion, questioned the value of the interviews conducted by the army's combat historians, adding that he had interrogated 6,000 men for his book and had failed to find one who could tell him whether the water in the Channel had been hot or cold or at what time the troops had attacked a particular objective. I spoke later at the meeting to explain the army's purpose and methods in the World War II interview program, in which I had been involved. I did not remember ever asking anyone about the relative coolness of the water on D-Day. I had been on the water that day, but its temperature was officially recorded by weather experts. As for time of attacks, we had soon learned that most soldiers claimed to have been too busy staying alive to check their watches. Some veterans, alternatively, asked us at what time they were supposed to attack and then said that this was the x Foreword time at which they had attacked. We found it more realistic to ask the veterans to estimate how much time had elapsed after the main artil lery preparation before they attacked, for we knew that coordination of infantry movement with artillery fire had to be precise and that the time was carefully recorded in artillery records. Combat historians, knowing that they would have journals, after action reports, and daily summaries supplemented by combat pho tographs and official art, were trying to fill in the part of the story that official records did not always provide. And we tried to get this infor mation as soon as possible after the action so that we could actually inspect some of the area of combat or elicit from fighting men their immediate impressions of what had happened in their own small areas. Valuable as the combat history program proved to be for the writing of official history, it still did not give historians the complete coverage they wanted, and it sometimes neglected important phases of the war. Even now efforts are still being made to interview surviving veterans of World War II. Writers on military history and students of other historical developments can feel encouraged by the study the Hoffmans have provided. Howard Hoffman's account, drawn from his memory by the expert questioning of his wife, a long-time oral history professional, expresses the anxieties of the uninitiated soldier about the perils of service in the war zone and realistically conveys the bewilderment, weariness, and fear during moments now more than forty years past. The authors are fervent believers in the value of oral history. But they are equally convinced that the transcript of an oral interview must pass the same tests required of any written memoir. It is necessary, in other words, to ask: (1) is the writer speaking from personal knowl edge; (2) is there any basis for doubting the validity of the testimony because the witness had a faulty memory, wanted to enhance his own role, wanted to cover up his shortcomings, or omitted salient factors; and (3) does the witness follow a pattern of truth-does he hate to let facts ruin a good story, does he avoid unpleasant facts because they might damage a friend, or does he tell slightly different versions of his story to different people? Historians must approach oral statements with the same skepticism that they bring to written memoirs. Reminiscences are nonetheless important, however, and history that rules out the personal memoir, written or oral, risks loss of color and personality, which are as vital as "facts." As a historian and biographer trying to pin down details of combat, a political contro versy, or a critical decision in war or peace, I still look to participants when I want to feel the hot breath of history. Their testimony can give life to dry journals and meaning to the most admirably constructed Forrest C. Pogue xi after-action report. In this connection it is of more than passing interest to as what people remember for the rest of their lives and how they remember it. The Hoffmans' book shows that the interview occupies an essential place in history as it increases our appreciation not only of past events but also of the significance of memory. Foreword Charles T. Morrissey In this landmark book Alice Hoffman applies oral history as a tech nique of inquiry to Howard Hoffman's spoken recollections in order to assess their reliability, their validity, and related aspects of long-term memory.