Rochelle,
Thank you for sharing this thought-provoking information with us on 
Veterans' Day!  I have shared it with some colleagues who also have 
responded to say thanks!


On Nov 11, 2006, at 5:30 PM, RKenyon721 at aol.com wrote:


>

> A Message for Veteran’s Day November 11, 2006

>

> Love and Liberty Bridged by Literacy:

> Remembering Literacy Students and Their Teachers During World War II

>

> Tom Sticht

> International Consultant in Adult Literacy

>

> On Veteran’s Day November 11, 2006 we remember those who have fallen 

> in wars to protect the liberty and freedom that we all enjoy. In 

> homes, churches, and graveyards special ceremonies will bring back 

> memories of loved ones who died serving their country.

>

> But while tributes to special groups will be given - the battalions of 

> the

> Army, the battle groups of the Navy, the nurses who saved the lives of 

> some while crying for the loss of others - one group of service 

> members will go largely unnoticed and unappreciated. Indeed, they were 

> unwanted to begin with, and only employed when the demands for 

> fighters at the front became so great that the military had to use 

> them. They are the men who were called to duty and were unable to read 

> and write, and in many cases they were not able to speak or understand 

> the English language.

>

> In his history of the Army Training of Illiterates in World War II, 

> Samuel

> Goldberg provides an in-depth discussion of the Special Training Units 

> that the Army put into operation to teach young soldiers how to read, 

> write, and speak the English language. He also talks about how much 

> servicemen and their families appreciated the military’s literacy 

> work.

>

> Writing in the July 1943 issue of "Our War", a newspaper for the 

> literacy

> students of World War II, Private Porfirio C. Gutierrez wrote: "This 

> is my

> first letter in English. I have learned to read and write so that I can

> help protect our country."

>

> A mother of a soldier wrote [in original spellings and punctuation]: 

> "dear

> sir: I thank you all for Learning My child to read and wright I don’t 

> Know

> how to thank you all Because My child did not know nothing it is realy 

> high apprishated Because I did not have the time to send him to school 

> I did not have no husband I raised him from a Baby By my self and now 

> I am in my old stage and that is all my help and I thank you and I 

> thank you when you wrote me and siad My Boy did that I was so glad I 

> did not Know what to do and I realy appreshated it. Very truly Yours, 

> M___ W___"

>

> Examples of letter writing were incorporated into the instructional

> materials. In "Our War"  for January 1944, the fictional Private Pete 

> wrote

> a letter saying: "Dear Mom: … I know what I am working for in this 

> war. I

> want everyone to be able to go to any church he chooses. I want 

> everyone to have enough to eat. I want to be able to say what I think 

> without being afraid. I want the right to do what I like. But I want 

> to do the right thing…" Love, Pete.

>

> Further examples of the deep appreciation that newly literate soldiers 

> and their families had for their literacy and language lessons and 

> their

> teachers appear in a 1998 MA thesis by Marston Mischlich. He tells 

> about

> the work of Private Arthur Neumann whose job was to teach illiterate 

> and non-English speaking soldiers to read and write in the Army’s 

> Special

> Training Unit in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He writes, "Not only did 

> this

> educational training add value to the soldiers for their units, it also

> built their self-esteem." He gives an example of how important the 

> Special Training Unit’s efforts were in a short letter which showed 

> how important the schooling was to families of the soldiers:

>

> "Dear Son George:

> Mother was so proud to get your letter, to think you could write a 

> letter yourself. I will always keep it as a remembrance. God bless the 

> man that taught you. It means so much to me to hear directly from 

> you."

>

> Mischlick continues, "The soldiers were also grateful. One soldier 

> wrote a poem expressing his and probably many other men’s feelings 

> about being given the opportunity to gain an education."

>

> SOLDIER AND TEACHER

> These men are soldiers, too

> Fighting the selfsame cause

> Men who did not go to school

> They reason not, nor pause.

>

> These men who come from every state

> From farm and mill and mining camp,

> Somewhat illiterate, somewhat shy,

> Are learning now of writer’s cramp.

>

> For there are other jobs in war

> Besides the fighting and foray;

> Like teaching school to soldier lads

> Who will return to home someday.

>

> They question not the how or why

> But stanchly (sic) take the task assigned

> This is their country, this their land,

> Teacher and soldier, with but one mind."

>

> All told, the Army taught over a quarter million young men to read, 

> write,

> and speak the English language during World War II. No one knows how 

> many of these new literates fell at the fronts during the war. But 

> they were there, and so were many of their teachers. On Veterans Day, 

> we remember these special troops whose teaching helped make possible 

> the love in letters written and the warmth of letters read. In times 

> of war, literacy forges the link between the love of families and the 

> liberty of nations.

>

> Thomas G. Sticht

> International Consultant in Adult Education

> 2062 Valley View Blvd.

> El Cajon, CA 92019-2059

> Tel/fax: (6190 444-9133

> Email: tsticht at aznet.net

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

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