What is being done today in our armed forces to educate the soldiers is part of a distinct American tradition. It is the aim of this booklet to tell the story of this tradition and to illustrate in some detail the efforts made during three previous people's wars in our history to show the men in the American Army why they were fighting. This study does not pretend to exhaustiveness in this direction. But the writer believes that the story told here will demonstrate how vital to victory is an educational program which aims to overcome defeatist propaganda and to develop among the soldiers a clear understanding of why they fight.

Introduction -- War for Independence -- War of 1812 -- The Civil War.