In Memoriam

Army, Jun 2005 by Clarke, Jeffrey J

The Army's military history community, the Army itself and, indeed, the entire nation owe Martin Blumenson a great debt. First, as a field historian actually accompanying troops in combat, he served in World War II and Korea, gathering primary material through interviews, observations and documents that would later provide the basis for the written histories that followed, establishing an Army practice that would continue through Vietnam and the many contingency operations over the past 20 years. Second, he was also a superb researcher and writer, preparing two major combat volumes in the World War II green series that set high standards for the entire effort and remain the authoritative accounts of the events covered even after so many years have passed. Third, in his career as an independent scholar, he has taught at most of the higher service educational institutions from the Army and Navy Staff Colleges to the National Defense University, given lectures for military schools, commands and units of all types, and participated actively in the continuing education of soldiers, always emphasizing the importance of military history. To younger historians, he was one of the great founders of the Army history program and he was always approachable and willing to assist us in our efforts.

To paraphrase the Secretary of the Army, while the United States may have the largest Navy and the largest Air Force in the world, it will never have the largest Army; therefore, we must have the smartest one. And to do that we need soldiers and scholars like Martin Blumenson who have constantly encouraged and emphasized the intellectual development of the Army and its officers.

For his long and successful labors in such fields, Martin Blumenson remains a great historian whose work will live on in the decades ahead.

JEFFREY J. CLARKE, PH.D.

Chief Historian,

U.S. Army Center of Military History