Before the USNS General A.W. Brewster docked at Yokohama, Japan, on 6 August 1951, the Far East Command (FECOM), G-2 Psychological Warfare (Psywar) Division had separated the 3rd Reproduction Company (3rd Repro) from its parent 1st Radio Broadcasting & Leaflet Group (1st RB&L). The Psywar Group staff, the Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC), and the 4th Mobile Radio Broadcasting Company (MRBC) soldiers in khaki uniforms, combat boots, helmets, load bearing harnesses with butt packs, and carrying their individual weapons, loaded duffle bags into trucks and boarded busses for Tokyo. Three officers and fifty-four men of the 3rd Repro Company did likewise, but they left for the FECOM Printing and Publications Center [8234th Service Detachment (SD) PP&C] in the Kawasaki suburb of Motosumiyoshi, halfway between the Japanese capital and Yokohama.1 The Psywarriors, having learned to be flexible at Fort Riley, Kansas, adjusted to the exigencies of wartime.
Since the 3rd Repro mission was to “process 1st RB&L-produced propaganda leaflets from the ‘dummy stage’ [original leaflet prototype] to printing [photographing to create (‘cut’) lithographic print plates for the presses and printing (‘running’)] and assembly [airdrop bundles and leaflet bombs] for dissemination,” they were incorporated into the existing theater printing and publications center per doctrine.2 The FECOM element was located in the seventeen acre Tokyo Koku Keiki Kabushiki Kaisha complex, one of Japan’s top WWII aircraft instrument plants. When the 1st RB&L troops arrived, the print facility was operating a three shift work schedule to fill G-2 Psywar requirements and wartime demand for publications in Korea.3 The arrival of the 3rd Repro press teams was a welcome relief.
The Far East Command Printing & Publications Center was located in the seventeen acre Tokyo Koku Keiki Kabushiki Kaisha complex, a major WWII Japanese aircraft instrument manufacturing plant in Kawasaki [Motosumiyoshi suburb] on Route 11 halfway between Tokyo and Yokohama.
The purpose of this article is to explain the 3rd Repro Company Psywar leaflet production process, show what it took to meet daily and extraordinary print deadlines, describe equipment used, and elaborate on individual special skills training. Army field, training, and technical manuals, FECOM and 1st RB&L documents, and official reports are the sources for doctrine, organization, functions and capabilities, missions, and theater employment. Period newspaper articles show how “Ganders” (nickname for 1st RB&L soldiers) increased military and public awareness about what they were doing. Most importantly, 3rd Repro veterans provided reality based on mission accomplishment and circumstances in Japan and Korea as the war evolved.
The 1st RB&L Psywar role changed markedly when the UN mission shifted from driving the Communists out of Korea to restoring South Korea’s northern boundary to status antebellum (38th Parallel). Then, negotiations for an Armistice changed the strategic mission. Control of key terrain in a demilitarized zone (DMZ) that roughly paralleled original boundary lines dominated UN offensive operations. Keeping these contextual factors in perspective, the reader can better understand how the 3rd Repro Company of the 1st RB&L accomplished its missions in support of FECOM. The doctrinal missions of each in the 1950s are the logical start points.
According to the lesson plans of the Psychological Warfare Officers Course (1951) and Special Text (ST) 33-25-1 (February 1953), Psychological Warfare Field Operational Units, a Radio Broadcasting and Leaflet Group “conducted strategic psychological warfare in a military theater of operations. [Psywar] targets included enemy soldiers and civilians outside the combat area; hostile, friendly and neutral populations under enemy control; and neutral nations.” It was the theater (FECOM G-2) Psywar division that planned and supervised RB&L operations.4
The 3rd Repro role in the 1st RB&L strategic mission was to produce leaflets and other printed propaganda material in support of Psywar operations in theater. According to doctrine, three elements determined where a Repro Company would be located: (1) the capability of U.S. Government printing plants in theater to produce Psywar products; (2) the availability of troop billeting nearby; (3) warehouse facilities to store paper and ink supplies and temporarily house finished printed products until pickup.5 Though 3rd Repro was a fixed base, non-mobile unit, its equipment was still transportable.6 Thus, personnel and organic equipment were assimilated into the daily operations of the FECOM Printing & Publications Center that had been supporting G-2 Psywar since war broke out.
The FECOM Print Plant began supporting the Psywar campaign directed against North Korean forces in early July 1950. First, “Keep the faith, help is on the way” leaflets encouraged the South Korean people. Then, safe conduct passes designed to prompt Communist defections began rolling off the presses. South Korean and American troops hastily sent from Japan were fighting desperately to maintain a foothold on the peninsula. The desperate situation in Korea dictated aerial delivery.
U.S. Army and Japanese civilian employees at the Motosumiyoshi print facility quickly mastered packing techniques to stack rolls of leaflets into WWII-era M16-A1/2 Cluster Adapter Bombs. These were dropped by Far East Air Force (FEAF) B-26 Invader light bombers and B-29 Superfortress medium bombers. Each 500 pound bomb could hold 45,000 four-by-five inch or 22,500 five-by-eight inch rolled leaflets. Fully loaded M16A1/2 bombs weighed 170 pounds. The B-29s could carry thirty-two of them.7 The alternate 100 pound M-26 modified flare and M-15 cluster adapter bombs could be packed with seven 1,500 leaflet rolls. The Air Force preferred the 500 pounder. Preset M860 barometric pressure fuses triggered the opening of leaflet bombs.8
Rolled leaflets are loaded into 500 pound M16A1/2 Cluster Adapter Bombs by 3rd Repro soldiers at Motosumiyoshi, Japan.SSG Mason, X Corps Psywar, shows how a roll of 400 Psywar leaflets fits in a 105 mm howitzer smoke canister shell.
Less often, rolled leaflets were packed into 105 mm howitzer smoke canister shells.9 The carrying space (400 leaflets) and range (8,000 meters) were limited, but pinpoint accuracy, all-weather delivery, and the ability to coordinate directly with ground forces were advantages.10 Preceding and following artillery barrages with leaflet shells was a most effective tactic.11 The support of tactical Psywar missions was a requirement. Less than a month after arrival, 3rd Repro assumed the entire FECOM Psywar print mission. Its Processing Section took charge of bomb and artillery shell loading tasks. About the same time 1st RB&L levied its subordinate unit for personnel having journalism backgrounds.
Training, missions, specialized equipment, and soldier life are described by veterans Cecil A. Beckman, the 3rd Repro company clerk, William M. Duke, a pressman, and Charles R. Broderick, who was both a pressman and radio broadcast script writer. The Tokyo edition of the Proper Gander, the 1st RB&L weekly newsletter, printed by 3rd Repro, contained articles on unit activities and some soldier biographies.12 The press training arranged by the Office of the Chief of Psychological Warfare (OCPW) in Washington was explained by Broderick.
When Private (PVT) Charles Broderick, a drafted journalism graduate of the University of Illinois, arrived at 1st RB&L headquarters, Camp Forsyth, Fort Riley, Kansas, he was initially assigned as a radio broadcast script writer. Screening conducted by the Army Adjutant General (TAG) Classification & Analysis Station at Fort Myer, Virginia, had provided the Psywar group with an abundance of college-educated draftees with writing skills. Their majors ranged from advertising to applied psychology, history, political science, and journalism. Foreign residence and travel, foreign language proficiency, and experience in newspaper, radio, publication, stage, and motion pictures completed the qualifications list. Requisites for Psywar specialists had come from a small (4 x 7 inches x ¼ inch) Army Field Manual (FM) 33-5 Psychological Warfare in Combat Operations, dated August 1949.13 However, technical skills like radio repair and print specialties were overlooked. To remedy a shortage of printers the OCPW staff arranged for OJT (On-the-Job Training) on the lithographic offset presses of the U.S. Navy Print Facility located in the basement of the Pentagon.14 It was up to the 1st RB&L to provide trainees.
Master Sergeant (MSG) John K. Ham, Jr., 3rd Repro operates the process copy camera at the FECOM print plant, April 1952.
Sergeant First Class (SFC) Thomas S. Anderson, 3rd Repro “press boss,” and CPL Woodrow W. (“William”) Venters discuss photo lithography needed for a Psywar leaflet.
PVT Broderick and Corporal (CPL) Duke were among the volunteers. “I figure that since I’ll be with the outfit anyhow, I might as well learn something. Since we are still in the formative stages, it’s best to get all I can out of this work. There are 6 sergeants, 5 corporals, and 6 PFCs in the printing section so I should get some sort of rank,” Broderick told his parents.15 CPL Bill Duke, an activated Reservist who had been a message center classified courier at Caserta during the post-WWII occupation of Italy, “was already doing OJT at Fort Riley Print Plant, looking to learn a trade.”16
WWII and Korean War veteran, Staff Sergeant (SSG) Thomas S. Anderson, a Regular Army man in the 1st RB&L, was put in charge of the eight “Ganders” (CPL Duke and Privates Broderick, Richard H. Crimer, John C. Frampton, Charles L. Gemmel, Walter J. Gessler, Robert L. Giesken, and Robert D. Singer) plus six soldiers from the 2nd Loudspeaker & Leaflet (L&L) Company slated for the first OJT press course in Washington.17 In early April 1951 the group was flown to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and billeted in the Engineer School trainee barracks. The Psywar soldiers were bussed to the U.S. Navy print facility daily. There, they trained on 1940s-era single-sheet Webendorfer 17 x 22 inch drum lithographic presses while SSG Anderson, a trained military photographer, was taught photo lithography.18
The Offset Pressman Course was conducted when the Navy facility was least busy, late afternoon and evenings. “I’ve done little except sleep till noon & work from 3 PM till midnight,” wrote PVT Broderick. “We handle quite a bit of material that I’m not supposed to talk about but I can tell you about the presses & the set-up.”19 After completing the eight-week Navy course in early June 1951, the Psywar soldiers returned to Camp Forsyth at Fort Riley. The “Ganders” had no time to practice their new skills at the post print plant because the Group was preparing to go overseas. But, they did receive a demonstration of their organic press, the Harris LTV 35 x 45 inch printer.20
Two technical representatives (tech reps) from the Harris-Seybold-Potter Company of Cleveland, Ohio, presented classes to the Psywarriors on the latest four-color 35 x 45 inch offset multi-lithographic printing press. They demonstrated its superior capabilities by producing the initial 1st RB&L four-color Psywar propaganda training leaflet and the only print issue of The Proper Gander done at Fort Riley. Volume 1, Number 12 was run on 9 June 1951. Before and after, the unit newspaper was mimeographed until the 1st RB&L got to Japan. This showed the feasibility of such production. LTC Homer E. Shields, the 1st RB&L commander, carried the “While She Waits” leaflet to the Pentagon to show Brigadier General [BG] Robert A. McClure, the Army Chief of Psychological Warfare. After the demonstration, the two Harris tech reps supervised the crating of the LTV press for shipment overseas.21
Working with the Group operations and intelligence sections, the 3rd Repro Company produced “While She Waits.” It was directed towards a hypothetical audience, the Chinese, and had a nostalgia theme. This project demonstrated the “operational fluency” of several different elements: the script writers, intelligence analysts, graphic artists, and Repro pressmen, according to LTC Shields.22 The target audience for training was quite appropriate because the 1st RB&L overseas assignment had been changed.
CPT Ira J. Harvey (left), WWII 5th Mobile Radio Broadcasting Company veteran and Silver Star recipient, was the commander of 3rd Reproduction Company. WWII Pacific infantry veteran 1SG John D. Charlesworth looked like a combination of the actor Burt Lancaster and the Marlboro Man.Phi Beta Kappa 2LT John K. Chance served as the Print Officer.
Instead of Europe, the 1st RB&L was headed to Asia. It would be the U.S. Army Reserve [USAR] 301st RB&L, being formed at Camp Forsyth around the NBC [National Broadcasting Company]-sponsored 406th Mobile Radio Broadcasting Company [MRBC], that was going to Germany instead. “Virtually all enlisted Reservists in the 301st were sergeants. They all had rank whereas we were mostly privates in the 1st RB&L,” recalled PVT Cecil A. Beckman, the soon-to-be 3rd Repro company clerk.23
The 3rd Repro commander, USAR Adjutant General (AG) Captain (CPT) Ira J. Harvey, a WWII Psywar veteran with a Silver Star and Purple Heart [5th MRBC in Europe] recalled to active duty for Korea, was assigned Beckman as his unit clerk. There was a lot of talent in the small headquarters. CPT Harvey had been print foreman of the Kansas City Star and had worked in commercial advertising.24 First Sergeant (1SG) John D. Charlesworth, a WWII Pacific infantry “field first” from Grand Junction, Colorado, looked and acted like a combination of the actor Burt Lancaster and the Marlboro Man according to Beckman.25 Second Lieutenant (2LT) John K. Chance, a 1950 graduate of Baldwin-Wallace University [Berea, Ohio] and former editor for the St. Clairsville, Ohio, weekly newspaper, was the Print Officer.26 Company headquarters was set up on the second floor of the central “H-shaped” administration building for the FECOM complex.27
The former WWII Japanese aviation industrial facility covered two city blocks. Staff offices were on the first floor. The officer and enlisted billeting, latrines and shower rooms, mess hall, recreation room and library, all ranks High-Low Club, and the 3rd Repro orderly room were situated in the four wings of the second level.28 Security was provided by Military Police (MP).
Soldier life was good. Eight enlisted soldiers shared a room. They slept in bunk beds “decorated” with mosquito netting. Each man had a wall locker and a foot locker by his bunk. CPL Cecil Beckman shared a room with the first sergeant next to the orderly room. Costs for Japanese kitchen police (KPs), houseboys, and laundry (three-day service) were apportioned monthly based on rank. Outside barber and tailor shops, shoeshine boys waited for business. A Post Exchange (PX) and movie theater were close by. Weekday calisthenics before breakfast became routine as were room and “full field” equipment inspections, road marches, and field training in Hidea Park.29 Post-war Japan was enjoyable for American troops.
The latest stateside movies were also available in Yokohama, a short bus or train ride, and in Tokyo (about an hour by train) at the Ernie Pyle Theater.30 The train station was a half mile from the print plant. The Army enlisted men’s club in Yokohama, The Rack of Four, was nice, but did not match those in the capital. Class “A” uniforms were worn by soldiers on pass and leave until the Occupation ended on 28 April 1952. When civilian clothes were authorized, enlisted soldiers still had to show passes, ID cards, and “dog tags” (metal identification tags) to the MPs on the gate. The “Ganders” listened to the latest American music, news, and weather on Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS). Earthquake tremors were quickly taken in stride.31 Within a week the 3rd Repro soldiers were hard at work.
Initially, the 3rd Repro was integrated into the daily schedule of the FECOM print facility to familiarize them with equipment and routines. Though their presses had arrived, they stayed crated until the orientation was complete.32 “We printed all kinds of paper products from formal invitations to South Korean (won) and U.S. Government MPC (Military Payment Certificates) to leaflets,” stated PFC Broderick.33 “Because the 3rd had a lot of college grads, we had to proof-read military directives before they were printed. With a TOP SECRET clearance I was selected to edit classified materials. Strict handling procedures for atomic bombs was one of these,” said Beckman. “While the Print Plant had military personnel and some DACs (Department of the Army Civilians), male and female, the majority of the work force was Japanese. Officers had security clearances, but not all the DACs and sergeants did.”34
“Yesterday was our first day on the presses. This plant has a 17 x 22 inch [Harris lithograph press] that is somewhat different [older] than ours, but with a bit of assistance we should be able to operate them all right. Our Press Foreman, Sergeant [SGT] Bob [Robert M.] Jackson is a swell guy and he makes things a lot easier. As of now I work from 2:30-10:30 at night. The press rooms are air conditioned and I pull no other duty of any kind.”35 Still, all soldiers pitched in to load the leaflet bombs and packets and put them on trucks to Air Force bases throughout Japan.
By early September 1951, the 3rd Repro was handling the entire G-2 Psywar mission by itself and the FECOM print center returned to a five-day work week, 0800-1700 hours.36 LTC Shields commended the “Ganders” on 23 October 1951 for their “magnificent performances of duty” in the first eleven weeks of operations. CPL Broderick sent the memo and Psywar leaflet No. 1122 with its “Food” theme sheet home.37 At times, copies of the Proper Gander served as filler for his letters.
CPL Charles R. Broderick, 3rd Repro Company sent this leaflet home with a note: “Here’s a typical leaflet. I don’t think they’re classified but they shouldn’t be too widely circulated either.”
28 December 1951 was an auspicious day for G-2 Psywar when the billionth leaflet was dropped in Korea. It marked eighteen months of Psywar leaflet activity that began 27 June 1950. However, since its arrival on 6 August 1951, the 1st RB&L had written, illustrated, and produced 50 percent of that total. More significantly, over two hundred different leaflets had been prepared by the “Ganders.” Included was a stepped-up effort to explain UN humanitarian assistance to the Korean people that began on 1 December 1951. A hundred million simple leaflets in four colors, barely calling card size, had “plugged the UN as the guardian of world peace” for fourteen days. Another “full court press” raised the weekly leaflet “high score” to 65,907,000 dropped between 26 December 1951 and 1 January 1952.38 Unfortunately, this notoriety attracted attention.
Because 3rd Repro had the only publicized combat mission at the FECOM print plant and the Army Staff in Washington considered the RB&L groups as term requirements, changes were forthcoming. FECOM redesignated the 1st RB&L as a theater temporary unit (T/D) by assigning it an Army Unit (AU) number. In mid-January 1952, the 3rd Repro Company was attached to the 8234th AU, the new designation for the FECOM Print & Publications Center. 1st RB&L became the 8239th AU. This subtle distinction allowed the theater command to prioritize personnel fills as the assigned USAR personnel and two-year draftees in the 1st RB&L fulfilled national service obligations and left. Another subtlety was that non-combat efficiency reports in wartime carried little weight for officer promotion and education. Just as 1st RB&L assets had been amalgamated into the G-2 Psywar staff in Tokyo, so would the 3rd Repro leadership at the FECOM Print Plant.
Dual-hatting and consolidation of services followed. The 3rd Repro company orderly room and supply were consolidated with 8234th assets and 1SG Roy Griffee was put in charge. SGT Cecil Beckman was dual-hatted as company clerk and personnel records NCO.39 CPT Harvey was given the additional duty of Assistant Print Officer and relocated into that staff office. 2LT Chance became Reproduction Officer. 2LT Marvin R. Warshaw, the 3rd Repro executive officer, was reassigned to Tokyo as a Psywar staff officer, MOS 9305 [Military Occupational Specialty]. Production of Psywar leaflets was no longer the exclusive domain of the 3rd Repro; the combat mission would be handled like other print jobs, although it did have a higher priority.40
There were other internal changes as well. The 3rd Repro was effectively integrated into the FECOM PP&C headquarters command. The new “paratrooper commander, CPT Robinson, conducted a tough inspection of the 3rd Repro troop areas and cancelled passes. Work days now begin with 15 minutes of physical training [PT] at 6:00 A.M. The food is still great and the guys are like always,” CPL Broderick wrote home.41 Within a few weeks, he was again on the “night shift” enjoying a special reveille formation at 10:30 A.M. and missing morning PT. “It’s like it was at the Pentagon and Fort Belvoir.”42 By then, the Harris LTV press was carrying the bulk of the Psywar leaflet load.
3rd Repro offset print men working in the Far East Command Print & Publications Center produce 1st RB&L propaganda leaflets on Webendorfer Offset Lithographic 11 x 22 inch presses.A 3rd Repro pressman operates a Harris LTV press at the Motosumiyoshi facility, April 1952.
CPL Broderick described his daily work routine: “At 6:00 A.M. I was disturbed by the (plant) whistle to fall out for First Call and Reveille, but I went back to sleep till 9:00, skipping breakfast at 6:30-7:30. Lucky me, it snowed all day yesterday. SGT Marvel [FECOM PP&C] who is my night shift boss came around and checked us off his list while we stayed in our bunks. At 2:45, J.C. [SGT John C. Frampton] and I walk about 100 yards, across the street, and inside the door to the press room. He works on a Harris 35 x 45 inch press which is big. And I, of course am still ‘thumping along’ on the 17x 22 inch Webendorfer Offset Lithographic Process Press. I set a New Year [1952] record last night though. That’s 38,000 impressions…about 2 printed sheets every second. Usually I hit about 15,000 per night but the paper was good and that helps a lot. Mostly we get Japanese paper, some of which is made of seashells that cut the printing surface off, so that a [photo lithographic] plate lasts only a short time.”44
SGT Larry Meyer and University of Minnesota graduate CPL Peter R. Lee, S-3 Leaflet Graphics Section, recalled “overnight suicide runs” down to the printing plant in Motosumiyoshi to deliver mock-ups of leaflets and newspapers as well as the “advanced technology” needed to print perforated cigarette paper leaflets.46 All final art approved for reproduction was done in black ink or paint on white paper. Separate, individual drawings were required for each color in the finished leaflet. Then, the final art work and text had to be sized and positioned before being carried down to the print plant.47
CPL Charles R. Broderick sent this United Nations’ flags Psywar leaflet #2506 home in a letter.
To spice up his correspondence Broderick used colored sheets of paper, included Psywar leaflets, letterhead paper, and sample print products. “Every time I walk by the Multilith Section where these are printed I pick up some new sheets of anything that would be decent to write on,” commented the University of Illinois draftee.48 On 11 March 1952 he sent home a copy of the first Psywar multicolor leaflet [FECOM #2506] containing all the United Nations’ flags. “We did this on our new LTV Harris! I’m running #3 press at night now and learning an awful lot as we go along.”49 He had moved up from the Webendorfer press.
Psywar leaflet #1056 in Korean warned railroad repair workers that U.S.N. F8F Panther fighter bombers would destroy them and their efforts.
Using U.S. Navy Military Sea Transportation Service USNS Muskingum T-AK 198 letterhead paper for stationery, CPL Broderick explained that he was not optimistic about an early release. “We’ll go as individuals. Replacements will filter in as we leave. Offset men are fairly rare in the Army.”50 He enclosed a copy of FECOM Psywar leaflet #1056 in Korean that warned railroad repair workers that U.S. Air Force F-84 Thunderjet fighter bombers would destroy their efforts. The two-color (black and red on white paper) was part of the 118,000 run on the 17x 22 inch press during Broderick’s night shift on 24 April 1952.51 By then, 3rd Repro draftees were within six months of rotating back to the States.
Though Army personnel rotation from Japan and Korea was based on a point system, expiring terms of service for activated Army Reservists and draftees (two years) determined when soldiers and officers would go home. 1SG Charlesworth, a Reservist, was the first 3rd Repro soldier to leave Japan. His replacement was a Regular Army (RA) non-commissioned officer, 1SG Roy R. Griffee, whose wife accompanied him. They lived on the local economy.52 In the midst of personnel turnovers, the operations tempo on the Psywar front had increased.
It was SGT Cecil Beckman that went home by ship from Yokohama via Adak, Alaska, and Seattle, Washington in late October 1952. He out-processed at Fort Meade, Maryland, and was home for Christmas.53 Like Beckman, SGT William M. Duke left Japan by ship in October 1952 to return to the States. Duke was released from active service in early 1953.54 They were part of the steady stream of original “Ganders” leaving Japan and war in Korea behind as new replacements filtered into the Far East Command. But, major changes were afoot.
In November 1952, retired General Dwight D. Eisenhower had been elected to replace President Harry S. Truman in January 1953. Armistice negotiations continued fitfully. Army National Guard LTC Homer Shields, the 1st RB&L commander, was extended on active duty until April 1954 and would remain in Japan to lead the ever-changing strategic Psywar effort in Korea.
The Armistice in Korea, statute of limitations on presidential authority to extend Regular Army [RA] enlistments and federalize USAR units and individuals for wartime service, and the typical postwar U.S. military drawdowns had major impacts on Psywar. The expanding Cold War ultimately determined the fate of the Army’s resurrected Psywar capability. America’s strategic interests in Europe remained foremost.
Creating the three RB&L groups as temporary T/D (Table of Distribution) units had been the quickest and simplest way for the Army to get strategic Psywar “on the ground” in Korea and in Europe. But, temporary status as Army Units (AU) meant that they would be the easiest for theater commanders to eliminate when war ended. Deactivation of the 1st RB&L took place in the summer of 1954. The 6th RB&L at Fort Bragg, NC, followed in its wake. The USAR 301st RB&L left Germany in May 1953 at the end of its federalization period. It left the Reserve structure in April 1954. The tactical Loudspeaker and Loudspeaker Companies, created as T/O&E [Table of Organization & Equipment] elements continued into the late 1950s. Army Psywar lost its “champion” in March 1953 when BG McClure was assigned to Iran.
However, for the Korean War Psywar requirements the Army Adjutant General, Army Field Forces Command, and BG McClure’s staff accomplished those missions in short order. T/Ds and TO&Es were built, approved, and filled by Department of the Army with qualified, experienced personnel from the Regular Army, Reserves, and National Guard. Pressmen and photo lithographers for the 3rd Repro Company were trained in Washington by the Navy, and orientation training on new commercial print equipment [Harris LTV] was provided to select personnel at the Harris-Seybold-Potter Company plant in Cleveland, OH, and by tech reps at Fort Riley, KS. Co-locating 3rd Repro with the FECOM print facility was according to doctrine. 3rd Repro provided outstanding Psywar products on schedule throughout its tenure. Award of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Presidential Unit Citation to the 1st RB&L and its subordinate units recognized their valuable contributions. The 3rd Repro Company, 1st RB&L set high standards for subsequent generations of Psywarriors to emulate.
Corporal (CPL) William M. Duke
William M. Duke, born 29 October 1926 in Silver Point, Tennessee, as the first son in a farm family, had three brothers and seven sisters. The Baxter Senior High School graduate was drafted in 1946 and did BCT at Fort Lewis, WA, before going overseas to Caserta, Italy, to be a message center classified courier in Headquarters Command, U.S. Army Mediterranean Theater Occupation. SGT Duke was released from active duty after twenty months. While working with his brother in Michigan, he joined the Army Reserves for the extra money. Activated in January 1951, CPL Duke was assigned to the 1st RB&L. Duke volunteered for the offset printer course at the Pentagon59
Corporal (CPL) Charles R. Broderick
Born 23 September 1928 in Springfield, Illinois, Broderick graduated from Marion Township High School in June 1946 after being class president, football team captain, and the print shop manager. Football displaced academics at University of Illinois (U of I) forcing a year at New Mexico State Teachers College [NMSTC] to get reinstated. During this sabbatical Broderick played football, worked in the college print shop and was a late night disc jockey at KSIL in Silver City, NM. He graduated from the U of I with a journalism degree in 1951, just in time to be drafted55 Army PVT Broderick did basic combat training (BCT) at Fort “Lost in the Woods” [Leonard Wood], MO, and four weeks of heavy weapons training with the 3rd Armored Division before assignment to the 1st RB&L Group at Fort Riley, Kansas. Broderick quickly discovered that there were a lot of college-educated draftees in the unit capable of writing and volunteered for lithographic offset press training in Washington, DC. Charles Broderick was detailed to write radio broadcast scripts in Tokyo for six months before returning to a press at Motosumiyoshi56
Sergeant (SGT) Cecil A. Beckman
Cecil Allen Beckman, the only child of a WWI Navy veteran and U.S. Postal Service worker, was born 22 October 1928 in Washington, D.C., but was raised by grandparents in Buckingham County, Virginia. In addition to being the student body president Beckman was the editor of the Marshall District High School newspaper when he graduated in 1946 and headed to Lynchburg College to study business. He edited the yearbook and was feature editor of the school newspaper until finishing his degree in the summer of 1950. Beckman, drafted for Army service in December 1950, processed at Fort Meade, MD, for BCT at Fort Jackson, SC57 Fourteen weeks was reduced to eight. Afterwards, he was sent to Fort Myer, VA, to the Adjutant General’s Classification & Analysis Section to be evaluated for Psywar assignment. Like other college graduates, PVT Beckman was assigned as a script writer, but typists were needed. In Japan, he became the 3rd Repro Company clerk. When the company was integrated into the FECOM Printing & Publications Center, CPL Beckman was promoted to sergeant and became the personnel sergeant for 3rd Repro soldiers58
Sergeant First Class (SFC) Thomas S. Anderson
Born 21 March 1923 in Chicago, Illinois, Thomas S. Anderson was drafted in February 1944, attended Ordnance BCT, and was sent to the Aleutians. After breaking his leg in February 1945, CPL Anderson was shipped home for hospitalization. While recuperating in Chicago, he became interested in photography. After leaving the service Anderson attended a Commercial and Portrait Photography School with his GI Bill. He reenlisted as a photographer in the Fifth U.S. Army headquarters. Seeking adventure and wanting a change of scenery SGT Anderson volunteered for duty with the U.S. Military Mission in Greece. Instead, he was shipped to the Korea Military Advisory Group (KMAG)] in Seoul in November 1949. He was enjoying this assignment until a near miss North Korean mortar round flipped his jeep breaking a leg. Staff Sergeant (SSG) Anderson was medically evacuated to Great Lakes Naval Hospital. Released in January 1951, he was assigned to the 1st RB&L. He became 3rd Repro plant superintendent in Japan. Promotion came 15 September 1951 and Sergeant First Class [SFC] Anderson returned to the States in April 1952 when his RA enlistment ended60
ENDNOTES
The FECOM Printing & Publications Center had absorbed the Eighth U.S. Army (EUSA) Adjutant General Publications Center in late June 1950. U.S. Army Far East Command.History of the Far East Command Printing and Publications Center (Motosumiyoshi, Japan: FECOM Printing & Publications Center, August 1951), 3, 5, 8, 9; “Ideas in Action,” Stars & Stripes (Tokyo) undated,James B. Haynes Collection, USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC, hereafter cited as the Haynes Collection; U.S. Army General School. Psychological Warfare Division. Psywar Officers Course. PW 4554: Reproduction Company, PW-92-S-1 (1951), Robert L. Darcy Collection, U.S. Army Heritage & Education Center, Carlisle, PA, hereafter cited as the Darcy Collection.[return]
History of the Far East Command Printing and Publications Center, 3, 5, 8, 9; “Ideas in Action,” Stars & Stripes (Tokyo) undated, Haynes Collection; U.S. Army Field Forces, Fort Monroe, VA. T/D 250-1202, Reproduction Company, Radio Broadcasting and Leaflet Group, dated 18 July 1950, Darcy Collection.[return]
History of the Far East Command Printing and Publications Center, 3, 5, 8, 9. The FECOM Printing & Publications Center [8234th Service Detachment (SD)] was redesignated the 8234th Army Unit (AU) on 4 February 1951.[return]
T/D 250-1201Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Radio Broadcasting and Leaflet Group dated 18 July 1950; U.S. Army Psychological Warfare School. Special Text (ST) 33-25-1, Psychological Warfare Field Operational Units (February 1953), 1-2, hereafter cited as ST 33-25-1.[return]
U.S. Army General School. Psychological Warfare Division. Psywar Officers Course. PW 4554: Reproduction Company, PW-92-S-1 (1951), Darcy Collection.[return]
History of the Far East Command Printing & Publications Center, 8,9; Stephen E. Pease, PSYWAR: Psychological Warfare in Korea 1950-1953 (Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1991), 37.[return]
The M860 barometric fuses were set to explode at approximately 1,000 feet. The drop point needed to be upwind from the burst point which was also upwind from the target area. HQ, 1st RB&L Group. Fort Riley, KS, Unit Training Program. Phase II. Psychological Warfare, 3 April – 16 April 1951, Darcy Collection.[return]
“Army Psychological Warfare,” Officers’ Call (Washington, DC: Department of Army, Public Information Office, 1952): 9.[return]
1st Radio Broadcasting & Leaflet Group. Fort Riley, KS. Restricted Lesson Plan: Psychological Warfare Operational Units, Darcy Collection.[return]
3rd Reproduction Company, 1st Radio Broadcasting & Leaflet Group. Announcement: Press Debut of The Proper Gander in Keith H. McDaniel Collection, USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC, hereafter cited as McDaniel Collection.[return]
Department of the Army. Field Manual FM 33-5 Psychological Warfare in Combat Operations (August 1949), 78-80. This field manual also specified fourteen subjects on which Psywar specialists should be trained. This was the basis for the Program of Instruction (POI) for the Psywar Officer and Enlisted Courses conductedat the Army General School at Fort Riley, KS, in 1951-1952.[return]
Charles R. Broderick, interviews by Dr. Charles H. Briscoe, 27 October 2010 and 3 November 2010, USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC, hereafter cited by name and date; Robert W. Jones, Jr. and Charles H. Briscoe, “The ‘Proper Ganders’: 1st Radio Broadcasting & Leaflet Group: Strategic Psywar in Korea, 1951-1954,” Veritas, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2011, 28-29.[return]
Broderick letter to The Brodericks, Marion, Illinois, dated 3 April 1951, Broderick Collection. Charles Broderick was “right on the money” with his 3rd Repro Press Section rank and numbers. There were seventeen enlisted men: a sergeant [Sergeant First Class (SFC)] as press foreman, five other sergeants (SGT), five corporals (CPL), and six privates first class (PFC). U.S. Army General School. Psychological Warfare Division. Psywar Officers Course. PW 4554: Reproduction Company, PW-92-S-1 (1951), Darcy Collection.[return]
William M. Duke, interview by Dr. Charles H. Briscoe, 4 October 2010, USASOC History Office Classified Files, Fort Bragg, NC, hereafter cited by name and date.[return]
Duke interview, 4 October 2010; William (Bill) Duke, biographical sketch in Thomas M. Klein, Robert Herguth, and Robert McConaughey, Psychological Warfare in Korea: 1952 Life and Times in the First Radio Broadcasting and Leaflet Group: 50 Years Later 2002 (Smyrna, GA: Round Hill Productions), 167, hereafter cited as Life and Times 2002.[return]
Broderick interviews, 27 October 2010 and 3 November 2010; “Repro’s Anderson with KMAG When Invasion Came,” The Proper Gander, Vol. 1, No. 25, 1, 2, 25 October 1951, 1st Radio Broadcasting & Leaflet Group, Tokyo, Japan, Broderick Collection.[return]
Broderick letters to The Brodericks, Marion, Illinois, dated 13, 20 and 22 April 1951, Broderick Collection; Navy Department, Bureau of Naval Personnel Service Schools Offset Pressman Course (3167) Certificate dated 8 June 1951, Broderick Collection.[return]
Broderick interviews, 27 October 2010 and 3 November 2010. The Table of Allowances (T/A) for a Reproduction Company in a Radio Broadcasting and LeafletGroup Table of Organization & Equipment (T/O&E) was to have four offset presses capable of printing sheets as large as 17 x 22 inches at a rate of 7,000 per hour. The Publication Platoon of a Loudspeaker and Leaflet Company had four Davidson presses that could print up to 10 x 14 inch sheets at the rate of 4,000 per hour. U.S. Army General School. Psychological Warfare Division. Psywar Officers Course. PW 4554: Reproduction Company, PW-92-S-1 (1951), Darcy Collection.[return]
“Harris Corporation – Company History” at http://www.harris.com/company-history.html accessed6/6/2011, “Harris Corporation Marks Its 110th Anniversary,” at http://www.harris.com/view_pressrelease.asp?act=lookup&pr_id=1740 accessed 6/6/2011; “THIRD REPRO PRESSMEN get the lowdown on the new ‘baby,’ the $11,000 Harris offset press,” The Proper Gander,(Friday, 8 June 1951), Vol. 1, No. 12, 1, Herbert Asti Collection, USASOC History Office, Fort Bragg, NC, hereafter cited as the Asti Collection. Printing The Proper Gander weekly became a secondary mission for the 3rd Reproduction Company after tech reps demonstrated the capabilities of the Harris-Seybold-Potter LTV stream-fed multi-lithograph press at Fort Riley, KS in June 1951. 3rd Reproduction Company, 1st Radio Broadcasting & Leaflet Group. Announcement: Press Debut of The Proper Gander, McDaniel Collection.[return]
“First Leaflet Produced by Group,” The Proper Gander,(Friday, 8 June 1951), Vol. 1, No. 12, 3 Asti Collection.[return]
Cecil A. Beckman, biographical sketches of John D. Charlesworth and Ira J. Harvey for Klein, Herguth, and McConaughey, Life and Times 2002, 156, 179-180; Beckman interviews, 30 September 2010 and 1 October 2010. Before and during WWII, company first sergeants in garrison were Master Sergeants, E-8, while field first sergeants were Sergeants First Class (SFC), E-7. Their sleeve insignia had five chevron stripes (three stripes up and two rockers below) with a diamond in between. In the post-WWII years the first sergeant rank insignia became three stripes up and three rockers below with a diamond.[return]
Beckman, biographical sketches of John D. Charlesworth and Ira J. Harvey, Life and Times 2002,156, 179-180.[return]
Beckman interview, 1 October 2010; “Air-Conditioned Shop, Heat-Conditioned Men: Third Repro Rolls,” The Proper Gander, Vol. 1, No. 16, 18 August 1951, Broderick Collection.[return]
Beckman interview, 1 October 2010; “Air-Conditioned Shop, Heat-Conditioned Men: Third Repro Rolls,” The Proper Gander, Vol. 1, No. 16, 18 August 1951, Broderick Collection.[return]
Beckman interview, 1 October 2010; “Air-Conditioned Shop, Heat-Conditioned Men: Third Repro Rolls,” The Proper Gander, Vol. 1, No. 16, 18 August 1951, Broderick Collection.[return]
CPL Sandy Zane, “More Than Movies Found at Lush Pyle Theatre,” The Proper Gander, Vol. 1, No. 27, 3, 8 November 1951, Broderick Collection. The Ernie Pyle Theater, designed by architect Abe Mikishi, was built in 1933. Known as the Takarezuka Geikije before the war, it was as modern and functional in design as any structure in Tokyo and the acoustics in the several theatres were perfect for music.[return]
Broderick letter from Tokyo to The Brodericks in Marion, Illinois, dated 23 October 1951, Broderick Collection; GHQ. FECOM Psychological Warfare Section. 1st RB&L Group, APO 500. MEMORANDUM to All Officers and Enlisted Men, 1st RB&L Group, 8239 AU, APO 500 dated 23 October 1951; GHQ. FECOM Psychological Warfare Section, 1st RB&L Group, Korean “Food Theme” leaflet No. 1122 dated 23 October 1951.[return]
“Billionth Leaflet Dropped,” The Proper Gander, Vol. II, No. 2, 1, 17 January 1952, Broderick Collection; SB, “New Weapons, Complementing Bombs and Bullets Go Forth to Wage A War With Words,” GHQ Headquarters and Service Command’s Weekly Publication, The Reporter, Vol. 2, No. 28, 11 April 1952, 3, Broderick Collection.[return]
Jim Craft, “What Hoppen…? Third Repro Merges with Printing Plant,” “Personnel Changes Hit Group,” and “Repro Officer Chance Joins Third at FECPPC,” The Proper Gander, Vol. II, No. 2, 1, 3, 17 January 1952, Broderick Collection.[return]
Craft, “What Hoppen…? Third Repro Merges with Printing Plant,” “Personnel Changes Hit Group,” and “Repro Officer Chance Joins Third at FECPPC,” The Proper Gander, Vol. II, No. 2, 1, 3, 17 January 1952, Broderick Collection.[return]
Broderick letters from Yokohama to The Brodericks in Marion, Illinois, dated 5 & 22 January 1952, Broderick Collection.[return]
Broderick letter from Yokohamato The Brodericks in Marion, Illinois, dated 22 January 1952 in Broderick Collection.[return]
Broderick interviews, 27 October and 3 November 2010.[return]
Broderick letter from Yokohamato The Brodericks in Marion, Illinois, dated 2 February 1952, Broderick Collection.[return]
Broderick interviews, 27 October and 3 November 2010.[return]
Larry Meyer and Peter Lee, “Personal Remarks,” in Remembrances of the 1st RB&L Group: 57th Year Reunion, October 24, 2009, 20, 21.[return]
“Graphics Has Big Job in Leaflet Production,” The Proper Gander, Vol. 1, No. 22, 4 October 1951, 1, 4, Broderick Collection.[return]
Broderick letter from Yokohamato The Brodericks in Marion, Illinois, dated 26 February 1952, Broderick Collection.[return]
Broderick letter from Yokohamato The Brodericks in Marion, Illinois, dated 11 March 1952, Broderick Collection.[return]
Broderick letter from Yokohamato The Brodericks in Marion, Illinois, dated 13 April 1952, Broderick Collection.[return]
Broderick letter from Yokohamato The Brodericks in Marion, Illinois, dated 25 April 1952, Broderick Collection.[return]
![The Far East Command Printing & Publications Center was located in the seventeen acre Tokyo Koku Keiki Kabushiki Kaisha complex, a major WWII Japanese aircraft instrument manufacturing plant in Kawasaki [Motosumiyoshi suburb] on Route 11 halfway between Tokyo and Yokohama.](images/v7n2_harris_presses/800/far_east_command.jpg)
