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Excerpt from Service With Fighting Men, an Account of the Work of the American Young Men's Christian Associations in the World War
The Government's task of transforming five million citizens into soldiers through military training and drill, was a stupendous educa tional enterprise, rigidly limited, however, to military science. With the arrival of American troops in France, this training reached its climax. This was neither the time nor place for developing any non military activities; yet it became clear at once that certain kinds of knowledge, even though not strictly military in character, were valu able assets to officer and soldier. Ability to talk to his new neighbors in their own tongue, some acquaintance with French history, tradi tions, manners, and customs - these had distinct usefulness, and in struction in them became of real military value. Although the Army Intelligence tests caught many of the illiterate and near-illiterate, yet many thousands of men in the first detachments to go to France were unable to read and write, to count, or even to tell time accurately. Such ignorance contained elements of danger as well as inefficiency.
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