When twenty-nine-year-old artist John Gaitha Browning enlisted in 1942, he was determined to keep a journal recording his observations of army life--from boot camp to combat.
He is often wryly humorous: "We figured out recently just how long it would take to get our brigade home on the so-called 'rotation plan.' Exactly SIX HUNDRED SIXTY-SEVEN YEARS " More often he is philosophical, as this entry from November 11, 1943 shows: "Only tonight did I have time to realize that this is Armistice Day celebrated for over twenty-five years as the end of war. I wonder what is taking place at home...