Between the two world wars, the United States Army was "a school, an athletic club, an orphans' home, and a boys' camp." That description of Victor Vogel's "Old Army," in which he enlisted as a private in 1934, gives a small hint at how old-fashioned the army was in an age of isolationism and meager congressional appropriations.
In the pre-World War II army, cavalry troops were still mounted, horses pulled artillery carriages, and mules hauled supply wagons. The soldiers' basic weapon was the Springfield rifle, which was virtually an enemy itself as the men learned to fight its vicious...