Propaganda for kids: Book Helps Kids Celebrate Army Birthday

Book Helps Kids Celebrate Army Birthday
June 07, 2010
Army News Service|by Dona E. Fair

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - As the Army prepares to celebrate its 235th birthday, three women have taken the broad theme of the Army's long tradition and history and transformed it into a series of books designed for children.

The Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command has sponsored a third in a series of children books titled "Happy Birthday U.S. Army," to help children understand the importance of what their parent or parents do in the Army.

The first book, written in 2008 by Donna McGrath and Mary Ellen Pratt, told the story of the Army's rich history involving a young boy discussing his grandfather's birthday and the similarities of his immediate family and the Army family he belongs to. McGrath is Sports and Fitness Program Manager for Child, Youth, and School Services, Family and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Command, and Mary Ellen Pratt works with Army Youth Services.

"Originally, Secretary of the Army Pete Geren tasked us with writing a children's story referencing the Army's rich history in support of the Army's birthday celebration in 2008. As a member of the Army's Birthday Week Committee, I went on Wikipedia and the Army's website, which has a great historical section, and started researching the history of the Army," said McGrath.

Each of the three books has a centralized theme. According to McGrath, from the very first book there is a chronological history of the Army through the Revolutionary War, Civil War, the history of the Buffalo Soldiers, women entering into the armed service, all the way to our present day Soldiers.



unhappycamper comment: I wonder if the book covers Wounded Knee or the genocide committed against American Indians?