INDIANA
CHAPTER
DINFOS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
P.O. BOX 26925
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA 46226-9001
The twenty
second meeting of the Indiana Chapter of the DINFOS Alumni
Association was held on October 30, 2004, at ll:00 am at The
Garrison at Ft. Harrison State Park. Attached is a listing of
those who attended.
The President, Dr. Jack Rubak, opened the meeting and asked
Colonel John Christy, (USA-Ret) to give the invocation. Next,
all persons present were asked to introduce themselves.
Rubak then introduced the guest speaker Jack Pulwers, author
of the book "The Press of Battle: the GI Reporter and the
American People."
Dr. Pulwers said he was humbled to be here, speaking to alumni
of the Defense Information School of which he's always felt a
part. He mentioned the excellent job that has been done in
keeping the Alumni Association operating. Some of the
highlights of his presentation covering various chapters in
his book are as follows:
- DINFOS has had much to do with the acceptance of the news
reporters and public affairs officers in the military today,
not just in the Army but in joint operations.
- Pulwers has put a human face on those mentioned in his book
by telling a story in down-to-earth language. Events become
alive through 300 photos and in the fascinating documents and
footnotes.
- In the book he names many of the news people involved in
World War II, such as Bill Mauldin, the author of "Yank,"
magazine, Dr. Seuss and Frank Capra who produced a great
series of movies for the troops entitled "Why We Fight."
- Many entertainers went overseas to entertain the troops.
Andre Baruch told how he established the first Armed Forces
Radio. Herb Bloch wrote a cartoon series called "The Sad
Sack."
- The reporters during WWII were embedded with the other
soldiers and fought side by side with them. The American
people had to be told the truth about the war.
- The stories of how the publication of "Stars and Stripes,"
"Yank" and "Leatherneck" originated are included in the book.
- The cartoon"Snafu" about an atomic bomb built to the
specification of the real atomic bomb was killed because of
its similarity to the real thing.
- Enlisted men took over the radio and information programs
for the first time in history during WWII.
Dr. Pulwers ended his speech by thanking all of the audience
for attending.
After Dr. Pulwers' presentation, Dr. Rubak gave the following
update on DINFOS that the Commandant, Colonel Hiram Bell, had
sent him.
- The front entrance to the school (no longer used as such
because of security policies) is being converted into a
memorial hall. The memorial plaques will be updated as part
of this effort.
- A Navy illustrator was among those killed in the Pentagon
9-11 attack, a former Navy photographer, graduate of the
school at Pensacola and serving with the SEALS was killed last
year in Afghanistan, and last week, a Marine combat cameraman
who graduated from the new DINFOS in January 2003, was killed
in action in
Iraq.
- Col Bell has identified an office suite for the eventual use
of the DINFOS Alumni Association's headquarters chapter. It
is an attractive area that includes two private office spaces
and a common work area. He's working to get a retired service
PA chief to form an executive working group in the DC area to
lead efforts to form this school/headquarters chapter.
- An 18-month reaccreditation effort was recently completed,
culminating with a visit by a team from the Council on
Occupational Education. The team found no items requiring
recommendations for correction so the school is reaccredited
for the next 5 years.
- The school has been asked to deploy a mobile training team
to Iraq (the second trip there following a two-month
deployment this past summer) and also one to Afghanistan. In
both cases, training for Iraqi and Afghani military and
government personnel will be conducted.
The meeting adjourned at 1:30 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Jack Rubak, President
Helen Stritt, Secretary
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