What the Soldier Thinks
These studies were conducted from 1943-1945 and are contained in 16 volumes. They were published and distributed among the officers to give them an idea of soldier opinion. Many of the officers were surprised that anyone would ask the opinion of the average soldier, whose only job, they felt, was to simply obey orders. General Marshall reminded them that these soldiers would some day return home and become voters. His decision to have these studies conducted marked a breakthrough in understanding the mind of the average soldier in WWII. The volumes address such topics as race relations, how the enlisted man felt about his commanding officer, how soldiers reacted to fear in combat, effectiveness of army training, and other provocative questions of the time. The 16 volumes were released in monthly digests and a second volume of over one hundred pages was released also.
Where were the studies conducted? (PDF, 56kb)
- What the Soldier Thinks Vol. 1 (PDF, 6.4MB)
- What the Soldier Thinks Vol. 2 (PDF, 5.9MB)
- What the Soldier Thinks Vol. 3 (PDF, 6.2MB)
- What the Soldier Thinks Vol. 4 (PDF, 7.0MB)
- What the Soldier Thinks Vol. 5 (PDF, 6.3MB)
- What the Soldier Thinks Vol. 6 (PDF, 5.9MB)
- What the Soldier Thinks Vol. 7 (PDF, 3.5MB)
- What the Soldier Thinks Vol. 8 (PDF, 6.4MB)
- What the Soldier Thinks Vol. 9 (PDF, 3.4MB)
- What the Soldier Thinks Vol. 10 (PDF, 7.5MB)
- What the Soldier Thinks Vol. 11 (PDF, 5.1MB)
- What the Soldier Thinks Vol. 12 (PDF, 4.5MB)
- What the Soldier Thinks Vol. 13 (PDF, 4.4MB)
- What the Soldier Thinks Vol. 14 (PDF, 8.9MB)
- What the Soldier Thinks Vol. 15 (PDF, 9.7MB)
- What the Soldier Thinks Vol. 16 (PDF, 12.2MB)
- The soldier looks at his role as an American Soldier (PDF, 1.5MB)
- Index to Part II of Volume II (PDF, 32MB)
- Soldier attitudes towards non-commissioned officers (PDF, 280kb)
- Soldier job satisfaction (PDF, 340kb)
- Attitudes of Negro Soldiers (PDF, 288kb)
- Health and Food (PDF, 116kb)
- Off duty favorites (PDF, 756kb)
- Attitudes towards Allies (PDF, 264kb)
- Supplementary Report Index (PDF, 32kb)
- Measuring the Effectiveness of Informational Motion Pictures (PDF, 1.2MB)
- Who is the American Soldier - demographic analysis (PDF, 412kb)
