''Yank, the Army Weekly'' was a weekly magazine published by the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

History

The idea for the magazine came from

Egbert White During World War II, Egbert White (1894–1976) had a major role in establishing newspapers for US soldiers that were written and edited by enlisted men, not by the Army top command. He had served with the Stars and Stripes newspaper during World ...

, who had worked on the newspaper Stars and Stripes during World War I. He proposed the idea to the Army in early 1942, and accepted a commission as lieutenant colonel. White was the overall commander, Major Franklin S. Forsberg was the business manager and Major

Hartzell Spence John Hartzell Spence (February 15, 1908 – May 9, 2001) was an American writer and founding editor of ''Yank, the Army Weekly'', a weekly magazine published by the United States military during World War II. He is credited with coining the ...

was the first editor. White was removed from the Yank staff because of disagreements about articles which had appeared. Soon afterward, Spence was also assigned to other duties and Joe McCarthy became the editor. The first issue was published with the cover date of June 17, 1942. The magazine was written by

enlisted rank An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or warrant officers, except in United States m ...

(EM) soldiers with a few officers as managers, and initially was made available only to the US Army overseas. By the fifth issue of July 15, 1942, it was made available to serving members within the US, however it was never made available on the newsstands for public purchase. YANK's circulation exceeded 2.5 million in 41 countries with 21 editions. The last issue was published on December 28, 1945. Joe McCarthy remained the editor of Yank until the official closure of the office on New Year's Eve 1945.

Trimmingham letter

The magazine's April 28, 1944 edition included a letter from a black corporal, Rupert Trimmingham, complaining that white German prisoners of war were being treated with more respect than black American soldiers. The reaction to the letter was strong and immediate. In a follow-up letter published 28 July 1944, Trimmingham said that he had received 287 letters, 183 from whites, supporting his position. The editors reported that ''Yank'' had received "a great number of comments from GIs, almost all of whom were outraged by the treatment given to the corporal." The same year, the letter inspired a short story by Robert E. McLaughlin, "A Short Wait between Trains," and in 1945, a one-act play by

Ruth Moore Ruth Moore (1903–1989) was an important Maine writer of the twentieth century. She is best known for her honest portrayals of Maine people and evocative descriptions of the state. Now primarily thought of as a regional writer, Moore was a sign ...

Artists and photographers

Sketch artists such as Robert Greenhalgh, Victor Kalin and

Howard Brodie Howard Brodie (November 18, 1915 – September 19, 2010) was a sketch artist best known for his World War II, Korean and Vietnam combat and courtroom sketches. He worked as a staff artist for ''Life, Yank Magazine, Collier's, Associated Press'' ...

worked on the magazine, which also featured the "

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), Ac ...

" cartoons by

Dave Breger Irving David Breger (April 15, 1908 – January 16, 1970) was an American cartoonist who created the syndicated ''Mister Breger'' (1945–1970), a gag panel series and Sunday comic strip known earlier as ''Private Breger'' and '' G.I. Joe''. The ...

and the ''

Sad Sack ''Sad Sack'' is an American comic strip and comic book character created by Sgt. George Baker during World War II. Set in the United States Army, ''Sad Sack'' depicted an otherwise unnamed, lowly private experiencing some of the absurdities and ...

'' cartoons by Sgt. George Baker. The cartoons of

Bil Keane William Aloysius "Bil" Keane (October 5, 1922 – November 8, 2011) was an American cartoonist most notable for his work on the newspaper comic ''The Family Circus''. It began in 1960 and continues in syndication, drawn by his son Jeff Kea ...

Family Circus ''The Family Circus'' (originally ''The Family Circle'', also ''Family-Go-Round'') is a print syndication, syndicated comic strip created by cartoonist Bil Keane and, since Bil's death in 2011, is zombie strip, currently written, inked, and rend ...

were featured in "Yank," and artist and author

Jack Coggins Jack Banham Coggins (July 10, 1911 – January 30, 2006) was an artist, author, and illustrator. He is known in the United States for his oil paintings, which focused predominantly on marine subjects. He is also known for his books on space tra ...

spent over two years with the publication, first in New York, then in London, producing illustrations and articles in more than 24 issues.

John Bushemi John A. Bushemi (April 19, 1917 – February 19, 1944) was an American, best known for his service as a World War II combat photographer and filmmaker for the U.S. Army. Bushemi, the son of Sicilian immigrants, was born in Centerville, Iowa ...

was a photographer, who photographed the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

and provided covers for ''Yank''.

Revival

In 2014, the 1st

Stryker The Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III. Stryker vehicles are produced by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for the United States Army in a plant in London, Ontario. It ...

Brigade Combat Team The brigade combat team (BCT) is the basic deployable unit of maneuver in the U.S. Army. A brigade combat team consists of one combat arms branch maneuver brigade, and its assigned support and fire units. A brigade is normally commanded by a ...

, 1st Armored Division,

Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of William Wallace Smith Bliss, LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, revived ''Yank'' as the official publication for the brigade. Each cover of the 1/1 ''Yank'' features Soldiers from the brigade recreating a cover photo from the original ''Yank'' magazine.

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Weekly magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1942 Magazines disestablished in 1945 Military magazines published in the United States World War II and the media United States Army publications