First edition, deluxe issue, number 555 of 1,426 copies; bound with a leaf that prints Eisenhower's D-Day message to the troops, signed by Eisenhower. The leaf was inserted into each of the deluxe issues, though in many it is lacking, having been cannibalized for sale by autograph dealers. This copy is also signed on the front flyleaf by Harry S. Truman, Winston S. Churchill, Anthony Eden, George C. Marshall, Henry H. Arnold, Walter Bedell Smith, James F. Byrnes and, on the facing flyleaf, Douglas MacArthur. The verso of Eisenhower's D-Day message bears the signatures of Omar Bradley and Bernard Law Montgomery (Viscount Alamein). Ten additional signatures appear in the book (usually on pages where the figures are first introduced in the narrative): Bernard M. Baruch, Mark W. Clark, Lucius D. Clay, James H. Doolittle, Mamie D. Eisenhower, Leonard T. Gerow, Cordell Hull, Joseph T. McNarney, Carl A. Spaatz, and Hoyt Vandenberg. Pape has helpfully annotated the index in pencil, noting the page numbers where signatures appear. The accompanying correspondence also includes original typed letters signed by: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, Bernard Baruch, Carl Spaatz, Walter Bedell Smith, Henry "Hap" Arnold (twice), William H. Simpson (whose letter agrees to sign the volume, though he never managed to do so), Lucius D. Clay, Mark W. Clark, and Truman's press secretary, Matthew J. Connelly (tipped in to front flyleaf). An astounding gathering of the top statesmen and warriors of the Second World War, the signers include two American Presidents (Truman and Eisenhower), two British Prime Ministers (Churchill and Eden) and the leaders of the great land campaigns of North Africa and Western Europe: Montgomery of Alamein, Omar Bradley, and Mark Clark. The dominant general in the Pacific theatre, Douglas MacArthur, signed the book 18 months after Truman fired him for insubordination during the Korean War. Key diplomats are included, such as Cordell Hull, James F. Byrnes and Bernard Baruch, along with the architect of America's military strategy and Truman's then Secretary of Defense George C. Marshall. The heroes of the air war are represented by James Doolittle, who carried out the daring raid against Tokyo in 1942; as well as by Carl Spaatz and Hoyt Vandenberg. We know of no other example of such an impressive gathering of historic signatures from World War II. Almost as remarkable is the story of the man who spent nearly a decade collecting them. John Wesley Pape (1900–1986), of Cincinnati, Ohio, had – by his own account, in a 12 May 1949 letter to Carl Spaatz – "a very small part in this War," as a major on the headquarters staff of the Army Air Corps, overseeing procurement and supply. When Eisenhower published this memoir, Pape had the idea of giving a copy to his son, signed by as many of the leading figures of the war as he could reach. Like a well-organized staff officer, he preserved his correspondence with his signatories, and those letters make for compelling reading in their own right. Today, with top military and political figures barricaded behind multiple layers of security, it's astonishing how easily Pape was able to contact these VIPs, and how willingly and graciously they complied with his requests to sign and mail back his book (Pape helpfully provided postage paid packing). For many he provided specific instructions of where and how they should sign the book. "It is requested that General [Walter Bedell] Smith autograph Page 14, with rank during war and date signing." (But Smith chose instead to sign on the flyleaf below the signatures of Truman, Churchill and other top figures.) Several did follow instructions, such as Bernard Baruch, Gen. Joseph T. McNarney and Hoyt Vandenberg. Truman and George Marshall – who signed as "One time Chief of Staff, U.S. Army" and "General of the Army" –were the first two to sign. Having those names in the volume served as a good opening for fresh pitch letters. But how to get to someone as remote and prominent as Churchill? Pape turned to Eisenhower on 1 May 1950, asking his "advice and assistance...I realize this is an unusual request from a stranger." The next day Eisenhower replied in the succinct manner for which he was famous: "My suggestion is that you write him directly. He gets the same request many times a day and, I am sure, is quite used to it." Pape ultimately forged his own path to Churchill: he had an uncle, Thomas E. Hanlon, who knew Edward Viscount Knollys, who in turn was a friend of wartime cabinet member, Sir John Anderson; Anderson agreed to deliver the book to Churchill for signature. Montgomery, on the other hand, proved easy to obtain thanks to the initiative of his former comrade, General Omar Bradley. "It was no trouble at all to get Field Marshal Montgomery to do this," wrote Bradley's aide to Pape. "In fact, General Bradley was the one who asked the Field Marshal to autograph the book for you." Both commanders complied with Pape's instruction to sign of the verso of the D-Day message: "Omar N. Bradley, General U.S. Army, Former Commanding General 12th Army Group, 11/15/49" and "Montgomery of Alamein, Field Marshal, 23 Nov. 1949." The roster includes some who were bitterly antagonistic to each other. There must be very few instances of Douglas MacArthur and Harry Truman signing the same book or document. Yet when Pape wrote MacArthur on 12 November 1952 – 18 months after Truman fired him – the "old general" happily complied. "Glad to do so," he wrote on Pape's letter, signing with his initials: "DMacA." It is as if one had a guest book of a great Anglo-America victory banquet. Considering its travels – passing some 40 times through the post and crossing the Atlantic –the book is in remarkably good condition.
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