8. Dr. Seuss joined the Army in 1943
Throughout 1942 Dr. Seuss, in addition to his work for PM, drew posters for first the Department of the Treasury, and later the War Production Board. In January 1943 he produced his final cartoons for PM and joined the US Army as a Captain, placed in command of the animation department of the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air Force. Other members of the unit included Clark Gable, Ronald Reagan, and the man who would later become famous as television’s Lone Ranger, Clayton Moore. Director Frank Capra (It’s A Wonderful Life) was one of his bosses. Dr. Seuss was tasked with running a unit which wrote and produced animated films for the purpose of propaganda, training, and information. He worked primarily as a writer during his period with the Army.
One example of his writing during the period was revealed in a film which was screened to American troops in the latter days of the war in Europe. The film was intended to prepare the occupation forces to deal with the German people and was entitled Your Job in Germany. It presented the Germans as possessing diseased minds. “The Nazi party may be gone, but Nazi thinking, Nazi training, and Nazi trickery remains,” the film informed its audience. The film made clear to the troops that fraternization with the German people was prohibited, including interactions with children and civilian refugees, the first time this policy was formally announced to the troops (though it was already being freely violated throughout Germany.