The Perpetuation of a Myth: The Relief of Major General Ralph C. Smith During the Battle of Saipan (June 1944)

<p>Rivalries between the branches of the armed services, acute in the Central Pacific during World War II, reached a crescendo when Marine General Holland M. Smith abruptly relieved Army General Ralph C. Smith of command during the Battle of Saipan. This thesis explores how the Marine Corps, using strong public relations and with close ties to the press, were able to slant news articles in their favor, the effects of which linger today. Most notably, Robert Sherrod of Time, wrote articles about Marine heroics while often criticizing the Army. Concerning Ralph Smith’s dismissal and the performance of the 27^th at Saipan, Sherrod’s humiliating articles carry great responsibility for sparking the "Smith v. Smith" controversy. The ongoing war effort precluded the Army from issuing a rebuttal while post-war publications, presenting the Army’s point of view, went largely unnoticed. Conversely, Holland Smith’s memoirs received wide circulation and, though grossly inaccurate, became the standard for evaluating the 27th Division, because many authors paraphrased from Smith’s book. This thesis demonstrates that despite new scholarship in the 1980s which exonerated the Division, popular history continues to adhere to the longstanding myth surrounding Ralph Smith and the performance of the 27^th.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Humanities

Year

2000

Author dc:creator

• Bowler, Jean M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Patricia Dougherty, OP, PhD
• Aquinas Nimitz, OP, PhD

• Humanities
• Arts and Humanities

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/220

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.dominican.edu:humanities-print-theses-1219