Inside the gate at Camp Pickett, deep in the dusty Virginia pine barrens, a soldier stood methodically thrusting copies of a neat, mimeographed pamphlet into the hands of arriving draftees. The cover bore the grape-leaf emblem of the 43rd ("Winged Victory") Division, and the first page carried a message from its commander: "You have just joined the best outfit in the Army ... I expect to see you doing your jobs as soldiers in the best division in the best Army in the world. (Signed) Kenneth F. Cramer, Major General, Commanding."
The...