Second Lieutenant Charles Scheffel, B Company Platoon Leader, 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division modified existing methods of venereal disease control in Algeria, North Africa during Operation Torch after being ordered to reduce the venereal disease rate by his regimental commander, Colonel William Ritter. Tasked with defeating the Germans first, Scheffel learned other enemies lurked as well, and he instituted an illegal policy to solve the problem as fast and as effectively as possible. Official United States policy on the eve of World War Two prohibited the establishment and operation of a brothel. Scheffel operated this brothel as the United States Army occupied Arab lands for the first time in its history and improved the combat effectiveness of his regiment.

This thesis deals with the life and career and intimate life of Francis Carroll Grevemberg, an antiaircraft World War II officer from New Orleans, Louisiana. Grevemberg joined the Louisiana National Guard in 1932 and began his military career in the midst of the Great Depression. In the reorganization of the U.S. Army before World War II, the War Department transformed Grevemberg's cavalry regiment into a coastal artillery battalion with antiaircraft capability. During World War II, Grevemberg saw continuous action in the North Africa, Italy and Southern France. He regularly wrote letters from battlefields to his wife Dorothy. These letters provide a important window into a young officer's feelings, thoughts and affection in the unfolding of World War II. They are documents of a soldier's emotional release during times of crises. Lt. Col. Grevemberg is a rare, World War II antiaircraft artillery officer who took part and survived five amphibious landings in the Mediterranean.