Adult literacy education has been a mainstay in the struggle for independence and freedom in the United States since the Revolutionary War when General George Washington was Commander in Chief. The historian Harry Emerson Wildes, in his 1938 book entitled Valley Forge, reported that following the drastic winter at Valley Forge, when spring arrived, the health of men improved to the point that a hospital was turned into a camp school.In this school, illiterate troops were taught the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. The school continued to operate until the end of the Valley Forge encampment.

Right from the outset then, our nation has seen the value of a literate citizenry in the gaining of our independence from foreign domination. But our nation's battles for freedom did not end with the end of the Revolutionary War, and neither did the need for teachers who could help our illiterate military personnel learn to read and write.

Susie KingTaylor, who was born a slave, learned to read and write even though it was against the law. During the battles for the emancipation of slaves of the Civil War, Taylor volunteered to work in the 33rdU. S.

Colored Troops regiment and she reported that"I taught a great many of the comrades in Company E to read and write when they were off duty, nearly all were anxious to learn…. I gave my services willingly for four years and three months without receiving a dollar."Following the Civil War, Taylor went on to open her own school for teaching both African American children and adults to read and write.

In 1917 the United States joined with the allies of World War I in the struggle to maintain independence and freedom for millions of people. Once again, the armed services found it necessary to draw upon the services of many illiterate men, and additionally, tens of thousands of non-English speaking adults were called upon to wage this "war to end all wars."The New York Times of November 21, 1920 described the efforts to teach these non-English speaking personnel as a part of the "Americanization" movement of the times. One former Serbian soldier told of his inability to speak English and his desire to become a citizen. The Army provided him with English language and literacy training. Later he told the NY Times reporter, "When I have served my time with the Army, I get my citizen papers and stand by the Red, White and Blue as long as I live."

During World War II the Army operated numerous Special Training Units to teach low literate and poorly English speaking recruits to speak, read, and write. One technique used to teach literacy was a monthly newspaper called Our War. Writing in the July 1943 issue of "Our War", Private Porfirio C.

Gutierrez wrote: "This is my first letter in English. I have learned to read and write so that I can help protect our country."

A mother of a soldier wrote: "dear sir: I thank you all for Learning My child to read and wright I don't Know how to thank you all Because My child did not know nothing it is realy high apprishated Because I did not have the time to send him to school I did not have no husband I raised him from a Baby By my self and now I am in my old stage and that is all my help and I thank you and I thank you when you wrote me and siad My Boy did that I was so glad I did not Know what to do and I realy appreshated it. Very truly Yours, M___ W___" [original spellings and grammar]

The teachers working in the Special Training Units gave "esprit de corps "  and hope to hundreds of thousands of men and their families through the power of the English language and literacy. Clearly, it takes more than guns, bullets and bombs topreserve our nation's independence and freedom.

This July 4th,let's make a special effort to remember the hundreds of thousands of men who fought to win and to keep our independence and freedom despite their serious language and literacy handicaps. Their strength of character, focus of purpose, and, yes, their new found literacy contributed immeasurably to making our nation the great bastion of freedom that attracts millions to our homeland each year.