IN 1983, the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress (LC) and its Executive Director, John Y. Cole, organized a series of events celebrating the 40th anniversary of Armed Services Editions. Activities at LC included an exhibition, a conference, and (a year later) a useful publication. In preparation for these festivities, Cole wrote to a number of writers whose works had appeared in ASE editions, asking them for their recollections about the project. The responses he received were varied.
Emily Kimbrough, co-author (with Cornelia Otis Skinner) of Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, remembers receiving "heartwarming letters" from servicemen praising the ASE. Many ASE authors tell of similar experiences.
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Emily Kimbrough. Letter to John Y. Cole, 22 December 1982. | Emily Kimbrough. We Followed Our Hearts to Hollywood. Armed Services Edition [I-246]. UVa. | 
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| Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily Kimbrough. Our Hearts Were Young and Gay. Armed Services Edition [B-37]. UVa. | 
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Music historian David Ewen recalls the joy he felt over having not one but two of his books published as ASE's.
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David Ewen. Men of Popular Music. Armed Services Edition [T-4]. UVa. | David Ewen. Letter to John Y. Cole. 19 December 1982. |
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David Ewen. The Story of George Gershwin. Armed Services Edition [Q-3]. UVa. |
Books in Action: The Armed Services Editions, the 1984 LC publication celebrating the ASE's, includes an article on the history of the ASE's, by John Y. Cole; a look at the influence of ASE's on the publishing industry, by Michael Hackenberg; a colorful essay on the trials and tribulations facing the modern ASE collector, by Matthew J. Bruccoli; and a list of the titles published in the series.
| John Y. Cole, ed. Books
in Action: The Armed Services Editions.
Washington, DC: The Library of Congress, 1984. |
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Some ASE's covered more than one topic at a time. The Story of Penicillin combined science and history. How to Do Practically Anything, a spoof on how-to-do-it-books, combined self-help and humor.
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Jack Goodman and Alan Green. How to Do Practically Anything. Armed Services Edition [896]. BAP. | Boris Sokoloff. The Story of Penicillin. Armed Services Edition [904]. BAP. | 
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Gl's who disliked highbrow fiction could turn to fantasies like Eddie and the Archangel Mike and the macabre stories of John Collier.
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Barry Benefield. Eddie and the Archangel Mike. Armed Services Edition [710]. BAP. | John Collier. Green Thoughts and Other Strange Tales. Armed Services Edition [871]. BAP. | 
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