Stars and Stripes (newspaper)

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Stars and Stripes is the name of the United States Armed Forces newspaper that is published for American forces. The paper is presently available in three formats. These formats are the European Edition, the Mideast Edition, and the Pacific Edition.

On November 9, 1861, soldiers of the Illinois 11th, 18th, and 29th Regiments, after forcing the Confederates south, set up camp in Bloomfield, Missouri. Upon finding the newspaper office empty, they decided to print a newspaper for their expedition, relating the troop's activities. They called it The Stars and Stripes. Today the [Stars and Stripes Museum/Library Association] is located in Bloomfield, Missouri.

In World War I, the staff and the roving reporters and illustrators of the newspaper were veterans of the newspaper world or, more frequently, talented young soldiers who would later become famous members of the United States media in the postwar era. Harold Ross, the editor of the Stars and Stripes, returned home to found the New Yorker magazine; Cyrus Baldridge its art director and principal illustrator, later became a major book and magazine illustrator, as well as writer, print maker, and stage designer; Alexander Woollcott, who was on the editoral staff, enjoyed a future as the most influential drama critic in New York.

Stars and Stripes was then an 8-page weekly which reached a peak of 526,000 readers, relying considerably on the improvisational efforts of its staff to get it printed in France and to distribute it to U.S. troops.

In World War II, the newspaper was printed in several editions in several operating theaters. Again, both newspapermen in uniform and young soldiers, some of whom would later become important journalists, filled the staffs and showed zeal and talent in getting the paper out on time and delivering it. Some of the editions were assembled and printed very close to the front in order to get the latest information out to the most troops. Also, during the war, the newspaper published the 53-book series G.I. Stories.

The newspaper is the main printed source of news at the installations in Europe and Mideast and East Asia. Stars and Stripes has expanded to an average of 40-48 pages each day and is still published in tabloid format, reminiscent of many British dailies.

Other well-known former Stars and Stripes staffers include 60 Minutes' Andy Rooney and Steve Kroft, songwriter and author Shel Silverstein, Hollywood photgrapher Phil Stern, and Wall Street reporter Lou Rukeyser.

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