With the entrance of the United States into World War I in 1917, cigarette use increased dramatically among United States military personnel. Tobacco was viewed as indispensable to the war effort; General Pershing said "You ask me what we need to win this war. I answer tobacco as much as bullets. Tobacco is as indispensable as the daily ration; we must have thousands of tons without delay."
Cigarettes became so integrated into life on the battlefield that these symbols of pleasure and comfort were also used as a form of currency. With the rise of World War II, tobacco companies continued to foster this culture of wartime smoking by sending free cigarettes to troops and supporting the inclusion of cigarettes into the soldiers' rations. The military continued to include cigarettes in rations until 1975.
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