Wow. I just got through reading and reviewing Fussell's book this was taken from, Wartime. http://i-heart.us/read-smart/wartime/ I was watching some political commentary show a few weeks ago and one of the talking heads mentioned it, so on a lark I got it from Amazon.
If you want to understand the war, I can't recommend this book enough. It's not a history book like most of us are used to. It's more of a social history -- the way things were and the way people experienced them. I know it changed my view of WWII forever.
War is like death: when it comes we all must deal with it, and it is a great horror upon us and society. It changes the world and the way people think about things. When modern students look back at WWII, I don't think they have any idea what they're really looking at. I am reminded of a section in the book (not sure if it's in this essay, sorry, once I realized I already have read this I skipped ahead) where two soldiers are getting off the boat at the end of the war in New York. They were given cookies and candy. One remembers that here they were for all intents and purposes cold-blooded killers coming from hell, and civilians were treating them like kids home from summer camp. Even many of the people that lived through it didn't understand the true nature of the war.
Fussell did a great job with this article and the longer book. (side note: he also did a book on WWI. Been meaning to read that as well. I believe both of these books won some awards)
It is mentioned in the book but it was referring to a Canadian returning home.
> The postwar result for the Allies, at least, is suggested by one returning Canadian soldier, wounded three times in Normandy and Holland, who recalls (in Six War Years 1939-1945, edited by Barry Broadfoot) disembarking with his buddies to find on the quay nice, smiling Red Cross or Salvation Army girls.
>> 'They give us a little bag and it has a couple of chocolate bars in it and a comic book. . . . We had gone overseas not much more than children but we were coming back, sure, let's face it, as killers. And they were still treating us as children. Candy and comic books.'
If you want to understand the war, I can't recommend this book enough. It's not a history book like most of us are used to. It's more of a social history -- the way things were and the way people experienced them. I know it changed my view of WWII forever.
War is like death: when it comes we all must deal with it, and it is a great horror upon us and society. It changes the world and the way people think about things. When modern students look back at WWII, I don't think they have any idea what they're really looking at. I am reminded of a section in the book (not sure if it's in this essay, sorry, once I realized I already have read this I skipped ahead) where two soldiers are getting off the boat at the end of the war in New York. They were given cookies and candy. One remembers that here they were for all intents and purposes cold-blooded killers coming from hell, and civilians were treating them like kids home from summer camp. Even many of the people that lived through it didn't understand the true nature of the war.
Fussell did a great job with this article and the longer book. (side note: he also did a book on WWI. Been meaning to read that as well. I believe both of these books won some awards)