Thursday 2/17: 'The Real War Will Never Get in the Books' -- WWII in memory and reality

Zoom link to class can be found here. The passcode is 673114.

Zoom recording of the class can be found here.

The Powerpoint of images/quotes that Mark used in class is below.

Please read/watch the following (readings are in PDF form, below):

• John Bodnar, “Wartime,” excerpt (pp.25-33) The ‘Good War’ in American Memory

• Paul Fussell, "The Real War Will Never Get in the Books," Wartime

• Paul Fussell, Chapters IV and V, Doing Battle

• Studs Terkel, re-read the stories by Rasmus, Terry, Hutchinson, the Hanleys (below)

• Ira Katznelson, “White Veterans Only”

• Michael Adams, “The World Created By War," excerpt (pp.120-129), The Best War Ever

• Watch the 1946 documentary “Let There Be Light.”

Questions to consider while reading/watching:

• What was the experience of serving in WWII like for Fussell, and for the men and women quoted in the other readings? Do you see some common themes? Are there things they discussed that surprised you?

• .One theme in several of the readings is that the war was misunderstood at the time, and still is. In what ways has it been misunderstood?

• Several of the vets in the readings try to describe how combat changed them, and shaped their post-war lives. Do you see common themes among them? Do any of their descriptions resonate with your own experiences?

• A few questions to consider about the film:

  • How did the film make you feel?

  • How did it portray the vets and their conditions?

  • How did it portray the mental health profession?

  • If you were in charge of making the decision to release it in 1946, would you have done so? Why, why not?