20th Century Interview Report

Young men, imagine that you’re either at war, or at home waiting for your wife to come from nursing soldiers. Young ladies, imagine that you’re either a nurse assisting wounded soldiers, or you’re doing your husbands unimaginably boring job and waiting for him to come home. It’s been a few, or maybe even several years since you’ve seen or talked with your spouse. Suddenly, as you turn on your television, you see people on the screen cheering and being merry, for the bloodiest and most ghastly war is over, World War 2. You think about how either your wife or husband is going to be coming home, how other countries are no longer going to be a threat to us any longer, or us a threat to them, and how the cruel and greedy ambitions of Adolf Hitler are

Lois Miner. Voices of World War II: Stories from the Front Lines. Mankato, MN: Capstone, 2011. Print.

To be engaged in war is to be engaged in an armed conflict. Death is an all too ordinary product of war. It is an unsolicited reward for many soldiers that are fighting for their country’s own fictitious freedom. For some of these men, the battlefield is a glimpse into hell, and for others, it is a means to heaven. Many people worry about what happens during war and what will become of their loved ones while they’re fighting, but few realize what happens to those soldiers once they come home. The short stories "Soldier's Home” by Ernest Hemingway and "Speaking of Courage” by Tim O'Brien explore the thematic after effects of war and how it impacts a young person's life. Young people who

After the war, things were never the same for Ember and her mother, Lori Wittman. The Moral Statutes have replaced the Bill of Rights. There are no more police. No more staying up after curfew. No more control of your life. No more independent choices. The FBR have taken over the government and are patrolling each and every city for article violators. If you are caught breaking a statute, you get arrested and go on trial, but instead of going to jail and completing a sentence, you are sent to a reformatory or rehabilitation center and in some cases, worse. Most people Ember knew didn’t come back from their trials.

Although Bob Layher was only five years old when the war began he noticed the considerable impact the battle had already inflicted. Bob recalled, “Brothers and sisters to friends I knew either came back or never made it back.” Ronnie WIlliams, a helicopter door gunner, never returned to spend time with the people, including Bob, he once shared a classroom with as an innocent boy. Reminiscing on the tragic past

In 1941, we formally entered the war. Around the same time, the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center was opened, turning into the first state-possessed and operated clinic west of the Mississippi River dedicated solely to the consideration of cancer patients. I was seventeen years old when war had been declared on Germany. While the men were off at war, women would do as much as they could for the war exertion. Case in point, I went to the USO dance halls with the men who were being sent abroad. On the off chance that I wasn't there, I was helping in the greenhouse. At that point, the day of the assault on Pearl Harbor came around. Sincerely, I can't remember where I was at the time. Yet, I do recall the amount of praying we did and listening to the

This chapter covers the transition of Mary Anne Bell, of how she changed from being a normal, sweet teenage girl to being one of the Green Berets, filled with enthusiasm for the war and intrigued with the culture of Vietnam. This message is about how the innocence of women is consumed by the war and how once they begin to learn more about it, they are hopelessly entranced by it, far from returning to their usual selves. Rat talks about how, “Anne made you think about those girls back home, how they'll never understand any of this, not in a billion years. Try and tell them about it, they’ll just stare at you with those big round candy eyes. They won't understand zip.”(O’Brien 108), and this shows that women won’t understand what Vietnam really is like, they have to experience it themselves. Women also won’t understand the grueling mental pain that soldiers experience in the war.

From the earliest times, war has existed as a painful reality. Stories are passed down from generation to generation about brave men fighting epic battles in ancient civilizations. Occasionally a different type of legend emerges: the homefront hero. In Ancient Greece and Rome, elderly statesmen prevented famine and raised supplies for their distant armies in wartime. From then on through history, those left behind, from the leaders of countries tested in resolve and commitment by wars to the ordinary citizens who rise above their routines to serve their countries, are powerful forces behind victories. World War II was no exception. While the soldiers abroad were undoubtedly true heroes of the war, the parents, siblings, and children they left behind also assisted in the war effort. No one remained truly unaffected by the war. Without the labors of women, the efforts of schoolchildren, and the institution of rationing, World War II could not have been won.

not a memoir--but an angry postwar statement about the effects of the war on the young

From 1939 through 1941 millions were faced with the violence and devastation of World War II. Life on the Homefront in the United States and Great Britain was difficult and overwhelming.World War II was one of the most bloody battles in history, and most of whom were civilians.In this paper, we will explore what life is like for people during a terrifying war.

Times like the year 1943, were never talked about in my family. 1943 was 60 years before I was born, yet if you bring up that time, you would be hushed by your mother and told to be quiet. But why? Nobody in the family even knew why. Well, except my great grandfather, Joseph G. Koch. He lived it. Saw it. Smelled it. “The odor of burned flesh was strong,” he said. 2008 was the year when everything changed in the family. The code was cracked. The silence was broken. The secret was out. That was the year my twit-headed uncle put himself to good use, and asked my Great Grandfather about the importance of 1943 and what it meant to him. This was the first time anything was talked about. The hushes and whispers finally dissipated.

Rose claims that when people discussed the war they choose to focus on stories that helped the population feel good, rather than talking about the horrors of the war. World War II seemed to generate higher levels of patriotism than ever before seen. Rose hopes to give true honor to the Americans of this generation in his book. Not by elaborating on their contributions, but by trying to paint a picture of what life was like while America was at war. Rose chose to rely on first-hand accounts of the men and women who actually experienced the war. He does this to give them credit, but also to show that the so-called Greatest Generation was not without its own problems and flaws. He shows that they were just another regular generation who lived through tough times that tested their character and will power.

World War II gave women the chance to take part in and prove what they where cable of handling men’s work. However there were limitations that women had to overcome during the war such as sexism and sexualized violence.

The initial goal for this interview project was to discover if growing up in the 1960’s was shockingly different than growing up in the 2000’ with location being relative. However, based on the responses I received describing aspects of their childhood, my two interviewees with a 40 year age gap sounded surprisingly similar. My 10 questions were arranged in a somewhat chronological order, first asking the interviewee to describe their first best friend from their childhood, then inquiring if they could recall the point at which themselves or their peers started participating in more mature, adolescent activities.

I sat down to talk to my great-grandma Bernice about WWII. At first I was a little worried that she wouldn’t be able to recollect something that happened that long ago. However, soon I realized that at 96 years old my grandmother still had a good memory.