Carl Lavin's Military Training During World War II

What they fought for is an analysis of a collection of nearly a thousand personal letters and journals entries written by the soldiers who fought America’s famous Civil War. This book seeks to define the ideology of what the soldiers understood they were fighting for, and their comprehension of the outcome of their service .Although counter arguments agree that most soldiers could not give a solid explanation of why they fought for, nor the real Constitutional issues that were at stake; the thoughts the soldiers recorded show that they fought for more than just masculine identity; they highly valued being at home safe with their loved ones, at any cost. This book gives an inside perception of the Civil War, and a

In Kyle Longley’s, The Morenci Marines, nine young Morenci boys took the call to duty, not knowing that only three will return from the warzone of Vietnam. These boys, some Native American, Mexican American, and Caucasian, joined the fight in Vietnam despite their social, racial, and economic differences. Although the nine men are from a small mining town in Morenci, Arizona, the Vietnam War consisted of, in the words of Mike Cranford, “a lower middle class war,” fueled by small towns all around the United States (Longley, 246). Many of these men felt the call to battle and the will to fight, which had been engrained in their heritage and gave these men the right to be Americans. Aiding the war effort came from countless small American town

We also see students in a required class being taught the value of serving in the military in both practical and moral terms; not only is it is necessary if one wants to vote, but protecting one’s country makes one a functioning part of his country, a citizen rather than merely a civilian. The point here is that the public gladly accepts the information the government is feeding it and acts accordingly, in most cases by joining the military, out of faith that the state will promote the common good at the expense of individual freedom of thought. Even those who realize the facts are being distorted don’t grumble much. The one time a soldier points out an instance of misinformation, he is told that “people need to be lied to” in order to keep morale high.

Another question he wondered was why you could not get American soldiers to fight like them now (McPherson 1997 3). Even though he will follow volunteers through the whole war, it follows the volunteers from 1861 and 1862 the most, these men were the ones that volunteered first and weren’t substitutes. The book goes through and

In Kyle Longley’s, The Morenci Marines, nine young Morenci boys took the call to duty, not knowing that only three will return from the warzone of Vietnam. These boys, some of who were Native American, Mexican American, and Caucasian, joined the fight in Vietnam despite their social, racial, and economic differences. Although the nine men are from a small mining town in Morenci, Arizona, the Vietnam War was, in the words of Mike Cranford, “a lower middle class war,” that was fueled by small towns all around the United States (Longley, 246). Many of these men felt the call to battle and the will to fight, which was engrained in their heritage and gave these men the right to be Americans. Small town America, mostly lower class, was looked upon to aid the war effort with countless men, where as the rest of the nation, the upper to middle class college educated students, were protesting the war and they believed that it was unjust.

Reading and analysing “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien, we learn about a story that not many people know about. While conscription if good for a country, it is clear that it causes Tim O’Brien to think about his archetypal values and how they are torn between his moral values, and that of his family’s of him, based on his archetypal influenced decisions. Time believes that he is too good for the army and his brains are not worth to waste. He has to choose to either flee to Canada, or go to a war in Vietnam, while he does not even believe in the moral of the war. Conscription in America in 1968 caused people similar to Tim O’Brien to go to war, even though they may not seem fit to attend.

Jimmy Cross, a college student, is carrying a great burden being the lieutenant of his group of soldiers. A chapter from The Things They Carried titled “In the Field” states, “Jimmy Cross did not want the responsibility of leading these men. He had never wanted it … he had signed up for the Reserve Officer Training Corps … because it seemed preferable to letting the draft take him” (160). The use of the word “never” to describe Cross’s want for being a lieutenant displays that at no point in his life had he ever desired to lead a band of men in the war. Even though Cross in no way wanted to direct this group of men, it seemed like a better option than being drafted in the war. To him, being drafted in the war sounded even less desirable than

The Vietnam War was a psychological and physical battle for all the young men who were drafted or volunteered. Caputo's own reasons for volunteering illustrate the mentality for some of the men entering into this journey. Those who are inducted into Vietnam face disturbing moral dilemmas that can be expected in an "ethical wilderness." The draft introduced a myriad of young men to the once forgotten moral ambiguity of war. Average American citizens must balance right from wrong in a world without morals or meaning. Caputo himself struggles with the idea that killing in combat is morally justified.

Not every man who 's fought in a war planned on doing so. In fact, not all of them even want to. It 's rare to find enough people voluntarily willing to lay down their lives for their country, so more often than not militaries used what we would call “citizen soldiers.” Citizen soldiers are exactly what they sound like, regular citizens taken from society and turned into people capable of serving in the military. Although it may seem obvious when plainly written out, citizen soldiers had vastly different experiences compared to career soldiers, and Stephen Ambrose attempted to pin down that specific experience in his book Citizen Soldier. Ambrose uses oral interviews from World War II veterans and other materials to explain the experiences of the common American soldier who served in WWII between D-Day and the eventual surrender of the German forces. However, when examining his book, it 's important to ask how successful Ambrose was in painting an accurate picture of this kind of soldier 's life during his service. Is the information he uses specific to the men who served in Europe, or can it also be linked back to the soldiers in the Pacific? This paper will evaluate his work by comparing it to oral interviews from WWII veterans both from the same areas that Ambrose 's veterans serve in and in locations not included in his work.

The author, Tom Brokaw; a part of of The Greatest Generation, has plenty of experience around the military. His fathers, Red Brokaw, was the typically role model for his son. “Between the ages three and five [Tom Brokaw] lived on an Army base in western South Dakota and spent a good deal of my time outdoors in a tiny helmet, shooting stick guns at imaginary German and Japanese soldiers” (XVII). In addition to his father being an inspirational imagine in his childhood, it also included memorable images of the Fourth of July and the moment after his father returned home from the service. The military was all around Tom Brokaw and inspired him to honor the veteran’s lives as well as sacrifice during the war. From a young age good morals and values were influencing Brokaw, much like many other members of The Greatest Generation.

During World War II, children, women and families worked tirelessly and contributed to aiding the soldiers during their perilous fights. In 1939 through 1945, American families came together and as a community to work the hardest they ever have. Families helped one another to hold up their country with the absence of their men. “Wear it out, use it up, make it do, or do without.” (qtd. In FDR and The American Crisis), were words stressed to the women and children for support. The sacrifices the families made on the homefront, became just as paramount as the battlefronts. If the choices that were made didn’t prevail, the success of the war wouldn’t have ensued.

Soldier training had a large impact on the outcome of WWII for many reasons. Officer training, physical training for soldiers, and the large number of military training camps greatly impacted the war. First, the Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, Georgia helped to train more officers to lead the soldiers. The increase of officers helped the soldiers to have a greater opportunity to speak to their officers to get help or when they have questions. Secondly, the physical training helped better prepare the soldiers for the hardships of war. The extensive outdoor and indoor tests trained soldiers much better than what was available before. Lastly, the increase of military training camps created more and better trained soldiers. There was

Picture this: A man, among others, is sitting on a train as he watches his family who are all waving him goodbye. He notices that each one of his family members are also lost in their own thoughts. His mother, clutching onto her husband as she cries and says silent prayers in her head; the prayer being that God will protect her son and that he shall come home, safe and sound. His father, holding onto his mother as he tries to not cry himself. However, the father lets his eyes shine with pride that his son is fighting for the betterment of our nation. His siblings, standing on the left or right of their parents, wondering if their brother really needs to serve their country. The main thought in their head is this statement: “They are plenty of other guys who can fight, and my brother isn’t one. We need him more”. His wife, looking towards the train that has her sweetheart on board. With the lingering thought of the goodbye kiss that she just shared with her brave man. Lastly, but not least, his children. The children this man is leaving behind so that he can ensure a better future for them. What I just described to you, is the picture of Major Sullivan Ballou and his family as their part 155 years ago, so that Sullivan could fight in the American Civil War.

One summer I watched a movie called “Hacksaw Ridge” the movie was about a character named Dustin who wanted to join the army to serve because Japan just bombed Pearl Harbor. Naturally most young men wanted to join because it created a burning will to end this War (WW2). However, Dustin

John Caulfield was the founder of a group called “ROMEO”, which stood for “Retired old men eating out” (77). This organization began with a group of teenagers that lived ordinary lives, playing baseball and swimming in creeks in a community called Kerry Corner. Caulfield’s childhood was most troubling after his father passed, in addition to the Depression years, which led to him living in poverty. Young men, such as John Caulfield, immediately enlisted into the armed forces, after news got around about the attack on Pearl Harbor. They were stuck with surprise, but most importantly patriotism to support their country in need. After the war and they returned home, they held values and morals that they learned from the war. Caulfield, and majority of the Greatest Generation, had difficulties understanding the newer generations, and why they did not hold the same values and morals that made America so great. Although, Caulfield would not become frustrated, they were “ . . . too proud and, in a way, so pleasantly surprised by how their