The Struggle of Soldiers During and After World War Two William Elfarr Thesis Committee Members: Angie Billings Thomas Marsh Michael Giordano Emily Twomey 20 April 2020 My committee has helped me so much during this whole process. I would like to thank them. They have had to put up with my procrastination and my multiple schedule changes. They have helped me learn more about what is needed to write a high level paper. Their suggestions and comments during meetings have helped steer me in the write direction because at first, I had no idea what I was doing. I am extremely grateful for the countless hours Mrs. Billings has put into my thesis. Her dedication allowed this terribly daunting task to be much easier. My thesis would not have been possible without all the help you all have given me. Table of Contents Introduction --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 1 Chapter 1:Before and During World War Two--------------------------------------------Page 4 Chapter 2: Before and During the Vietnam War------------------------------------------Page 7 Chapter 3: After the War-----------------------------------------------------------------------Page 11 Conclusion-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 15 Works Cited---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 19 Elfarr 1 ​ Introduction Unfortunately throughout our history violence has been very prevalent. Wars have ​ ​ started over the smallest of tribulations. They often lead to a massive amount of bloodshed and ​ ​ unnecessary loss of life. Small tribulations between countries can turn into large scale conflicts ​ ​ through escalation. The leaders that oftentimes are the ones that cause the conflicts are not ​ ​ always the ones that pay for their actions. It is the “people fighting our ongoing wars” that pay ​ ​ ​ the price (Fallows). ​ The idea of going to war is often viewed as patriotic and romantic. The governments ​ ​ often romanticize the idea of war to increase support and recruitment. Right after the United ​ ​ States was drawn into World War 2, the government started to recruit for the military. All of the ​ ​ ​ ​ volunteers were “18,19 years old” “trying to prove that they were men” (National World War 2 mueseum). The idea of going off to war attracted many young men because the idea of war had ​ ​ been romanticized. Not only has it been romanticized, there's also this huge idea of patriotism ​ ​ that is deep rooted in the United States. This was evident in most young men at the time and ​ ​ throughout history in general. They felt like they had to serve along with their buddies. Eugene ​ ​ Sledge, a young man in Alabama, felt like he had to serve and wanted to “enlist in the Marine ​ ​ Corps as soon as possible” (Sledge 5). Many young men had this same mindset when it came to ​ ​ going off to war. ​ Elfarr 2 The young men that fell into the romantic attraction of war soon came to their senses the ​ ​ first time that they experienced combat. They went from gaining a rough understanding of what ​ ​ the military was going to be like from boot camp to a “Baptism By Fire” (West Point). It is ​ ​ often hard to think about what was going through the minds of the young soldiers who ​ ​ experienced the first taste of carnage that was going to be their life while they were deployed. ​ ​ ​ Many times soldiers didn’t make it past their first combat experience and if they did their odds of ​ ​ survival went up because that meant that they could handle the extreme pressure that was on ​ ​ them to keep themselves and the person next to them alive. ​ The postwar experience of a soldier can be very difficult. It is often flooded with ​ ​ flashbacks, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD, lack of governmental support, and a lack of ​ ​ understanding and appreciation. It wasn’t until “In 1980” when the government recognized that ​ ​ PTSD was a real problem affecting its veterans and soldiers (VA). Even now, we don’t fully ​ ​ understand PTSD and its causes and side effects. Around the time of World War 1 and World War 2 PTSD was known as “Shell Shock” was treated using “unproven” treatment techniques ​ ​ (Oaks). Soldiers after World War 2 and Vietnam struggled to cope with the “psychological ​ ​ ​ ​ problems” which often continued long after “their return home” (Oaks). This lack of ​ ​ understanding led to the suffering of many veterans because there was no understanding of what they were going through. It didn’t help that in some cases like Vietnam, soldiers came home to a ​ ​ hostile environment. They were unable to receive the benefits that they were promised and had ​ ​ Elfarr 3 an extremely difficult time adjusting back into society. The time after the war for veterans in the ​ ​ ​ ​ early 20th century was extremely difficult because nobody could really understand what they ​ ​ had been through. ​ After analyzing the soldiers' experiences during the war, it becomes quite clear of ​ ​ the hardships that they endured. They put their lives on the line for their country and for the men ​ ​ serving next to them. However, despite these similarities in their experience during the war, ​ ​ there were some differences. They were fighting wars and this had some different effects on the ​ ​ soldiers. The main differences come after the war when the veterans return home from both of ​ ​ the wars. Where the World War II veterans are welcomed home with parades and gratefulness, ​ ​ the Vietnam veterans are not welcomed home at all. Everybody is hostile to them and they ​ ​ receive no welcome whatsoever. War has adverse effects on the soldiers involved in World War ​ 2 and the Vietnam War. Despite the fact that the soldiers' experiences before and during the war ​ ​ ​ were similar, the post war experiences were completely different. For both sets of soldiers, their ​ ​ ​ ​ experience in combat changed them. Eugene Sledge and Louis Zamperini experienced the brutalities of the Pacific theater during World War 2 and Tim O’Brian wrote of the psychological toll that soldiers took on in Vietnam. Despite the differences in theater and combat the impact on the soldiers was almost the same. Despite these similarities, they came back into two different worlds. The World War 2 veterans came back into a world of welcome where as the Vietnam veterans came back to people who were not welcoming of them and oftentimes hostile. Elfarr 4 Chapter 1: Before and During World War Two Understanding the conditions before the war is vital to understanding the impacts and how certain groups of people were affected. The war did not affect all in some way even on the home front away from all of the fighting and violence. Even those who are involved in the fighting have different stories to tell and the soldiers are all impacted differently by the fighting. Before the United States introduction into the war people did not believe that the United States would get involved in the war. Life was simple for most. Before World War II, life was different for Eugene B. Sledge. He was from a relatively small town of Mobile Alabama. He had a strong patriotism for his country and had a desire to serve his country. His desire to serve his country was so strong he dropped from Army officer training and “signed up for one of the Corps’ new officer training programs” because he didn’t want a desk job, he wanted to fight (Sledge 5). Like most other young men of the time, he was oblivious to the pain and suffering that the fighting brought with it. Eugine’s passion to serve his country as soon as possible caused him to drop out of Marine Officer training because he “hadn’t joined the Marine Corps to sit out the war in college” (Sledge 6). Almost all young men of this time had this same mentality, One recruit that had the same outlook as Eugine was Louis Zamperini. Just like Eugene Sledge, Louis joined the military after feeling the need to serve his country. Louis Zamperini was an Olympic athlete who had “just missed seventh place” in the 5,000 during the 1936 Olympic Games (Hillbrand 34). He set records during his career and had a very promising future. This all came to an end when he “became ill, first with food poisoning, then with pleurisy” (Hillbrand 34). He was then drafted. Louis scored high on the test in training and had been assigned as a bombardier. Elfarr 5 Both stories are somewhat similar due to the fact that they are young men with no idea what war is like. The idea of war to most of the young men during World War II was often viewed as romantic and patriotic. They did not fully understand the brutality that they would face. It would leave most scarred for life. Eugene Sledge’s first encounter with the harsh realities of war was on the amphibious landing at Peleliu. Before he even made it to the beach, his “stomach was tied in knots,'' his “knees nearly buckled” (Sledge 56). He feared he would appear as a coward but soon realized that every other soldier felt the same way. In a short period of time during the landing, Eugine would become a different person; he felt “sickened to the depths of [his} soul” (Sledge 60). The carnage and war that he experienced on the beach completely changed his view of war. He soon became numb to the sight of the dead, destroyed, and decaying bodies. He also developed a deep-rooted hatred for the enemy. He lived in constant fear of his life for almost the entire time he was deployed. Often Japanese would sneak up on Marine foxholes and kill the Marines in their sleep. The threat of attack at all times was very taxing on the physiological health of many Marines.