We Were in the Big One

Mark P. Parillo

doi:10.5771/9781461621591

Summary

World War II was truly the largest and greatest conflict in U.S. history. We Were in the Big One: Experiences of the World War II Generation is a collection of diary entries, letters, photographs, and other documents from that era.

Carefully selected from the Eisenhower Library's World War II Participants Collection and other archives, this material-generated in response to the historical events themselves-reflects the mindset of the people who produced it. These documents shed light on one of the most important periods of American history.

We Were in the Big One is one of the first books to make primary source material on this era widely available for use in the classroom. These contemporary documents reveal a great deal about the attitudes of the World War II generation toward matters such as gender, political beliefs, race, religion, social and cultural mores, and personal values. With a concise introduction and headnotes that introduce each document, Prof. Parillo provides an interpretive framework that puts the selections in context for students. Parillo shows how the war affected Americans across gender lines, across social and political spectrums, on the home front, and on the battlefield.

This compelling text enables students to discover how the war truly influenced an entire generation of Americans. We Were in the Big One is an excellent resource for courses in American twentieth-century history, World War II, and U.S. social and cultural history.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2002
ISBN-Print: 978-0-8420-2796-0
ISBN-Online: 978-1-4616-2159-1
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 293
Product type: Book Titles

1. About The Editor No access
2. Table of Contents No access
3. Acknowledgments No access
4. Preface No access
Introduction No access Pages 1 - 6
1. To Draft or Not to Draft? - Views of the American Legion No access
2. The Average Soldier - "Yoo Hoo," Comic Corporation of America No access
3. The Citizen Soldier - Poem by Lt. Lenhardt E. Bauer, "The Recruit" No access
4. Instructions for the Recruit - American Legion Publication, "Fall-In" No access
5. Diary of a Recruit - Nap Glass, "A Goldbrick in the USA" No access
6. Another View - Letters Home from William H. Herbert No access
7. A Woman's View - Letters Home from jeanne E. Betcher No access
8. Training for the Sea - Letters Home from Herbert Eugene Book, Jr. No access
9. The M1 - War Department Basic Field Manual23-5, U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, M1 No access
10. Advanced Training - Letters Home from Richard Cipra No access
11. New Places, New Adventures - Letters Home from Bruce Carson No access
12. 1. Letter from First Lieutenant Helen Perrell to Mrs. Helen Lovell No access
  2. American Legion Publication - "At Home: All Must Be Well" No access
13. Sources No access
1. Pearl Harbor Diary - Harold Chutes No access
2. A Message from the President - Franklin D. Roosevelt to Members of the United States Army Expeditionary Forces No access
3. An Airman's Letters - Letters Home from Ervin J. Cook No access
4. Flying for the Raf - Letters Home from Robert S. Raymond No access
5. Diary of a Sailor - Richard Thomas Mariner No access
6. Action in North Africa - Letter Home from Robert L. Mason No access
7. Action on the German Front - Letter Home from Mario Dal Canton No access
8. Action on the Italian Front - Diary of Casimer Prunchunas No access
9. D-Day Recounted - Letter Home from Alfred F. Birra No access
10. A Gunner in Germany - Poem by Chas Riordan, "The Artillery in Germany" No access
11. A Combat Nurse in Italy - Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Mary Fischer, A.N.C. No access
12. Sources No access
1. In an Overseas Military Hospital - Letters Home from Willard H. Fluck No access
2. A Medico's Point of View - Letters Home from Harold Porter No access
3. Wounded in Battle - Diary of Casimer Prunchunas No access
4. Informing the Family - The McKinney Family Saga No access
5. Sources No access
1. 1. Letter Home from Eugene G. Barber No access
  2. Letter Home from William Bieluch No access
2. A Merchantman's Tale - Poem by Ian A. Millar, "Merchantmen Like Thee" No access
3. A Red Cross Volunteer in France - Letters Home from Mary Metcalfe No access
4. Breakfast for One Hundred - Recipes from the War Department, "The Army Cook" No access
5. Life with the Rear Echelon - Letter Home from Loren Fred No access
6. 1. Letter from Lieut. General Jacob L. Devers Accompanying Program Notes of Irving Berlin's This is the Army No access
  2. Letter from an Army Movie Theater Manager No access
7. 1. A Certain Reputation No access
  2. The Life of a WAC Officer - Letter to a Friend from Edith M. Davis No access
  3. The Life of a WAC Enlisted Person - Letter Home from Mildred Karlsen No access
  4. A Wac in Africa - "A Day in the Wacery" No access
  5. Recognition - Citation to Accompany the Award of the Bronze Star Medal No access
8. Sources No access
1. Letters to a Wife - Letters Home from Ervin]. Cook No access
2. Letters to Parents and Sister - Letters Home from Bruce Carson No access
3. A Father's Letter to His Marine Son - Father to George W. Dinning No access
4. A Father's Letter to His Soldier Son - M. R. Novak to Henry Novak No access
5. A Popular Song - "Keep the Home Fires Burning" No access
6. Writing After the Lifting of Censorship - Letter Home from Harold Porter No access
7. 1. Letter from Pat McNabb to Joan Flor No access
  2. Letter from Mary Metcalfe to Mother No access
8. Letters from a Loving Husband - W. Hildreth to His Wife No access
9. A Wartime Relationship - Letters from Betty Klein to George W. Dinning No access
10. Sources No access
1. A Shipyard Worker's Letters to His Son - Letters from M. R. Novak to Henry Novak No access
2. American Legion Publication - "Venereal Disease: Saboteur of War Manpower" No access
3. Life at the Office- Letters from Betty Klein to George W. Dinning No access
4. American Legion Publication - "Spare Time" No access
5. An Appeal to Buy War Bonds - From Evan Griffith to the Farmers of Kansas No access
6. Sources No access
1. 1. American Legion Publication - "Air Raid Precaution Services" No access
  2. Reader's Digest Publication - "A Hobby Goes to War" No access
2. 1. Letters from Mother to George W. Dinning No access
  2. Letter from Daughter to Henry Novak No access
  3. Newspaper Article - "Points for Fats Start Tomorrow" No access
  4. Letter from Mother to William H. Herbert No access
3. 1. Publication from the Cotton Spool Company - "Make and Mend for Victory" No access
  2. American Legion Publication - "Conservation of Natural Resources" No access
4. Balancing Wartime Needs - Reader's Digest, "Essential Civilian Needs Will Be Met" (by Elsie McCormick) No access
5. Doing Your Share - The MacArthur Club Pledge No access
6. Experience of a Soldier's Family No access
7. Sources No access
1. How it Looks from Here - Letter Home from Bruce Carson No access
2. Counting Points - Letter Home from Richard Cipra No access
3. A WAC Waits for Her Ship- From the Notebooks of Jeanne E. Betcher No access
4. Passing the Time - Letter Home from Loren Fred No access
5. Overseeing the Defeated - Letters Home from Henry Novak No access
6. Living a Life on Hold - Letters Home from Willard H. Fluck No access
7. Getting to Know the Germans - Letter Home from Mildred Karlsen No access
8. The Horrors of War and the Trials of Occupation - Letters Home from Harold Porter No access
9. 1. Letter from the Secretary of the Navy No access
  2. Pamphlet from the War and Navy Departments, "Going Back to Civilian Life" No access
  3. CIO Publication, ''When you Come Back" No access
  4. Honoring the World War II Generation - American Legion Publication, "August 14! Victory Day for World War II" No access
10. Sources No access
Epilogue No access Pages 273 - 280
Index No access Pages 281 - 293