As WWII was ending, nations were looking to rebuild their monuments and their economies, trying to regain some semblance of normalcy. However, for millions of men their lives would never be the same after serving as soldiers. The photo that I chose for this post was particularly interesting to me because it shows a group of young servicemen smiling. While I cannot know this for certain, I imagine that this picture was taken before they were deployed for the war, before they witnessed the atrocities of war and destruction of continents. And while I look at their smiles, I wonder what became of these individuals after the war. For those who returned home as veterans, how did they cope with what they saw? How did they see their government and the benefits that they received as compensation for their service? Did they resent what they had to go through?
The war had cost millions of lives globally but it also left huge populations of veterans who were expected to return home and assimilate back into their lives before the war. In Total War and Entitlement: Towards a Global History of Veteran Privilege, Martin Crotty and Mark Edele delve into the issue of veterans returning home and seeking some form of compensation from their home country for their service. Often this came in the form of specialized social programs or pensions granted to veterans and their families. The case studies that they look at in the article serve to illustrate a very straightforward point but one that is not often talked about in the discourse regarding WWII veterans. They argue that there was a universal experience amongst veterans returning from the war to try to gain recognition from their government for their actions and, as part of this recognition, to receive special privileges often in the form of compensation. When I first heard this, it seemed obvious to me that these veterans should be entitles to certain benefits, but what I came to realize is that this was not always the case. For example, when Australian veterans returned home, they joined organizations that gave them a voice to speak to their government about their grievances.
In her article titled “If He Comes Home Nervous”: U.S. World War II Neuropsychiatric Casualties and Postwar Masculinities, Christina Jarvis explores the less obvious detrimental effects of war on the psyche of these returning vets. In a modern context, it seems obvious to state that these veterans would have suffered severe mental trauma during their service and this would have manifested itself in PTSD and other mental illnesses; however, at the time even though there was incontrovertible evidence that a veteran just wasn’t the same, professionals lacked a deep understanding of its cause and how to effectively treat this change. The issue becomes even more muddled when we begin to talk about a combination of physical and mental injuries. There was a surge in research regarding mental illness because of its prevalence. There was also a major shift in the cultural perception of veterans and the injuries of war.
The last article I will discuss, Rats and Resentment: The Demobilization of the Red Army in Postwar Leningrad, 1945-50 by Robert Dale, deals with the so-called “myth” that Soviet soldiers returning home to Leningrad were satisfied and greeted as heroes when there were deep-seeded issues of resentment amongst the veterans because of their abrupt demobilization. The Soviet government worked tirelessly to create an image of the glorious homecoming of veterans and a celebration of them and their service. This article deals with the issue of veterans resenting their government upon returning home and how the Soviets attempted to silence that dissent. This case study fits with the other issues that I have already covered regarding veterans in the sense that it showcases the plight of a group of people who were expected to return home after the war and act like everything was the same as before the war. Whether we talk about a need for social programs, mental health treatment or for restoring the relationship between veterans and their government, these are all issues that were relevant and extremely widespread in the global community. These articles seem to collectively be arguing for a universal experience of veterans from WWII, separate even from those who served in other previous and subsequent wars which is something I had never considered before. However, after reading these articles, it makes sense that the rise of internationalism during this time would influence how these issues present themselves in many places.
Sources:
Total War and Entitlement: Towards a Global History of Veteran Privilege by Martin Crotty and Mark Edele
“If He Comes Home Nervous”: U.S. World War II Neuropsychiatric Casualties and Postwar Masculinities by Christina Jarvis
Rats and Resentment: The Demobilization of the Red Army in Postwar Leningrad, 1945-50 by Robert Dale
Photo: http://oralhistory.blogs.lib.lsu.edu/2009/12/22/when-boys-began-to-leave-louisiana-recalls-wwii/
I agree that your photograph is interesting. It is always fascinating to consider how hopeful so many are before horrible things happen. Is ignorance truly bliss or should soldiers be more prepared before they leave for war?
I could not think of a better way to explain that, “professionals lacked a deep understanding of its cause and how to effectively treat this change. The issue becomes even more muddled when we begin to talk about a combination of physical and mental injuries.” You definitely hit on a critical point in terms of postwar treatment of Veterans. In my opinion they were able to recognize that there was a major medical issue but modern medicine had not advanced to the point where it could identify its causes or have a proper cure all for all veterans.