Good evening everyone,
I have been reading through articles that have to do with the treatment of veterans post WWII. I found the articles to be intriguing and informational in regards to the treatment of veterans coming back from war. Soldiers put everything on the line for their nation, which is why I think that they should have access to great ben
fits upon returning home and the support of the civilian population. Veterans were offered many great benefits.
The articles that I read were, 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, and “Enabled Courage”: Race, Disability, and Black World War II Veterans in Postwar America by Robert F. Jefferson. Each article had a different perspective about veterans post WWII. Total War and Entitlement provided a great comparison of the USSR and Australia veterans as a social entity and veteran activism. “If He Comes home Nervous” gave a great insight on the psychological causalities of the war and how veterans dealt with their unseen scares. Rats and Resentment was interested in the fact that the article worked to reassess veterans coming home from war as as heroes and having a successful reintegration. Finally, “Enabled Courage” how racism played into World War II veterans coming home. Each article was able to captivate my attention, while providing me with a base knowledge for post WWII veterans and the challenges that arrived upon returning home.
The first point that I would like to make is from Total War and Entitlement. Crony and Edele discuss the major differences between Australian soldiers and Russian and Soviet soldiers. Australian soldiers were accustom to fighting far from their shores, while Russia and Soviet troops fought in defense of their homeland literally. This not only effected the soldiers but also the civilian populous. Civilians were killed, maimed, or victimized by the enemy. While in Australia, civilians were minutely affected. Russian and the USSR fighting for a dictatorship and capitalism; Australia for democracy and a planned economy (pg 16). But with all those differences the experience of soldiered was the same. At the very core, all soldiers were asked to put their lives on the line. They left loved ones, homes, jobs, in some cases, for several years. There sacrifice was without compare (pg 17). This goes to show that if soldiers are willing to risk so much, why would they not have benefits and be treated great when they come back.
According to Jarvis in, “If He Comes Home Nervous”, on top of the sacrifices soldiers had to make, a majority of them came home with unseen scares. Having trouble getting rid of the horrific images of war. When many veterans returned home, they had a hard time becoming who they once were. They had seen things that no man would every want to lay eyes on. They felt scared and upset. A great quote that shows a strategy for helping them come to terms with what happened and regain their composer is, “Physicalizing mental wounds and comparing psychiatric casualties to their predecessors from earlier wars offered one strategy for remasculinizing the mentally wounded veteran by placing him within traditional military frameworks for measuring manliness ” (pg 108). This is a great way that they were able to be helped.
Veterans upon return to the U.S. were giving many opportunities that were able to change their lives. A great quote from “Enabled Courage” is, “Under the GI Bill of Rights, World War II veterans could purchase a home, go to college, learn a trade, finish high school, and obtain civil service work, and were eligible for government subsidized loans and life insurance pensions” (Jefferson, pg 1104). A great example of the benefits offered to veterans.
Overall, I thought all of the articles were both interesting and informative. I learned a lot about post WWII. Although there were many topics that could of been discussed and points that could of been argued. The benefits for veterans stood out the most to me.
