Myths of the Golden Era -- Exploded!

[Story]

I suppose you mean it's not something new? Anyway, you can find examples of it going back hundreds of years.

Yes, obviously a typo on my part.

And while historians are aware of PTSD, that's not what the popular media would portray about the Golden Era /WWII - to believe them, one would think it started with Vietnam.

 

[Flicka]

Yes, obviously a typo on my part.

And while historians are aware of PTSD, that's not what the popular media would portray about the Golden Era /WWII - to believe them, one would think it started with Vietnam.

Tell me about it.... I suppose all those shell-shocked veterans from WWI were just imagining things...

 

[KayEn78]

I'm not saying one had it worse than the other with their war experiences, but it definitely did not "begin" with Vietnam, although the U.S. was not very kind to them in some ways, still we are just learning about the troubles that WWII veterans had when they arrived home. There are three books I'd like to get, written by daughters whose fathers fought in WWII and what it was like for them to grow up with a combat veteran in the house. The other book focuses on Holocaust survivors and what their children had to endure after the war once in the U.S.

The books are titled:

In the Shadow of Suribachi
The Legacy of WWII
Gated Grief

-Kristi

 

[KayEn78]

The main reason why there weren't many parades when the boys came home in 1945 is that most of them *didn't* come home in 1945. The American armed forces demobilization system sent troops home based on the number of "points" they earned for months in uniform, months in overseas service, combat service, wounds, and other contributing factors -- it was supposed to ensure an orderly transition back to civilian life, but what it ended up doing is keeping millions of men in uniform thru much of 1946. "Wanna Go Home" demonstrations were common around Europe as servicemen announced their impatience with the system, and by the time they finally did get home, the post-Victory euphoria had long since worn off and there wasn't much point for parades.

However, nearly every town and city in the country erected some sort of "Honor Roll," listing all their citizens who served, with special designation for those killed in action, and many of those monuments still stand. That's better than a parade, if you ask me.

Truly is better than a parade. The ticker-tape parade in Times Square was just a small portion...it wasn't everyone.

-Kristi

 

[KayEn78]

I'm not saying one had it worse than the other with their war experiences, but it definitely did not "begin" with Vietnam, although the U.S. was not very kind to them in some ways, still we are just learning about the troubles that WWII veterans had when they arrived home. There are three books I'd like to get, written by daughters whose fathers fought in WWII and what it was like for them to grow up with a combat veteran in the house. The other book focuses on Holocaust survivors and what their children had to endure after the war once in the U.S.

The books are titled:

In the Shadow of Suribachi
The Legacy of WWII
Gated Grief

-Kristi

I know, I know...I'm replying to my own post, but here are the correct titles including the authors of these books I mentioned above.

The Hidden Legacy of World War II by Carol Schultz
In the Shadow of Suribachi by Joyce Faulkner
Gate Grief by Leila Levinson

I have read Thomas Childers's excellent book Soldier Returning from the War. It details the lives of three veterans coming home after the war and what their lives were like for them and their families.

-Kristi

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

Stories of shell shock are as old as war itself. Different names, same thing. U.S. Civil War veterans complained that "folks back home" didn't want to hear the gory details, so the guys just shut down. Former POW's returning from Japan would start telling what had happened to them, and were either asked to stop- or weren't believed. And then went and buried themselves in a bottle. Widows who never recovered and then drank themselves into an early grave. I bet even Homer described some form of PTSD.


The popular culture doesn't always get it wrong though. The Best Years of Our Lives? No ticker tape in that one.

 

[FountainPenGirl]

Saw that movie a number of times. It's very good. Of course it was done at the time.

 

[KayEn78]

The Best Years of Our Lives is one of my favorite 1940s movies.

-Kristi

 

[Stearmen]

No Honor Roll

The main reason why there weren't many parades when the boys came home in 1945 is that most of them *didn't* come home in 1945. The American armed forces demobilization system sent troops home based on the number of "points" they earned for months in uniform, months in overseas service, combat service, wounds, and other contributing factors -- it was supposed to ensure an orderly transition back to civilian life, but what it ended up doing is keeping millions of men in uniform thru much of 1946. "Wanna Go Home" demonstrations were common around Europe as servicemen announced their impatience with the system, and by the time they finally did get home, the post-Victory euphoria had long since worn off and there wasn't much point for parades.

However, nearly every town and city in the country erected some sort of "Honor Roll," listing all their citizens who served, with special designation for those killed in action, and many of those monuments still stand. That's better than a parade, if you ask me.

Actually, he was lucky, he came back in 45, in time for VE day. He was suppose to go to OCS, then probably the invasion of Japan, but the war ended, so he stayed a civilian. He was not called up for Korea. No Honor Roll in his small town, which barley exist now.

 

[TraditionalFrog]

My grandfather (2nd Armored Div) was sent back to the States from Europe in early 1946. He relates that toward the end of hostilities in the ETO they were held back at the Elbe to allow the Soviets to take Berlin. He went in shortly after. It was while holding at the Elbe that the war in Europe ended. He tells that a USAAF plane flew over head and dropped copies of the Stars & Stripes with the surrender news. When he returned to Indiana he was debriefed and given his "ruptured duck" at Camp Atterbury. From there he took a Greyhound home. He didn't really speak much of the war past D-Day +3 when he went on the Continent. He would speak of his time stationed at SHAEF HQ (motor pool) near London before then. He recalled sleeping in a bomb shelter as opposed in the tent city, and also of the German raids. He fared better than some upon his return, but suffered from terrible nightmares for sometime. He was blessed as he was able to get assistance regarding his jitters. Only recently has he started talking about the war. I think as he approaches 90 he wishes to get it off his chest and make sure that those of the younger generation know what it was really like as opposed to Hollywood or books. His stories are very sobering for sure.

As for parades and honors... he, like many didn't want that.... they did their duty to God and Country. That was enough.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I think the "where's our victory parade?" mantra associated with Vietnam stemmed from the often hostile treatment returning Vietnam veterans received from the general public. Something their WWII veteran fathers didn't really experience when they came home. While this wasn't widespread it was an unfortunate coincidence that the San Francisco Bay Area, hotbed of much of the antiwar sentiment, was also one of the main debarkation points for troops returning from Vietnam.

 

[koopkooper]

Lizzie well done,this was a great post, in fact, it would make a great idea for a book. You should do it!

Koop Kooper
www.cocktailnation.net

 

[1961MJS]

I think the "where's our victory parade?" mantra associated with Vietnam stemmed from the often hostile treatment returning Vietnam veterans received from the general public. Something their WWII veteran fathers didn't really experience when they came home. While this wasn't widespread it was an unfortunate coincidence that the San Francisco Bay Area, hotbed of much of the antiwar sentiment, was also one of the main debarkation points for troops returning from Vietnam.

Ah, San Francisco is where my Dad left from on the Tjisidane (phonetically Cheese a Donna), a Dutch trading ship. He said that most of the ship "manned the rails" for the first day in open sea, not out of duty, or curiosity, but so they could toss their cookies overboard. Dad come home from Panama in October or November 1945 after having been overseas since November 2, 1942 and in service since June of 1941. No parades in his home town, it was too small. It is my understanding that LA, San Francisco, NYC, Boston, Philly, and a few other of America's largest cities had big parades with whichever soldiers were in town in about September 1945 and then that was it. I have NO DATA on that, but do recall reading about Patton being in a parade, Eisenhauer in one, Nimitz in one, and Halsey in one.

Later

 

[Story]

Tell me about it.... I suppose all those shell-shocked veterans from WWI were just imagining things...

Or those from our Civil War - someone taking me up the mountain to see then new (2008) University of New Mexico observatory pointed out a draw where a village of 'disabled, physically and otherwise' Union veterans had settled after the conflict.

Stories of shell shock are as old as war itself.

Indeed, but I specifically addressed the serial killin' off-the-reservation types - reference my link to Unruh. I suspect there were more, 1946 and onwards but it just didn't make the indelible impact that more recent ones have.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Very true. There's so many stories of how returning Vietnam vets were greatly mistreated.

A local man told a story of how he went to see his sister at the local high school as soon as he got home. The other students yelled at him, berated him, spit on him, and ran him out of the school. It was a controversial war, no doubt about it, but that's not how you treat a man who did what he was told to. He didn't start the war.

I think the "where's our victory parade?" mantra associated with Vietnam stemmed from the often hostile treatment returning Vietnam veterans received from the general public. Something their WWII veteran fathers didn't really experience when they came home. While this wasn't widespread it was an unfortunate coincidence that the San Francisco Bay Area, hotbed of much of the antiwar sentiment, was also one of the main debarkation points for troops returning from Vietnam.

 

[TraditionalFrog]

Very true. There's so many stories of how returning Vietnam vets were greatly mistreated.

A local man told a story of how he went to see his sister at the local high school as soon as he got home. The other students yelled at him, berated him, spit on him, and ran him out of the school. It was a controversial war, no doubt about it, but that's not how you treat a man who did what he was told to. He didn't start the war.

Well said. I may not like or agree with a war or it's cause, but I will always respect and support our servicemen. Reminds me of the signs that appeared in front of some homes after the Afghanistan/Iraq conflicts started "I support the troops, not the war". Much better attitude than many veterans got upon return from Viet Nam. To me the treatment many Viet Nam vets got was shameful. The war wasn't their fault.

 

[KayEn78]

Very true. There's so many stories of how returning Vietnam vets were greatly mistreated.

A local man told a story of how he went to see his sister at the local high school as soon as he got home. The other students yelled at him, berated him, spit on him, and ran him out of the school. It was a controversial war, no doubt about it, but that's not how you treat a man who did what he was told to. He didn't start the war.

Unpopular war or not, that certainly isn't the way to treat someone who just returned. What did those stupid high school kids know anyway? Poor guy!

-Kristi

 

[KayEn78]

Anyone who did things like those awful high school students did to that man should and still be ashamed of themselves for behaving such a way. Like someone in a above post said, you may not support the war, but you don't treat the veterans like that. It wasn't their fault. They thought they were doing to right thing. Gee, I wonder where those idiots are that ran that guy out of the school...and the others that did similar things to them.

-Kristi

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Gee, I wonder where those idiots are that ran that guy out of the school...and the others that did similar things to them.

Sad to say, not to mention frightening, many of those idiots have since become the so-called "Establishment." They may have long ago traded in their love beads and tie-dye for double-knit ties and Brooks Brothers suits, but I seriously doubt that many have really changed at all.

 

[Flicka]

Or those from our Civil War - someone taking me up the mountain to see then new (2008) University of New Mexico observatory pointed out a draw where a village of 'disabled, physically and otherwise' Union veterans had settled after the conflict.

I've come across those stories from the aftermath of conflicts like the Thirty Years War, English Civil war and the War of the Spanish Succession too. Both depression and violent behaviour. In those days they they looked at many forms of PTSD-induced behaviour as something that was best cured by a good hanging. Very popular remedy for many psychological disorders in 18th century Britain...

I have a relative who was supposedly one of the 'Filthy Thirteen'. According to what I've been told, he was completely out of control when he came back and it took years for him to get back on track (mind you, there might have been a reason they recruited him in the first place).