Studs #4

            At first I thought that the intro was going to be just a generic intro into the war. I thought that it would be a little more than a text book, and that it would have a collection of short stories. I was skepticle at first because I thought that it would be very similar. I quickly found out that it was much more personal than the average text book. I found that that racial tensions were really high, yet the majority of the country had a collective mind set rather than a competitive midset. People prioritized putting the war effort first, which was very important during the time period. Another important advancement in America was the GI bill of rights. This bill was important because it guaranteed the rights that veterans deserve, and it is still an important part of our system today. This war really changed everything. The four main thoughts that crossed the average personals mind where "Food, Fear, Comradeship, and Confusion" (165).  These were the major themes that people thought about. Whether it was rationing or fear of communism, people always had deal with these issues. Another important quote was "A new middle class emerged" (172). This proves the differences in American values. This gave rise to my question which was How did the war impact the upper and lower classes specifically? Finally I connected to this introduction because in class we talked a lot about the ways that people had to adapt to war, and this article completely expressed that.  
              Bob Rasmus, like many other Americans, had been sent to defend America during World War II. When he was young he thought war would be fun so he had hoped that he could be involved, yet that quickly changed once he was actually in the moment. War was really tough conditions, and he likely could have been killed during battle. Terkle wrote "[Bob] would forever be liberated from the sense of inferiority that I wasn't rugged. I would prove that I had the guts and the manhood to stand up to these things," (178). This proves that there really was a lot that he would have to over come because war was full of fear. He like, other men, embraced the fear, and hoped to make a difference for America. He felt a sense of pride in what he was doing, and that was really important for the war effort. This became apparent when he was forced to stay behind because of the flu. He felt bad staying behind his battalion, and this shows his sense of pride in his work. I really respect men like this, and I wish I could have the courage to do this. My question is how does war change your mindset of the world? My personal connection is that my grandpa fought in Korea, and he had the same sense of pride in his group. He too felt a similar pride as Bob.