The Greatest Generation Comes Home: The Veteran in American Society

Introduction

INTRODUCTION People฀usually฀think฀that฀wars฀are฀a฀great฀cleansing;฀that,฀puri fied฀through฀sacrifice,฀they฀can฀start฀from฀scratch฀along฀their฀ ideal฀paths฀after฀it฀is฀all฀over.฀Because฀of฀their฀innate฀wishfulness ,฀people฀inevitably฀forget฀that฀every฀event฀is฀interrelated฀ and฀one฀cannot฀go฀outside฀of฀history฀and฀“start฀over.” —American฀sailor฀writing฀home฀from฀the฀Pacific฀in฀1945 Veterans฀have฀always฀been฀with฀us.฀In฀the฀beginning,฀as฀tiny฀ settlements฀of฀colonists฀clung฀to฀the฀New฀England฀and฀Virginia฀ shorelines,฀they฀were฀often฀the฀only฀thing฀standing฀between฀survival฀ and฀death.฀At฀the฀start฀of฀the฀seventeenth฀century,฀veterans฀of฀past฀ wars฀constituted฀a฀body฀of฀experience฀in฀arms,฀and฀they฀used฀that฀ know-how฀to฀defend฀their฀communities฀and฀prosecute฀war฀against฀the฀ Native฀Americans.฀They฀imported฀a฀body฀of฀military฀knowledge฀from฀ Europe฀that฀accompanied฀their฀weapons฀and฀bulky฀armor.฀Although฀ the฀latter฀would฀be฀discarded฀as฀impractical,฀the฀tradition฀of฀military฀ service฀would฀increase฀in฀importance฀as฀America฀grew.1 ฀ Veterans฀participating฀in฀local฀militias฀remained฀the฀backbone฀of฀ colonial฀America฀as฀the฀frontier฀first฀clustered฀along฀the฀Atlantic฀seaboard ฀and฀then฀began฀to฀move฀west.฀In฀the฀bloody฀clashes฀between฀ Virginians฀and฀the฀Powhatan฀in฀the฀1620s฀and฀during฀the฀vicious฀fighting ฀that฀erupted฀between฀the฀scattered฀settlements฀in฀New฀England฀ and฀an฀alliance฀of฀Native฀American฀tribes฀led฀by฀Metacomet฀(otherwise฀ known฀to฀the฀English฀as฀King฀Philip)฀in฀1675,฀militias฀constituted฀the฀ single฀barrier฀to฀outright฀annihilation.฀As฀each฀generation฀fought,฀it฀ passed฀the฀benefits฀of฀experience฀to฀the฀next฀generation฀of฀citizen฀ soldiers.2 ฀ Not฀every฀lesson฀was฀learned,฀however.฀Colonial฀America’s฀militias฀ 4฀ Introduction remained฀notoriously฀inconsistent฀in฀their฀training,฀equipment,฀and฀ discipline.฀While฀a฀few฀attempted฀to฀keep฀a฀sharp฀edge฀through฀periodic ฀drills,฀most฀militias฀began฀to฀decline฀as฀the฀frontier฀moved฀and฀ the฀proximity฀to฀danger฀moved฀with฀it.฀Without฀the฀presence฀of฀an฀ imminent฀threat,฀it฀became฀difficult฀at฀best฀to฀convince฀local฀militias฀ to฀render฀mutual฀aid฀or฀deploy฀beyond฀their฀colonial฀borders.3 ฀ Yet,฀they฀remained฀at฀the฀core฀of฀American฀life฀in฀a฀manner฀that฀ gradually฀became฀more฀political฀than฀military.฀For฀colonists฀who฀ were฀growing฀increasingly฀restive฀under฀the฀mantle฀of฀British฀rule,฀ the฀veteran฀employed฀in฀his฀local฀militia฀began฀to฀serve฀as฀a฀bulwark฀ not฀against฀the฀Native฀American฀but฀against฀the฀threat฀of฀a฀standing฀ professional฀army.฀As฀the฀years฀passed฀and฀the฀seventeenth฀century฀ moved฀into฀history,฀it฀became฀a฀distinctly฀American฀article฀of฀faith฀that฀ a฀well-equipped฀militia฀served฀as฀a฀check฀against฀the฀coercive฀power฀ of฀the฀national฀state.4 ฀ Even฀as฀these฀political฀concepts฀evolved฀and฀spread,฀the฀veteran,฀ periodically฀employed฀in฀his฀local฀armory,฀developed฀yet฀another฀ facet฀of฀his฀status฀and฀service.฀In฀many฀respects,฀local฀militias฀were฀key฀ social-gathering฀points฀in฀America,฀where฀like-minded฀men฀and฀their฀ families฀could฀not฀only฀meet฀and฀reinforce฀their฀common฀agreement฀ regarding฀military฀duty฀but฀also฀pursue฀a฀broader฀spectrum฀of฀activities ฀that฀included฀fund-raising฀for฀charity,฀business฀partnerships,฀and฀ personal฀friendships.฀Once฀the฀mundane฀task฀of฀drill฀was฀complete,฀it฀ was฀normal฀for฀wives,฀children,฀and฀soldiers฀to฀gather฀to฀drink,฀gossip,฀ and฀enjoy฀each฀other’s฀company.5 ฀ Certain฀units฀also฀reflected฀the฀social฀status฀of฀their฀sponsoring฀ communities.฀The฀well-bred฀elites฀of฀Philadelphia฀created฀the฀first฀ and฀oldest฀cavalry฀troop฀in฀America.฀Other฀militias฀that฀were฀located฀ in฀the฀rural฀western฀reaches฀of฀the฀colonies฀were฀composed฀primarily฀ of฀farmers,฀tradespeople,฀and฀simpler฀folk.฀Consequently,฀veterans’฀ status,฀like฀membership฀in฀a฀particular฀church฀congregation฀or฀private฀ club,฀was฀an฀early฀means฀of฀establishing฀a฀bond฀within฀an฀American฀ community฀and฀defining—or฀defending—one’s฀place฀in฀the฀social฀ hierarchy.6 ฀ Veterans’฀status฀rather฀quickly฀became฀an฀American฀litmus฀test฀for฀ leadership.฀George฀Washington’s฀experience฀at฀the฀conclusion฀of฀ the฀Revolution฀illustrated฀what฀would฀become฀a฀very฀strong฀thread฀in฀ American฀history.฀When฀the฀commander฀in฀chief฀of฀the฀Continental฀ forces฀bade฀farewell฀to฀his฀officers฀on฀a฀cold฀December฀day฀in฀1783,฀ Introduction฀ ฀ 5 the฀moment฀was฀marked฀by฀Washington’s฀quiet฀modesty฀and฀the฀ deeply฀held฀devotion฀of฀his฀senior฀officers.฀The฀same฀could฀not฀be฀ said฀of฀the฀crowds฀of฀boisterous฀New฀Yorkers฀who฀gathered฀along฀the฀ old฀general’s฀route฀to฀Whitehall฀Ferry฀and฀what฀he฀thought฀would฀be฀ a฀restful...