The Greatest Generation Comes Home: The Veteran in American Society

Chapter 1 Home

C H A P T E R ฀ 1฀ Home Home฀is฀what฀they฀all฀dreamed฀about.฀It฀became฀their฀refuge฀ after฀the฀first฀shock฀of฀induction฀into฀military฀service฀and฀the฀ completely฀alien฀experience฀that฀enveloped฀them.฀Home฀was฀the฀yardstick ฀they฀used฀to฀measure฀the฀rigors฀of฀military฀life.฀It฀came฀to฀them฀ in฀the฀predawn฀hours฀of฀the฀basic-training฀depot,฀as฀nameless฀men฀ shouted฀for฀them฀to฀awaken.฀It฀came฀to฀them฀as฀their฀“rack”฀replaced฀ their฀beds,฀as฀“chow”฀replaced฀the฀morning฀congregation฀around฀the฀ breakfast฀table,฀as฀every฀feature฀of฀their฀individual฀lives—birthdays,฀ clothes,฀tastes,฀and฀preferences—vanished฀into฀a฀system฀designed฀to฀ produce฀the฀“GI”—“government฀issue”—a฀term฀that฀wryly฀recognized฀ the฀transformation฀of฀a฀civilian฀into฀a฀soldier฀and฀the฀disappearance฀ of฀everything฀an฀individual฀had฀held฀dear฀in฀the฀past. ฀ These฀new฀American฀GIs฀were฀taught฀the฀finer฀points฀of฀the฀military ฀arts฀in฀their฀new฀home.฀Close-order฀drill,฀group฀punishments,฀ and฀military฀routine฀became฀the฀new฀standards฀of฀the฀day.฀Marion฀ Hargrove,฀in฀See฀Here,฀Private฀Hargrove,฀would฀comment฀during฀the฀ war,฀“All฀your฀persecution฀is฀deliberate,฀calculated,฀systematic.฀It฀is฀the฀ collegiate฀practice฀of฀hazing,฀applied฀to฀the฀grim฀and฀highly฀important฀ task฀of฀transforming฀a฀civilian฀into฀a฀soldier,฀a฀boy฀into฀a฀man.฀It฀is฀the฀ Hardening฀Process.”1 ฀ The฀enforced฀unfairness฀of฀discipline฀and฀the฀callousness฀that฀was฀ common฀to฀military฀life฀were฀designed฀to฀toughen฀millions฀of฀rank฀ amateurs฀and฀prepare฀them฀for฀what฀was฀to฀come฀on฀battlefields฀in฀ Europe฀and฀the฀Pacific.฀The฀hardening฀process฀was฀critical฀to฀their฀ future฀survival.฀In฀order฀for฀it฀to฀be฀successful,฀it฀had฀to฀abolish฀everything ฀the฀rookies฀had฀learned฀in฀a฀lifetime฀at฀home.2 ฀Recruits฀were฀ taught฀the฀real฀depths฀of฀their฀physical฀endurance.฀Obstacle฀courses฀ and฀calisthenics฀pushed฀them฀to฀limits฀they฀had฀barely฀explored฀in฀ civilian฀life.฀Enduring฀bloody,฀blistered฀feet฀on฀a฀twenty-five-mile฀march฀ eventually฀became฀an฀afterthought.฀More฀importantly,฀the฀hardening฀ process฀taught฀the฀young฀GI฀the฀art฀of฀death,฀whether฀it฀came฀from฀a฀ 16฀ CHAPTER฀1 rifle,฀a฀bayonet,฀or฀bare฀hands.฀Values฀embedded฀over฀the฀course฀of฀a฀ lifetime฀were฀forced฀aside.฀Trainees฀learned฀instead฀to฀aim฀at฀“center฀ mass”฀and฀squeeze฀the฀trigger,฀using฀the฀infantry฀rifle฀as฀if฀it฀were฀a฀ physical฀extension฀of฀themselves.฀Those฀who฀were฀best฀able฀to฀adapt฀ to฀this฀new฀system฀were฀celebrated฀and฀promoted.฀Those฀who฀could฀ not฀became฀the฀subject฀of฀ridicule฀and฀derision.฀James฀Baker’s฀“Sad฀ Sack”฀was฀not฀only฀an฀icon฀of฀the฀long-suffering฀common฀private฀but฀ also฀an฀example฀of฀an฀abject฀failure฀at฀the฀soldier’s฀craft. ฀ In฀the฀absence฀of฀fathers฀and฀mothers,฀new฀figures฀emerged฀to฀govern ฀the฀soldiers’฀new฀home.฀First฀among฀them฀was฀the฀sergeant.฀From฀ the฀GIs’฀very฀first฀introduction฀to฀military฀culture,฀the฀sergeant฀was฀ the฀core฀of฀their฀life.฀He฀was฀the฀first฀and฀best฀example฀of฀bearing฀and฀ behavior.฀He฀became฀the฀taskmaster฀for฀the฀basic฀skills฀they฀learned฀in฀ the฀first฀weeks฀of฀training฀and฀a฀teacher฀for฀most฀of฀their฀remaining฀ years฀of฀service.฀The฀comparisons฀veterans฀later฀made฀between฀their฀ sergeants฀and฀their฀parents฀do฀not฀come฀as฀a฀surprise.฀Marine฀T.฀Grady฀ Gallant฀describes฀his฀drill฀instructor฀at฀Parris฀Island฀this฀way:฀“Corporal฀ Blaskewitz฀did฀his฀best฀to฀prepare฀us฀for฀the฀difficult฀days฀ahead,฀and฀ it฀was฀something฀like฀rearing฀children.”฀Yet฀even฀at฀this฀point,฀most฀ service฀members฀understood฀the฀differences฀that฀still฀separated฀their฀ old฀homes฀from฀their฀new฀one.฀As฀they฀toughened฀themselves,฀they฀ reflected฀upon฀the฀sacrifices฀they฀were฀being฀asked฀to฀make฀for฀the฀ necessities฀of฀war.฀In฀an฀important฀sense,฀the฀home฀that฀the฀GIs฀knew฀ and฀the฀one฀they฀occupied฀in฀uniform฀coexisted฀throughout฀the฀war.฀ Gallant฀draws฀the฀distinction฀well฀when฀he฀sums฀up฀his฀drill฀instructor:฀ “Blaskewitz฀was฀a฀good฀DI.฀Our฀mothers฀would฀not฀have฀liked฀him.”3 ฀ Once฀their฀training฀was฀complete,฀deployment฀overseas฀reinforced฀ the฀physical฀and฀mental฀distance฀from฀home.฀The฀prospect฀of฀the฀long฀ journey฀to฀points฀unknown฀caused฀many฀to฀reflect฀upon฀the฀final,฀tangible ฀separation฀from฀America.฀In฀1943,฀Thomas฀R.฀St.฀George฀wrote฀ about฀the฀gravity฀of฀this฀realization:฀“Back฀in฀the฀barracks฀something฀ of฀significance฀had฀appeared฀on฀the฀bulletin฀board.฀‘Tomorrow’s฀ K.P.s’฀had฀been฀gleefully฀crossed฀out,฀and,฀added฀at฀the฀bottom฀of฀the...