FREE ESSAY ON MYTH OF WWII

MYTH OF WWII

The Myth of World War II
Michael C. C. Adams' book, The Best War Ever: America and World War II, attempts to
dispel the numerous misconceptions of the Second World War. As the title suggests,
Americans came out of the war with a positive view of the preceding five turbulent years.
This myth was born from several factors. Due to the overseas setting of both theaters of
the war, intense government propaganda, Hollywood's glamorization, and widespread
economic prosperity, Americans were largely sheltered form the brutal truth of World War
II.
Even to this day, the generation of World War II is viewed as being superior in morality
and unity. The popular illusion held that "there were no ethnic or gender problems,
families were happy and united, and children worked hard in school and read a great
number of books." (115) It was a golden era when all Americans set aside their
differences and united for a common cause which everyone put above all other priorities.
The United States Army was thought of as more advanced in fighting ability, weapons, and
supposedly held to a higher standard of ethics on the front. Americans that did die, died
in "an antiseptic, clean, neat way . . . gloriously." (100) Soldiers weren't blown apart
into pieces, they died honorably and nobly. 
Many factors had to be in place for such a distorted myth to come about. The central one
being that the entire war was fought on foreign land with the exception of the bombing of
Pearl Harbor. With the conflicts on the other sides of the oceans, Americans would not
witness the brutality, destruction, and suffering of civilians and soldiers alike. "Only
the United States was not both a destroyer and a victim of the destruction in the war."
(73) The civilians of the United States, therefore, relied on other sources to shape
their view of World War II. "Ads implied that if you bought a war bond your sacrifice was
on par with that of the man in the front lines." (74) The US government and industry
played on Americans' sense of patriotism in order to get them to support the war or buy
their products. However, "it [advertising] is by nature emotional, rather than
intellectual; it sells feelings rather than ideas." (73) Government propaganda and
business advertising were not the only factors in forming the inaccurate myth of the
Second World War. Hollywood made films where "people get blown up with their clothes and
fall gracefully to the ground." (100) Through the realism of motion pictures, Americans
were falsely led to believe in "glorified war." (100) The other major factor in allowing
the war to be dubbed as "the best war ever" was the economic prosperity. "The U.S. gross
national product increased 60 percent during the war." (114) Such contrast to the
depression years of the 1930's further implied this was a golden era.
The reality under the cover of myth was repulsive. ". . . the coast was littered with
shattered boats, tanks, trucks, rations, packs, buttocks, thighs, torsos, hands, heads."
(101) Americans never witnessed the carnage. To add insult to injury, when soldiers on
leave told of these horrors, they were considered cowards and victims of "momism."
Contrary to popular belief, US soldiers were not as ethical in their behavior and tactics
as believed. "GIs fathered tens of thousands of illegitimate children" and "took
advantage of women's desperate need for food, cigarettes, and even clothing to trade them
for sex." (93-94) Surely such immoral behavior was not depicted in the movies and neither
was the horror that led soldiers to lose all respect for human life on the battlefield.
"Garbage was dumped on the enemy dead, and men urinated into their mouths." (112) The
truth behind the home front was equally distorted. Many couples married only so the
husband could avoid the draft. The idea that children were better behaved when so many
fathers were overseas and mothers in the production lines was quite illogical. "Fathers
and elder brothers were often away at war, so important role models were lost. If the
mother worked too, the stage seemed set for wildness among unsupervised children." (124)
"The war's most serious impact on the young was through prosperity and enhanced job
opportunities. . . [that] created teen culture" which in the end "skewed the high school
from a seat of learning into a social center." (126) The complaints of the youth are
strikingly similar to the ones heard today. "The seeming immaturity of adolescent society
and its disrespect for age were also bewildering and troubling." (127) Another fact often
overlooked when thinking of that golden age was that " 'more girls got pregnant and the
venereal disease rate rose.'" (124) Racism continued to thrive in the army and in the
states. Thousands of Japanese-Americans were sent to detention centers simply on the
basis of their looks. In one of the more degrading ironies of American soldiers, "in the
South, black soldiers had to sit behind German prisoners of war, who were accorded the
rights of white men." Black soldiers were given the more dangerous and grim tasks of the
war and on top of that segregation in the army continued throughout the war. These
imperfections of the World War II generation were quickly cast aside. "Selective recall"
filtered our memories over the years, further contributing to the myth of the best war
ever. (115)
The most tragic aspect of the myth of "the best war ever" is the lack of reverence
devoted to the men who died and survived horror of the battlefield. To simply point to
the economic prosperity sparked by the war is utterly ignorant. The cost of so much blood
is much too high to justify with material goods. The picture at home was not perfect, nor
did it even approach perfection, as so many believe. The dilemmas were much the same as
they were before and after the war. However, we should also not forget that despite the
myth, that was the generation which saved the world from tyrannical military dictators.