Blog #8

Mike Lefevre was a laborer, he worked in a steel mill. This was around the time of the Depression, so he referred to himself as "a dying breed" (319). Not many people were doing manual labor anymore because of industrialization and the nonexistant job market. He explains how he can't get excited about his job, because all he did was pull steel when he just wanted to sit down. He sure has his head on his shoulders, because he seems very knowledgable about how to handle himself in front of his kids. "I feel bad, I can't take it out on the kids. Kids are born innocent of everything but birth. You can't take it out on your wife either" (324). This shows that he is a respectful guy, and he thinks about others before himself. He also wants to raise his kids right, because he said that his kid is his imprint and he wants them to be successful and happy, not like he turned out to be. The thing is, he had to work so hard in order for his kids to have a chance in the world, you know? He sees potential in his kids, and that is the motive of the working man. Money was tight for Delores Dante, "My husband and I broke up and he left me with debts and three children. My baby was six months. The fast buck, your tips" (329). She worked as a waitress because she had to, not because she wanted to. But she did love the job, she did. She sure knew a lot about her job, but work is never easy. Work is work is work, and it gets stressful and tough at times, but they have to keep pushing because it's a living, and it's the only way to raise children properly and make money for the necessities of the family. These were tough times, that's for sure, and nothing could be taken for granted.

Blog #7

Dennis Hart is a night time cabdriver with a job on the side, and he has a wife and two children. He wanted to be somebody, which I thought was honorable, and we know this when he says, "...I was trying to be somebody. I had these doubts about myself as to whether I had any courage in me at all or was I just gonna be a plant instead of a man" (237). This is why he wanted to serve in the army, or to be a soldier so he could serve a purpose for his country. Still, he was a cabdriver. He definitely knew what he believed in, and he was willing to fight for it, and I found this to be honorable. He believes that communists are not necessarily the enemy, that they are only obeying what they are taught, so it is the concept that is the real enemy. His morals are strong, and he is the kind of person that everyone should try to be; motivated, knowledgable, and he knows his place in the world. Tom Kearney was a patrolman and a detective, then detective sergeant and to traffic division. I like him, because he can see from the other side as well, being a policeman. But when he was asked about riots, and protests, he said, "They have every right to do so, although not to violate the law" (265). He can see why people protest, and he is a genuinely nice guy, but he happened to be a policeman and had to ban that sort of behavior due to his job. He has a good sense of right and wrong, naturally, and believes that people are intelligent enough to handle themselves. I agree with him on this, but I think people have the potential of being intelligent enough, though they do not always live up to it.

Blog #6

Peter Ota was Japanese, but he was also an American citizen. On December 7, 1941, which was the day that the bomb was dropped on Pearl Harbor, his entire family was put into county jail. None of them had done anything, they were just celebrating a wedding, but they were rounded up because of their Japanese descent, and the United States was too scared to risk anything whatsoever. His mother was horribly ill and ended up dying in the sanitarium. They were then sent to a concentration camp in Colorado, and Peter was sent out on jobs. He was drafted into the army while his family was suffering in a concentration camp. Peter heard other soldiers calling him names like "dirty Jap" and was discouraged from his Japanese culture, and he then had to prove that he was American. If he admitted to his past, he would have to admit that he was victimized by America, and that it was his fault.He described that as something him and his family had to hide. He also talks about the differences between today and back then, because he didn't fight back. The truth is, he couldn't fight back, because things were different back then, and that is something he cannot explain to someone who hadn't live through it. Betty Basye had a different story, she wanted to help the soldiers as soon as she could, so she became a nurse. It was sad when she explained that two of the girls had to leave the nursing program that Betty was in, just because they were Japanese. Shouldn't we have more nurses, just in case? More nurses=more aid to the war, why would we get rid of them? It seems absurd now, but back then it was seen as a threat for Japanese people to be in the U.S helping out our country, because maybe they have some insane plan to sabatoge the United States! Anyways, Betty had lost everything in the war. She lost her boyfriend, she lost her kid brother, she felt she had lost her life. The moral of her story is that being a nurse, or having anything to do with the war was almost impossible to resist, because everybody meant something in the war effort. It holds an image in your brain, though, and in your heart.  

Blog #5

The story of Peggy Terry, or "the hillbilly" speaks to a large number of Americans, especially women. The reason is that she was poor and had no job after the Great Depression, like many others. Her first job was at a shell-loading plant where her, her sister and her mother all worked to contribute to the war effort. The family made 32 dollars a week, and to them at the time, it was an absolute miracle. She also recalled the horrible fumes from the paint of the shells, and she remembered many of the women developing breathing problems. Of course that wouldn't stop them from working, though. When they had nothing, working was the only way to keep on living. Her husband was in the war, and she saw him go just about crazy. He couldn't watch movies with shooting in them, and if he did, he would shake for hours. He started drinking, smoking, and when he came back, he was much more hot tempered. He would slap Peggy around, slap the kids around, etc. She just wanted the killing to be over, and I don't blame her, I'm right there on the same boat. She had some similarities to E.B (Sledgehammer) Sledge, who fought in the war. The reason I say they have some similarities is because they were both afraid, and they both did what they had to do for a job. E.B Sledge did not want to fight in the war, he did not want to have his life on the line, but he had no other choice. He says, "I don't like violence, but there are times when you can't help it...you knew all you had was that particular moment you were living" (198). This is the tragic part, besides all of the deaths; men who before wouldn't kill a fly, were killing the enemy like there was no tomorrow. I think that definitely comes from somewhere inside, where you just can't handle anymore killing of your soldiers, so you think, "In order to stop the killing, I have to kill."

Blog #4

World War Two tends to be a war that is forgotten, but it shouldn't be; it is an event that changed the face of the United States and of the world because of all of the things that happened during. For many Americans, like Robert Rasmus, World War 2 was an event that changed everything about their lives, and was a huge marking point  of time in their lives. Like Robert said, his time frame was B.W and A.W (before war and after war), and so it was for a lot of Americans. The horror of having your son go off to be a soldier must be one of the scariest things in the world. Just knowing that he has a very good chance of getting killed, but to do it honorably, and also knowing that there is nothing you can do to stop it from happening. You can write him, but chances are, he won't see it for days. Robert's mother said, "Bob, you've got to tell your captain you're too tall to be a rifleman" (178). She would make any excuses because she just couldn't believe that it was actually happening; her little boy was not so little anymore, and he was leaving. And he might not come back, and that struck her, so she cried. I think it is insane the way Robert remembers every little detail of his time serving in the army, even though it was years ago, because I think back to earlier this year and I don't even remember everything, but I guess that just goes to show how people tend to remember events in their lives that have a huge impact on them, and especially something as horrifying and powerful as World War 2 would be imprinted in your head forever. He started talking about this dream he had where all these ambulances came through and these surgeons were getting their equipment on, but when he asked around, nobody knew what he was talking about; so he knew it was a dream. He said that dream gave him a real bad feeling that awful things were coming their way. But they were doing well, and he said that he learned a lot from his roll in WWII, and he comes out of it feeling grateful that he was a participant. I would call it a job well done.

Blog #3

The story of Jane Yoder began with a description of her childhood, whicch hapened to be during the Great Depression. Like countless other families during this time, Jane's family did not have much money at all and they struggled to keep warm. There was another challenge, though; her dad was schizophrenic. Jane describes her family, and it's easy to see that her mom is definitely not materialistic, and she has good values. It's hard to be materialistic when you really don't have any money, and the kids were always hungry, so they sensed that their father did not have much money, but then their father got employed, and everything started to get a bit better. Jane's son, Tom, is very grateful for everything he has, because he know what his mother had gone through. It gives him a good perspective on things. Then. I read Peggy Terry's story, and that was extremely  depressing. Her family would have to go to the homeless shelter to get soup, and they lived in a house that had nothing. What I find fascinating; Peggy Terry remembers the soup line as being a fun experience, and she said that nobody made her feel ashamed to be poor. Nowadays, it's not like that, and people tend to look down on the poor, and stereotypes define you. "Oh, it's his fault he's poor. He's lazy and ignorant, and probably had a drug problem." That's how people sound now, of course not everybody, but a good lot of people. I think that is because people have lost moral values and have become much more selfish. People have higher standards and less empathy for others. Anyways, Peggy tells the story of how she got married and travelled with her husband, and how that was a great experience for poor people because on the run, trouble doesn't really catch up with you. She said that peole were very nice to them, especially when she was pregnant, and they fed her great meals. It makes me a little sad to think that Americans have lost a little bit of the sensitivity and empathy, even though it does make sense because of risks of criminals out there. Still, the folks that are privelaged should have good hospitality for those who are poor, because what goes around comes around, and it always feels good to know you have a positive impact on somebody's life.

Blog #2

While I was reading the story of Arthur A. Robertson, I found myself thinking back to the story about the janitor that lost all his money and took his own life. The reason is, they both took place during the Great Depression, and they both found themselves in situations with banks that were loaning more money than people had, and people couldn't pay them back. For all of this, and other various reasons, everybody's savings accounts had been completely diminished. The only people who didn't lose money were the stockbrokers, and they didn't lose money because all of their customers bought stocks and they were the ones losing all their money! Arthur Robertson was a loan shark, where, of course, people borrowed more money than they had. He didn't necessarily lose too much money though because of the money he recceived from bankers that would borrow from him, and he recognized that the crash was coming, and saved himself some money. "I reconized it in May and saved myself a lot of money. I sold a reat deal of my stocks in May. It was a case of becomming frightened" (104). The point here is, when you have a job as a banker, it is a bit easier to be aware of something like the crash coming in the near future, just like Mr. Robertson did and saved himself a lot of money. Those surrounding him, though, were not doing well at all, because they had no foreshadowing of the crash, and he felt horrible for him. He tried to help out everyone he could, and I think he is a very honorable man for doing so.  Ed Paulson was less fortunate than Arthur Robertson. I found it easier to connect with Ed, because he just seemed more like the majority of America at the time of the Depression, whereas Mr. Robertson got it a little better than most. Ed talked about his stories of riding the freight train, and not being able to find a job anywhere, because the market was terrible at the time. He admitted to him being a criminal, and stealing food, though almost everyone had to be a criminal in order to survive. I never felt so lucky to be alive in a time where even in this recession, most of us still have our household necessities.