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.