Introduction

Abstract

On Memorial Day, 2004, the United States solidified its admiration for one of the most heralded groups of Americans in history—World War II veterans. On this day, President George W. Bush and crowds in excess of two hundred thousand paid tribute to this group of ex-soldiers by dedicating the National World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The failure to create a national memorial until 2004 seems surprising, given that the American soldiers from this war retain an almost mythic place in modern American society and culture. Pearl Harbor, D-day, and Hiroshima are all crucial parts of America’s collective memory.¹ Perhaps the best example of America’s reverence for World War II veterans was the 1999 publishing phenomenon of television anchorman Tom Brokaw’s immensely successful collection of oral histories, The Greatest Generation. In it Brokaw encapsulates the feelings of many Americans about the World War II generation:

They answered the call to help save the world from the two most powerful and ruthless military machines ever assembled…. They faced great odds and a late start, but they did not protest. When the war was over, the men and women who had been involved, in uniform and in civilian capacities, joined in joyous and short-lived celebrations, then immediately began the task of rebuilding their lives and the world they wanted.