A Nation Forged in War: How World War II Taught Americans to Get Along

A Nation Forged in War: How World War II Taught Americans to Get Along
ISBN-10
1572336951
ISBN-13
9781572336957
Category
History
Pages
348
Language
English
Published
2010-05-08
Publisher
Univ. of Tennessee Press
Author
Thomas A. Bruscino

Description

Never before or since have so many Americans served in the armed forces at one time: more than 15 million donned uniforms in the period from 1941 to 1945. Thomas Bruscino explores how these soldiers' shared experiences--enduring basic training, living far from home, engaging in combat--transformed their views of other ethnic groups and religious traditions. He further examines how specific military policies and practices worked to counteract old prejudices, and he makes a persuasive case that throwing together men of different regions, ethnicities, religions, and classes not only fostered a greater sense of tolerance but also forged a new American identity. When soldiers returned home after the war with these new attitudes, they helped reorder what it meant to be white in America.

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