Blog # 4 Introduction / Robert Rasmus

Introduction-

In the introduction to the "Good War, An Oral History of World War Two 1984" I got a little taste of what life was like for soldiers.  When reading I learned about the typical American Soldier and I learned that it wasn't about getting another Japanese soldier or getting another Nazi that made a soldier fight; it was the, "sense of not wanting to fail your buddies. There's a sort of special sense of kinship" (Terkel 164). I really enjoyed reading that, and got a sense of pride that soldiers were looking out for each other. Also, I remember reading about the tough circumstances when a person was a war prisoner and what was going through their mind. When we read in class we read about the cruel treatment and how the enemy would have no mercy. But, I never actually took the time to think about what must be running through their minds. Food. "In camp first thing you talked about is what you wanted in your stomach...this was a big topic all the time" (Terkel 165). This just shows how mal-nutrioned the soldiers that were captured were. It just goes to prove that they were always wanting some sort of food. Who could blame them? It must take a lot of discipline to not eat what you are used to before you go to war.

Robert Rasmus-

Robert remembers his mother telling him that he would be in the war. He was only 14 years old. That is an extremely young age to go off to war. That is so sad because a fourteen year old boy is not mature enough and should not have to go through the pain and suffering. That's not fair to them. A little boy like that should be learning about himself, and should not have to grow up so fast. Reading about that made me believe that young boys who went into war had a loss of innocence because they would be rudely awakened when they went into the real world of fighting and learn about death. Robert recalls, "I was hoping she'd be right (go off to war) At that age, you look forward to the glamour and have no idea of the horrors" (Terkel 177). Robert remembers that he was constantly behind the lines and then moved up. There were always people before him and as soon as he thought that he was getting closer to the action, his platoon would be there. He though, "this is incredible. We've got these great masses of troops, of quartermasters and truckers and tanks and support troops, and then all of a sudden it's so lonely..." (Terkel 186). I think that Robert started to miss the everyday life and what went on. When you are out at war for so long, and you think that you are fine with your troop around you, it is not enough to make up for the loss of doing things. When you are at war, you can not do much except wait to do what you are told to do. I really liked reading this chapter.