“World War II and the Depression are now nearly as far back as we can go in living memory, and so the loom large in our active folk story. And many who lived then were too young to understand it in its depth; they remember only that the war was a great victory” (Adams 115).
In Michael C.C. Adams’ The Best War Ever America and World War II, the author explains and clarifies the truth about the many myths in and about the war. There are many reasons as to why the war was seen as something positive and as a “good” thing for our nation. Motives such as the media and Hollywood’s glamorization of the war, economic growth within the nation after the Great Depression, and government agenda all had part in this crazy misconception we all know as
Reported what was done to the enemies is almost too much to bear. Soldiers would often become lazy, bored, or just too exhausted to tend to prisoners. So what did they do? They shot them. Officers later “admitted that prisoners sometimes tortured, even killed, to extract information” (Adams 111). The men were stationed at war, away from the things they loved the most- friends, family, love, but most importantly, women. “Sexual relations are a problem whenever any nation’s soldiers are away from home” (Adams 93). Many of the sex deprived men took advantage of the local women. From selling food, clothing, and other amenities for sex, many of the men from war had “fathered” and left behind children of their own.
Another major factor into these myths was based upon the economy’s success during the war years. The nation had just gotten out of the Great Depression in which the nation’s unemployment level “stood at 8.9 million” (Adams 114). And upon just getting out of some of the darkest years in the United States, the nation had a huge economic growth spurt due to the war. The book states that “By 1945, The United States owned two thirds of the world’s gold reserves, half its shipping, and more than half its manufacturing capacity” (Adams 114). But although employment was on the rise, many other businesses went under. “The war massively altered the face of American society. Small farmers and storeowners went