The interview with Robert Rasmus was very interesting because the way he spoke about the war, and how he saw being overseas in combat showed the innocence of the soldiers. The men fighting in this war on both sides were young men who had barely had the chance to experience life before the war. In the introduction there was a quote that stated, "They were no longer the Germans of the brutish faces and the helmets we saw in the newsreels. They were exactly our age. Boys like us" (163). This quote shows that this war was was not only fought by the young, and the innocent but that they were trained to hate each other. Rasmus describes the war with different "stages" that he experienced as an infantryman. He spoke of the beginning of the war and how when he first went the war seemed distant and exciting. Rasmus spoke of this experience when he said, "When I went in the army, I'd never been outside the states of Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan. So when I woke up the first morning on the troop train in Futon, Kentucky, I thought I was in Timbuktu. Of course, I was absolutely bowled over by Europe, the castles, the cathedrals, the Alps. It was wonderment. I was preoccupied with staying alive and doing my job, but it seemed, out of the corner of my eye, I was constantly fascinated with the beauty of the German forests and medieval bell towers. At nineteen you're seeing life with fresh eyes" (178). He only experienced the beauty of Germany in the first couple of weeks. It was not until he experienced combat in the first line and saw dead bodies all around him that the horrible conditions of the war became realistic. The Selective Service Act was the draft that ordered many Americans, young and old, to serve for their country. Many posters tried to convince people to join the army by advertising the beauties of the other countries. This interview really helped me to understand the toll that this war took on the young soldiers that had to fight it. They were forced to mature rapidly and were forever affected by what they experienced.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Studs Terkel #4
The interview with Robert Rasmus was very interesting because the way he spoke about the war, and how he saw being overseas in combat showed the innocence of the soldiers. The men fighting in this war on both sides were young men who had barely had the chance to experience life before the war. In the introduction there was a quote that stated, "They were no longer the Germans of the brutish faces and the helmets we saw in the newsreels. They were exactly our age. Boys like us" (163). This quote shows that this war was was not only fought by the young, and the innocent but that they were trained to hate each other. Rasmus describes the war with different "stages" that he experienced as an infantryman. He spoke of the beginning of the war and how when he first went the war seemed distant and exciting. Rasmus spoke of this experience when he said, "When I went in the army, I'd never been outside the states of Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan. So when I woke up the first morning on the troop train in Futon, Kentucky, I thought I was in Timbuktu. Of course, I was absolutely bowled over by Europe, the castles, the cathedrals, the Alps. It was wonderment. I was preoccupied with staying alive and doing my job, but it seemed, out of the corner of my eye, I was constantly fascinated with the beauty of the German forests and medieval bell towers. At nineteen you're seeing life with fresh eyes" (178). He only experienced the beauty of Germany in the first couple of weeks. It was not until he experienced combat in the first line and saw dead bodies all around him that the horrible conditions of the war became realistic. The Selective Service Act was the draft that ordered many Americans, young and old, to serve for their country. Many posters tried to convince people to join the army by advertising the beauties of the other countries. This interview really helped me to understand the toll that this war took on the young soldiers that had to fight it. They were forced to mature rapidly and were forever affected by what they experienced.
OPEN POST AFTER MOVIES
We watched parts of Band of Brothers and a part of Saving Private Ryan. Watching the fighting and preparations the American soldiers had to go through really helped my understanding of the fighting in WWII. The films were very realistic and showed what it was like to be a soldier in combat. You never felt completely safe and you saw things that could never be forgotten. The first people in the front lines had a very high chance of being killed. It provided visual evidence of how hard life was for soldiers and for people living at home. This is what I learned from these two films.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)