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BY JOHN WOLF | Wednesday, May 21, 2008 | (No comments posted.)
Public television and the publishing of "The War" by Ken Burns is an arresting legacy for the World War II generation that is rapidly passing from the scene. Lakeshore TV will release another segment for viewing in June-July at the VU Christopher Center. Some additional comments are in order.
Burns does a glossy makeover of some topics such as race relations, friendly fire, personality change, and sex in the military culture. Let's begin with race relations in the U.S.
The south received hundreds of military contracts. Mobile, Ala., was a crowded shipbuilding city that was unprepared for the gigantic influx of both white and black workers. The racial storm was building and on May 25, 1943, it broke out in fights. The shipyard was formally segregated. The same conflict occurred in 47 other cities. In Detroit 35 were killed.
Burns suggests that there was a breakdown in racial barriers in the services. This did not occur until after the war. It was 40 years later that a black seminary classmate revealed to me that he had applied for the Navy chaplaincy at the same time I did and had been denied on the basis of race. He became a bishop in the African Episcopal Methodist Church Zion.
"Friendly Fire" is a misnomer still used today. It means that Army artillery shells, Navy gunfire, Air Force bombs were mistakenly dropped on our own troops. It is never friendly. Among the wounded I attended, anger toward the U.S. battleship that brought wounds was intense. Twenty-three transports were shot down over Sicily killing 229 of the 82nd Airborne. The folks back home never heard of "friendly" fire, according to Burns.
Ernie Pyle reports how quickly soldiers in battle changed into "killers," according to Burns. Pyle reported, "To soldiers there is nothing morally wrong about killing. In fact it is an admirable thing." Change in personality.
According to Burns, "The War Department did what it could to scare men into celibacy. Then it gave in to establishing 'prophylaxis stations' that distributed 50 million condoms a month. According to one survey three out of four servicemen sought female companionship.
Through the magazine "Christianity and Crisis", edited by Reinhold Niebuhr, and issues that followed, a flood of letters from chaplains of all branches of the service confirmed Burns' assertion about, "some commanders setting up brothels for their units." This information was never disseminated to the public.
To those of us of the WWII generation, Burns deserves our thanks. He also reminds us that the Soviets lost more men in the Battle for Moscow than all British and U.S. losses combined. Let us be thankful for all sacrifices.
Amen until next Wednesday
The opinions in this column are solely those of the writer. Wolf is a retired minister and lives in Valparaiso. Write to him c/o The Times, 1111 Glendale Blvd., Valparaiso, IN
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