Modern European History. Speaks of Paul Valery and what he meant by saying that Europe doubted itself profoundly

War is a subject that is deeply imbedded in the culture of the United States; this country was founded because of it. The Americans that fight in war are often referred to as heroes and held at a higher social standard than regular civilians. But Chris Hedges has a bleaker view of war and veterans. In his article “War Is Betrayal,” he explains how war is just another way for the elite to prey on the poor and gullible. He argues that rich and powerful do not go into combat, but instead they create an enticing narrative, of honor, experience, and status, that lures weak onto the battlefield. These same people after return from war with mental health problems. While Hedges includes some appeal to credibility in his article, he mainly employs emotional appeals to make his claim.

The troops had little food, lick grass for water, had to bear the sight of other’s deaths, as well as live under the thought that they could

generation that lived through it,” (Eksteins 336). Eksteins is correct in saying this because an “angry postwar statement” is in essence a But young? Youth? That is long ago. We are old folk.” From the start of the war, these young men were robbed of their idealism, and

Because it was causing problems, they want to forget about bad things such as war. Because of this, they were not really “living.” they were just breathing. They had no emotion.

A lot of things happened to the soldiers during the war. Sometimes they would lose their eyes from poisonous gases that went through the trenches.

Prior to the war the young men did not have roots in the community, and after the war they have nothing to go back to. Remarque transmits the theme that the generation after the war feels foreign and uncomfortable in their environments with the motif of the lost generation.

Courage is another thing that got veterans out the door. Maybe it was those little gaps of courage that lasted a while or at least a lot longer than anyone could have imagined. It may

Each soldier went to the war with a distinctiveness about them, an identity, eventually this was lost as they went to boot camp.

physical pain that came with service to their country. Along with the physical pain they also faced

Even though soldiers are able to distract themselves from the horrors that they witness on the front, war psychologically damages them and creates the “lost generation”. The young men find it increasingly difficult to think and act with the mindset of a civilian. In war, the men only experience despair, death, and fear, so their mind is enveloped by negative thoughts that

A Soldiers Life A soldier that would fight in the 1860s had a really rough time with their lives once they joined the forces. They would be taken

A common theme found in both articles is the negative perception many young veterans shared of the utilization of services, especially in the form

Based on these interviews it seems the citizens on the American Homefront had decided to go to war because they respected president Roosevelt and trusted his decisions and felt the war was necessary. Edward Huddy from New York said, “the whole country is behind him” in reference to president Roosevelt after his speech which both Edward and Luis Andrew, also from New York city called a “fine speech”. The librarian from Minneapolis, Minnesota said “it has to be don’t” when talking about sending soldiers to war. The neighbors of the interviewer in Burlington, North Carolina said “we’ve got to win this war”. While the citizens in America seem to support the war to preserve their home lives and the regular peace of the nations it seems many of the servicemen may have decided to fight to change their home lives. John Jeffries says that many Americans only had “glimpses of the war”, all the horrors were censored out leaving just leaving war as a glorifying fight. Because of these many recruits likely decided to fight to come home a heroic symbol, receive personal gains, to have a better different future than the recent past they had lived in. Sadly “real” war wasn’t like what they had seen back home and the welcome back was sometimes the same shock. War was gruesome and cruel and upon return to America some veterans were “feared as disruptive

They were treated horrible in the war and out the war. Some soldiers had post traumatic stress disorder. The conditions in the war were bad 58,000 Americans killed and 365,000 were wounded. This caused PTSD for a lot of them. 11 percent still have PTSD so, not only in the war did they have to suffer some suffer up until this day (What we know about PTSD and Vietnam veterans today). During the war they weren’t treated good. They couldn’t even choose to go into the war they just had to if they were put into the drafting cards. During the war the president was assassinated and that caused stress on them. Another thing that was difficult after the war is getting another job(The Vietnam WAR). They weren’t liked once the war was over or even when

While the young men at the ages of eighteen to twenty signed up for the war they believed that they were going to have a well off time, meanwhile the older generation is betraying them. The men that came before them do not tell them they are going to see there best friend shot to pieces. Also that they are going to be stuck for days in tiny trenches running out of food because then they would get the bodies to