Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-1995

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

History

Major Professor

Charles W. Johnson

Committee Members

Bruce Wheeler, Charles O. Jackson

Abstract

This three-part study deals with American veterans of World War II and their adjustment to postwar life, examining how such events as the atomic bomb drop, the passage of the GI Bill, the Cold War, and the memories of service affected the postwar life-course of vets. This thesis also seeks to examine some changes wrought on American society by the war, and to see how this society has been shaped by and experienced in the lives of individual veterans. Part I presents factual background information, from a variety of primary and secondary sources, about World War II veterans. The military demobilization process, from its inception to implementation, is explored, along with the origins and provisions of the GI Bill. Both government measures arose from the widespread fears of another depression and of possible veteran agitation because of it. Part I concludes by looking at some of the immediate challenges facing World War II veterans after discharge, such as psychological readjustment, securing work, and using GI Bill provisions, and at the prosperous society they eventually created. World War II veterans became the backbone of strong postwar middle-class. Part II consists of transcripts of oral interviews with seven veterans (one Puerto Rican, one African-American, and five whites, all of differing backgrounds and professions). Procedures and questions guiding the interviews are found in the Appendix. The different chapters of Part II reexamine from the individual's perspective on events such topics as race relations, the arms race, and the effect of the GI Bill. Part II reconfirms in all cases the upward moving, middle-class nature of veterans described in Part I. Part II critiques the interviews, finding that better results could be had from a larger interview pool, follow-up interviews, and a better balance of service branches and theatres. Also the results of a mail-in survey are measured. Five of the seven interviewees responded and basically their individual responses mirrored many of the characteristics and trends described of vets in Part I. Part III concludes more general study of veterans is needed, as American veterans comprise a sizable minority of American society. In the particular case of World War II veterans, they are so well-integrated back into society they are solid components of middle-class America. Finally, as this study of World War II veterans indicates, more inquiry is needed to better understand the historical role of the American middle-class since 1945.

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