Hello there friends!
I have two parts to this post. For my internship I had to review a book called "The Good War" by Studs Terkel. It is a compilation of oral histories regarding people's experiences of World War II and the consequences of the war. It contains some really amazing insights into civilian and military experiences. What I find is that some of the thoughts of civilians concerning the post war era and the beginning of the Cold War is reminiscent of the language I am familiar regarding the post 9/11 era.
In the epilogue there are several short interview made by people reflecting the baby-boomer era.
Debbie Cooney's interview is one that stuck out to me greatly:
"I was around ten when I came aware of the bomb. It didn't have any great impact on me until a year ago, I have a niece who is eighteen months old now. . . I want her to be able to live and go out in the country and just breathe without having to worry or anything. I think a lot of times I do it more for myself because I've at least had seventeen years of life. I've at least had sort of chance. She's eighteen months old and she's just wonderful. So I just want her to have a chance"
Terkel, Studs. "The Good War". New York City, NY: Pantheon Books, 1984. pgs. 587-588.
I can't help but compare 17 year old Debbie Cooney's thoughts to mine especially since I had a similar experience with the events after 9/11. It did not worry or concern me when I was little and even when U.S. soldiers were being deployed, all I really thought about was it was sad that they could not be home. Now that I have a brother in the military and he and his wife are expecting a little baby I look back fifteen years and wonder what will be in store for my nephew in the next fifteen years.
These are often the hard and innumerable thoughts that people face every day. Recorded or not, those thoughts have an impact on how an individual, family, community perceives history, and that is important.
Peace,
-Kylie
I have two parts to this post. For my internship I had to review a book called "The Good War" by Studs Terkel. It is a compilation of oral histories regarding people's experiences of World War II and the consequences of the war. It contains some really amazing insights into civilian and military experiences. What I find is that some of the thoughts of civilians concerning the post war era and the beginning of the Cold War is reminiscent of the language I am familiar regarding the post 9/11 era.
In the epilogue there are several short interview made by people reflecting the baby-boomer era.
Debbie Cooney's interview is one that stuck out to me greatly:
"I was around ten when I came aware of the bomb. It didn't have any great impact on me until a year ago, I have a niece who is eighteen months old now. . . I want her to be able to live and go out in the country and just breathe without having to worry or anything. I think a lot of times I do it more for myself because I've at least had seventeen years of life. I've at least had sort of chance. She's eighteen months old and she's just wonderful. So I just want her to have a chance"
Terkel, Studs. "The Good War". New York City, NY: Pantheon Books, 1984. pgs. 587-588.
I can't help but compare 17 year old Debbie Cooney's thoughts to mine especially since I had a similar experience with the events after 9/11. It did not worry or concern me when I was little and even when U.S. soldiers were being deployed, all I really thought about was it was sad that they could not be home. Now that I have a brother in the military and he and his wife are expecting a little baby I look back fifteen years and wonder what will be in store for my nephew in the next fifteen years.
These are often the hard and innumerable thoughts that people face every day. Recorded or not, those thoughts have an impact on how an individual, family, community perceives history, and that is important.
Peace,
-Kylie
