Vanishing Generation, Part 9 - Heroes - Episode 9

Veterans of World War II reflect on whether they should be considered heroes or not. One says he happened to be over there, and he volunteered to go to Hawaii, but they didn't know the war would come along like it did or they wouldn't have volunteered. One says he didn't do anything heroic, just did what he was told to do. He is not too sympathetic with the idea of "the greatest generation." It's something that came along and we had to do it, so why take credit? One expresses that they earned this, it just wasn't a gift, and they put their lives on the line, and some didn't come back, but those who did should be appreciated. One says that the heroes are the ones who are buried under the white crosses and that any who survived were just lucky. One says that the younger generation does not understand World War II, and that there is no way to explain combat. One says he is not a coward, but he is not the hero that those on Okinawa and those who died are, and that some of our finest people today are being killed. One says he is no hero, but he is a survivor and robbed death so many times in combat, was delivered from starvation and came out alive, which is still hard for him to believe. 

Standards

• Along with the rest of the world, the United States and South Carolina experienced economic instability during this period. As a result, political instability and worldwide conflict consumed the world in the 1940s. Following World War II, the United States emerged as a world leader through political policies and economic growth.
  • 5.3.E Analyze multiple perspectives on the economic, political, and social effects of World War II and its aftermath using primary and secondary sources.
• This indicator was designed to promote inquiry into military and economic policies during World War II, to include the significance of military bases in South Carolina. This indicator was also developed to foster inquiry into postwar economic developments and demographic changes, to include the immigration of Jewish refugees following the Holocaust.
  • 8.5.CO Compare South Carolina and U.S. wartime contributions and demobilization after World War II.
• This indicator was constructed to facilitate inquiry into how economic conditions prompted an evolution of fiscal and monetary policy featuring significant turning points. This indicator also supports inquiry into the laissez-faire policies of the 1920s, the balance of free markets and government intervention of the 1930s, and the command economies during World War I and World War II.
  • USHC.4.CC Examine the continuity and changes on the U.S. homefront surrounding World War I and World War II.

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