Thanks from Mary Haas

Mary Haas (MaryHaas@AOL.COM)
Tue, 2 Apr 1996 20:10:34 -0500 

I'm being enlightened by the responses to my inquiry on children and schools
during WWII.  Thanks to all who have replied to my questions.  I am a
university professor at West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV. As a
trainer of future teachers, and am particularly interested in what and how we
teach children about war.  Many of you  have mentioned that in school you
studied about World War I.  Could you elaborate a little on this for me, by
telling me what message you got from the study of WWI.  Did the history books
tell you that soldiers were heroes?  Did you learn about only military
leaders or did you learn the concerns and acts of the soldiers and the impact
of the war on the lives of the civilians?  Other that in school how did you
learn about war before you experienced WWII?
  To:  Feliks Chustecki - As of yet, I have not read all of my copy of WAR
THROUGH CHILDREN"S EYES: The  Soviet Occupation of Poland and the
Deportation, 1939-1941 edited by Irena Grudzinzka-Gross and Jan Thomas Gross
and published by the Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University, Stanford,
CA in 1981.  I was wondering if you had read it and would respond with your
evaluation of the book.
To Sally:  I'd love to hear more about your experiences as a WWII nurse.  In
the past year I have been interviewing female WWII veterans who currently
live in West Virginia.  Thus far I have talked with at least two women from
each branch of the services, including WASPS, and from both the army and navy
nurse corps.  One of the nurses did serve in Northern Africa, and another WAC
was among those women who crossed into Normandy after the invasion.  How soon
after the invasion did your hospital unit go to Normandy?  Was your unit a
mobile hospital? Was it ever in any really dangerous situations?   Were any
of your staff from West Virginia? How did you get into the military?   It is
a shame that many people do not know  about the important roles that women
played in the military during World War II and it is up to you to inform
people because they often do not know enough to ask. I notice that you are
working in an important part of health care today.  Did your military service
have an impact on the rest of your life?  Have you read the book Bedpan
Commando?  If so, would you comment on its content in relationship to your
experiences?