Re: Thanks from Mary Haas
Donald99 (donald99@NANDO.NET)
Wed, 3 Apr 1996 20:41:39 -0500
To the readers of this list:
I was born in 1931 in Indiana and later moved to Boston where my dad did
what was called "war work" during World War Two.
I admit that perhaps the history taught in my public primary school
in the USA is not well remembered. (What I call a public primary school
was supported by local taxpayers, grades 1-6.) The World War, as it was
called, was taught, to be sure. I didn't relate very well to men in the
trenches serving as cannon fodder. I may have been aware that
virtually a whole generation of young British males was wiped out in that
war.
There was a certain awareness of the current crisis in Europe,
illustrated by one story in one book. We sang a song about storm clouds
gathering far across the sea. Can anyone name the song? Who would guess
that Kate Smith would die, 60 years later, a mile from my house?
The last time I posted anything on this listserv, it was to suggest
"The Second World War" or at least the prologue, and books of that ilk
by John Keegan, and "Lord of the Flies" and other books by Golding.
The particular type of patriotic revisionism we enjoyed in the 1930s
has given way to this cloying touchy-feely "feelings" thing currently
favored by people who apparently KNOW little. You think you can ask a
child how someone "feels" about something and you have somehow done your job
as a teacher. At least that is the impression I get. Say it isn't so.
People think when the directors of the Smithsonian Instution
and the Library of Congress wish to revise history and abuse their
priviledge of free speech in order to run down their own country unfairly
it is somehow "good."
Do children today know the answers to these questions? I am not sure
I did, unfortunately:
When did the industrial revolution in Japan take place?
Why were onerous restrictions placed on the size of
Japanese warships early in the 20th century? What happened when an
inventor tried to sell a shallow-water torpedo which could be launched
from an airplane, to the military forces of the world? What was done
after "The World War" to assure that Germany recovered as a responsible
member of the family of nations? The American, British and French people
were "tired of war" after World War One. When their leaders saw Germany
re-arming under Hitler, what did they do about it? What were the
Japanese doing in China during World War Two? How does that compare to
the "holocaust?" What happened to the Nationalist leaders of
mainland China after World War Two? Where did they go? What did they do?
Is China currently of any interest to the rest of the world?
Today's younger generations
have so little to worry about personally, they have to invent
troubles, neuroses, and feelings. They are not being told how many times
the USA has had to rescue the leaders of Western Europe from their own folly
using American lives and American dollars. They are not reminded of the
difference between the "Marshall Plan" and the treatment of Germany after
World War One. They are not advised of the current threat from within
every large city in the world. They are not aware that rogue states are
acquiring nuclear weapons and delivery systems (missiles) while the USA,
for example, is defenseless against them due to the lack of something
called "Star Wars." Today's children think government is responsible
for taking care of everybody, while it robs those who work and contribute,
in order to pay those who do not work, do not learn and contribute
nothing. This is called "vote buying" and is cruel to people who could
do better but do not know it.
Meanwhile, God's beautiful green earth is
being systematically destroyed and polluted to the detriment of man and
all the other species, kingdoms, etc. Too many people are ignorant,
don't think, and feel they have to follow someone else's entire "party
line" out of ignorance. Today's children are in danger of falling for
old collectivist ideas packaged in new, shiny green wrappers. And they
are taught to think "feelings" are the most important things on earth.
Disclaimer: 1> I am not a teacher or an educator. 2> I know very little
history and have read very little. If someone who has done serious study
of worthwhile primary and secondary sources of historical knowledge
wishes to take me to task, I welcome the opportunity to learn. Perhaps
the greatest invention of the 20th century, after wireless communication,
Penicillin, the automatic washing machine and dryer, the transistor,
radar, and rental videotapes is the internet. Let us use it for the
education and betterment of mankind while others carp and whine about
"content" or try to make their first million selling stuff. Our salvation
as a species requires that we stop dwelling on fairness and feelings, and
simply start working, TOGETHER. I think the point of this forum is we
shouldn't have another world war. Remembering how terrible it was is
the first step. Next, we WORK, together.
Donald Giddings, April 3, 1996. No fooling.
On Wed, 3 Apr
1996, Debbie Abilock wrote:
> Dear Mary:
>
> We've treated war as part of the study of a decade in "The Forties, An
> Intergenerational Curriculum Teaching Point of View." Here's a URL for
> some "basic" info, and I'd be happy to answer other questions.
>
> http://time_con@nptn.org/cyber.serv/AOneP/tep/contest.html
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> Debbie Abilock "It is important that students bring a certain
> The Nueva School ragamuffin barefoot irreverence to their studies;
> 6565 Skyline Blvd. they are not here to worship what is known,
> Hillsborough, CA 94010 but to question it." (Jacob Bronowski)
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>
> On Tue, 2 Apr 1996, Mary Haas wrote:
>
> > 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?
> >
>