The Good War: Introduction + Bob Rasmus

This introduction to the war (WWII) does not go as much into the facts of the war so much as it delves into the effects that the war had on our nation. The effects varied: some were on the citizens at home who had family members across seas; others were on the soldiers themselves who experienced much pain and destruction that they had never known; still others were on our government, whose members did not know quite how to react. Even more specific than that is the effect the war had on our president. Just coming off of post-WWI and his New Deal project, Roosevelt now had more on his mind than simply American jobs. In the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt himself, "Dr. New Deal was replaced by Dr. Win The War" (168). However, when I recall all of the other matter with which the President had to deal with, this statement seems largely untrue. If, in his own words, his new goal was winning the war, why was the anti-Japanese propaganda necessary? Why was the removal of thousands of Japanese-Americans from their communities necessary? I think that an Iowa farmer describes the effects of the war in a way that is easiest to understand: "The war--it does something to your country. It does something to the individual" (168). The war wasn't only about the battles overseas; it was about the battles on the home front as well.
Bob Rasmus was one of those who fought a battle both overseas and at home. He was only fourteen years old when Germany invaded Poland, and right away he knew he would be in the war. He says, "You saw those things in the movies, you saw the newsreels. But you were of an age when your country wasn't even in the war. It seemed unreal. All of a sudden, there you were right in the thick of it and people were dying and you were scared out of your wits that you'd have your head blown off" (177). And not only was he in the war, but he was a rifleman, putting him at prime risk to be killed on the battlefield. From Bob's account, one can learn that fighting in the war wasn't only a test of strategy and skill on the battlefield, but it was a mental battle that was fought by each and every soldier. Bob expresses this idea well when he says, "The reason you storm the beaches is not patriotism or bravery. It's that sense of not wanting to fail your buddies" (179). Bob experienced the true battle of an American, desperately wanting to help the people he cared about both on the home front and on the battlefront.