The Best War Ever essays

The Best War Ever essays Quick, what is your favorite war? If you are anything like the American masses, you are likely to say World War II. During wartime America was considered to be at its prime. America industry was booming, American soldiers were the strongest on the planet, and the nation was united as a well-integrated family. These images, which were also glamorized by Hollywood and the media, provoked people to develop a positive view of the war for decades to come. Contrary to these beliefs, World War II actually was not such a great war. To grant World War II the elusive title of the best war ever, we must forget about the bombings and the gruesome fighting battles while exaggerating only the good things. In his book The Best War Ever, Michael C.C. Adams challenges the reader to question their thoughts and experiences pertaining to America and World War II. Most people do not have first hand experience and go only by what they have seen and heard from the media, which makes the result a cleaned up, cosmetically enhanced version of reality(Adams 9). Adams attempts to debunk the myths pertaining to the misconception of glamorous battle conditions, the best fighting weapons, and a perfect home front in order to demonstrate that World War II falls short of being remembered as the Great War. The first myth pertaining to the war deals with the stereotypically depicted happy soldier. The United States Army was thought of as the most advanced in fighting ability, weapons, and supposedly held to a higher standard of ethics on the front. Because, with the exception of Pearl Harbor, there were no battles fought on American land, Americans were not given the opportunity to see the terrible conditions that soldiers endured on the front. The combat soldier was forced daily to watch his fellow man struggle to live, die, and later decay. Conditions for soldiers far exceeded poor. The foot soldier rarely ate ...