When I was in high school my best friend went to Austria and Germany as a foreign exchange student. When she first arrived the father of her host family ran up to her and hugged her and said to her in broken English. "You American? I like Americans. Me POW in WWII. American's treat me good!"
There used to be a time when the best thing that could happen to average Joe soldier was to be captured by the U.S. Many times you were treated better, clothed better, and fed better than you were fighting for your own country. We set the standard for treatment of prisoners of war during a military conflict and it was a high one. We were the example.
What happened? When did sickening acts of sexual, physical and mental torture become acceptable?
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4 comments:
Interesting juxtaposition and a very good point made by way of a story (always the best way!).
What do you think is the difference between the "Greatest Generation" and now?
Okay, for whatever reason, my responses to comments are not posting, so I will try it again.
Perhaps I have been living in a cave but i am not familiar with the term "greatest generation" so i'm not really sure what you mean.
Interesting post.
It does seem to highlight that people will generalize about an entire culture based upon their experiences with a few.
“Greatest Generation” is a term associated with that generation that lived in the thick of the Great Depression and WWII--more specifically those veterans who went on to defeat the numerous dictators of that time that were actively threatening and invading neighbor countries in the quest for world domination. The “Americans” that the father of the exchange student’s host family encountered would be part of that group. Basically, “Saving Private Ryan.”
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