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The University of North Carolina Press
384 pp., 61/8 x 91/4, 18 illus., notes, bibl., index
Soldiers in American Culture from the Second World War to the Vietnam Era
Images of war saturated American culture between the 1940s and the 1970s, as U.S. troops marched off to battle in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Exploring representations of servicemen in the popular press, government propaganda, museum exhibits, literature, film, and television, Andrew Huebner traces the evolution of a storied American icon--the combat soldier.
Huebner challenges the pervasive assumption that Vietnam brought drastic changes in portrayals of the American warrior, with the jaded serviceman of the 1960s and 1970s shown in stark contrast to the patriotic citizen-soldier of World War II. In fact, Huebner shows, cracks began to appear in sentimental images of the military late in World War II and were particularly apparent during the Korean conflict. Journalists, filmmakers, novelists, and poets increasingly portrayed the steep costs of combat, depicting soldiers who were harmed rather than hardened by war, isolated from rather than supported by their military leadership and American society. Across all three wars, Huebner argues, the warrior image conveyed a growing cynicism about armed conflict, the federal government, and Cold War militarization.
"Well written, thoughtful, and an important contribution to understanding the popular image of the American soldier."
--On Point
"A welcome contribution to the history of visual and textual representations of the foot soldier."
--American Journalism
"The strength of Huebner's account . . . is the nuanced way he analyzes his material." A Nota Bene selection of Chronicle of Higher Education
--The Journal of Military History
"From The Best Years of Our Lives to Coming Home, Huebner's lively and revealing study will challenge many glib assumptions about the differences between the 'greatest generation' of World War II and the baby boomers of the 1960s."
--Christian Appy, author of Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam
"Huebner effectively challenges the idea that modern Americans did not really question the nation's wars before Vietnam. His excellent book shows that antiwar sentiment already occupied significant cultural space during World War II and the Cold War."
--John Bodnar, Indiana University
Cloth: $65.00
Paper: $24.95
© 2009 The University of North Carolina Press
116 South Boundary Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-3808
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