1940's Lifestyles and Social Trends | Male Experience

Manhood and Service.

For most American men the 1940s began with military service: putting on uniforms and risking their lives overseas. World War II lasted three years longer than World War I, and six times as many young American males were drafted to serve in it. The entrance of the United States into World War I was accompanied by an outburst of proclamations about patriotism, courage, and glory, but soldiers who went overseas with visions of proving their valor in the ultimate test of manhood discovered instead the horrors of modern warfare and came home questioning the ideals for which they had fought. Americans in the military during World War II had learned from their predecessors' experience and were far less likely to view war as a measure of masculinity or a patriotic crusade. They accepted military service as a necessity and served loyally, but they had few expectations of personal glory.

The Rush to the...