HisStory: Military
By Katie Follett
World War
II During World War II, the people of the U.S. became united under the President’s leadership.
Adventure calls young men to arms.
What do you think about when someone says “World War II”? Per- haps the first thing that
you see in your mind’s eye is a giant
mushroom-shaped cloud, the now well-known symbol of an atomic bomb, synonymous with the destruction that took
place at Nagasaki and Hiroshima at the
end of the War. Or maybe you think of
your grandparents and the stories they
tell of life then, or (if you happen to be
homeschooled) you might remember a
snippet of one of President Roosevelt’s
fireside chats that your mom made you
listen to in the fourth grade. All of these
things play important roles in our recollections of this time of war, and I would
like to share how I have come to view
what I consider to be one of the most
exciting and most unified times that our
country has experienced.
First of all, I think that it would be beneficial for you to know that when I think
of World War II, I don’t immediately
hone in on Pearl Harbor. I like to begin
with the years preceding that “date which
will live in infamy,” most importantly, the
years following the Great Depression.
In March of 1933, four years after the
stock market crashed, President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt’s calming, reassuring
voice was broadcast across America to
discouraged, tired Americans.
President Roosevelt had begun a cam-
paign to win the support of the American
people for his ideas to help resurrect the
economy using the radio, a relatively new
form of communication, by approach-
ing them in their own vernacular, under
their own terms, in their own homes.
The fireside chats became so popular that
many American families set aside their
troubles of the day to hear the news in
the President’s words. In fact, many say
that they felt as though “they were invit-
ing the President into their living room
for a personal chat.”
I can say that, personally, whenever I
hear his voice, I let it slowly wash over me
until I am covered in chills and filled with
patriotic zeal! Why were these “chats”
so successful? I believe it is because he
went to the Americans and didn’t wait
for them to come to him. His “First 100
Days” in office he got right down to busi-
ness and got to work helping the people
get back on their feet.
