WWI Effects

I was recently doing some research on the residents of my hometown (Wolcott CT) who served in WWI. As part of that I came across a questionnaire that had been given to all the individuals in CT who served after the completion of their service. Besides a lot of demographic data, list of the places that they were, etc, there were a couple of questions on the last page that intrigued me.

To paraphrase the questions, they asked, “What have you learned from this experience” and “How has this effected your state of mind.” Not everyone took the time to answer these particular questions, but of those who did, it offers some interesting perspective into how these individuals thought nearly 100 years ago. In particular, I’d like to look at the responses of two individuals.

The responses to the two questions of the first individual are:

“That an American fighting man was equal to anything any country could put into the field. That the first four divisions of the Regular Army could and did prove superior to other units.”

“The effect has been encouraging. Believe America has a real future and believe her head and shoulders above any country on earth."

The response from the second individual are:

“My stay in France tended to broaden my views of life and to make me realize that people can live differently than we do here.

“I think more and show my feelings less. I would be more than mildly interested if we had another war and would enlist at once.”

There are two very different responses here – which interestingly are some of the same things that we discuss regarding US exchange students experiencing after their time abroad. The first individual has come back with a very nationalistic attitude, i.e. note his use of the words “superior”, “head and shoulders above”, etc. In contract, the second individual has returned with a much broader view of the world as noted by his recognition that other people live differently and that he should ponder these things rather than just “show his feelings” immediately when confronted with new situations.

As I look at my own perspective after having been abroad to many countries and experienced how people have different approaches to things, I’m much more like the second individual in that I value what others have to offer.

So, even though these are thoughts from individuals a century ago and under very different circumstances than my own (i.e. having gone to fight in a war), we can still learn from them.