Blog 4 --- "The Good War" --- introduction & Bob Rasmus

Bob Rasmus was an infantryman and rifleman in World War II. The most interesting part of his interview was when he was talking about how he felt right before going into battle. When describing his feelings, Rasmus stated, "The reason you storm the beaches is not patriotism or bravery. Its that sense of not wanting to fail your buddies..." I think this is really interesting and relates to the story we read in class, Johnny Got His Gun. In the story, a soldier, Joe, lays in a hospital bed. He is in absolutely terrible condition and has lost his arms, his legs, and all of his face, although his mind is still functioning perfectly. In the story, he questions war and the reasons that soldiers go to fight. Joe questioned fighting for empty words like "democracy", "freedom", and "patriotism". I believe that what Rasmus says is a possible response to Joe's argument. Rasmus agrees with Joe initially by admitting that when he is out in the battlefield, he is not thinking about patriotism, democracy, bravery, or any of those empty words. What he was thinking about when he got into battle was not wanting to fail his buddies. Rasmus knew that a huge parentage of males in their late teens or early twenties were getting shipped off into World War II. He also knew that the enemy he was fighting was the same enemy that had taken lives of some of his best friends, and was still trying to take the lives of more of his friends as well as his own life. So, when Rasmus got out into the battlefield, he wasn't thinking about his country, about democracy, or about freedom. Instead of thinking about words he could not really relate to, he was thinking about the people he could relate to most: his friends that were also in the war and also being attacked by the Axis Powers. He felt a sense of responsibility to protect his buddies, and he felt as if not giving his best effort towards the war could lead to the same enemy hurting or killing some of his buddies, and he didn't want to let them down.