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Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.), Xavier University, English, 2004.

Abstract

In his book The Greatest Generation, Tom Brokaw writes about Andy Rooney, "60 Minutes" commentator on CBS who went into Paris with Ernest Hemingway and my father, Sgt. David S. Ecker, jeep driver for the Office of Strategic Services. Brokaw writes, "For Rooney, August 25, 1944, the day Paris was liberated, 'was the most dramatic I'd ever lived through.' When he returns to Paris even now, he rents a car and drives the same triumphal route.'' 1 This thesis is about my father. It is an extremely painful story of two and half years in his life which he purposely forgot so he could raise a family. He packaged the two and half years he was in the Office of Strategic Services in World War II and put it all behind him. He married my mother on January 16, 1948, and went on to raise four children and have a successful career selling mattresses for Stearns and Foster in Cincinnati, Ohio. There are four specific reasons why my father's story is an extremely painful one. These four reasons are evident in the wartime remembrances of Mr. Reuter and Mr. Hasler also, my other interviewees, and for the matter in any soldier of any army who saw combat action in World War II. The first is killing. Killing the enemy is still killing a fellow human being and while some soldiers are affected more than others, they are nonetheless still affected. The second reason is surviving. What did it actually take to survive the war, and why did one soldier survive through combat and not the other? The third reason is comrades. Once you have trained with a soldier you will look after and never forget. The fourth reason does not relate specifically to World War II, but does relate to why the recollections of my father can be so painful, and that has to do with social support. Dad never sought counseling after the war, but the mere fact that all his very close male friends went through many similar horrid experiences helped Dad cope with his memories. In each of my interviewees these four reasons will become apparent throughout their narratives.

Subject Headings

Military History

Keywords

World War 1939-1945; Personal narratives; American

Committee / Advisors

Norman Finkelstein, PhD (Advisor)
Tyrone Williams, PhD (Committee Member)

Pages

210p.

Document number: xavier1352821786
Permalink: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=xavier1352821786

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