When America decided to join World War II there was a need for American soldiers who were called the Doughboys. Around two million soldiers were sent out to France and what they were about to find there was not going to be anything pleasant. Most of the Doughboys saw the war as an adventure. Shortly after coming to France and living in the trenches their opinions quickly changed. The French soldiers were already prepared for this kind of warfare, but American Soldiers had to quickly be trained and adapt to the trench warfare weather they liked it or not there was not going back. For the Doughboys the only thing they can find in France was Inhospitality, contaminated trench holes, and a huge field called “no-mans land”. There was no sanitary they slept with lice, flies and rats together. Soon after being out in the battle field they go more use to this life and seeing deaths was just another sight which indicated for many, victory. The doughboys couldn’t wait until the war was over to be able to return if they would even be able to make it.
1. Why do you think the Doughboys that that War would be an adventure?
2. How do you think Doughboys felt and dealt with the change and adaptations that they had to the trench warfare?
This is a great summary. As the solider were arriving to Europe they had no idea what they would be going through. What they had to face in the trenches were being by corpses and rats and the fact that they were only a few hundred yards away from there enemy.When Wilson signed the sweeping Selective Service act all the young man had to face a lot of trouble in the war at such a young age such as when they would go attack the enemy trenches they would be "entangled in barbed wire,enveloped in poison gas and mowed down by machine guns."
ReplyDelete1) i think the Doughboys thought the war would be an adventure because they all felt like they were well trained and they are ready for anything that would come in their way. They felt like they had the better chance of winning because they had two million soldiers and and all were well trained. and that they would be going to a new place which they would only be going sight seeing since they thought they would win the war so easily.
2) i think dealing with the trenches was a really hard thing for the soliders because they didnt think they had to be living with corpses and dealing with rats. they never had to face anything like that before but they knew had to deal with the trenches since it was for their country and they knew they had to do it. in the chapter it says "One U.S. solider in a rat-infested trench tensely looks out for danger,another slumps in exhausted sleep and a third lies flat on his stomach." this shows how in the day the soldiers were fighting but at night they could not even get sleep because they were all very uncomfortable in the trenches.