history of america essays

history of america essays In studying the history of Americas development from a colonial nation to the modern world power of today, it is necessary to pay special attention to the several major wars the United States was involved in. These wars varied in severity ranging from minor skirmishes such as the Spanish American war, to more costly conflicts. Costly in terms of money and loss of life, the Civil War, Vietnam, and both World Wars left lasting impressions on the people who endured them. These wars often defined entire generations of Americans. More often than not, everyone alive in each of these major campaigns was somehow affected in the war. Some served in the military, some worked in the factories that made weapons, while others had relatives who actively participated in the war effort. Recently, the topic of World War II has become a hot topic for Hollywood filmmakers. Movies such as Saving Private Ryan, and The Thin Red Line used graphic scenes of violence and depictions of the hardships of the av erage soldier on the front line in ways previously unseen in prior World War II movies. The goal of the directors was to remind the younger generations of the bravery and selflessness of the soldiers who served in World War II. The soldiers in these movies were purposely portrayed as a group of men from diverse backgrounds who came together to fight for a common cause. These soldiers were also depicted as average men, not the superhuman men portrayed in earlier films, of which John Wayne is an example. Yet in these movies, these average men were the ones who committed the greatest acts of bravery. In conducting my interview, I realized that this depiction was not far off the mark. The subject of my interview was a man by the name of Richard Albert Lockyer. He is the Grandfather of my girlfriend. He lives in Brewster, Massachusetts, in a small beachfront community of fellow retirees ...