Dear fans of American history...Iam kindly asking you for any recomendations for literature on the topic of American society vs American soldiers / army (how society sees soldiers through out the history of U.S.). The name of my thesis being "Thank you for your service! - American soldier on a pedestal." - Iam looking for rather professional literature used on universities and so on. I would be imensely grateful for any recommendations.
One book you should check out is "The Good War: An Oral History of World War II" by Studs Terkel (1997) While this book does concentrate on the war experiences of soldiers and sailors during the war, it also includes many accounts of how they were treated inside the US during and after the war. It also contains chapters on pacifists that did not serve, women who worked in factories that produced military equipment and Japanese who were sent to interment camps. It does not get bogged down in the details of the battles of the war, but takes an in depth look how a wide cross section of Americans felt about the war and its aftermath. It also won the Pulitzer Prize. Studs Terkel was a journalist, not a historian, but he had highly developed interview skills and was able to get people to tell him what they really felt about the topic of World War II.