Militarization and the American Century by David Fitzgerald

Author:David Fitzgerald [Fitzgerald, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, United States, 20th Century, Social History, Americas (North; Central; South; West Indies), General, Modern
ISBN: 9781350102231
Google: 3GxWEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2022-01-13T02:50:33+00:00

Figure 4.3 Actress Ann-Margret entertaining GIs in Long Binh, South Vietnam, 23 December 1968. Credit: Bettmann.

The American Red Cross, in particular, made an effort to recruit ‘the right sort’ of women and to provide wholesome entertainment and comfort to the troops while alleviating their loneliness and feminizing the all-male military environment. Unlike the Red Cross and USO, which largely promoted a ‘girl next door’ image, groups that had less of a long-standing institutional relationship with the military embraced a more overtly sexualized form of entertainment. For instance, in 1966, Playboy sent Jo Collins, the 1965 Playmate of the Year, to tour South Vietnam and, more subversively, ran ‘Operation Playmate’, an effort to send signed photos of playmates to American soldiers deployed to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield.80 Whether it was through providing donuts and hot chocolate or sexualized entertainment, the military enlisted these civilian women to help raise morale and to keep soldiers away from vice and the temptation of foreign bars and foreign women.

In addition to providing wholesome entertainment, military leaders attempted to improve the behaviour and morale of American troops overseas by sending wives and families to accompany them. Much as with the ‘donut dollies’ of the Red Cross and the entertainers of the USO, military officials hoped that the presence of women and children would appropriately feminize the environment and – quite literally – domesticate their soldiers. In the wake of the Second World War, thousands of American women and children were sent to join their husbands and fathers who were stationed on overseas bases; by 1960, 600,000 armed forces personnel were deployed overseas, along with 462,000 military family members.81 As historian Donna Alvah argues, military wives in particular also served an important role of ‘unofficial ambassadors’ during the Cold War, when they were encouraged to forge ties with local communities, run women’s clubs, church and school events, and demonstrate American benevolence to allies and host countries.82 Even children could be enlisted as ambassadors. A 1950s Army pamphlet for families stationed overseas made it clear that the Army considered public diplomacy to be a family affair: ‘your children too, you must remember are just as much ambassadors of good will as you are … Spoiled youngsters … hamper our best efforts at promoting good relations abroad.’83

Children, however, were far from the greatest concern when it came to Americans making a bad impression overseas. Especially in the early years of the American occupation of Germany and Japan, the vast material gulf between the living circumstances of American and local families was manifest. Beginning in 1946, as families crossed the Atlantic and Pacific, US military authorities worked to improve the quality of overseas military housing to make it fit for family occupation, creating a series of ‘little Americas’ that contrasted sharply with rubble-strewn cities. As with the PX system, the living arrangements of American military families made clear just how well resourced the American military was. Senior officers lived in neo-colonial splendour in Japan, occupying some of the

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.