Why we love World War II

To mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II — Victory in Europe Day occurred on May 8, Victory over Japan Day happens on Aug. 14 — the Census Bureau has published some fascinating numbers that also throw light on the war's larger historical meaning. They help explain why WWII remains our favorite war. Here's an overview.

First, the numbers.

They concern the share of Americans who served in the military. That was, Census reports, 16.1 million men. Of these, 6.1 million volunteered and 10 million were drafted. According to Census, 406,000 were killed and 671,000 others were wounded — a casualty rate of about 1 in 15 for all services.

(These figures cover only men. Census also reported separately that 342,000 women served in World War II; 217 died.)

At the war's end, 12.1 million Americans were still in uniform. This compared with 3.1 million in 1970 at the height of the war in Vietnam and 1.5 million in 2011. In 1950, 28 percent of all men 18 and over were World War II veterans; today, the active-duty military (men and women) are less than 1 percent of the 18-and-older population, says Census.

What these figures show is that, compared with World War II, we fight our wars today from our hip pocket. The Census numbers actually understate the wartime mobilization. Looking at just men ages 15 to 39 in 1940 (as I have), from 50 percent to 60 percent served in World War II. Presumably, the others were unfit, too old or exempted from service.

Now, the implications.

This massive mobilization tells us that the triumph in World War II was a collective, democratic and unifying event, the likes of which we never experienced before (the Civil War in some respects rivaled the effect, but of course, it was also hugely divisive). It involved almost everyone. As soldiers, sailors and airmen, rich and the poor were tossed in together; so were North and South, urban and rural.

The triumph was not the property of any group, region or class; the victory was national. It belonged to everyone. One of the war's great emotional appeals, I think, is this emphasis on communal responsibility, obligation and reward. (Unsurprisingly, there are many exceptions to this, the most conspicuous being the continued segregation, even in fighting units, of African Americans.)

It's why we love World War II. It reminds us who we can be when we are at our best. There is much focus now on inequality, but the inequality is economic, measured in dollars and cents. World War II did not eliminate differences of income and wealth, but it did emphasize equality of duty and contribution. Patriotic commitment was not a function of bank accounts.

A second great consequence of the war was that it reconciled Americans — not all, but many — to the inevitability of large organizations, even if they were often clumsy, arbitrary and wrong. The U.S. Army was a massive organization. So were the vast corporations that churned out Sherman tanks, B-24s and Liberty ships. Many veterans knew firsthand the vices of the huge military; but they also grudgingly acknowledged the virtues. We could, it seemed, solve many problems simply by throwing resources at them.

Carried into the 1950s, this lesson meant that the violent ideological battles of the 1930s went largely unrepeated. The combination of victory and economic success laid a foundation of confidence for nearly two decades of prosperity and (relatively speaking) domestic tranquility — until we discovered that World War II's simple and nostalgic teachings no longer matched the real world's complexities.

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