Week 2: Anticipation

This week produced little to report on in terms of work accomplished, as some necessary organizing and communications are still underway between myself and the program coordinators, but it has certainly built my anticipation for what I will soon be tackling. I am eager to see how exactly I will fit into this program, and what roles I will be tasked with fulfilling. 

I've taken the opportunity provided by this transitory period to reflect on some of the materials provided and recommended to students during Dr. Gannon's Military History Class. I completed this course in the spring semester of 2025, and was thoroughly pleased with the readings we were assigned to complete. With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene Sledge was arguably my favorite and the read I found most enriching. Sledge recounts his experiences as a young man in boot camp, his training at home and on the pacific islands abroad, and the horrors and camaraderie alike that he experienced while serving in the Pacific theater of World War II. It is a harrowing tale, and the way he is able to describe the full assault on one's senses while faced with the cruelty of war covers not only what one might expect -- physical barrages and witnessing new friends falling victim to attacks -- but the stench of waste baked in the sun on the coral beaches, the desperate lack of essential resources, and the panicked mistakes made by men pushed to their brink. 

The Pacific theater of World War II is often overlooked in popular memory; when many Americans think of WWII the D-Day battles on the beaches of Normandy might first come to mind, or their knowledge might be limited to the atomic bombs dropped in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Historians and veterans alike have argued the strategic value of Peleliu and the logic behind other island-hopping operations of this particular theater. Sledge himself is not confident that the military action on Peleliu specifically contributed to any victory of World War II. Despite the many sacrifices he and his fellow soldier made -- that which followed them home -- he is unsure that much of it was necessary. I find it imperative that the sacrifices and unspeakable damage done to these young soldiers is not forgotten by the general public. To me, what makes the Veterans History Project so valuable is this exact preservation of experience. Making these stories widely accessible and understood with the help of great empathy is a necessary and noble cause. I sincerely look forward to working with veterans and the program coordinators to help preserve and amplify these voices and experiences. 

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