Religious History of the American GI in World War II
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A01=G. Kurt Piehler
American History
American Soldier
Author_G. Kurt Piehler
Axis Powers
Bigotry
Category=NHWR7
Category=QRAX
Chaplaincy
Citizen Soldier
Diaries
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
Europe
European History
FDR
Gender
History
Intolerance
Judaism
Letters
Memoir
Military Chaplain
Military History
Military Studies
Oral History
President Roosevelt
Protestantism
Race
Religious Diversity
Religious History
Religious Studies
Roman Catholicism
Second World War
Sectarianism
Social History
World War Two
WWII
Product details
- ISBN 9781496226839
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 01 Dec 2021
- Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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A Religious History of the American GI in World War II breaks new ground by recounting the armed forces’ unprecedented efforts to meet the spiritual needs of the fifteen million men and women who served in World War II. For President Franklin D. Roosevelt and many GIs, religion remained a core American value that fortified their resolve in the fight against Axis tyranny. While combatants turned to fellow comrades for support, even more were sustained by prayer. GIs flocked to services, and when they mourned comrades lost in battle, chaplains offered solace and underscored the righteousness of their cause. This study is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the social history of the American GI during World War II.
Drawing on an extensive range of letters, diaries, oral histories, and memoirs, G. Kurt Piehler challenges the conventional wisdom that portrays the American GI as a nonideological warrior. American GIs echoed the views of FDR, who saw a Nazi victory as a threat to religious freedom and recognized the antisemitic character of the regime. Official policies promoted a civil religion that stressed equality between Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, and Judaism. Many chaplains embraced this tri-faith vision and strived to meet the spiritual needs of all servicepeople regardless of their own denomination. While examples of bigotry, sectarianism, and intolerance remained, the armed forces fostered the free exercise of religion that promoted a respect for the plurality of American religious life among GIs.
Drawing on an extensive range of letters, diaries, oral histories, and memoirs, G. Kurt Piehler challenges the conventional wisdom that portrays the American GI as a nonideological warrior. American GIs echoed the views of FDR, who saw a Nazi victory as a threat to religious freedom and recognized the antisemitic character of the regime. Official policies promoted a civil religion that stressed equality between Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, and Judaism. Many chaplains embraced this tri-faith vision and strived to meet the spiritual needs of all servicepeople regardless of their own denomination. While examples of bigotry, sectarianism, and intolerance remained, the armed forces fostered the free exercise of religion that promoted a respect for the plurality of American religious life among GIs.
G. Kurt Piehler is director of the Institute on World War and the Human Experience and an associate professor of history at Florida State University. He is author of Remembering War the American Way and World War II.
