>Eric Bergerud wrote:
>SNIP
>>>>Could never figure out why WWI pilots like Richthoven and Rickenbacker
>were world famous – or at least tremendous national heroes, while the great
>fliers of WWII are known only to the aviation fans.>>>
>SNIP
>
>I suspect it had to do with the exciting newness of aviation at the time,
>with the aviators portrayed as something akin to the knights of old, jousting
>in single combat.
>
>John Snyder
>John_Snyder@bbs.macnexus.org
>
Beg to disagree. Aviators in the 20’s and 30’s were at the height of their
fame. I don’t think that there has ever been a more famous man than
Lindbergh. But he was hardly alone. Amelia Ehrhardt, who perished just prior
to the war, was probably the most famous woman of her era. Aviation itself
was considered something of a wonder and the popular press couldn’t get
enough of it.

I think there was something different about the respective wars. In World
War I the individual “hero” was a staple in all countries. It wasn’t just
aviation. Lawrence of Arabia, Sgt York and so on. I think in the interwar
period that the democratic cultures began to look at war and heroism
differently. If you read newspapers from the two wars the difference is
quite marked. In WWI accounts you run into all kinds of purple prose. The
WWII counterpart is much more business-like, more grim. (Also much more
realistic: the public of WWII was well aware of how much official lying had
gone on during WWI.) I can’t remember which of our leaders said that “valor
was a common virtue”, but I think that’s very much the way that the public
tended to view WWII. There were medal winners galore (many of these men
became local town heros) but no real equivalent of Sgt York or Richthoven.
Wish I understood this better. Although we were fighting the most necessary
war in history, there was little talk about crusades among our fighting men.
So many WWII vets have told me the equivalent of “we had a job, nobody liked
it, but we had to do it so we could get home.” Very businesslike. Very
dangerous if you were someone like Hitler or Tojo.
Eric Bergerud, 531 Kains Ave, Albany CA 94706, 510-525-0930