Category: Discussion Thread #8

I’m not sure if Veterans Day is taken in good manner being a holiday. I’m not sure how Veterans might feel about the day. Never really asked how veterans felt about the day. However, I can imagine how some may feel that they at least get a day that is dedicated to them. However, why should a whole nation feel the need to celebrate especially in deviation; many families making it about themselves rather than the true people on reserves.

Now, onto this image I feel like the end of the war is very fresh during this time. So, society may be focusing more on the value of their veterans by showcasing and demonstrating appreciation; in this case throwing them a party. The photo also feels very young which demonstrates how young men were being recruited at the time.

Hello everyone, it is Veterans Day. This observation–I dare not call it a holiday–began as Armistice Day. It was on 11 November 1918–102 years ago today–that the Great War ended. You may recall that Al Smith was elected governor that same week.

The photograph we see here is from the Ursula C. Schwerin Library Archives. It depicts City Tech students at a dance in the years just after the Second World War. These men are either still on active duty or in the reserves. As we know from class City Tech is a GI Bill school, founded after World War II largely to educate returning servicemen. In the usual 100-300 words interpret this photograph however you like. You might focus on the demographics of the people in the image and what that says about Brooklyn at the time in the late 1940s and 1950s, about the notion of a “dance,” about the GI Bill itself, or anything else that strikes you. As always responses are due by 11:59 pm this coming Sunday.