Soldiers and the Postwar Wor
By CHAPLAIN LEIGHTON E. HARRELL, U.S.A.
PART II
IV-THE COMMUNITY form few questions were asked as to family or his place i
Servicemen returning home are going to be surprised at the community, now these questions loom large. As a r the changes which have taken place in community life. In suit many girls who once dated him with little question previous articles we have mentioned the dislocations which now are too busy to see him. have taken place in family life. Changes just as startling If he remembers the community, he will find that it h have taken place in the community life. also felt the impact of war. Community lines have changed Many of the servicemen entered the service at the age of Friends have moved away. Some of the girls are marrie, 18. They will not clearly remember the prewar community some are working or have developed new interests. Tb conditions. Those who were older will have forgotten, "old gang" is gone. Many of the places of leisurely under the influence of three or four years of service, the amusement which once he knew have been stepped up toa civilian community as it once was. For a long time they wartime tempo. It is no longer the "old home town." I will think of the civilian community as they knew it as a is a strange new world. He also finds that the problem o soldier. rationing about which he laughed while in service no How does the soldier see his community? He is largely becomes very real. He sees men still in uniform gettin a hero. He has experiences which the rest of the community things which are now denied him, and at prices which mak 1 vlian prices seem outrageous. He will say, "So this i
wants to hear. Everything possible is done for him. He is civilian prices seem outrageous. He will say, "So this fed, clothed, cared for, and has all his needs met. In ad- what I get when I come back. The heck with it." dition he has been given spending money which he did The community must prepare itself for the home-comi not have to save and which he could spend for anything soldiers. After all it sent these men forth without thi which struck his fancy regardless of price. He returns home consent. It must receive them as they return. Much h a civilian. Money now means food, shelter and security, been written about the various aid committees which ma He wastes it and he is soon destitute. be set up for the returning veteran. It is not necessary The first few days he is home everyone listens to his review them. They are a step in the right direction. Placin story, but soon other returning service men with different a veteran in a suitable job will be no small contribution stories as well as familiarity with his story rob him of his toward postwar adjustment. However, there are othe prestige. He is just one more civilian trying to make a liv- things which ought to be done. The best in the USO ought M ing. to be conserved. Suitable recreation places ought to b
As a serviceman there was the USO and Stage Door made available on a community basis. There should b Canteen and church service organizations where things veterans' clubs or organizations which will help the vete were free or sold at a nominal price. Out of uniform the ans feel that unity with other veterans which he will miss doors of the USO and Stage Door Canteen are closed to a civilian. Making a definite effort to work the veteran int him. Everything now must be bought at high war prices. the community life will be worthwhile. Re-educating bot The theaters which sold him tickets at a nominal rate now soldiers and civilians as to the respective changes in eac charge him full price. In uniform practically all doors other will bring about an understanding not otherwise pos were open to him and little was said about where he came sible. from, but once in civilian clothes people begin to remember If the community approaches the problem from th which side of the tracks he lived on. angle that the veterans are a problem which have to b When he went into service, if he was old enough, he solved, it is doomed to failure. If, however, the communi was told his job would be waiting for him, but when he starts with the premise that here are people who hae returns he finds, even if he gets his job back, that those who traveled divergent paths and who are now brought togeth remained behind have gone far beyond him and the trades permanently, it is upon solid ground. There is muchi of war are mainly not suitable for peace. both that is good which needs to be conserved and While in uniform many girls considered it a patriotic spected. There may be some in both which needs to be fo duty to be nice to the servicemen. Sometimes these girls gotten and discarded. In any event, this is a problem c paid for'the evening entertainment while out with service- mutual adjustment and a mutual realignment of though men. Some girls permitted a standard of conduct disagree- ideas and practices will be necessary. able to themselves on the excuse that the boys were going One of the finest meeting grounds for such rethinkin overseas and might never come back. Out of uniform the is in the problem of these who return wounded or wit girls will commence to look over the boys thinking in terms a partial handicap. The veterans will feel that these bu of a prospective husband. The returned-men will find that dies need care and help. With such as a simple start a date with a girl means footing the bill, and that girls point new fields of cooperation will open up until bot thinking in terms of civilians will require a different learn that neither were slackers and that their mutual c standard of conduct. He also will find that while in uni- operation is as essential in peace as in war. 16 The Army and Navy Chaplci