Entry 4: Introduction and Bob Rasmus

Reading “The Good War” introduction really opened my eyes to what the war really was about. If I had to pick one word to describe the war, I would chose struggle. Whether you were a soldier or just living in the U.S. at the time, everyone struggled. The war was described really well in the introduction. It stated, “Food. Fear. Comradeship. And confusion. In battle, the order of the day was often disorder. Again and again survivors, gray, bald, potbellied, or cadaverous, remember chaos” (165). Soldiers had all these emotions at the time of war and so did many people living in the U.S. at the time. Everyone suffered one way or another and experienced the chaos. Robert Rasmus was very interesting to read about because he showed his good and bad feelings at the time of the war. Rasmus said, “I remember my mother saying, “Bob, you’ll be in it.” I was hoping she’d be right. At that age, you look forward to the glamour and have no idea of the horrors” (177). As a kid, Rasmus was excited to fight in the war. He was looking forward to the adrenalin rush. Even when he was in the army, Rasmus still was in a good mood. He said, “I was constantly fascinated with the beauty of the German forests and medieval bell towers” (178). Even when knowing that he could die any day, Rasmus saw the beauty in the world. He was good spirited, at least until he finally realized he was in the middle of the war. “Now the party’s over. You’re within a few miles of the front. You’re off the train into trucks. You hear gunfire in the distance” (180). Once you hear guns being shot, everything changes. All of the sudden, what you thought was a happy place suddenly turns into your worst enemy. Rasmus shows a perfect example of a soldier at the time of the war. He was both happy and nervous.