My students love to talk about battles, and that is an area that I feel the least confident talking about. While I understand strategy and tactics, I am far from an expert in these areas, and I do not know an American Tank from a Soviet Tank when shown pictures, which makes some of my students very disappointed in me. So my question is, how do you teach about the battles of World War II? Do you go into details or talk about what was important and how many people died?
This is a great question. I've been studying WWII since I was a kid (50 years). I've collected everything an American G.I. had. From a WWII jeep to the guns and all the way to G.I. socks. I used to think it was all about the battles. However in the last decade or so I've been reaching kids in my American History WAR class through the personal stories. The battle facts come to those who seek them. Most kids want to hear a great story. As a military historian, it's easy to talk about the M1 Garand, or the Airborne operation in Normandy. But I think the letters home, the sacrifice of being away from family for years, the USO shows, and the aluminum drives put on by school children are what really sells the war to modern kids. I'd go for that human level stuff and let the kids who want battles find the YouTube channels.
This is a great question. I've been studying WWII since I was a kid (50 years). I've collected everything an American G.I. had. From a WWII jeep to the guns and all the way to G.I. socks. I used to think it was all about the battles. However in the last decade or so I've been reaching kids in my American History WAR class through the personal stories. The battle facts come to those who seek them. Most kids want to hear a great story. As a military historian, it's easy to talk about the M1 Garand, or the Airborne operation in Normandy. But I think the letters home, the sacrifice of being away from family for years, the USO shows, and the aluminum drives put on by school children are what really sells the war to modern kids. I'd go for that human level stuff and let the kids who want battles find the YouTube channels.
