front lines. (74) The US government and industry played on Americans sense of patriotism in order to get them to support the war or buy their products. However, it [advertising] is by nature emotional, rather than intellectual; it sells feelings rather than ideas. (73) Government propaganda and business advertising were not the only factors in forming the inaccurate myth of the Second World War. Hollywood made films where people get blown up with their clothes and fall gracefully to the ground. (100) Through the realism of motion pictures, Americans were falsely led to believe in glorified war. (100) The other major factor in allowing the war to be dubbed as the best war ever was the economic prosperity. The U.S. gross national product increased 60 percent during the war. (114) Such contrast to the depression years of the 1930s further implied this was a golden era. The reality under the cover of myth was repulsive. . . . the coast was littered with shattered boats, tanks, trucks, rations, packs, buttocks, thighs, torsos, hands, heads. (101) Americans never witnessed the carnage. To add insult to injury, when soldiers on leave told of these horrors, they were considered cowards and victims of momism. Contrary to popular belief, US soldiers were not as ethical in their behavior and tactics as believed. GIs fathered tens of thousands of illegitimate children and took advantage of womens desperate need for food, cigarettes, and even clothing to trade them for sex. (93-94) Surely such immoral behavior was not depicted in the movies and neither was the horror that led soldiers to lose all respect for human life on the battlefield. Garbage was dumped on the enemy dead, and men urinated into their mouths. (112) The truth behind the home front was equally distorted. Many couples married only so the husband could avoid the draft. The idea that children were better behaved when so many fathers were overseas and mothers in the production lines wa...
