The veteran experience in literature: World War II, Vietnam, and their cultural catharses

This text explores the veteran experience in World War II in comparison and contrast with the Vietnam War. The cultural phenomenon of assimilation back into one's native culture after each war and the actual experience of war are evaluated through literary analysis. Five primary texts provide the assessment of these two wars and their respective circumstances: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck, Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford, and Indian Country by Philip Caputo. These texts challenge the common conception of "good" war versus "bad" war in relation to psychological scars left upon their veterans. Since World War II was deemed a necessary and "moral" war, those who fought in it felt they had to suppress their anxieties related to taking others' lives. However, people considered the Vietnam War to be unnecessary and "evil." Thus, those who left the war scarred were able to express their misgivings about their deeds. They shouted loudly and clearly their grief and shame for being a part of the war effort; giving a voice not only to their generation, but also to the WWII generation before them.