Louis R. Harlan (1922–2010)
Autore di Booker T. Washington: The Wizard of Tuskegee, 1901-1915
Sull'Autore
Louis R. Harlan, Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Maryland
Opere di Louis R. Harlan
Opere correlate
W. E. B. Du Bois: Propagandist of the Negro Protest (1968) — Introduzione, alcune edizioni — 32 copie
Region, Race and Reconstruction: Essays in Honor of C. Vann Woodward (1982) — Collaboratore — 19 copie
Etichette
Informazioni generali
- Nome canonico
- Harlan, Louis R.
- Nome legale
- Harlan, Louis Rudolph
- Data di nascita
- 1922-07-13
- Data di morte
- 2010-01-22
- Sesso
- male
- Nazionalità
- USA
- Luogo di nascita
- West Point, Mississippi, USA
- Luogo di residenza
- Decatur, Georgia, USA
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Lexington, Virginia, USA - Istruzione
- Emory University (1943)
Vanderbilt University (1948)
Johns Hopkins University (1955) - Attività lavorative
- historian
professor - Organizzazioni
- University of Maryland
- Premi e riconoscimenti
- American Historical Association
Organization of American Historians
Southern Historical Association
Utenti
Recensioni
Premi e riconoscimenti
Potrebbero anche piacerti
Autori correlati
Statistiche
- Opere
- 7
- Opere correlate
- 3
- Utenti
- 178
- Popolarità
- #120,889
- Voto
- 4.0
- Recensioni
- 3
- ISBN
- 15
Harlan’s training was minimal. Like Paul Fussell, he became an officer by virtue of his exposure to college. Never much at the practical application of knowledge, he graduated in the lower half of his midshipman class and was assigned to LCI 555, a brand new “ship” designed to beach and unload infantry directly to shore. Only one man in the crew had ever been to sea. “The war would be a transforming experience for an entire generation of Americans, who would later remember it with a nostalgia not justified by the evidence.” His LCI saw action during D-Day and later in the Mediterranean, before being transferred to the Pacific and Eniwetok atoll in preparation for the anticipated invasion of Japan. The atomic bomb significantly altered this assignment, and they were sent to Vietnam, where his ship almost caused an international incident. They naively transported some French and British officers to shore — after all they were allies — only to discover they were secretly negotiating the discharge of French prisoners, who then formed the nucleus of the French army in Vietnam. The U.S. hands were not clean either. Harlan’s LCI’s role was to transfer several thousand Kuomintang troops to waiting Liberty ships for transport to northern China, where they were to fight the Chinese Communists. So we managed to offend one side in two civil wars almost simultaneously.
Harlan did note the devastation to the civilian population caused by the war and concomitant corruption. Food intended for the starving people was sold by warlords to the highest bidder, which meant it was often shipped away from poor areas in dire need of relief. Similarities and contrasts between Harlan and Fussell are interesting. Both were junior officers who perceived the stupidity and wastefulness of war, both went on the graduate academic careers courtesy of the GI bill, but Fussell, as an infantryman was much closer to the horror. He became a cynic and critic, repelled by the coercive teamwork so destructive to individuality.
Harlan’s experience was more benign. He enjoyed the status and sense of place provided by the military experience and was clearly less embittered by the experience.… (altro)