I found this chapter, titled Gratitude, very interesting. That may be due to the fact that my discussion is on this chapter or the fact that I am fascinated by war memorials in general. Doss states that gratitude is "typically understood as a gesture of appreciation, an expression of thankfulness" (page 194). Yes, of course, gratitude is what memorials evoke, but I think it goes further beyond that. When I visit a memorial, especially the memorials for World War II and Vietnam in DC, I feel like "thank you" may not be enough.
One thing I found very interesting is that the participants of World War II are continuously referred to as the "greatest generation." However, Doss never gives any other reason to why this is other than the fact that these men fought in World War II. I am not saying they aren't the "greatest generation" but I wonder how participants in many other great wars feel about that title.
Obviously, the size of the National World War II Memorial is amazing. When I visited the National World War II Memorial on a field trip during my junior year, I was taken back by the size compared to some of the other memorials. Does that mean its more important? Doss states that "audiences struggle for meaning at the National World War II Memorial" (page 203). And, I completely agree because I struggled to find its meaning. Yes, I know its purpose is to honor World War II, but when I actually visited, I don't think I appreciated it for what it actually is. This may have been because I was just a junior in high school and our chaperones pretty much just left us on our own to explore each memorial. I remember my classmates and I just sitting around the pool, trying to pet the ducks that were walking around. I'm not saying the memorial is a joke, but its hard to appreciate the meaning when you do not know what each specific part of the memorial represents. For example, Doss states that many people do not know that the pillars with the names of the states at the time of the war are arranged in order of admission to the union. Also, the wall of stars is meant to symbolize soldier dead. I'm excited to visit this memorial next week to analyze and appreciate it more closely than I did before.
I thought the section on war porn was very interesting. War porn includes movies, TV shows, toys, video games, and magazines that "resemble" war in some way and show how America is fascinated by war. I also thought the fact that war dogs are being honored at The National War Dog Monument is great. I guess I didn't really thing about the fact that dogs are often used during war and sacrifice their lives for something they don't understand.
Finally, I thought it was interesting how Doss talks about how the Vietnam War seems to have been erased and somewhat compares the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the National World War II Memorial. The placement and size of the World War II Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is extremely different. For example, the World War II Memorial takes up 7.4 acres while the Vietnam Veterans Memorial only takes up 2 acres of the National Mall. Also, Doss sates that "situating the National World War II Memorial in the middle of the National Mall was entirely deliberate - a concentrated effort to challenge the memory and symbolic authority of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial" (Page 240). I found this confusing because I don't think any memorial should purposefully created to "challenge" another memorial as I believe all the memorials on the National Mall are equally important. However, the placement of the World War II Memorial and its size seem like a little too much, although the war is very important. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which I see as just important, is off to the side of the mall and not nearly as grand but I think very moving due to the actual veterans' names on the wall.
In the end, I can't wait to go to DC next week. Although I have already been to the National Mall many times before, I'm excited to visit them again with this Gratitude chapter in mind.
-Mary Carson Irvine
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