Description
On September 20, 1943, George Strock's famous Buna Beach photograph brought battlefield death to the pages of Life Magazine, representing the home front’s first “official” glimpse of the hideous face of death in World War II. In reality, the photograph was months behind other efforts to show the reality of death on the far-away battlefields of the Pacific to the American public. Earlier in 1943, the Office of Civilian Defense (OCD) embarked on a campaign to convince Americans at home to make greater sacrifices in support of the war effort. Though officially censored, the OCD campaign included depictions of dead or dying Soldiers in their push. Dr. James J. Kimble of Seton Hall University, gives a lecture at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC) in Carlisle, Pennsylvania to place the OCD’s efforts in the context of the U.S. government’s fervent censorship of American servicemen’s death on the battlefield. Since the imagery of death was officially censored at that point in the conflict, the campaign became a defining moment for the emotional involvement of civilians in what had been, for many, a distant war. Dr. Kimble reveals vital connections between the home front and the battlefront, and critiques the Roosevelt Administration's handling of the war's most gruesome propaganda.
Disciplines
Publication Date
November 16, 2016
Comments
WARNING: This lecture will contain graphic images of war-time death, including bodies of American Servicemen during World War II, and may be unsuitable for some audiences.
Citation Information
James Kimble. "Battlefield Death, Censored Imagery, and Home Front Morale in World War II by Dr. James Kimble" (2016) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/james-kimble/34/