Military Chaplains in World War II

Use the code 6AS21 to save 40% on this book by ordering through University of Nebraska Press. Military  chaplaincy has one of the longest histories in the profession of  spiritual care. Join G. Kurt Piehler, Associate Professor of History and  Director of the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience at  Florida State University, for a discussion of military chaplaincy in  World War II. A Religious History of the American GI in World War  II breaks new ground by recounting the armed forces’ unprecedented  efforts to meet the spiritual needs of the fifteen million men and women  who served in World War II. For President Franklin D. Roosevelt and  many GIs, religion remained a core American value that fortified their  resolve in the fight against Axis tyranny. While combatants turned to  fellow comrades for support, even more were sustained by prayer. GIs  flocked to services, and when they mourned comrades lost in battle,  chaplains offered solace and underscored the righteousness of their  cause. This study is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand  the social history of the American GI during World War II. Drawing  on an extensive range of letters, diaries, oral histories, and memoirs,  G. Kurt Piehler challenges the conventional wisdom that portrays the  American GI as a nonideological warrior. American GIs echoed the views  of FDR, who saw a Nazi victory as a threat to religious freedom and  recognized the antisemitic character of the regime. Official policies  promoted a civil religion that stressed equality between Protestantism,  Roman Catholicism, and Judaism. Many chaplains embraced this tri-faith  vision and strived to meet the spiritual needs of all servicepeople  regardless of their own denomination. While examples of bigotry,  sectarianism, and intolerance remained, the armed forces fostered the  free exercise of religion that promoted a respect for the plurality of  American religious life among GIs.

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