A Religious History of the American GI in World War II
G. Kurt Piehler
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 2021, 416 pages
Book Review published on: March 31, 2023
Dr. G. Kurt Piehler is a history professor who researches war and society, oral history, and World War II. Not an operational oriented analysis, A Religious History of the American GI in World War II views the second world war through the lens of social history. It narrates the military experiences of Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Jewish groups in World War II from national, military institutional, and personal perspectives. The author presents well-researched analysis by setting political or strategic context by topic, then uses the GIs’ narratives to illustrate and argue his assessment. The book is full of the lived experiences of GIs during the war, telling the story of how U.S. religious pluralism factored into U.S. mobilization for the war and the conduct of the war itself. Piehler concludes with a discussion of religion and reconciliation, providing valuable insight on the contingencies between war and peace.
The book is a timely commentary about the complexities of U.S. military historical efforts to address elements of diversity in its population. Not an apologist, Piehler takes the U.S. military of World War II to task in several areas. He challenges the assertion that the American GI was without ideology, arguing that religion supported and sustained the American GI throughout the war. Acknowledging the realities of racism and nationalism, Piehler’s assesses religious practice in the U.S. military during World War II as within a mostly diverse cultural context. He attributes the religious pluralism the military experienced to political leadership and cultural conditions particular to the United States. Much of his analysis contrasts army and navy experiences before and during the war, shedding light on connections between the American military and society, and illustrating social and cultural context that remains relevant today.
One relevant topic is his analysis of the religious experiences of Native Americans, Asian Americans, and African Americans. He illuminates the limits of the military’s religious pluralism for these marginalized groups, providing considerations about discrimination in our military today. He also narrates the role religion played in German and Japanese reconciliation. The value in this analysis lies not in illustrating a successful road map for reconciliation after a conflict, but the contingency between war and reconciliation. For example, he asserts that Japanese reconciliation came with a pacifist Buddhism, detached from the Japanese government. The reborn religion, despite Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s emphasis on Christianity, unified the Japanese nation. While racism and post conflict reconciliation are timely topics for military professionals, Piehler also addresses topics of interest to a broader academic audience.
Two of these other topics include Jewish prisoners of war and censorship during the war. Regarding the first, it is possible to determine that most captured Jewish GIs survived captivity, but Piehler reveals the absence of records available that discuss their religious practices or experience while captive. It is difficult to determine why, but the author suggests the silence may be related to the comparison to the Holocaust leaving the reader to consider the cause. The second topic also results in a gap in the historical record, the effects of military censorship. The author asserts that censorship occurred to magnify government messaging about the war, but it left a biased record. He cautions readers and researchers about the reliability of the excessively positive portrayals, and questions what we may never be able to learn about the religious lives of GIs. This also leaves the reader to consider what happened, prompting reflection or further study.
Overall, the book does well to narrate the complexities and contingencies of tri-faith pluralism experienced by GIs through the war. It is well worth reading for military professionals, historians, and anyone with an interest in the history of religion in the United States. It is the frank and captivating story of religious pluralism in the U.S. military during World War II.
Book Review written by: John McGrady, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas