Documenting United States History

432 ChApTEr 19 | Containment and ConfliCt | period eight 1945 –198 0

p rACTICINg historical Thinking

Identify: What is the purpose of the money that Truman requests?

Analyze: Truman states: “Should we fail to aid Greece and Turkey in this fateful

hour, the effect will be far reaching to the West as well as to the East.” What effect

does Truman most fear in this context?

Evaluate: Compare the Truman Doctrine with George F. Kennan’s long telegram

(Doc. 19.2). Do these two documents address the same concerns in the same way?

Explain.

Document 19.4 JOHn n. WHeeLer, Letter Home from

Korean War

1950

The Korean Conflict (1950–1953) grew from the division of Korea in the aftermath of the

Second World War. When communist North Korea invaded US-supported South Korea,

the United States found itself compelled to apply the Truman Doctrine to Asia. Although

the United States fought under a United Nations mandate, US and South Korean soldiers

did most of the fighting throughout the conflict.

Can’t say as I blame you, Dad, for your opinions of Mr. Truman and his admin-

istration. However, you must remember that his opinions as well as his actions

represent the vast majority of the “Soft-bellied Americans” who, for the life of

them, couldn’t see giving up a few of the needless luxuries of life to support a

military machine big enough to protect the peace and liberty that they take for

granted. Only those who have visited foreign countries can realize what they

mean. It would be a good lesson to the Americans if they had to fight a war on

their own soil, and had to lie for a short time under the sadistic rule of this band

of perverted sadists who call themselves communists. They claim that they want

to help the “worker”—all they want to do is to help themselves. Mass murder,

rape torture, and starvation is the rule and not the exception with them. They

have proved it here as well as everywhere else. I could see nothing more fitting

for a young man to do then to devote his entire life to killing everyone of them.

Andrew Carroll, ed, War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars (New York:

Simon & Schuster), 2001.

p rACTICINg historical Thinking

Identify: What arguments are most prominent in this letter?

Analyze: What is the writer’s tone? What words best illustrate his tone?

Evaluate: Did the American soldier represent the full American worldview in the late

1940s and early 1950s? Use classroom notes and your textbook to help you respond.

TopIC I | the origins of the Cold War 433

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