Dear President Obama,

Let me first start out by addressing a reoccurring pattern in history. As I am sure you remember the Marshall Plan was meant to "rebuild" Europe after the destruction of World War II. “Marshall delivered his famous address on the idea for European recovery at Harvard University on June 5, 1947. In the following months, Marshall and others drafted a plan that embodied his conviction that economic recovery and stability were vital to the rebuilding of a democratic Europe.” It is clear to me that you were thinking along those lines when you invaded Libya. Your invasion of Libya has given the people of the United States a true look at your foreign policies in the Middle East and North Africa as well as some of your recent speeches such as when you were quoted as saying, “Born, as we are, out of a revolution by those who longed to be free, we welcome the fact that history is on the move in the Middle East and North Africa, and that young people are leading the way. Because wherever people long to be free, they will find a friend in the United States.” This tells us that your foreign policy echoes the Marshal Plan because it says that Americas should intervene when people are fighting for freedom and ask for help, when our interests are at stake (oil and security in Libya’s case and capitalism vs. communism in Europe’s case), when we have international support, and when other countries are prepared or willing to help us fight.
It is especially clear that it is important to you to have other countries support us when you say, “It is true that America cannot use our military wherever repression occurs. And given the costs and risks of intervention, we must always measure our interests against the need for action. But that cannot be an argument for never acting on behalf of what’s right. In this particular country – Libya; at this particular moment, we were faced with the prospect of violence on a horrific scale. We had a unique ability to stop that violence: an international mandate for action, a broad coalition prepared to join us, the support of Arab countries, and a plea for help from the Libyan people themselves. I support your “middle ground” stance on foreign policy. Your views are like a breath of fresh, air after having a president who was on one extreme side of not doing anything in a situation similar to Libya’s (President Clinton, Bosnia/ Rwanda) and a president on the other end of the spectrum who was extreme in his tactics of forcing regime change (President Bush, Iraq). In speaking of the previous comparison, your views would fall under a happy medium between the two polar opposites of doing something about the situation while not pushing change too hard on the people of that country.
Sincerely,
Malia Bence

Semester Dos, Blog 2

Dear Darla,

How are things going in New York for you? I miss it there... Tuskegee, Alabama just isn't my cup of tea. I have met many new young men that are becoming my friends though. They all have such interesting stories and perspective that they share with the rest of us and there are so many stories to be heard. There are 996 of us and those are just the pilots! There are also 15000 ground personnel! They are all from ranging states too. From Washington, to Los Angeles, to Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, and there are even a few other boys who are also from New York.
Anyways, I miss your cooking so much because there are simply long tables which we sit at to eat whatever the kitchen crew slops down in front of us. I also our sweet privacy that we had at home. Here at training camp, we are all crammed into bunk beds in relatively small rooms, but no matter, it will be worth it once I get my chance to serve in a war for my great country. You know, some of the boys and I were talking about it the other night and it may surprise people how dedicated we all are to our country considering the treatment this country has given us in the near past, but I guess our love is strong and true and cannot be broken.
You would be proud to hear that my commending officer was telling us the other day that since we are the first class and began our training in July 1941, we should be completing our training in only March of '42! There are thirteen men in our class and I plan on being one of the ones who complete the training!
My only complaint at this time would be that I heard that they are running low on qualified airmen for the war and even though we are perfect for the job, they still aren't letting us serve with them white men just because of the color of our skin! Boy, slavery may have ended 75 years ago, but I sure do still feel it in the air. All I can do at this point though is to just continue to hope that maybe one day all people of this great country will have the same rights and maybe even black pilots will be just as respected as them white folks. So maybe I can't get a promotion today because of my color but later I hope I might get one, I sure would love a promotion.
While everything is OK for me now, it could always be better. I am still worried about how you are doing back at home. I hope none of them neighbors are giving you any grief about having a black husband in the air force. If they do, you you have my complete permission to sick Rover on them. You wont have to deal with them for too much longer. However this brings me to my next fear (and I don't want you to go get upset), but there is always the possibility of my not returning home because of some accident that happened to me while at war. I am a little bit worried about this outcome just because I want you to be taken care of if in fact this situation were to come true. Even if I do return home, what will be the reactions of everyone once I arrive? Will they commend me? Will they be upset? Will they look down on me? I might even perform some heroic act at war and our country's government may not even honor me for it! All that work and I may still be looked down upon? Anyways, I am sorry to end this letter on a sad note, but it seems as though it is time for us to go to lunch now. I love you and hope to come home soon having assisted in winning our country a victory.

Love,
Bobby

Sources:
1. http://www.tuskegeeairmen.org/uploads/Who_Were_The_Tuskegee_Airmen.pdf

Semester Dos, Blog 10

During the second world war, my grandfather wanted to enlist in the military and serve his country extremely badly. When he turned 18 and he was finally old enough to serve, he went to the drafting board and signed up. However as a requirement to join the military you had to have a physical completed. When he got his physical, the doctors discovered that he had Tuberculosis in his lungs and so he was forbidden from serving. He was extremely sad about this news and also felt very ashamed since during the time of world war two everyone wanted to join the military and make their country proud. To this day he is still embarrassed and ashamed by the fact the he did not serve in World War Two.

1) 1941 - 1945

I see this poster as a recruitment and/or encouragement poster for all the young men that are fighting in the war or want to. It attempts to make you angry by the statistics and then it tells you what you can do about it by telling you to enlist.

2) When I first saw this piece of propaganda, I thought that it was a little ridiculous. It is portraying Hitler and all of the Japanese people as one huge horrific monster that is tearing America apart. This poster then goes on to say that any average American citizen can stop this so called monster simply by producing as much war supplies as they humanly possibly can.

3) by Henry Koerner, 1943

Printed by the Government Printing Office for the Office of War Information NARA Still Picture Branch

This poster is interesting to me because I did not know that they were asking for all American citizens to save their fats that they would have thrown away and take them to their "local meat dealer" so that they could then be used for explosives in the war.

Semester Dos, Blog 8

#1: One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey is a book that expresses how the times of the 1960's were a time of rebellion against the authorities in America. A time of hippies and protests. This is show through McMurphey and his constant challenging of Nurse Ratchet who is the "Big Nurse" and calls all of the shots and when her authority is challenged she would pull back and try to restrict the patients even more which then caused the patients to rebel even more. An example of how the patients feel as though they have no choice in what happens to them is when Harding says, "This world... belongs to the strong, my friend! The ritual of our existence is based on the strong getting stronger by devouring the weak. We must face up to this. No more than right law of the natural world. The rabbits accept their role in this ritual and recognize the wolf as the strong."