Posted: 12/14/2008 6:49:16 PM EDT
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I live off campus at Mizzou but just got back from a dorm because I use their printers to print off assignments. Of course, there's a bunch of students in groups studying for finals when I get to the student lounge (where the printers are). I get to an open computer and start printing the documents I need, check email and forums and all that good stuff. Well, I start eavesdropping on a study group because they are sitting really close to me and they were mentioning WWII key terms. One of the terms they needed to study was D-Day. One of the students in the study group comments that he thinks it was something to do with America vs. Germany but didn't know what year it happened. The entire group of 5 had to look up in the their book when and what D-Day was. WTF?!?!
The next term was Hiroshima, as they discussed the subject the group didn't know why we bombed Japan! (Not the name of the B-29 nor the name of the actual bomb.) Ahhhhhh! This is stuff that shouldn't even need to be tested. It should be ingrained in memory! The list goes on about how frightening the lack of knowledge about WWII was with these kids. Now, I don't pretend to know everything about WWII (not even close). Or maybe I know more than the average person because that's a major interest of mine. But seriously?! After that rant, I am speechless. Epic FAIL!!! |
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So you agree that there was in fact a WWII and that D-Day, and Hiroshima actually happened? Good! You do realize that the Holocaust actually happened too right?
What about Iwo? did that happen? What about Pearl Harbor? Did that one happen? Was it in their "Selective History" book? 
What would have happened if the German's hadn't bombed Pearl Harbor? WWII was Bush's fault, Halliburton ran the whole thing from Texas... IT WAS for OIL!!!! Bush Lied People Died! Even before he was born!!! |
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Sadly, your experience isn't an aberration. I'm 38 and went back to school full-time last year for a second degree (in nursing). My first degree is a history degree, and while I don't claim to know everything, I also don't expect non-historians to know as much as me.
My 20-something classmates are generally dumb as shit. Their history and civics knowledge base is astoundingly and shamefully minimal. Example: I have a POW-MIA plate on my car. One of my classmates actually said "POW-MIA (she pronounced POW like 'Cow' and MIA like the end of the word 'diarrhea') is that a Harley thing?" Supposedly, she saw many biker types with POW-MIA stuff and decided this had something to do with bikes. And these are students who have taken multiple university-level classes in biology, chemistry, etc. and have really good grades. Public education and these students' parents have failed miserably. |
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I thought the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor was common knowledge?  I was going to post a smart@ss "Animal House" quote. I did a internet search for a picture of John Belushi to add to it. I found several t-shirts with John's face and "Germans bombed Pearls Harbor" printed on them. There were a lot of comments about the shirts that started with "Wow, the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?". 
We as a nation are pretty much screwed from within! 
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I wear my Peral Harbor shirt every Dec. 7th in honor of those souls who lost their lives that day...last year, during my last semester of college I was wearing it. The shirt is blue and has an American flag and the words "Peral Harbor, December 7th 1941" on the front. On the back is a picture of the battle ship Arizona and the words "USS Arizona". Sitting in class and another student walks in, reads the front and sits down behind me. Couple seconds later they say, "Huh, I though Peral Harbor was in Hawaii, not Arizona." I turned around thinking they were just joking, but no, I had to explain that the Arizona was a battleship that sank during the attack....I was like Public education is the FAIL...
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| I know how that is when I was getting my degree a couple of years ago. I was stuck in a history class with 18-19 year olds (I'm in my 30's) and none of them knew anything about early American history. The kids would all look at me waiting for an answer when the professor would ask a question. VERY SAD! I took the class during the summer so the kids had just graduated. I had a few discussions with the professor on the sorry state of high school education now days. |
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So you agree that there was in fact a WWII and that D-Day, and Hiroshima actually happened? Good! You do realize that the Holocaust actually happened too right? What about Iwo? did that happen? What about Pearl Harbor? Did that one happen? Was it in their "Selective History" book?
What would have happened if the German's hadn't bombed Pearl Harbor? WWII was Bush's fault, Halliburton ran the whole thing from Texas... IT WAS for OIL!!!! Bush Lied People Died! Even before he was born!!! Is there a joke I missed? When did the Germans bomb pearl harbor? I've heard of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor... |
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So you agree that there was in fact a WWII and that D-Day, and Hiroshima actually happened? Good! You do realize that the Holocaust actually happened too right? What about Iwo? did that happen? What about Pearl Harbor? Did that one happen? Was it in their "Selective History" book?
What would have happened if the German's hadn't bombed Pearl Harbor? WWII was Bush's fault, Halliburton ran the whole thing from Texas... IT WAS for OIL!!!! Bush Lied People Died! Even before he was born!!! Is there a joke I missed? When did the Germans bomb pearl harbor? I've heard of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor... Geez! You probably don't even remember the second battle of Pearl Harbor from the 70's Well if you don't know about the German's Bombing Pearl prior to WWII then I certainly can't help you.
Uh, yeah it is a joke. Not inside, it is from a movie.... I expected a lot more from a Commo Guy... Sheesh... 
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So you agree that there was in fact a WWII and that D-Day, and Hiroshima actually happened? Good! You do realize that the Holocaust actually happened too right? What about Iwo? did that happen? What about Pearl Harbor? Did that one happen? Was it in their "Selective History" book?
What would have happened if the German's hadn't bombed Pearl Harbor? WWII was Bush's fault, Halliburton ran the whole thing from Texas... IT WAS for OIL!!!! Bush Lied People Died! Even before he was born!!! Is there a joke I missed? When did the Germans bomb pearl harbor? I've heard of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor... Go watch the movie Animal House. 
D-Day: War's over, man. Wormer dropped the big one. Bluto: Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! Otter: Germans? Boon: Forget it, he's rolling. Bluto: And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough... [thinks hard] Bluto: the tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go! [runs out, alone; then returns] Bluto: What the f*ck happened to the Delta I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're gonna let it be the worst. "Ooh, we're afraid to go with you Bluto, we might get in trouble." Well just kiss my @ss from now on! Not me! I'm not gonna take this. Wormer, he's a dead man! Marmalard, dead! Niedermeyer... Otter: Dead! Bluto's right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part. Bluto: We're just the guys to do it. D-Day: Let's do it. Bluto: *Let’s do it*! |
Just don't tell him about the second battle of Pearl Harbor!!!
They made a movie about in in 1980, The Japanese tried to attack with Mitsubishi Zeros again, but the Nimitz intercepted them while still at sea The Movie was presented as "Science Fiction" but a few of us know it really happened too. Top Secret very hush hush, the US did't lose any aircraft or ships, but I mean F-14 Tomcats Vs the Zero? A Modern US Carrier Air Group attacking a Japanese Battle Group in the Pacific, they never knew what hit them. This battle was never depicted in the movie, The Government was affraid that someone would put two and two together... 
Rare footage of an engagement http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3XNEWtJF0o |
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Just don't tell him about the second battle of Pearl Harbor!!! 
They made a movie about in in 1980, The Japanese tried to attack with Mitsubishi Zeros again, but the Nimitz intercepted them while still at sea The Movie was presented as "Science Fiction" but a few of us know it really happened too. Top Secret very hush hush, the US did't lose any aircraft or ships, but I mean F-14 Tomcats Vs the Zero? A Modern US Carrier Air Group attacking a Japanese Battle Group in the Pacific, they never knew what hit them. This battle was never depicted in the movie, The Government was affraid that someone would put two and two together...  When questioned about defending Pearl Harbor, Kirk Douglas says something like "I gave an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution...In any period of time'! 
The USS Nimitz, a modern-day nuclear aircraft carrier, is drawn through a time warp to December 6th, 1941. |
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Was that movie titled "A day in tine"? Interesting movie. Max http://www.spectrepublishing.com/TheFinalCountdownDVD.jpg Circa 1980 IIRC...a full 5 years before my birth 
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Was that movie titled "A day in tine"? Interesting movie. Max http://www.spectrepublishing.com/TheFinalCountdownDVD.jpg Circa 1980 IIRC...a full 5 years before my birth
The whole event was wiped from the history books by the Carter Administration, the Movie was supposed to be a documentary, but the .GOV made them make it fiction to keep the whole battle secret. Oddly this is an often overlooked conspiracy, The Government launches the other flashy conspiracies to keep this one under wraps... On a realistic note, in your travels tomorrow, ask 5 random people about several historical events. Such as Ask them if Blackhawk Down was a true story, Ask them to explain VJ day. Ask them what "Enola Gay" was Or better yet WHO Enola Gay was or Paul Tibbets or here is a good one that may even stump a couple floaters on this very board What is "Bocks Car"? If you know just acknowledge it, Don't spill the beans... You can even in your everyday travels enlighten people to what they don't know. Print out information on todays heroes citations to accompany their awards of the Medal of Honor and so forth and let the world know about heroes. |
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Such as Ask them if Blackhawk Down was a true story, Ask them to explain VJ day. Ask them what "Enola Gay" was Or better yet WHO Enola Gay was or Paul Tibbets or here is a good one that may even stump a couple floaters on this very board What is "Bocks Car"? If you know just acknowledge it, Don't spill the beans... I know.(I think.) Yep, I was right. |
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Such as Ask them if Blackhawk Down was a true story, Ask them to explain VJ day. Ask them what "Enola Gay" was Or better yet WHO Enola Gay was or Paul Tibbets or here is a good one that may even stump a couple floaters on this very board What is "Bocks Car"? If you know just acknowledge it, Don't spill the beans... I know.(I think.) Yep, I was right. Me too... |
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Such as Ask them if Blackhawk Down was a true story, Ask them to explain VJ day. Ask them what "Enola Gay" was Or better yet WHO Enola Gay was or Paul Tibbets or here is a good one that may even stump a couple floaters on this very board What is "Bocks Car"? If you know just acknowledge it, Don't spill the beans... I see your "Bocks Car" and raise you the city it was originally supposed to drop it on 
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First of all.................NO FAIR LOOKING IT UP!!!!!!!!
On May 4th 1990 I walked into my office and asked my secretary: "Do you know what happened twenty years ago today?" Her comment was: "Was that the date we bombed Pearl Harbor?" I'm NOT kidding!!!!!!! Now again, WITHOUT looking it up.......................what occurred on May 4th 1970? PursuitSS |
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I grew up in Columbia and went to school there for all but 2 years; American history after 1940 was not stressed much.
As for Mizzou; there was some major fail going on when I went. I had a Philosophy of War and Peace class taught by two peaceniks. We actually watched Dr. Strangelove in class as part of a discussion on the use of nuclear weapons.
In another class, the prof was rumored to show up to class drunk (for a class that started before 10am); I blew it off until I had to ask him a question before class one day. He was hammered as hell. |
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I am currently substitute teaching
I asked our students what D-Day and Hiroshima were and got blank looks. I asked about Pearl Harbor and one kid knew that the Japanese had attacked us there because he'd seen the movie. I asked him when. He said, "1976." July 4,1776 - answer "we gained independence from Britain" - close None could put the Revolutionary War, Civil War, WWI and WWII in order. Only 1 could match George Washington with the Rev. War (commander not president), Abraham Lincoln with Civil War and FDR with WWII. We're doomed 
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How old were the students Wdsman? My dad taught 8th graders that couldn't read a standard clock, they would always ask what the time was and he wouldn't tell them, he'd just point at the clock and they'd get mad because they couldn't figure it out. If you know where Grandview, MO is you'll understand that anecdote a bit better.
I remember reading about the making of the "Pearl Harbor" movie a few years ago, and how John Voight was called back during post production to shoot more scenes as Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was given a larger role than initially planned, because test audiences screening the film were confused about who his character was. Apparently a very significant number of people in the test audiences believed FDR and JFK were the same president, and were confused about whether John Voight's character would later be killed by Lee Harvey Oswald. I wish I had saved the article about this, I've never forgotten it. |
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How old were the students Wdsman? My dad taught 8th graders that couldn't read a standard clock, they would always ask what the time was and he wouldn't tell them, he'd just point at the clock and they'd get mad because they couldn't figure it out. If you know where Grandview, MO is you'll understand that anecdote a bit better. I remember reading about the making of the "Pearl Harbor" movie a few years ago, and how John Voight was called back during post production to shoot more scenes as Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was given a larger role than initially planned, because test audiences screening the film were confused about who his character was. Apparently a very significant number of people in the test audiences believed FDR and JFK were the same president, and were confused about whether John Voight's character would later be killed by Lee Harvey Oswald. I wish I had saved the article about this, I've never forgotten it. Oh GOD we are SOOOO screwed!!!! Freaking computers!!!!
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How old were the students Wdsman? My dad taught 8th graders that couldn't read a standard clock, they would always ask what the time was and he wouldn't tell them, he'd just point at the clock and they'd get mad because they couldn't figure it out. If you know where Grandview, MO is you'll understand that anecdote a bit better.
I remember reading about the making of the "Pearl Harbor" movie a few years ago, and how John Voight was called back during post production to shoot more scenes as Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was given a larger role than initially planned, because test audiences screening the film were confused about who his character was. Apparently a very significant number of people in the test audiences believed FDR and JFK were the same president, and were confused about whether John Voight's character would later be killed by Lee Harvey Oswald. I wish I had saved the article about this, I've never forgotten it. It's the "Alternative School" students today ranged in age from 8th -10th. One of the Sophomores was the only one who answered any questions correctly. The other thing was they were amazed that I actually knew these things. |