|
Product Description
When the U.S. Army drafted Elvis Presley in 1958, it quickly set about transforming the King of Rock and Roll from a rebellious teen idol into a clean-cut GI. Trading in his gold-trimmed jacket for standard-issue fatigues, Elvis became a model soldier in an army facing the unprecedented challenge of building a fighting force for the Atomic Age.
In an era that threatened Soviet-American thermonuclear annihilation, the army declared it could limit atomic warfare to the battlefield. It not only adopted a radically new way of fighting but also revamped its equipment, organization, concepts, and training practices. From massive garrisons in Germany and Korea to nuclear tests to portable atomic weapons, the army reinvented itself. Its revolution in warfare required an equal revolution in personnel: the new army needed young officers and soldiers who were highly motivated, well trained, and technologically adept. Drafting Elvis demonstrated that even this icon of youth culture was not too cool to wear the army’s uniform.
The army of the 1950s was America’s most racially and economically egalitarian institution, providing millions with education, technical skills, athletics, and other opportunities. With the cooperation of both the army and the media, military service became a common theme in television, music, and movies, and part of this generation’s identity. Brian Linn traces the origins, evolution, and ultimate failure of the army’s attempt to transform itself for atomic warfare, revealing not only the army’s vital role in creating Cold War America but also the experiences of its forgotten soldiers.
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
- In the Shadow of War: The United States since the 1930s
- America's Army: Making the All-Volunteer Force
- Doughboys, the Great War, and the Remaking of America (War/Society/Culture)
- African Americans and the Pacific War, 1941-1945: Race, Nationality, and the Fight for Freedom
- The Missile Next Door: The Minuteman in the American Heartland
- The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced By War
- Beyond Combat: Women and Gender in the Vietnam War Era
- Freedom Struggles: African Americans and World War I
- The Cold War: A New History
- The Good Occupation: American Soldiers and the Hazards of Peace
*If this is not the "Elvis's Army: Cold War GIs and the Atomic Battlefield" product you were looking for, you can check the other results by clicking this link. Details were last updated on Nov 22, 2024 22:28 +08.