I also think there’s a problem of, for want of a better term, distance in time. Here are some interesting figures.
Today almost all college undergraduates, and virtually all high school students, were born since Operation Desert Storm. To a 12-year-old, World War II has been over for 71 years.
When I was 12, in 1962, WWII had been over for 17 years. WWI had been over for 44 years. The Spanish-American War had been over for 64 years. And the country was in the midst of the Civil War centennial celebrations.
When my father was 12 years old, in 1924, WWI had been over for six years. And the Civil War had been over for 59 years.
That 71-year gap since WWII is pretty big - and getting bigger. Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that so many people know so little about it. The Doolittle Raid is now more distant than the Battle of Gettysburg was to my father - or the Battle of Jutland was to me when I was a kid.
Here’s another one. In my college military history courses, I give an assignment that requires each student to interview two people who went through some important event in American military history. I made that assignment for the first time in 1984, and a few of the students interviewed WWI vets. This year they had an awful time finding WWII vets. (Thank goodness for nursing homes.) these students are the grandchildren of Viet Nam vets. Some of their parents served in Desert Storm.
I feel old.