The Cold War and Modern Memory: Veterans Reflect on Military Service.

Abstract

This paper uses data from focused interviews to look at how veterans who served primarily during the peacetime Cold War portrayed the effects of military service. Most veterans described being a soldier, sailor, or airman as a neutral, transitional role. Veterans also described their service as having features that are consistent with views of such service as both a positive turning point and a negative disruption. However, only one veteran described military service as operating as a positive turning point in his own life, and just two described it has having been a disruption in their lives. In addition, veterans who served as officers described learning leadership and confidence in the armed forces, which may help explain an observed quantitative officer premium. This latter finding is consistent with a view of the armed forces as facilitating the accumulation of advantage.