What Did You Do in the War, Grandma?

Zoe Tracy Hardy’s “What Did You Do in the War, Grandma?” is an interesting essay. Similar to Laurence’s essay about the bombing of Nagasaki, Hardy describes how she took part in helping to end World War II. At the age of 18, Hardy was determined to go “where something real was being done to end the bitter war.” (366) It was because of this determination that she decided to leave her hometown in Iowa to work for the Glenn. L Martin Company in Omaha. While there, she worked with blueprints that were used to create the B-29’s that carried and dropped the bombs in Japan. Hardy described the people that she met, and the environment of the factory, including details about the B-29’s framework and the time and effort that went into creating them.

Throughout the essay, it seems that Hardy is confused about the exact part she is playing in helping to end the war. At first she seemed eager; she felt a sense of pride and togetherness. While observing other workers in the factory she stated, “I cheered myself by thinking how we were pouring it on, a multitude of us together creating this great bird to end the war.” (368) It isn’t until the end that Hardy truly feels uneasy about her decision. I found this to be true when Hardy stated,

“If he [President Truman] had asked me whether I would work very hard to help bring this horror   into being, knowing it would shorten the war but put the world into jeopardy for all time, how would I   have answered? I would have said no. With all due respect, Sir, how could such a thing make a just end to our just cause?” (373)

Although both Laurence and Hardy describe moments in which they took part in the bombings of World War II, I feel that Hardy did a better job in describing the actual complexity of feelings that people felt during that time.