“Our Problem Children: Masculinity and the Airborne in World War II”

Making the decision to expand parachute infantry units from battalion to division size represented a deliberate gamble that the benefits would outweigh the costs. Despite popular images that depict World War II paratroopers in idealized terms, as the Army created these units, they unleashed a culture of toxic masculinity predicated on aggressive elitism with significant side-effects on the battlefield. I examine American decision to pursue expanded airborne units in World War II and the concomitant effects on masculinity, elitism, sexual violence, and the treatment of prisoners. Blending analysis of secondary works, memoirs, and archival research across the United States with theoretical conceptions of masculinity, it reflects themes of gender and war in World War II. The presentation discusses the difficulty of using fragmentary and inconclusive sources in reconstructing the dark side of warfare. I also offer a reconsideration of popular memory by restoring the harsh reality of war to narratives of American involvement in World War II and the paratroopers who played an instrumental role in the ultimate victory over global fascism. In addition to looking at the army-level decision making, I examine the decisions by tactical leaders to engender elitism while ignoring problematic behavior.