America’s living unknown soldiers
Amnesia and veteran imposters after the Great War
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21838166 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Evan P Sullivan (0000-0002-4275-9563, SUNY Adirondack, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 155-171 |
| Publication date | 2021-05-04 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | First World War Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1947-5020 • E-ISSN: 1947-5039 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/19475020.2021.2016466 |
| OpenAlex | W4200548856 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 19 |
Around 200,000 American soldiers were disabled as a result of the Great War, of which roughly 70,000 were classified as neuro-psychiatric. An even smaller number of veterans came home with amnesia. Newspaper reports from across the United States commented on mysterious stories of select soldiers who had turned up at US Army hospitals, or who had disappeared from those same places. Such stories mirrored the case of Anthelme Mangin in France that historian Jean-Yves Le Naour deftly explores in his book The Living Unknown Soldier. This article examines postwar discussions about America’s living unknown soldiers, by analysing Americans’ reception of Jerry Tarbot and Arthur Lopez-Frazier, who were well-documented amnesic veteran imposters. Subsequent analysis places the two men within broader anxieties about the visibility of war wounds as well as the particularities of American social welfare. Ultimately, the article demonstrates how grief suspended social marginalization and scepticism about nonvisible war wounds and malingering
Amnesia · Criminology · Grief · Newspaper · Political science · Psychiatry · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law · Psychology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |