Among young generation, history fading fast

World War II lessons come from history books. And educational assemblies.

That much, teenagers and young adults can tell you. They also know that people made sacrifices 60 years ago.

Beyond that, some grandchildren of the World War II generation can’t explain exactly why the war was important or what is being commemorated today.

They will tell you that they saw “Pearl Harbor” with Ben Affleck, which was pretty good.

Mike Murphy, a 2002 graduate from Lake City High School in Coeur d’Alene, said most people his age don’t understand the significance of the war.

“They don’t pay attention to stuff like that, why they’re here and all that. They just, I don’t know how to say this, they could pretty much care less I guess. They just don’t care or don’t want to care,” Murphy said.

“Most of the stuff I know about wars and stuff like that comes from watching movies like ‘Pearl Harbor.’ “

Andrea Williams, 17, a junior at Lewis and Clark High School, said she knows that the war was a big part of history and that it was important.

But it’s not exactly a topic on the minds of people her age, she said.

“We know it happened. We know it’s important, but it’s not something we talk about a lot. Even with the war in Iraq, we don’t really talk about it …” Williams said. “If it’s in a history book, it’s something I need to know. I don’t know much about it. But the important thing is, in the big wars people die. It’s important that it happened, but I don’t know a lot about it. I think that’s the case with most high school students.”

But not all high school students.

When asked about the general significance of World War II, Gary Padrta, 16, a sophomore at Lewis and Clark High School, touched on Nazi Germany’s bid for world domination and how the war permanently changed U.S. foreign policy.

“People don’t really look at the Holocaust like they should,” Padrta said. “People trivialize the Holocaust.”

He thinks his peers downplay the Holocaust, and he’s not sure why.

“Maybe because it happened over there, maybe we don’t see it as a threat,” said Padrta, a member of the school debate team. “Maybe it’s because we don’t care about genocide … I mean look at what’s happening in Sudan right now, and no one cares.”

Some other lessons have emerged for students like Abby Rueder, 17, a junior at Moscow High School, who was shopping at the NorthTown mall Friday afternoon.

What struck her most in this year’s history class on World War II were the Japanese internment camps.

“I don’t see how we could do that again when we said it was such a big mistake,” Rueder said.

She understands that in a post-Sept. 11 era the U.S. government is trying to protect against future attacks, but she said there seems to be an increase in discrimination against suspected enemies.

“Aren’t they holding people in Guantanamo Bay?” she asked.

“I read this in the paper once, they have no actual proof these people actually did anything wrong, but they could still hold them as long as they wanted without giving them a trial. That’s what I got out of it, that’s what I thought was wrong,” she said.

Maybe one day Hollywood will make a movie about Guantanamo Bay.