The following is a quote from a large-circulation American magazine:
The troops returning home are worried. "We've lost the peace," men tell you. "We can't make it stick." . . . Friend and foe alike, look you accusingly in the face and tell you how bitterly they are disappointed in you as an American. . . . Never has American prestige in Europe been lower. . . . Instead of coming in with a bold plan of relief and reconstruction we came in full of evasions and apologies. . . . A great many Europeans feel that the cure has been worse than the disease. The taste of victory had gone sour in the mouth of every thoughtful American I met. . . People never tire of telling you of the ignorance and rowdy-ism of American troops." The French warn that, "our policy is producing results opposite to those we planned." Meanwhile, some troops are tired of talk about grants to the war-torn nation. Says one, "Let them pay for it. It's their fault."
This article, by John Dos Passos, appeared in Life magazine, Jan. 7, 1946.
Thanks to JessicasWell.com.