Greg

We need to stop worrying about our past.  What do the mistakes that we have made mean now?  What’s the use of scratching them from the record?  Removing the blemishes from our history may make us appear better in a history book but it does not improve us in anyway.  Let’s work in the other direction.  Rather than worrying about what we have done, let’s focus on what we do.  If we always do our best to make the right move than we would minimize the amount of mistakes that we would later regret.  We would also minimize the desire to revise our past.  Just try to imagine what would happen if changing history were a common practice.  Every time a country messed up it could just pretend that it had never happened.  It wouldn’t really matter how anyone conduct himself or herself.  Nations could bomb whomever they want, take over whatever country they please, and live however they like.  It wouldn’t matter because we would always go back and wipe the slate clean.  If we were to make a habit of revising history than we would be setting ourselves up for a very dark future.
 

Andrew

I do not remember a war that we won. That is the problem. I only remember a war that I was told about. And I now realize that there is a big difference between remembering and being told. So how do we remember a war that we won? I began taking history courses in the 6th grade, was marveled by the amount of power, and influence the United States had over other countries in the world. At that time however, I was unaware of the power and influence they themselves had over society. The education provided to students in public schools where I lived is a set curriculum. Students are taught what society wants them to know, instead of being exposed to a curriculum that provides room for the expansion of ideas or to keep students up-to-date with current events. As a student, I studied what I was taught never questioning its validity. Now that I have studied the Enola Gay controversy, I have become a critical thinker. I find myself probing words and phrases, looking for anything that might sound redundant or that comes in conflict with what I have previously learned. By comparing and contrasting historical documents with present day descriptions of historical events, I have ascertained the type of knowledge that has stimulated growth in many areas of study.

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Learning about the positive and negative aspects of our country's history is necessary and must be done. Along with learning we should analyze what we have learned. We should ask ourselves, “How this apply to me [and] what meaning can I get out of it?” I have learned in psychology that when one makes true meaning of anything they relate to themselves. It is called the Self-Reference effect. Information deemed relevant to us is more likely to be processed deeply and to be accessible in memory. That is why I feel that we should be critical thinkers and find what is true for ourselves. We all do not learn alike and that is why we should ask our own questions. We should remember that there is nothing that can be done in the present to modify the past. Therefore, the only benefit of former events that some might not agree with is to ascertain knowledge and to possibly secure an understanding of the acts or happenings in an attempt to prevent their reoccurrence.
 

Brian

Why then must history be studied?  What is the connection between teaching people and history repeating itself?  Teaching the events of history does not affect the minds of people enough to ensure a safe future.  However, teaching people the effect and consequences it has had, will.  That is what is most important: that the public understands why an event happened and what it has caused.

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“Should we have dropped the bomb?” and “Was this attack justified?” are questions that are still debated.  The world will never be in total agreement with those answers.  However, studying the events in a course like this is what propels us to understanding.  History is not just something for professors and exhibit designers at the Smithsonian to study.  History is only history if it is not repeated.  Therefore, it is the duty of everyone to become knowledgeable of the events of the past.