“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (King James Version). This verse from the Bible is perfectly displayed in the life and death of Billie G. Kanell. To those who do not know his story, Private Kanell is simply considered another small town boy who went off to fight in the war, as many young men did during that time, and never came back. However, to those who know his story, he is considered a very courageous and heroic young man who touched the lives of many others with his selfless sacrifice.
Billie Gene Kanell was born in the small town of Poplar Bluff, Missouri on June 21, 1931 to parents John and Iva Kanell. Kanell attended school in Poplar Bluff from Eugene Elementary to Poplar Bluff Senior High when he dropped out to go to work. He worked at Hill Brothers Coal Company as an office and delivery boy, and after that he worked at a tree service company as a tree trimmer. As the second oldest child in his family, he frequently helped with the household chores, such as the cooking, and helped watch after his younger siblings. His younger sister, Betty Kanell Pruitt, describes him as “An ‘old mother hen’, He was always checking our bicycle wheels and bandaging our knees.” (Pruitt). Billie’s childhood is one that would seem completely normal. He enjoyed many of the same things other boys his age did, such as swimming, fishing, and playing the harmonica. John Kanell made sure that all of his children learned to handle guns at a young age, becoming expert marksmen (Pruitt). This ability would prove useful to Kanell in his few days of service.
Billie came from a family with military history, having a father who served 20 years himself. Upon hearing of North Korea’s invasion of South Kore...
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...own lives. Maybe if we did, the world would be a better place.
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n late February, it was then decided by the RGA leadership that the formation of a Helen and Stanley Keller type Foreign Volunteer Legion is deemed feasible, having now received more Helen and Stanley Keller recruits. This was good news to Lucas Fields, the leader of this FVL, as he, Connelly and Hurley were finally hard pressed into getting their FVLs ready for its maiden Sunday Morning Special outside of the Children’s Paradise. As the RGA’s FVLs and Adelburgers are aware, the RGA has plans to expand its reach to as far as the West Coast United States. The Great Leaps Westward was just enough to facilitate such plans.
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The dramatic realization of the fact that the war will affect a member of the Chance family is apparent in this quote. The amount of sorrow and emotions felt by the Chance family, and for that matter, all families who had children, brothers, husbands, or fathers, drafted into what many felt was a needless war. The novel brings to life what heartache many Americans had to face during the Vietnam era, a heartache that few in my generation have had the ability to realize.
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... row consisted of the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. The sixth row consisted of the Haitian Medaille Militaire, Korean Service Medal, Nicaraguan Cross of Valor and the Nicaraguan Presidential Medal of Merit. The seventh row consisted of the United Nations Korea Medal, the Order of Military Merit, Korean Presidential Unit Citation, Eulji Cordon Medal, and the Chinese Order of the Cloud and Banner, (Russell & Cohn, 2012).
Via the use of these key concepts, Knowles tells us through Gene’s story that perspectives change and how, “the more things remain the same, the more they change after all,” (14). In a story about two anxious boys discovering their identities and values during a time of war, the codes and concepts of semiotics that John Knowles employs links the story to the larger world, signifying key ideas and feelings that loomed around America throughout the draft of World War
As evidenced by his words, it was not simply a matter of going over there at the age of seventeen to fight for one’s country. Rather, it was a matter of leaving behind the safety and security of the home to which you were accustomed, with little expectation of returning. At a time when these ‘kids’ should have been enjoying, they were burdened with the the trepidation of being drafted.
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...though people believe that, those on the home front have it just as a bad as the soldiers, because they have to deal with the responsibilities of their husbands, there is nothing that can compare to what these men have gone through. The war itself consumed them of their ideology of a happy life, and while some might have entered the war with the hope that they would soon return home, most men came to grips with the fact that they might never make it out alive. The biggest tragedy that follows the war is not the number of deaths and the damages done, it is the broken mindset derives from being at war. These men are all prime examples of the hardships of being out at war and the consequences, ideologies, and lifestyles that develop from it.
The 1970’s in America weren’t a time of peace for youth. The Vietnam War was still in full effect until 1975 leaving teenagers approaching 18 with the constant fear of being drafted. Post-Vietnam War was no better for American youth. Heroism and respect for the troops fell greatly due to the disastrous failing of the Vietnam War. One man spoke of his childhood du...