Travis was a quite a bit older than the other soldiers who enlisted for service during World War 11. He was in his early thirties, but most of the soldiers were in their late teens or early twenties. Travis had been working since he was a boy, so he felt that he knew something about how the world worked. He enlisted because he not only felt it was his duty to do so, but he also was looking for adventure. He was a tall, friendly man, with a booming voice and a good sense of humor. Soon, the younger soldiers were coming to him for advice or just to talk about how homesick they were. When his platoon needed a leader, Travis was chosen.It wasn’t long before Travis’s unit was shipped overseas. They eventually wound up on an island in the Pacific, far different from any place that the soldiers had ever seen. Snakes, monkeys, and bugs were everywhere, and the heat was almost unbearable. Many of the men quickly became sick, but their biggest problem was the enemy fire that constantly surround them. Travis had been looking for adventure, but he had to admit that this was not the kind of adventure he had hoped for. Still, he found himself doing things he never thought he would or could do : bandaging wounds, planning attack strategies, thinking up camouflage ideas, and even writing letters home for the wounded soldiers. He knew that the men in his platoon trusted him and relied on him, and he was determined not to let them down.Travis served nearly four years in the army, all during World War 11. When he finally returned home, he was welcomed with great excitement and joy by his family and friends. Travis was glad to be home, of course, but he knew he was not the same person who set out adventure years before.
Philip was not much of a student failing and dropping out of his university and later joined a community college. So one day when the military came to his school and he enlisted himself to serve under the Marine Corp hoping to feed is hunger of adventure. First, Philip was sent to training camp where he learned the history of the marines, different war tactics and their basic weaponry functions. At this point Philip was very much egger to into the jungle and “fight for America”. After his basic training his time to enter the war came around he was sent to Okinawa where his group was stationed at. The days there grow long and dreadful as not action was seen for and long period of time but now just a couple of weeks after his group would be stepping into the war field. The group was given basic information of the war. Although it was more exciting then their train camp it wasn 't the war they were expecting, simply protecting their base camp for any enemy that tried to gain access to. This task didn 't last to long until one day another group got
The heart wrenching tale of Jason Poole is an evident picture of the lost potentials of all the heavily injured veterans who came back to an entirely different “home”. Grady shows us that life as a veteran, who has put their life on the line to protect their country, after coming home is like having to start from scratch. “‘Jason was definitely a ladies’ man’, said Zillah Hodgkins, who had been a friend for nine years.” (5, Grady) Grady utilizes this quote by previously showing us the current state of
In the story “Home Soil” by Irene Zabytko, the reader is enlightened about a boy who was mentally and emotionally drained from the horrifying experiences of war. The father in the story knows exactly what the boy is going through, but he cannot help him, because everyone encounters his or her own recollection of war. “When their faces are contorted from sucking the cigarette, there is an unmistakable shadow of vulnerability and fear of living. That gesture and stance are more eloquent than the blood and guts war stories men spew over their beers” (Zabytko 492). The father, as a young man, was forced to reenact some of the same obligations, yet the father has learne...
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.
War can destroy a young man mentally and physically. One might say that nothing good comes out of war, but in Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, there is one positive characteristic: comradeship. Paul and his friends give Himmelstoss a beating in which he deserves due to his training tactics. This starts the brotherhood of this tiny group. As explosions and gunfire sound off a young recruit in his first battle is gun-shy and seeks reassurance in Paul's chest and arms, and Paul gently tells him that he will get used to it. The relationship between Paul and Kat is only found during war, in which nothing can break them apart. The comradeship between soldiers at war is what keeps them alive, that being the only good quality to come out of war.
War is serious! In the short story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, he recounts his personal experience with war and personal issues, not just any war but the Vietnam War. This was highly disregarded war by most Americans. Lives would be forever changed from their experiences of battles, guilt, wounds, heart brokes, emotions, and even death. The main character of the story is Tim O’Brien, who is also the narrator and protagonist. These collections of stories are a glimpse of his personal encounters. Another dynamic character was Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, commanding officer of the platoon. Other characters include Alpha Company soldiers Ted Lavender, Kiowa, and other soldiers. . The mission for O’Brien, his fellow battle buddies, and commanding officers is not easy and is filled with personal inner battles and conflicts. Some tried coping with things they carried from home and necessity items such as photos, military equipment and rifles, and miscellaneous foods among other things that would prove to be a turning point in t...
Paul Baumer is a 19-year-old volunteer to the German army during World War I. He and his classmates charge fresh out of high school into military service, hounded by the nationalist ranting of a feverish schoolmaster, Kantorek. Though not all of them want to enlist, they do so in order to save face. Their first stop is boot camp, where life is still laughter and games. “Where are all the medals?” asks one. “Just wait a month and I’ll have them,” comes the boisterous response. This is their last vestige of boyhood.
...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.
Being forced into a war he has no interest in, Tim O’brien recounts his time fighting in the vietnam war. Many of the soldiers there carried things deep to their hearts. Others carried fear, guilt, and despair of what they had done and what was to come. These physical things were a way these soldiers could cope with their feelings and try and stay sane during these times. “Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey.”(1) These letters were coping mechanisms for Jimmy and he read them when he needed comforting or just to read them to help him forget.
Life can bring unexpected events that individuals might not be prepared to confront. This was the case of O’Brien in the story, “On the Rainy River” from the book The Things They Carried. As an author and character O’Brien describes his experiences about the Vietnam War. In the story, he faces the conflict of whether he should or should not go to war after being drafted. He could not imagine how tough fighting must be, without knowing how to fight, and the reason for such a war. In addition, O’Brien is terrified of the idea of leaving his family, friends and everything he loves behind. He decides to run away from his responsibility with the society. However, a feeling of shame and embarrassment makes him go to war. O’Brien considers himself a coward for doing something he does not agree with; on the other hand, thinking about the outcome of his decision makes him a brave man. Therefore, an individual that considers the consequences of his acts is nobler than a war hero.
Many people question if Guy Sajer, author of The Forgotten Soldier, is an actual person or only a fictitious character. In fact, Guy Sajer in not a nom de plume. He was born as Guy Monminoux in Paris on 13 January 1927. At the ripe young age of 16, while living in Alsace, he joined the German army. Hoping to conceal his French descent, Guy enlisted under his mother's maiden name-Sajer. After the war Guy returned to France where he became a well known cartoonist, publishing comic books on World War II under the pen name Dimitri.
War is no child 's play, but unfortunately, we have had times in our past when the youth of our great nation had to defend it. Combat is not an easy for anyone; watching death, the constant ring of gunfire, the homesickness, fearing for your life, and witnessing bloodshed daily, this will begin to take its toll. The minds threshold for brutality can only handle so much and eventually will become sickened by these events. This sickness is called Post-traumatic stress disorder. As shown through the characters of The Things They Carried, soldiers of war may begin to show PTSD symptoms before the war is over, and may continue to fight the disorder after the war has ended.
... could not help themselves, they were not going to be helped. If struggle were encountered, men had personalized ways to reconnect with the real world, and if a tragedy were encountered which affected the entire company, they also found a combined way to cope with this pressure. The priorities of men during the war shifted greatly toward emotional connections to people and events other than the war, and it was these connections that helped them survive and return home. Coping with the stress and burden of war is not an easy task for anyone, yet in The Things they Carried, O'Brien depicts men dealing and coping as much as they can, using only their primeval resources. They learn how to cope with the barest necessities in life, and they learn how to make use of the smallest opportunities to obtain the most relief and joy from every moment in life.
The author, Tim O'Brien, is writing about an experience of a tour in the Vietnam conflict. This short story deals with inner conflicts of some individual soldiers and how they chose to deal with the realities of the Vietnam conflict, each in their own individual way as men, as soldiers.
A soldier’s “greatest fear is not death but failure, and the shame that accompanies failure. More than anything else, warriors fear letting themselves down and letting their leaders and friends down at a moment when it matters most. They fear most not losing their lives, but their honor” (Nash, 2007, p. 25).