"Why do we have to listen to this stuff sarge?" yelled James.
"Because son," Sergeant Mackey replied, "This stuff is your history, and as long as I'm your commanding officer, I am not going to let you grunts forget nothing from the glorious days of fine music!"
Sergeant Sam T. Mackey always loved blasting old heavy metal music from the 1980's through the chopper's intercom, it irritated younger privates like James because the music was roughly 70 years old, but every private learned to bear it most of the time begrudgingly.
"Hey Sarge, how about changing the tunes to something a little more in-touch?" said Liutenant Rodriguez, who wasn't a fan himself.
"How about you stow your bellyaching L.T.?" barked Mackey, "This stuff is good for your soul, and you greenhorns get nothing like that these days." The Sarge looked away and glared at the opening. He looked African American, had a bald head and a menacing scar across his face, but he smiled often, had an optimistic attitude and unlike everyone else, he loved being a marine. His stature was that of a giant and I heard he weighed in at 400 with his gear on, he was rough, rigid, and he seemed to do his job with a chip on his shoulder. He was roughly 68 years old but modern medicine had kept his body intact to that of a 35 year old, so he had experience from being a marine sergeant for over 30 years.
"Can someone just kill me and get it over with? I can't stand this garbage." scowled James who looked more irritated than anyone, James Marinovich was a first class private fresh out of boot camp, he always was complaining about the trivial stuff like when were we going to eat next and why we always get the difficult missions. Mackey loved to yell at him, and as a result he scowle...
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...ly, slowly, pacing like my life depended on it. I reached the door and heard a quieter hissing of the voices I heard in the hallway earlier and when I turned I saw him standing there in the corner of the room, I couldn't see his face, only a silhouette. I turned my gun on him but for some reason I was moving in slow motion, for some reason I was having thoughts that weren't mine, and I felt my mind slowly, painfully, drifting into insanity. I lost my balance, collapsed from a complete lack of mental stability, and soon the world was spinning. I don't know how much time passed before he came over to look at me, apparently to give me a good look at his face, but for some reason when we locked eyes my mind was rapidly seeing visions and symbols that I didn't understand, my mind collapsed in on itself and everything turned black.
And that's the last thing I remember.
In 1960, at the age of twenty-four, Philip Caputo enlists in the United Sates Marine Corps in hopes of escaping his relaxed lifestyle in the quaint town of Westchester, Illinois. Caputo is interested in proving himself a man and earning respect in response to President John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address to the nation. “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” are the famous words that pushed many young men into the patriotic world of enlistment, in order to defend American ideals. Caputo’s expectations of the war in Vietnam are to achieve heroic acts, finish his missions quickly and efficiently, get out in one piece, and return home to a supportive country interested in his heroic adventures.
...played an excellent model of military ethics. Finally, I showed how my leadership decisions, although not combat related, bear some similarity in vision and ethics to Chesty’s standard, as set seven decades earlier. I can think of no better leader for today’s officers, both commissioned and noncommissioned, to emulate than the most decorated and idolized marine in history.
As a Wall Street Journal Pentagon correspondent, Thomas E. Ricks is one of America’s elite military journalists. He has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and awarded a Society of Professional Journalists Award for his writings based on the Marines. Thomas E. Ricks lectures to military officers and was a member of Harvard University’s Senior Advisory Council on the project on U.S. Civil-Military Relations. As a Pentagon correspondent, he can access information where no other civilian can step foot—traveling with soldiers abroad, his eyes tell the tale of the life of a Marine.
Every war will have those who support the war and those who are against the war. In 1965, those who were against the Vietnam War made their views known by many forms of protesting such as forming organizations, rallying, and anti-war protest music. Anti-war protest music was an opportunity to put people’s perspectives into song to hopefully spread their message. Buffy Sainte-Marie wrote the song “Universal Soldier” in 1962 and her message was that “Universal Soldier is about individual responsibility for war and how the old feudal thinking kills us all” (Boulanger). The song “Universal Soldier” was used as a protest anthem during the Vietnam War and attempts to untangle one of the paradoxes of life that war never leads to peace through examining a soldier that is representative of every soldier in every nation.
When people think of the military, they often think about the time they spend over in another country, hoping they make it back alive. No one has ever considered the possibility that they may have died inside. Soldiers are reborn through war, often seeing through the eyes of someone else. In “Soldier’s home” by Ernest Hemingway, the author illustrates how a person who has been through war can change dramatically if enough time has passed. This story tells of a man named Harold (nick name: Krebs) who joined the marines and has finally come back after two years. Krebs is a lost man who feels it’s too complicated to adjust to the normal way of living and is pressured by his parents.
The United States Marine Corps, established in 1775, is known for their production of the strongest offensive soldiers that defend our country. Their training includes amplified endurance, multiple styles of hand to hand combat, and artillery accuracy. Marines are trained to be the steel of the front lines that cut through and push back enemy lines. The branch rose to this dedication primarily in the 1940-50s thanks to one warrior-leader’s dedication to his country and men in his command. Lieutenant Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller is the prime model of every marine due to his dedication to service, desire to better his men through training and education, and the instilment of esprit de corps.
...ust deal with similar pains. Through the authors of these stories, we gain a better sense of what soldiers go through and the connection war has on the psyche of these men. While it is true, and known, that the Vietnam War was bloody and many soldiers died in vain, it is often forgotten what occurred to those who returned home. We overlook what became of those men and of the pain they, and their families, were left coping with. Some were left with physical scars, a constant reminder of a horrible time in their lives, while some were left with emotional, and mental, scarring. The universal fact found in all soldiers is the dramatic transformation they all undergo. No longer do any of these men have a chance to create their own identity, or continue with the aspirations they once held as young men. They become, and will forever be, soldiers of the Vietnam War.
The pattern of the Marines allows Krebs to conform to the life of a soldier. However, the pattern of a soldier is not like that of his fraternity brothers. Even though both Krebs and the corporal “look too big in their uniforms”, they are strangely out of place. There is nothing beautiful about their sameness. For Krebs, the war is not beautiful because it is filled with death; yet, there is a sense of regularity in the role of a soldier. During...
For anyone under the age of 50 or so, the Vietnam War occupies an indistinct place in the closet of memory. Recalled by those alive then as the first “televised” war, its grainy images have been replaced by the 24-hour detailed coverage of more recent conflicts. The life of the foot soldier, however, hasn’t changed all that much in the 39 years since the war ended. In his extraordinary novel, Karl Marlantes portrays with brutal sincerity the fear, valor and perseverance that are the lot of the warrior.
McMaster University, "Keeping Up Morale War Songs from the first half of 20th century." Accessed March 5, 2014.
Throughout time, music has been an influential part of society. As a form of entertainment and expression, its impact has always been felt both economically and emotionally. During the Vietnam war, music evolved into more a form of expression rather than pure entertainment. Emotionally charged songs became a method to oppose the war, and vent frustrations. While many songs opposed the war, numerous others focused on peace and happiness. They provided a positive perspective in an otherwise depressing time. Along with incorporating passion into music, cultural diversity increased in music greatly. Black artists became progressively more popular and accepted in the musical scene. This respect carried over to society slowly but surely. During the Vietnam war, music played a crucial role in the societal evolution into a state where emotions fueled actions, more emphasis was put on equality, all opinions counted.
He began his musical career by banging on the piano with his dad’s drum parts using his fists. George interrupted him by saying “it’s all right if you do that Charles, if you know what you’re doing”, and sent him for drum lessons down the street (The Man His Life, Swafford 1). George Ives also taught his son to respect the strength of vernacular music. As a Civil War band leader he understood how sentimental tunes such as "Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground," "Aura Lee," Stephen Foster songs, and marches and bugle calls were all apart of the experience of war and the memories of soldiers. Many of Ives's ...
During the Vietnam War, the first platoon (approximately forty men) was lead by a young officer named William Calley. Young Calley was drafted into the US Army after high school, but it did not take long for him to adjust to being in the army, with a quick transition to the lifestyle of the military, he wanted to make it his career. In high school, Calley was a kind, likable and “regular” high school student, he seemed to be a normal teenager, having interest in things that other boys his age typically had. He was never observed acting in a cruel or brutal way. In Vietnam, Calley was under direct order of company commander, Captain Ernest Medina, whom he saw as a role model, he looked up to Medina. (Detzer 127).
Gasping in terror I awoke and shot to my feet. He was gone, but where, how long had I been here and ...
I stood there just staring I could not move. Every time I moved o\n took a breath I felt him getting closer. Quickly, I had to do something but I did not know what. I feel like he has a gun or a weapon but I do not know for sure. I was 5’4 and 87lbs., and this guy had to be at least 6’9 and 250lbs.. There was no way that I would win in a fistfight so I just had to sit there and hope he would not see me hiding. I decided to run, I got shot in the leg.