Men went through so many tasks during the Vietnam War physically and mentally. The beginning chapters focus on training for war and being prepared for the worst. For example, when there is a sergeant in a room with the marines. The sergeant walks to the chalk board and writes “AMBUSHES ARE MURDER AND MURDER IS FUN” (36-37). The
“the class above, seniors, draft-bait, practically soldiers, rushed ahead of us toward the war. They were caught up in accelerated courses and first-aid programs and a physical hardening regimen, which included jumping from this tree.” (15) All these things that the boys did in preparation for war showed their discipline. The fact that they go to fight knowing they might not come back. These boys spend most their time training to fight and be in the action.
Change-make or become different Changes occur every day some good some not so good. There are all different types of changes that we can see. One would be a mental change, which includes a different outlook on life and how a person thinks of himself. Another example of change would be a physical change such as sitting at a new spot at the lunch table.
American soldiers outnumbered 450 to a staggering 2000 North Vietnamese soldiers. To dive further into the authors’ background, Harold Moore was born in Kentucky and loved reading, and loved reading any book he could find on military history. This made him a great leader, as well as a great writer. As I said previously, he served as lieutenant general in the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment during the battle of Ia Drang in the Vietnam War. He saw first-hand what his men had to go through and sacrifice, which makes him very qualified to write this book.
In the year 1914, a war started that would turn innocent people against each other, and have aftermaths that include thousands of people dead due to new equipment like tanks, gas attacks, and hand-to-hand combat. In this war there was a soldier named Paul Bäumer who is a German nineteen year old who has made friends that will last a lifetime during this experience, but has also felt immense pain. His daily routine is to sleep, eat, and fight in the trenches, and he experiences death every day. Most soldiers view death as a recurring event, but Paul views it as wretchedness, which makes him different from others by caring about his comrades more than others. Paul shows many qualities through this experience of being a soldier in the First World War, and he learns what is necessary in life, which takes some people years to figure out.
Although most people enter war because of their own knowledge and patriotic fervor, some enter because of fear, stress, and just simply because they are told to do so. Red Badge soldiers join to save the union, to keep America united. These raw recruits lack the realization of the coming psychological stresses, anxiety, and undesirable conditions they will soon endure. Daniel Weiss says, “The hero’s response to danger, like that of his comrades in arms, will have been conditioned from childhood into patterns of defense and aggression, whose strength and weaknesses will be found out under stress” (19). The soldiers turn to violence; they feel as if they are compelled to take their anger out on the opposing team.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that, “envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide.” (370). John Knowles’ A Separate Peace is set during World War I at Devon School, a boarding school for boys. The book centers on Gene Forrester, a student at Devon, who could be described as an intelligent, but jealous, conformist. A Separate Peace illustrates Gene’s envy and imitation of his friend, Finny, and how it affects himself and his relationship with Finny, and also how Gene eventually finds peace.
Emerson states that “envy is ignorance, imitation is suicide”(370). John Knowles is the author of a Separate Peace: a story based in 1942 during WWII at a prep school in Massachusetts. Gene is a little boy from the South. He is very average in sports but is very smart. A Separate Peace illustrates how Gene’s envy and imitation of Finny affect him, affect his relationship with Finny, and his lack of peace.
In the story,"Red Badge of Courage", the main character, Henry, changes his mind about fighting in the second battle. In the first battle he held on to his courage and fought alongside everyone else. Yet something made him change in the second battle of war. Henry has been nervous since the beginning because of having no expierience with battle. But, he went through with battle once, why run after gaining expierience?
In the novel, Tomorrow When The War Began, by John Marsden is about eight teenagers who confronted a situation that is out of their security and are trying to save their families. Fi, Homer, and Ellie are few of the characters that showed courageousness in the novel; finding out their unknown courage, taking risks, and not giving up to everything that happens. It is some of John Marsden’s message about courage. The characters also demonstrate it while they were in conflict with the soldiers who invaded their town and imprison their families in the Showground. Courage is what Ellie has that she never thought she had.
The war novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque depicts one protagonist, Paul, as he undergoes a psychological transformation. Paul plays a role as a soldier fighting in World War I. His experiences during the war are not episodes the average person would simply experience. Alternatively, his experiences allow him to develop into a more sophisticated individual. Remarque illustrates these metamorphic experiences to expose his theme of the loss of not only people’s lives but also innocence and tranquility that occurs in war.
The war was presented to the young men as an exciting adventure that would be full of rewards. In the first place, one of such rewards was the feeling of pride or greatness. This can be seen in the novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque when he introduces a character named Kantorek, who is the teacher of the main character. In the novel, Kantorek gives a speech to young men declaring to them that they should fight for their “Fatherland” and that they are the “Iron Youth”. Kantorek is riling up the boys by using the words “Fatherland” and “Iron Youth”.
In the novel The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, a man named Henry Fleming experiences a journey in the Civil War in which he overcomes his fears and realize what it means to be a man. Although he is originally viewed as the “young soldier” his participation impacts his character. After conversing with the other soldiers he continued to question himself and felt that his time would be much better spent invested in battle. However, when confronted with immediate gunfire and persistence from the enemy Henry decided avoiding danger was more rational. he's petrified of the possible result of death, but at the same time welcomes the idea.
Before considering leaderships between different leaders in Band of Brothers, it’s important to note that everybody has a different way of leading and is a good leader on their own. The three people that have shown the greatest leadership in the series, “Bands of Brothers,” are Lieutenant Winters, Lieutenant Speirs, and Sergeant Lipton. Some traits that they all have in common is that they are great leaders and are willing to sacrifice themselves to save others. Additionally, their braveness helped the struggling soldiers fight through the battle field. If the three brave soldiers were to be ranked based on their leadership, Lt. Winters would be ranked first, Sgt.
Why Is Telling A True War Story Hard Lots of stories are hard to comprehend because they’re more brutal and traumatic for listeners, even the story-teller. In three stories: “The Man I Killed”, “How To Tell A True War Story”, and “Speaking of Courage”, Tim O’Brien showed how changing certain parts of a story and making them graceful, can make them easier to comprehend. However sometimes telling the story the way it was makes it brutal and gruesome, though some listeners prefer that over gracefulness.
