at the University of California, Berkley. He now works at the University of California, San Diego in the Ecology and The Behavior of Evolution Section as a semi-retired professor/geneticist. Christopher was fascinated by the stories his uncle told him about World War II which I think may have influenced him to write this book. The story that seems to have led his career is the one in which his uncle got sick in India. In 1943 his uncle got injured by a mortar-bomb splinter in his left tibia which caused a horrible leg infection.
In another case, Paul is seen trying to save the life of an enemy that he has stabbed, he fails but his efforts shouldn’t be forgotten. His friends refer to him as a hero, and he neglects this title and all the medals. Paul doesn’t like war and what it represents, to him, war is the real evil. The government forcing people into war, without giving them a choice is evil War can easily turn any person into a hero. Corporal Himmelstoss was an average polite postman before being drafted into World War I, not soon after he became a bully.
Philip Caputo was born in Westchester, an urban community in northern Illinois that constantly had him yearning for an adventure. In 1960, John F. Kennedy was the president and Caputo was ready to ask what he could do for his country. At age twenty-four, he decided to quit the country life and join the marines. He had heard the gallant stories of battles fought in years past and was looking for the same glamorous war stories he could tell of himself. However, the heroic battles and stories he had hoped for turned out to be a figment of his imagination; Vietnam was the ugliest war the United States has ever encountered.
Covington, Dennis ENG 111 167 Lee October 23, 2013 The Epiphany The moment that changed me was the moment I beat someone up in the military. It just made me realize that home wasn’t so bad and how much I value my civilian life. It also made me realize that the military wasn’t for anybody and everybody and I wasn’t the type of person to just let something be wrong and not say something about it. I lived in constant anguish. I had so much anger derived from the United States Army.
Soldiers adapt to the different criterions of war, to the point where the word death loses its emotional value. In the text, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, ceaselessly slaughtering people merely becomes a soldier’s duty. Paul says, “We have become wild beasts…we can destroy and kill to save ourselves.”(Remarque, 15) This shows that death no longer is considered a sensitive topic, in the soldiers’ views. Also, they don’t have any humane thoughts/feelings before assassinating someone because it becomes a part of their reflexive skills and therefore, requires no second thoughts or sensitive feelings. They seem to be indifferent to the fact that they have killed someone because assassination merely becomes their ‘job.’ In a similar manner, Generals Die in Bed by Charles Yale Harrison, is inclusive of the same insensitiveness and indifference towards the death and murdering of people.
The war is pretty hard not a lot of people know what Chris Kyle has gone through from losing him friends and platoon to killing terrorists to protect his fellow troops. That doesn’t sound like an easy thing to go through but to be in the marines that is one thing you must mentally prepare your self for what you will experience in the war. Chris Kyle describes the terrorists in this book as being “Savages” because of the things they where doing in order to win the war against the United States. He also had the record of the farthest sniper kill in the world. Which to me is pretty difficult to shot and kill your target on the spot.
Death was a constant companion to those serving in the line, even when they weren't under attack, many would die of disease. They would have to face body lice, rodents, small amounts of food, and some hated the life in the trenches so much, they would cause self-inflicted wounds so that they could be sent home. Before that though, the first thing a new recruit would be overwhelmed with on the way to the front line would be the smell, the smell of rotting bodies in shallow graves, men who had not washed in weeks, the lasting odour of
It affects us(soldiers) and their family's lives, especially if the soldier died in battle. It affects leaders because they know that they have military resources at the ready. If theres is a civil war, it affects the citizen's life, win or lose, live or die. Another thing: everyone boasts how there isn't a war on American soild at the moment, but I disagree. We have drug wars, riots, and personal wars; and these go on every day of our lives, most going un-known except by the people it directly affects.
Multiple times through out the book Johnny admits that he would like to die, and goes on to describe his frustrations about his lack of ability to do so. He feels pointless, worthless, and disgusting, but later in the book he is content on showing the world what war really is; to let every man who was ever drafted and will ever be drafted know what he is really getting in to.
I have been haunting this building since the day I was killed. But now it’s time for me to leave. The boys that surrendered their lives for me will now wander the halls of Mayday Hills until someone else is stupid enough to come in here at night and surrender themselves to our manipulation”. “No,” Layla said in barely a murmur. “Oh yes, dear child.