Soldier Boys Essay

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In the book ‘’ Soldier Boys’’ by Dean Hughes there are two boys who both want to be seen as brave war heros. Both boys come from very different backgrounds. One is a member of the Hitler youth and the other wants to be a paratrooper in the U.S army. Both take a journey were they face the cruelty of war and they learned it isn’t what they think it is. The first character that is introduced it Dieter Hedrick a member of the Hitler youth. Dieter grew up in Luxembourg Germany. He was 15 in 1944 and was the leader of his group. He was commanding his group of Hitler to dig anti-tank trenches near the western front. He believed strongly that Americans were evil as shown in this quote. ‘’ So what would stop them from raping and killing our women, gunning down children or old people’’ source: Soldier Boys The other character is Spencer Morgan. He wants to go to war originally to impress a girl. He wanted to be a paratrooper and jump from airplanes, to be in the most elite branch of the military. ‘’ I don’t want to shoot a German soldier but if I have to I will’’ source: Soldier Boys During the story both of the boy’s positions begin to change. Dieter met a man named Schaefer when he went to war. Schaefer told Dieter that everything that he knows is wrong. The whole time the two talked Schaefer tried to convince Dieter that everything he knows about Americans is wrong. ‘’ You believe all these lies you know nothing we attacked England first. We are as much to blame for killing of men women and children’’. Source: Soldier Boys He told him Dieter that Hitler would put Jews on trains and ship them off to death camps were they would get gassed. Dieter said he was a traitor but was slowly considering that Schaefer might be right. Dieter didn’t think that war was gruesome. Dieter’s company was getting shot at with artillery and people were getting cut in half by
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