Monday, December 6, 2010
Purple Heart Response
While reading I tried to imagine what it would be like to be a soldier but it was too unclear. I thought about running around the desert, and thinking about the wide open land covered in sand. Soldiers in Iraq are exposed to this new habitat everyday, and do not know what to expect or do otherwise. Going into war soldiers are not told very much information about where they exactly are, and may not know the severity of the war which misleads a soldier causing him to make different decisions. While fighting one must be completely concentrated, because any small mistake or misunderstanding can cause an injury or a fatality. While laying in the hospital talking to Wolf he state, "You stop thinking. And just fight. Because, just for those few seconds, it simple: If you don't kill the other guy, he's going to kill you" (pg115). I could not imagine having to be those conditions, and yet soldiers have to experience this on the edge thinking. Soldiers emotions are played with causing them to work under hard mental conditions, which causes them to think in another way or not at all. Soldiers are trained to distinguish an enemy or another person and see if he is threat, to make sure they do not impose violence. Soldiers see people getting killed, which leaves an internal scar that stays with someone forever. Understanding what soldiers go though on a day to day basis make me fortunate to be an American, and makes me appreciate may rights, which the soldiers are praying for, freedom.
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When reading this book i thought about the same things. I started to think about how the main character, Matt is 18. He is the same age as us. Everyday people our age are fighting for their lives in a foreign country. These people are considered adults by law, but are still so young to the world. Another thing i started to think about was if there was a draft. Every eligable person in our grade would be off to war fighting for their country. In the age we live in everyone is so thankful there is not a draft. You said the soldiers are praying for freedom, but really they are fighting for freedom. The people in america and who are not involved in the war should be the ones praying for freedom.
ReplyDeleteI think this book is really interesting and I think it is also interesting that you mentioned the Draft because if we were alive while the draft was taking place, most of us would not be in school learning about all the different options we have as citizens, instead we would be fighting and most likely many of us would have made it through the war. These soldiers are risking their own life for freedom which i think is nonsense. As the book progressed it was interesting to see how the Matt changed, as well as his other troops. I would like to hear from an actual soldier what it is like to be in war, and if they had the option to relive their life, would they make the same decisions.
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