Purple Heart Response

There is not always a right and a wrong in war, and depending on what one's personal belief is on a topic there may be multiple outcomes. When reading the Purple Heart I feel that Patricia McCormick did a excellent job of putting the reader, out on the battle field and in the shoes of a soldier. Trying to think like a soldier and understand their movements is so complicated, but to the soldiers it is just second nature. While the soldiers are out on the battle field, all their thinking about is surviving, and what their next move is because one wrong move can end in death. It seems trying to stay positive would be nearly impossible, but it seems the small gifts such as movies or letters from loved ones are the most powerful gifts one can give. It is amazing that those small gifts can take a soldier to another world mentally and allow them to go to a mentally stable position that essentially saves their lives. Once Matt Duffy the main character started feeling back to normal after his accident he wrote a letter to his girlfriend stating, "This is a strange place. You think there are rules and there's right and wrong and you think officers are all assholes who only want to make your life miserable. And then you find out that everybody has a different idea of what's right and wrong. And that a lot of people act like they want to know what's going on but they really don't-because then they might have to do something about it. Like I said it's strange" (Purple Heart 132). I feel that McCormick does a great job showing a soldiers decision making process, and then their actions based on their decision. When on the battle field there is little time to make a decision so you either stick with your decision or you die. I personally believe that no soldier wants to harm another person but when it comes down to life or death, it is instinct and one will do whatever it takes to stay alive. I feel that a soldier is defined based on his actions, because anyone can say they would do a heroic action, but when the situation is right in front of you, other influences come into play that often change a soldier's decision. Every soldier is noble for their actions and should be acknowledged for their service. What I do not understand is why our own government does not treat out troops better, and help them once they are done serving in the army or military. I feel that our government should be taking better care of it troops, especially after the soldiers just put their own life at risk, simply to better "America". It is the soldiers who make America the land of the free and the home of the brave, so i believe they deserve more respect and aid from the government who put them in this crazy situation.

Abortions

Pro life groups are making it harder for women to access abortions by attacking he doctors, or other health clinics that have these services. Pro life groups are trying to eliminate abortions regardless of a women's situation, which makes it even harder for a women to find help in difficult situations. Pro life groups are making it harder for women to receive abortions because there are regulations that women must follow, and other guidelines that must be followed in order to insure a women's health. Good health is the most important thing one could have, because with good health many other good things come, but when a women is sick or not in a good mental state things can turn from alright to bad. Ultimately it is the women's decision on whether she wants to have an abortion, but when there are pro life groups influencing one's decision that is not fair. President George W. Bush signed the FFederal Abortion Ban in 2003, which is a women's right to a safe abortion, giving her the opportunity to have a properly done abortion.  There are many health risks, and depending on how long a women has been pregnant, changes the circumstances of the abortion, which may effect the mothers health.  I feel that the mother should hold the ultimate decision because it is no ones decision besides the mother of the child, because the mother too is experiencing pain. When thinking about having an abortion, there are many factors that come into play for a mother, and the decision is not an easy decision. Once the decision has been made I feel that pro life groups should have no influence on a mother who wants an abortion because pro life organizations and individuals have no idea what that mother is experiencing, and what she went through. An abortion is a difficult process, and pro life groups are only making it harder for women to receive aboritons. Pro life groups should be punished because they are punishing other mothers and making a mothers decision more difficult than it needs to be. By forcing a mother to look at a picture of her unborn fetus, or look at an ultrasound where the mother can see the fetus move, only puts more stress on the mother, and shames them for even thinking about having an abortion. I feel that it is better that a mother has an abortion, than having a child if the are not mentally ready to have a child, or if financially they are not ready either. Raising a child is a huge responsibility and it is no one elses decisions but a mothers, regardless what the government says, because they are not thinking about these types of decisions or going through a similar event that a mother is experiencing. I feel that abortions should be one hundred percent legal, and i feel that in the future they will be legal, because the government can not have control over one health rights, but they do have control over the procedure and making sure that the procedure is safe for the mother. 

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.

Purple Heart Response

War is nothing to joke around about because the events, people, and horrors are all real and often can not be escaped even after the war is over. American citizens are simply spectators of the war and truly do not understand what it means to be in war. Americans' see war as a couple of tragic events where innocent soldiers are killed, and then hear the final outcome of the situation and base their understandings of war of those few events. When actually war is indescribable because there are so many events that take place on a daily basis that can not even be taken. Soldiers learn new cooping mechanisms in order to deal with the casualties they have seen, because war is some heavy stuff, that must be managed well otherwise things one may lose control. While roaming the streets, one does not know who and what it out there, which increases stress and anxiety putting a soldier in an unstable state and changes ones actions and decisions, which may be the difference between life and death. Matt stated, '"When you point your gun at someone and pull the trigger,' he said, 'shit happens. It's not a surprise. It's not pretty, but it's not something I necessarily want to talk about."' The events that one experiences changes the way he or she may view a certain situations, and depending on the severity of the crime or action one may put up a wall and keep their emotions to themselves. When experiencing horrific actions ones emotions are going to be extremely painful, and one may not want to talk about it because they do not want to revisit those emotions again. It is important for soldiers to express their emotions rather than letting them build up inside because that will only increase stress and other internal pain. Private Kane told Matt that he should talk his experiences, because the physical wounds will heal but ones mental state will not cure itself until one expresses what they have been through.  The events that one experiences will not go away, but one must learn how to deal with those events and understand what they have done, and why they did it because otherwise those physiological emotions will eat a soldier from the inside out.

Death Penalty

Looking at the states in which believe in the death penalty, I noticed that many of of those states have large cities, and have a main population of Americans, Hispanics, and Blacks. I feel that states in which contain large cities should enforce the death penalty because the there is often more crime, and simply act as a consequent for a crime. In 1999, 98 executions occurred in the United States, and since the numbers of executions have dropped. I feel that in the near future the number of executions will continue to decrease because new laws may be imposed stating that the death penalty is against ones constitutional rights. I shocks me that the majority of defendants executed was Whites and yet Whites are typically the victims to a defendant on death row. I feel that a state may impose certain regulations such as the death penalty based on what they have previously experienced as a community, and nationally as well. Each state is different from the other, so each state should be able to impose regulations with in reason. These consequences must be reasonable and fair, based on the crimes the defendant caused. I feel that there should be more than one review to a death penalty case because evidence is not often false, wrongly accusing an innocent man. Multiple trials are needed to prove a defendant guilty, and I feel that some of the trials need to be held in higher courts than a state court; and for at least one of the cases the Supreme Court should examine the case to ensures that the defendant is guilty based on the information provided at the time. 

Death Penalty:Innocent Until Proven Guilty

The post-conviction review, is when the jury and other officials get together and review the case to make a final decision, in which they believe the defendant is either guilty or innocent. This a time where issues are brought up, which are not on record giving the court new information to work with hoping to reduce the sentence, and give other information that might influence the jury to think differently about the case. A individual is innocent until he or she is proven guilty, protecting an individual’s constitutional rights, until the court has made a decision. I do not believe that this system is sufficient to guarantee that only the guilty are convicted because the information at the time in which the court has, might not be completely true, therefore falsely accusing a defendant in court. There have been cases in which the defendant has been proven guilty, when actually they truly innocent. Years later when specific evidence is revealed the court may realize that an individual was actually innocent from the crime in which the court believed that individual committed. Firing Squad is a cruel and unusual punishment, in which the states should not be allowed to execute an individual because it inflicts pain, and is mentally disturbing for the defendant who is guilty, and the riflemen. Even though death penalty itself does not violate ones Eighths Amendment rights, some of the ways in which the court decides to kill a person is inhumane and in my opinion tortures. I feel that if a person is sentenced to the death penalty, they should have the option to decide which way they want to die. The states data tells me a lot about how the death penalty is used, because depending of the severity of the crime; one can be sentenced to death, or simply sentenced to life in prison. Looking at some of the data shocks me because depending on the state in which one lives, can determine how he or she will be prosecuted. It is interesting to see how different states and have different rules in which they obey by, which may lead to harsher sentences depending in which state one lives in. the data shows how depending on where an individual lives, different death sentences come into play, which each states decides is responsible or not. I personally am in favor of the death penalty, but am not in favor in some of the methods, in which some states use because some of the methods are cruel to an individual even if that person is a mass murder, because that person is still human. Taking a life is the most severe punishment one can face, so the court must be one hundred percent certain that the defendant is guilty before they sentence a man to the death penalty.

Clifford Boggess: Death Penalty

Clifford Boggess had an extremely had childhood, having been adopted, and then having his adoptive parents get divorced, and having to move in with his grandparents in a new town. Questioning whether Clifford should be sentenced the death penalty; I feel that the jury should look into Clifford’s past life, and get a better understanding what Clifford experienced. Clifford mother was a drug addict, and was also an alcoholic, while she was pregnant with Clifford. Clifford was most likely suffered from some kind of sickness because of his mothers drug habits , not allowing him to mature and grow up in a healthy environment. Clifford stated, that he decided to kill Frank Collier because he needed money  to fix his car, and didn’t want to have to take his own money out of the bank, in which he was saving to in role back into college. Clifford brutally killed Frank by slitting his throat, and then stomped on his face, throat, and lungs. Clifford planned the murder of Frank Collier, because before he went into the store he went to the park, and super glued his finger tips, so that there would be no trace of finger prints. Clifford should be sentenced to the death penalty because he killed a innocent man, simply to get money in order to fix his car instead of using his own money. Clifford told his girl friend that he liked the feeling of the warm blood while he was killing Frank, which is a clear sign that Clifford in mentally unstable and out of control. Clifford then killed another man, Mr. Hazelwood for money again by shooting him in the back with a 12 gage shotgun, and shot him again in the chest. Once the police arrested him they claimed that he acted as if he did not care, and acted as if he was proud to have killed these innocent people, like a John Dillinger. Clifford clearly cannot control himself, and if he is let loose in society, others may potentially be in harm’s way. Clifford should be sentenced the death penalty, because he killed two innocent people, and has a family background that shows plenty violence. Clifford Uncle was arrested and in jail for killing a police officer, and has other members of his family who are in jail for committing other violent crimes.