... loved ones behind (separated). Yet it is also where they come home from war (brings them together with their home and loved ones once again). We come to understand through the story that this is something soldiers dream about: coming back and being together with what they know and love. Perhaps Martha wanted Jimmy to have a piece of home to give ... attempting to make him start acting like a Lieutenant, the honorary duty bestowed upon him by his country. The third image is connected to the high tide at which time Martha found the pebble. I perceive the high tide to represent the highest...

• Word Count: 668
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Finally after six years of waiting, February 20, 2014 had finally come. It was a day of freedom. Being a soldier of the United States Army taught me numerous values and ethos. One that stuck out to me the most was patience. Patience has helped me develop into the man I'am today. Before the Army I was an impatient young man growing up. I didn't have a worry, or care in ... taught me was a set of values. "Hurry up and wait" was a saying that I had learned as a soldier. In a way I was forced to be patient. People may not grasp the concept of that, but I, myself thought about it more differently ...

• Word Count: 707
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Finally after six years of waiting, February 20, 2014 had finally come. It was a day of freedom. Being a soldier of the United States Army taught me numerous values and ethos. One that stuck out to me the most was patience. Patience has helped me develop into the man I'am today. Before the Army I was an impatient young man growing up. I didn't have a worry, or care in ... taught me was a set of values. "Hurry up and wait" was a saying that I had learned as a soldier. In a way I was forced to be patient. People may not grasp the concept of that, but I, myself thought about it more differently ...

• Word Count: 707
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... to soldiers who were wounded in combat by an enemy. O"Brien was probably in Vietnam for one year, which was the amount of time required from a drafted soldier to serve before he could go home again. In all probability, he saw a good bit of combat while overseas and saw some of his comrades die in battle also. Just knowing this little bit of ... these burdens were so overwhelming, but they could not be lifted off of their shoulders, unlike the burden of their rucksack, which could be taken off when they needed rest. He desires for us to see what really goes on in the mind of a soldier du...

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... be compared. Cross is faced with the violence of war and looks to Martha as a way to lighten the load that he is carrying. Unfortunately, Cross's fantasy ends up causing more bad than good.             In addition to longing, responsibility is one more emotional burden that weighs upon the minds of the men. Cross serves as the best example of a soldier burdened by responsibility. Cross is responsible ... for all the men since he is their leader. Cross's ... preoccupation with Martha leads to the death of Lavender, and he must suffer the pain of guilt. Due to ... ...

• Word Count: 1146
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... to come home in a body bag and become another statistic. Young American teenagers were being thrown into the jungle only to be slaughtered by the enemy, who was at home in the dense forests. The Vietnam War was a war fought without rules. Innocent Vietnamese civilians were killed whether by accident or not. ... Women and children were forced to use themselves as human bombs to kill American soldiers. If they refused they would be sliced limb from limb by Viet Cong soldiers. No war is a good ... war, but this is as bad as they come. The war got the best of most soldiers. Many never made...

• Word Count: 752
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• Grade Level: High School

... they can't worry. One of the soldiers, " Norman Bowler, otherwise, a very gentle person, carried a Thumb...The Thumb was dark brown, rubbery to touch...It had been cut from a VC corpse, a boy of fifteen of sixteen."(pg.82) Bowler had been a very good-natured person in civilian life, yet the war makes him into a very hard-mannered, emotionally devoid soldier, carrying about a severed finger as ... a trophy, proud of his kill. The transformation shown through Bowler is ... an excellent indicator of the psychological and emotional change that most of the soldiers have to undergo in order ...

• Word Count: 1194
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... hoping they will understand what you are going through. It is always to have someone go through what you are experiencing then to be alone. "The thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and in this was ... meeting places and dreams he was having about Linda, he describes them as miracles. Stories are a way to cope with the bad and think about the good. "Almost everything is invented. But it's not a game it's a form."(pg179) It's a form of getting through life. Also, by writing ... alive, a girl who has passed away when ...

• Word Count: 948
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... hand grenades and shoot at different distances with rocket launchers and grenade launchers. This A.I.T training was an additional eight weeks of training. Altogether, the U.S spent a little over 16 weeks preparing the American soldier for a different kind of warfare. One moment of relaxation was allowed; the soldiers were allowed to see their family and loved ones before going off to Vietnam. After saying their " ... ;good-byes" and "I love yous" it was time for them to start a journey into unknown territory in South East Asia. At four ... p.m. my grandfather left Ohio for the base ...

• Word Count: 1231
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... brutality. The journey into the jungle takes the viewer into the heart of the darkness, providing the viewer with the indications that we are getting deeper into the evil as we progress down the river. The themes of horror are evident in this movie just as sharply as they are in The Things They Carried. The main theme in Apocalypse Now is the concept that in order to survive and function as a "good" soldier one ... must disconnect themselves from their rational views and all of their morals must be disregarded. Colonel Kurtz, the rogue military cult leader who Willard is hunting, eventu...

• Word Count: 1176
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... decides what to bring based on his individual needs. One character, Henry Dobbins fills his pack with extra rations, which gives the reader clues into the fact that he encompasses a large physical appearance. Because he carries his girlfriend's pantyhose to bring good fortune, the reader is clued into his superstitious nature. Dave Jensen, a man obsessed with hygiene, fills his pack with toothbrushes and floss ... . A third character the reader is clued into is Tim Lavendar. Because he posses such a nervous character, he fills his pack with marijuana and other sedatives. This ... , and t...

• Word Count: 1097
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• Grade Level: High School

... this man, whom I"m sure was a great man, as a result of his service to this country. He was a soldier. It has no matter if he was a soldier by choice, or a soldier by pick of the draft. He fought for our country to protect our rights and freedoms. Any soldier contributes to our society in this way. They are protecting us by fighting, or just by being ... Army that fought in the Vietnam war. That influenced our society. The sheer number of casualties from that war show us how many people were affected by this war. Maybe they weren't affected in a good way, but they were affected. Gary ma...

• Word Count: 901
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... was not one of these typical grunts. Taylor had a heart and had sympathy toward the innocent people. When soldiers were raping the little girl, Taylor stepped right in and broke it up. He confronted the men and explained that the girl was innocent. Taylor turned into a true soldier, however he still maintained morals and a good heart. Tim O"Brien is similar to Taylor because O"Brien also maintained ... a good heart. When O"Brien killed a Vietnamese man, he could not stop thinking about it. He felt very sorry for what he had ... done. O"Brien did not participate in any of the cruelty do...

• Word Count: 1191
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• Grade Level: High School

... or fill them with pride. People respond differently to having to rise to the occasion, but its how they deal with the outcome that's interesting, especially if they have failed. When the soldier makes the right decisions but gets the wrong outcome, it presents a dangerous problem because this may have severe consequences on the soldier. The soldier not being able to succeed can scar him psychologically, even though he is ... response to a confession" (39). Tim O"Brien was just a young man when he was given the draft notice. He naturally tried to run away from this problem, which he righ...

• Word Count: 437
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... face. Caputo really drew you into his words. It made me think about the way men and women must feel in these combat situations. The emotions they must experience killing someone, and trying to find justice in doing so; reminding themselves it is for the good of their country. In the beginning of the book I could not quite understand his thirst for war and fighting. Then ... they reassigned him to combat. I do not know how the armed forces work, but I guess they must give some consideration to what an upper level soldier wants to do. Of course later in the book, the murder was thought pr...

• Word Count: 736
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• Grade Level: High School

... . As we see Jenny joining one of such anti-war groups, and later more radical "Black Panther", we understand that her attitude towards the war is negative. She represents that part of people who think of Vietnam as a war fought for politicians. Her role as a peace ... . The Vietnam War is just another event or period of time for him. As a private he "fits in the army like one of them", saves lives of his friends, tries to be a good soldier and just enjoys the army life. Because of his naiveness Forrest misses the point. " I got to see a lot of the countryside ... ," he says almost happily...

• Word Count: 738
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• Grade Level: High School

... an innocent young man made corrupt by the circumstances of war. In the end, Chris is said to be "a child of both fathers-, meaning he was part Barnes and part Elias, the bad and the good. The real fight in this film however, was one within each individual soldier. Each individual had to choose the way in which they dealt with the conditions that they faced. They could choose ... to accept it the way it is, like Barnes ... did, or the way it ought to be, like Elias chose. Neither ... ...

• Word Count: 342
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... States send all these troops over to fight? Just for the fun of it? No, they are doing it for the good of our country, those troops were over there fighting and dying for us. That is why I feel this is a weak argument. I feel that every effort and every battle fought, and every soldier that died, and risked his life for his country, was ... very brave and courageous, and will never be forgotten. This war was fought to protect us, the United ... States citizens, how can we sit there and argue, and contradict the United States government, and there decisions about such a major issue....

• Word Count: 517
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• Grade Level: High School

... , she meekly returns to Thomas Fowler. Vietnamese men are all seen as potential enemy, which turns out to be true in Good Morning Vietnam. This is fairly historically accurate, as the Viet Cong had supporters everywhere and, as in the book The Ugly American, were simply better at international relations. Does it show that violence and military action were necessary or unjustified? Neither ... have happened? Certainly. But in this movie, Vietnam is the backdrop, the focus is on the relationship between the characters. The accuracy as it relates to Vietnam seems realistic--there were certai...

• Word Count: 1158
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... Carried, Tim O Brien goes as far as to say, "War is hell, but that's not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love." (O" Brien 80) In war, a soldier's proximity to death makes him at times more alive than ever before, and in life ... a striking realization that war is real. War is not like Looney Tunes and other cartoons where the good guys cheerfully chase after the bad guys and destroy them, only to meet them again the next episode. The death and destruction that occurred in Vie...

• Word Count: 885
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• Grade Level: High School

... many vets used drugs and drank alcohol regularly. They also had trouble getting employed ("Dolan 35"). The media was a major part of Vietnam history. The media got a lot of good coverage during the time of the war. Newscasts had good stories to cover and with so much happening, stayed busy. The public was well informed of what was happening in Vietnam. "Scared, tired, dirty, and hungry" is ... how John Stein (Vietnam Vet) describes his experience in Vietnam. The heat, humidity, and large rain drops is ... not a difficult task. Soldiers didn't know how to cope with problems, so some use...

• Word Count: 1187
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... to acquire PTSD than for someone that is older(Morrison 269). This could be why such an apparent outbreak of PTSD occurred after the Vietnam War. After all, the average age of a soldier drafted to Vietnam was nineteen. Some of the symptoms that occur with PTSD are: difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, irritability or outbursts of anger, difficulty concentrating, hypervigilance, and exaggerated startle ... response (Frances 428). The PTSD sufferer often goes through re--experiencing of the event or events that have traumatized he or she (Frances 428). It can ... . It is imperativ...

• Word Count: 1042
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• Grade Level: High School

... they killed but I guess this one just seemed more intense because at the end they were wrong about whom they thought the boy was. The fact that they were laughing about it made it seem even more wrong. I realized that in being a soldier you cannot get around the fact that maybe a few innocent people might die. I understood why he did it, and I understood why he ... had the charges raised against him. I was also glad that the charges were dropped, even though they did kill innocent people. The Vietnam War was different from any other war in our ... face. Caputo really drew you into his ...

• Word Count: 984
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... . These two also worked together on another movie, which would prove to be a good example of leadership practices, called "Braveheart". The first scene that I chose to analyze in "We Were Soldiers" is one that comes some 45 minutes into the movie. The United States Military has just gotten word that the French Army is a disaster over in North Vietnam, literally walking in and being gunned ... about what he is going to do when they arrive in North Vietnam that shows that he is setting the example. By telling them that he will be the first off the helicopter and the last one on, it builds ...

• Word Count: 802
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School