Essay on A Brief Biography of Billie G. Kanell

In the beginning of the story we are introduced to the dead soldier named Kiowa. Kiowa was a native American, which in this story is ironic because he died for a country that didn’t socially accept his cultural background but there he was fighting a war that was unnecessary for them to be fighting. However, as readers we picture Kiowa as a model citizen because Jimmy Cross said, “what a fine soldier Kiowa has been, what a fine human being, and how he was the kind of son that any father could be proud of forever,” (O’Brien 3176). This passage shows the reader that Jimmy Cross thought highly of Kiowa and that it was a great lost to his platoon. Not only that but O’Brien also wanted to highlight Kiowa’s innocence and show that the Vietnam war was stripping our youth of their innocence’s. However, it’s not until Jimmy Cross says, “he should’ve taken one look and headed for higher ground. He should’ve known. No excuses” (O’Brien 3178), that we could see that Jimmy Cross felt that Kiowa death was his fault and that it was a loss of a good

Lt. Carroll was the kind of character that would be the hero of the squad and put himself on the line if it meant life or death for the rest of the squad. Lt. Carroll, the first lieutenant when Richie was in Nam, prior to Richie arriving in Nam walked out in the middle of a firefight to try to save 2 squad members. As Walowick was explaining more about Lt. Carrolls personality in the war, he said ” When the chips were down, he put his ass on the line for the guys” (46). Lt. Carroll put his life on the line in attempt to save others. “You guys get out the ditch okay? Peewee asked. Unh-uh Walowick said. That’s why you guys are in the squad” (46). Putting yourself on the line in order to save others is very close to the definition of heroism. It shows that you would and will put others safety in front of your own if it meant life or death.

William Harvey Carney was a very brave man with a story to tell. Throughout his life he lived out a struggle. I don’t know how he did it but he had some guts as strong as steel. But at

In life, everyone has obligations. People have responsibilities they have to tend to everyday, but sometimes there are passions of love or revenge that makes one stop thinking of what their true responsibilities are. For soldiers fighting in war, their responsibility is to take care of their men and make sure no one gets hurt. They fight for their country and protect the men who have become their family. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross went against his honor to protect his men. He let his responsibly go, which caused one of the men in his group to die. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross confronts the demands of the love for Martha, which conflicts with his responsibility in the war, which affects him and the story.

Page 29, Question #2: What is meant by the idea that race, class, and gender are interactive systems rather than individual variables? Think about your own family of orientation, and take one particular aspect of your family life as an example. Discuss briefly how race, class, and gender act simultaneously to shape that aspect of your family life.

After a few years of going to church with his family fervently on Sundays, fourteen year old Sam lost his father, which later on would describe as “Only one for passion, a military life” .

Gowrie, Iowa native, Orval Hasty needed money to attend college, so he joined the marines in 1940, he ended up earning this money after the war. He got assigned at Ford Island to guard In February 1941. Around the 450 acre island there were other vessels and battleships. Orval said, "It was good duty. The climate was nice, we weren 't overworked and it was fun," with regard to the Naval Air Station Ford Island. When not at work Orval attended flying lessons, visited shows, and hung out at beaches. Sleeping in on Sunday mornings was normal for Marines and Sailors not on duty. Orval got up early asking his parents about his driver’s license through the mail. Orval didn’t know what was about to happen. No one knew. Before dawn 183 Japanese bomber planes, torpedo planes and fighter planes took flight on their way to Pearl Harbor. Wave two came later.

As a nation, we honor our soldiers as they risk their lives for our freedoms. A quote from John 15:13 perfectly represents what sacrifice the soldiers really make, “Greater love has no one then this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”(John 15:13). This shows that soldiers will die for their friends because they believe that it is their way to serve their nation. This quote represents what Arlington National Cemetery is about acres and acres of tombs to honor are soldiers.

Mamie Phipps Clark was born on April 18, 1917 in Hot Spring, Arkansas. Mrs. Clark was brought up knowing a professional lifestyle. Her father Harold H. Phipps was an African American, who was a physician and was more than able to support his family of four rather easily. Her mother Katy Florence Phipps, was a homemaker who was very involved in her husband's medical practice. Mamie had explained that being an African American in the early 1930’s and living in the South was far from easy, even for the middle class family that she came from. “My father was a well-respected black person, and it was a phenomenon that is not really unusual in the South, that even in the highly segregated situations, you will have a few blacks that are

Heroes have achieved many feats that support the belief of a greater good and expressing valor and selflessness through the ages. There are fictional or real life accounts that have recognized these men and women for their vigor and marked them as heroes due to their events of success and motives of committing the heroic deeds. Yet there are copious amounts of people who have sacrifice themselves for a greater good but they have been lost through time even if their actions were prosperous or doomed in the end with a valiant purpose. They are unsung heroes who committed the actions based on their inner fire of what is right or honorable or rather than the fame they hope to achieve from those acts. The world or a populous may not know of their actions, but the actions and beliefs of an individual or group can entitle them of being hero-like without the necessity of recognition and success. They have lost their lives or a part of themselves to a cause based on righteousness rather than self-gain. They presented selfless heroism rather than the the intention to receive praise from the victories. Sacrifice contributes more to Heroism because the individual invested his or her own determination, valor and accepting the opportunity to risk their self-health (physical or psychological) based on great intentions rather than reaping the accolades of committing good deeds.

The men who were in Tim O’Brien’s platoon caught on quickly, if they talked about everything that was going on as if it was only a story, their lives became a little easier. It became easier even for the men who didn’t practically like the guy who died. In the war it wasn’t about liking one another, that didn’t matter, what mattered to them was expressing their grief without showing it. “In any case, it’s easy to get sentimental about the dead, and to guard against it” (82). Being able to guard against their grief was something that was hard for many. No matter how many stories they told, there was still a sadness that some of them never could get over. The death of Kiowa was one of those impossible to get over. His death impacted everyone in the platoon. Even though Kiowa was just their guide, they treated him like he was a part of their family of misfits. Every man in the platoon had a story for Kiowa. There was some who told people stories that had Kiowa never dying, there were two however where his death left such a huge impact on them. All they

Billie was born to the name, Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915. She was born in Philadelphia but grew up in the Fell's Point section of Baltimore. Her mother, was just 13 at the time of her birth; her father, was 15. Holidays' teenage parents, Sadie Harris (aka Fagan) and probable father, Clarence Holiday, never married, and they did not live together for a long time. Clarence, a banjo and guitar player worked with Fletcher Henderson's band in the early 30s. He remains a shady figure who left his family. Clarence would often be away from home, and during the stay with Henderson, which lasted until 1932, the guitarist severed connections with the Fagans. Billie was an angry chile who lived a hard life. She was raped at the age of 10 soon

Billie Holiday, whose real name is Eleanora Gough, was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in 1915. She grew up mostly in Baltimore and always loved jazz. Billie was born to very young parents. Her mother was thirteen when she was born and her father just fifteen. (www.numberonestars.com, 2010)

It its often said that when you are in the face of death a flash of your entire life seems to appear. You would give anything for a mere few more seconds left on this earth, but when it is inevitable there is nothing else to do but tell all those you love to be strong, forgive you for making them go through this grief and try amend those you have hurt. In 1861, knowing that the probabilities of surviving this battle were really low, Major Sullivan Bailou wrote a heart wrenching letter referencing his endless love toward his wife, to elicit sympathy in order for her to accept his death and to evoke his never ending affection for her.

Today a lot of individuals are praised for their bravery and their heroism. A lot of