Analysis Of Blood In The Hills

During boot camp, we were taught about the Battle of Fallujah, but after reading this book, I was able to understand so much better. I was able to picture their tactics, strategies, their emotions, and why the Marines were called the “Greatest Generation.”

The psychological effects, the mentality of fighting and killing another human, and the sheer decimation of human values is what makes war atrocious. War is not only fought on the battlefield though. This book also describes the feelings of a soldier fighting his own demons that war has brought on. The battle that the soldier has with himself, is almost if not more damaging than the physical battle of war. He will never forget his experience with battle, no matter how hard he tries the memories of artillery, blood, and death cannot be erased. “I prayed like you to survive, but look at me now. It is over for us who are dead, but you must struggle, and will carry the memories all your life. People back home will wonder why you can't forget.” (Sledge). This struggle still happens to soldiers today. Sledge’s words of the struggles still captures the effects of warfare that lingers today. The other effects that war has on the men is the instability that surrounds them at every hour of the day. They are either engaged in battle having bullets and artillery fired at them, or waiting for battle just so they can be deposited back in the pressure cooker of survival. “Lying in a foxhole sweating out an enemy artillery or mortar barrage or waiting to dash across open ground under machine-gun or artillery fire defied any concept of time.”

After reading the first eighteen chapters of David Maraniss’ They Marched into Sunlight, I was really shocked to find out all about what I was uneducated on about the Vietnam War.

Penned during two distinctly disparate eras in American military history, both Erich Maria Remarque's bleak account of trench warfare during World War I, All Quiet on the Western Front, and Tim O'Brien's haunting elegy for a generation lost in the jungles of Vietnam, The Man I Killed, present readers with a stark reminder that beneath the veneer of glorious battle lies only suffering and death. Both authors imbue their work with a grim severity, presenting the reality of war as it truly exists. Men inflict grievous injuries on one another, breaking bodies and shattering lives, without ever truly knowing for what or whom they are fighting for. With their contributions to the genre of war literature, both Remarque and O'Brien have sought to lift the veil of vanity which, for so many wartime writers, perverts reality with patriotic fervor. In doing so, the authors manage to convey the true sacrifice of the conscripted soldier, the broken innocence which clouds a man's first kill, and the abandonment of one's identity which becomes necessary in order to kill again.

“Colder Than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir” is a memoir written by Joseph R. Owen, a lieutenant of Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Regiment. Lt. Owen narrates his experience as an officer in the Korean War, in an attempt to show the public what war is from a soldier's point of view. Readers are shown what sacrifices soldiers have to make during times of war, they are shown the experience of war through a different pair of eyes. The Chosin action is justly called majestic; and in this memoir, Lieutenant Owen tells the tale of the common men who made it so. Joseph informs the public about the experiences of the 7th Marine Regiment and the tragic end of the Chosin Reservoir where many Marines lost their lives. He shows us what sacrifices a soldier must make for his country, and he helps readers understand the impact of war on a man. The memoir was an extraordinarily detailed and realistic account of war, allowing the public to read the tale and enjoy not only a thrilling retelling of Chosin Reservoir, but also a memoir

I would defiantly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a realistic account of the Marines who fought in the final stages of the Vietnam War. This book is extremely powerful to anyone who knows someone who fought in Vietnam. My uncle was a Corporal who fought in Vietnam so it defiantly hit home for me. James Webb did an amazing job of capturing just how violent and different this conflict was, and makes it personal with his development of the books two protagonist. It is obvious that the events described in this book were directly influenced by Webb 's personal experience as a combat veteran and Marine officer in the Vietnam War. Webb 's credibility is unquestionable due to his experiences and level of realism. This book is a must read if you know any USMC Vietnam veterans, or just want to know more about the Vietnam war. I highly recommend this

The Viet Nam War has been the most reviled conflict in United States history for many reasons, but it has produced some great literature. For some reason the emotion and depredation of war kindle in some people the ability to express themselves in a way that they may not have been able to do otherwise. Movies of the time period are great, but they are not able to elicit, seeing the extremely limited time crunch, the same images and charge that a well-written book can. In writing of this war, Tim O'Brien put himself and his memories in the forefront of the experiences his characters go through, and his writing is better for it. He produced a great work of art not only because he experienced the war first hand, but because he is able to convey the lives around him in such vivid detail. He writes a group of fictional works that have a great deal of truth mixed in with them. This style of writing and certain aspects of the book are the topics of this reflective paper.

The subject of this book has affect my life by serving as a reality check of what my Marine predecessors went through in order for me to be able to obtain the deep-rooted fighting tactics today. I will never have to deal with and survive the adversities that the Marines of Fox Company did. It also affected me by teaching me that as a Marine, no matter what struggles may present themselves, I will always thrive and keep fighting.

Hundreds of bodies littered the ground. Sounds of explosions and endless gunfire filled the air. Soldiers, with their uniforms splashed in crimson, fought viciously and ruthlessly. Their main objective, which was to win the battle, took a backseat to their newfound desperation to stay alive. After all, war is not a game, especially one such as the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, and left its survivors haunted by a multitude of atrocious events. Terry Erickson’s father and George Robinson, who were two fictional characters from the short stories “Stop the Sun” and “Dear America”, respectively, were veterans of the Vietnam War. The differences and similarities between Terry’s father and George Robinson are striking, and they merit rigorous scrutiny.

I attended the student breakfast last Thursday, September 14th, 2017 from 10-11 am given by Heather Ann Thompson. Thompson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian for her book Blood In The Water which is even being made into a motion picture. The main point that she reiterates throughout is that when viewing the prison system in America, you have to view as part of your family. For example, if someone you loved killed someone you love dearly, would you sentence them to life in prison? Or, if it’s just a random person who messed up and made a mistake, should they serve 30 years in prison? Although, as she mentions that the prison system is complicated and uncomplicated at the same time, there is no clear and distinct solution, the current

   Bao Ninh's The Sorrow of War is a contrapuntal reading to American literature on the Vietnam War. But rather than stand in stark contrast to Tim O' Brien's The Things They Carried, The Sorrow of War is strangely similar, yet different at the same time. From a post-colonialist standpoint, one must take in account both works to get an accurate image of the war. The Sorrow of War is an excellent counterpoint because it is truthful. Tim O' Brien writes: ". . . you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil." (O' Brien, 42) Bao Ninh succeeds in this respect. And it was for this reason that the Vietnamese

When people think of the military, they often think about the time they spend over in another country, hoping they make it back alive. No one has ever considered the possibility that they may have died inside. Soldiers are reborn through war, often seeing through the eyes of someone else. In “Soldier’s home” by Ernest Hemingway, the author illustrates how a person who has been through war can change dramatically if enough time has passed. This story tells of a man named Harold (nick name: Krebs) who joined the marines and has finally come back after two years. Krebs is a lost man who feels it’s too complicated to adjust to the normal way of living and is pressured by his parents.

Forty-two years has passed since the Fall of Saigon 1975, yet still the Vietnam War and its aftermath are not forgotten. The first of the wars that was publicly broadcasted, earned the Vietnam War the name “Television War.” Despite the public’s division on the war, young men filled with patriotism and purpose went off to battle. These men unskilled to fight in the jungles of Vietnam, would soon learn the harsh realities of war. The authors of the novels , Falling Through the Earth and Matterhorn use their characters to highlight the psychological effects of war.

This is a different sort of Pressfield book. Unlike the historical fiction genre in which he’s written such best-sellers as “Gates of Fire,” “The Afghan Campaign, and “The Profession,” “The Warrior Ethos” is the culmination of years of discussions Pressfield’s been having with Marines and others who were taken with the blend of courage-under-fire and humanity shown by Leonidas, Dienekes, Matthais, Gent, and the other characters in his books. “I wanted to give something back to our men and women fighting overseas,” Pressfield told Gazette, so I put together the best anecdotes and stories from all my research about the Spartans, Alexander's Macedonians, the Romans, and Rommel.”

I enjoyed that Martinez made “Blood and Sand” about more than just the work of the cartels in the Southwest. He made it personal, about the lives that have been lost to the drug trade and sex trafficking, but also global, as he describes the way he sees the desert as a metaphorical place of restoration, healing, spiritual encounter, but also loss and death.