Narrative Essay About Veterans

War changes the lives of each and every soldier who participates. It continues to change the way they experience events and the way their perception of the simplest things. Many veterans do not realize what truly happened until much later in life, if at all. Many live in denial of the truth, consciously or subconsciously, and many continuously remember their darkest moments. This is the case in “Salem”, written by Robert Olen Butler. The short story is about a man, late in life, recalling a past event from the Vietnam War. He remembers a man, alone in a clearing, whose life he ended. He starts to understand his actions and their true outcomes. The author uses symbolism, setting, and character to enhance the idea that one should always be aware of how his/her actions affect others.

There are so many history stories in history books and on the internet, but the source from people who were actually there is so much better than reading the nonsense. It’s better to hear stories from people who have actually lived and witnessed it rather than just read stories about it. Most students listen better than they read. When you listen to stuff, it sticks in our mind way longer than looking at a book trying to figure out what’s going on. Veterans are an example of this. They tell us stories about the times they were in the training and when they battled, if they did or have already. They have always been an important part of our nation’s history, present, and future. Everyone who went into the military or is currently planning to join has or will have a story to tell. It will be a part of them that they will always remember, the good times and the bad times. So many veterans love telling all the experiences they have witnessed. Thinking of it, it’s not a bad thing; it’s a great thing to be able to say they were actually there. Many students ask what the training is like when they first join the military, although it’s really tough, many still consider going, some even make the commitment to join right after they graduate. Those who do make it, the commitment, are the reason our nation’s history and future is how it is and how

If there was anything more terrifying to a shy, introverted, teenage girl than the idea of being a in crowded room full of strangers, it would to be actually in one. Yet, there I was, surrounded by a numerous amount of impatient, jet-black cars that illuminated the dark streets, rows of musicians rehearsing their piece by playing a dissonance of sounds, and the expectant, motley crowd of people lining up on the sidewalk for the veteran’s parade.

The returning of a dramatic event disables a soldier to adapt accordingly to everyday life. Ones conscious of reality is infringed upon Posttraumatic experiences of warfare, which unleashes an outbreak of inhumane actions directed towards existence and significant others. As the short story progresses after the event of the Vietnam War, the narrator says referring to Henry that:

O 'Brien illustrates to us the necessity for each man to be connected to their old life, telling a story of Mark Fossie flying in his girlfriend to ease his loneliness (104-05). Each soldier found himself facing insurmountable barriers throughout the war, and these small effects and coping mechanisms were often the only necessity that would give them reason to return home again. They needed personal methods of coping with the war, and this primeval survival was the only way to remain a man.

1. A social problem that personally resonates with are veterans that are homeless. This is personally important to me because I am a big believer that if someone goes to protect our country that the country should welcome theses veterans back with open arms to unsure they can adjust back to normal life. To help myself better understand the situation that many homeless veterans face I did a quick google search on the topic. After looking at http://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/homeless-veterans-facts/2015/06/17/id/651036/ I learned that PTSD is a huge reason why many veterans end up homeless. They are not homeless because they don't care but rather because they are not able to hold a job due to this disorder.

War is indeed, quite the racket. Major General Smedley Butler’s speech War Is A Racket had several good points. One of them is that war is constant and always happening. It has had a large number of effects on modern-day America, but three of the largest are the homeless veterans, security protocols after 9/11, and debt after the war in Iraq.

​For many years war has been a huge part of history. Thousands of people go to war for their country and come back physically fine. But what people usually do not notice is the emotional distress and burden that the veterans come back with on their back. That is what drives the purpose of the book in “The things they carried”. Tim O’Brien wrote this book in way that shows how war can be part of the soldier for the rest of their life. Coming home veterans have to deal with individual sufferings, but the emotional baggage the soldiers bring also effect the people around them. The characters in the book the “The things they carried” portray this very well.

The term veteran can refer to somebody who has had a great deal of experience with a trade, but for the sake of this paper a veteran will refer to somebody who has been honorably discharged from the military, naval, or air service (What is a Veteran, n.d.). Often when returning home veterans need additional resources to help themselves adapt to their new life outside of the armed forces. Their new lives might bring struggles such as, new health conditions they’ve acquired from being in service, or even transitioning back to civilian life. Discussing the struggles veterans face will bring light to the interventions that are available to them, which include veteran specific benefits and organizations, and transition assistance programs.

Why I Appreciate Veterans The first time I heard the word “veteran,” I imagined someone who had risked their life in war to save people who are in danger. Now, I know that being a veteran means so much more. To me, a veteran means someone who has enough respect to willingly endanger their life to protect their home. A veteran is someone who can commit to anything and execute it, even if it means getting hurt or killed.

As a disabled veteran I have had many experiences with the ever “infamous” Department of Veterans Affairs. Many people complain about the VA medical, and VA benefits about there slow response to veterans and dependents needs. Though it did take the VA a full calendar year and an extra 3 months to get my percentages prepared for my medical discharge following my Medical Evaluation Board, I had no issue with this considering I never wanted to get out of the military in the first place. My issues with the VA have always come when a situation arises that I need to speak with a VA representative. Whether it is calling the VA to check on the status of a monthly benefit payment or a general question regarding benefits I have always been put on hold for at minimum 30 minutes.

In the veterans history project my initial thoughts about this project were very overwhelming because there was a lot to get done especially when turning in papers. When it came to getting started with the project and completing it, many emotional feeling came into play because one person could not do this project alone. Some of the feelings I experienced or felt was being worried about it, nervousness, and stressed about the whole thing in the beginning of the project.

For many veterans returning home from their service in the military, their first struggle they encounter is usually the emotional stress they carry from their experiences at war. In the early 1900’s the difficulties these returning soldiers possessed were not being recognized as something family, friends, and doctors needed to worry about. Although all soldiers share different stories about their hardships, most veterans could agree that it was tough to settle back into their previous home as quick as their hometown expected them to. Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home” and Saunders “Home” both tell a story of a veteran returning home from war and describes how the character reacted to coming back home.

Throughout the novel we are reminded of the everyday disruptions that cause pain and misery in our lives. In a span of almost almost 4 years the Siege of Sarajevo in the early to mid 1990s was a conflict of unimaginable horrors with deaths ranging into the thousands and unmerciful killings of all ages caught the

Sam finds that more personal model in the veterans she talks to around Hopewell. In her first encounters with the vets, however, she meets with a puzzling inability (or refusal) to speak – “Anyone who survived Vietnam seemed to regard it as something personal and embarrassing” (p. 67). Even if the vets do talk about the war, their stories rarely mesh. Some want to ignore the past – some want to glorify it. Some tell her to stop looking for something she can never fully understand. Because their voices conflict, Sam feels that they can’t be held as reliable sources of the truth that she desires.