Personal Narrative Essay: The Vietnam War

I am 16 years old and scared to death of the horrors of battle. We were just ordered to charge across a 1 mile long open field.As I was charging out from Seminary Ridge, cannon shots are flying all around me.

I remember the smell, the sounds, the taste of blood. I remember seeing my comrades fall beside me, the sting of the cuts. The numbness as I fell alongside them, the sadness, the tears. The price of war, I believe my father said that to me before he died. I remember being lifted and carried, I remember a laugh. Then I felt my mind slowly becoming numb, and soon my mind was consumed by the darkness. Like a wildfire it spread from the farthest of places, destroying everything in its’ path. It was over, the war was lost, hope gone; at least until today….

Swords crashed against shields like a field of doors slamming shut in the wind. Arrows whistled through the air; a murder of tiny crows swarming above us vulnerable soldiers. The grunts of men impaled by hafts and sliced open by steel join the cacophony of a battle raging into dusk. Wet warmness would splash across me in response to the dying cries of my comrades as one after another of those we battle would push our shields apart and break the line. The ground was wet and sloppy, dried earth had been turned to slush by a rain that did not fall from the sky. The ground was rendered difficult to manoeuvre through, encumbered by the lifeless figures of soldiers now without the allegiance that lead them to a face in the dirt.

Living in the trenches is extremely horrible, even though I have only been in it for two days. Although, it is clever that these trenches, that are created by digging in the mud, are designed to protect us from machine gun fire. They are muddy, and when it rains, the mud can slowly trickle onto my outfit. These trenches are rat infested, and the filthy rats always steal the last morsels of food that we have. We use the backside of our shovel to smash and kill the filthy rats. When I first smashed a rat, blood oozed out of the rat and its body was twisted. Nobody could bear to watch that horrendous sight anymore. I immediately ran away; it was the first living thing that I had killed in my entire life. I felt happy but remorseful at the same time. Here in the Western Front, clouds always block the rays of the vivid sunshine; the

The meadow near the Western Front was nothing compared to the vast fields of the prairie back home. There, in what seems like another lifetime, was a harvest full of life, colour, and promise. Here, there was only death and harshness. Trevor, our Commander, had once described the scenery of these fields in France before the chaos. He had said it was filled with little red flowers and high green grass. After three years of fatalities and rain, the scene shifted to represent the misery. There was no colour here. Our uniforms that had once been a deep green were now covered with dried mud. The scene before me was bleak. The sky was gray; as it had been since the first day we made camp in these trenches. The ground was muddy with small pools of

In May of 2007 I was a recently promoted Specialist with 20 months in the Army and 11 months in Iraq. I was assigned to B Company, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment; a member of the 2nd Infantry Divisions 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. As part of President George W. Bush’s “Surge” our 12 month deployment was extended to 15 months. We had spent the previous months moving around Iraq to support multiple areas of operation (AO), but in March of 2007 had moved to the volatile city of Baqubah, where we had begun the long and arduous task of clearing the city of insurgent forces.

Blind to the truth of what really happens. It’s times like this where I am forever grateful for the experience I have already been faced with gruesome events. Yet that hateful feeling of dread continues to tower over me each and every day. It’s challenging to recall what it was like for me the first I set foot on the battle field, as it seems like a lifetime ago. I suppose that I have lived a lifetime in these trenches. I wish that with every enemy I shoot it shall not say with me. A constant reminder of our sacrifices, I’m on edge as it feels like a continuous want for death. Bewildered as to when it will strike again shaken by the fact that it could be me carried away, or left in the barbarous

All bullets were counted, beds made, uniforms cleaned, this occurred until suddenly 03:45 arrived. “Men, the time is nearly here,” my words choked as self-hatred flooded my body, “What we do here today will be remembered for generations to come, we fight today not only for ourselves, but all who we know. All our mates and family who live back home!” A faint cheer followed my speech as I steadied myself for what was to come. “We charge in 5 minutes. We charge not only for our freedom but for the freedom of our country. For the freedom of the world!” Spit filled the air from the cheer which erupted from my unit this time. A unity formed over the men, a cold malevolent sweat captured me. Who was I to send these boys to their death? A resolve set inside me, I would fight alongside my men, their lives are worth the same as mine. 04:00 “THIS IS IT MEN! WE FIGHT FOR THE WORLD!” I screamed as I led the charge. Vaulting out of the trench I saw no man’s land clearly for the first time. Death was everywhere, flies swarming the pools of blood. The land so barren of life no greenery was seen. A cold resolution set over me, it was the Germans fault, they caused

This is the end, i’m sorry I have to leave you. You have grown so much since the first time I had seen you. I will miss you. At that moment, I realized that I won’t get to see America grow even more than it already has... Ok, before I give away anything else, let’s go to this morning, before all of this happened. It was Friday, April 14, 1865, 7:08am when my wife Mary came into my bedroom and made me the usual breakfast in bed. She got me 1 egg and a cup of coffee. After I got out of bed I went to my office and worked for a while.

So when he told me that the end of the war would be a peaceful and glorious time I believed him with all my heart. And so did everyone else. But as time has gone on I’ve learned that to only be halfway true.

Oh great it’s the sergeant is chasing me great why can’t I get a break.i’m really tired. I’ve been running all day. Okay he is getting close perfect a bunch of bushes.know he’s stopping what is he doing at this point. Yeah yeah hover right over the bushes where I am okay I should stop. Why does he breath so heavy seriously who does that it’s like a he’s blowing a tornado.finally he’s leaving seriously I was going to get blown away from that guy i don’t even know why i’m still talking about this. That was weird.time to get back on track. Yay more walking to the armory seriously this all happened in one day.okay i’m finally at the armory. You're kidding me there is no ammo our guns. So now I have to get ammo from the bodies gross still in one day.now i’m at the raid site my legs are on fire i’m so tired okay back on track. Time to pull the gun from the body. okay pulling the bodies cold gripping flesh this is completely normal done did it never going to forget that.now I got new ammo and a gun one clean shot should do it. Oh I see him. Boom! Done it’s over. Perfect timing a time window time to really go home. Finally back at the lab. Time to go to bed. It feels good to be in my time

The sound of screaming and swords clashing outside jolted me awake. I found myself pressed against the wall, sword and shield both in hand. The thane shouted commands to destroy everything in sight. With that, the sound of death was on the other side of the wall. I heard my mother’s screams become instantly silent. An army man shouted, “One down! The other cannot be found, sir.” My stomach became knotted as I thought of my mother, lying on the ground with no hope of waking up. I should have burst through the wooden door, swinging my sword in every direction until I heard the last breath of each Rine there. Instead, I sank to my knees and wept as I listened to the Comitatus invading my home. I waited for the thanes to come here and kill me as they did my mother. My father had managed to escape, but there is no way he could save me. However, I knew he did not care to anyways. The sound of men approaching the door took my breath away. My sobbing became uncontrollable. I heard the wooden door creek open, as I sank deeper and deeper into the dirt beneath me. A feeling of helplessness over took me. My life was over. The Rines had a mission to kill everything they saw, and I knew they saw me. One officer yelled,

"Bang" Bang " Oh gosh this time I'm not dreaming I am in a war zone I've come close to death a few times. I have been in worse situations than this I can survive my techniques are to stay low and fast well this is my life changing my setting everyday. Well it's time to move. With out me knowing the bullets will be inches from hitting me as I run. When I escape all of this I'm gonna move far far from here where I can start fresh. Before I get to excited I need to escape I tuck and roll behind a barrel and plant right next

The stench of rotten urine fills my nostrils. I was meant to get leave days ago, but with no one to take our place we must stay in the narrow trenches. Some soldiers have gone adrift but I couldn’t see the sense in that. The trenches have been home for seven months and previously I was at the Dardanelles or Gallipoli as we now call it. The fight there was brutal; my lost mates now make up the land. Stories repeat themselves with, limbs hanging out the walls of the trenches; some privates walk past shaking the hands for luck. I survived with sheer luck as there were others who deserved to live more than me. Maybe Mother was watching over me. It was with luck I managed to pass my English major at Sydney University before this horrible conflict

On the first day of battle, many soldiers were sent in to the area between our land and our enemy’s land, what we call “no man’s land”. It was muddy and the tanks were unable to make it through, leaving our men vulnerable. So many men died that I began to lose hope that I could ever return back home alive.