Personal Narrative: The American Swaddy Day

The human experience in war has been a common theme within military history throughout the past forty years. Many individuals have made efforts; which have gone to further impress the majority of the local soldiers who have served in the military, but not necessarily with overwhelming excitement, apart from only the generals and heroes of the war. My evaluation of this memoir is that it serves as a voice for soldiers and ex-soldiers to keep in their memory how things were like on the battlefield. Although, the memoir for war is among the oldest

“FIRE!” the captain screamed. The battle was at a draw with both the British and Americans firing volley after volley of lead at each other. The air was filled with smoke, the screams of dying men, and rumble of artillery near by. Then, all of a sudden the British pulled back and headed to their camp. The Americans were also heading back to their camp. The battle had started 2 days ago and both sides couldn’t break each other’s hold on the other. Both generals didn’t know what to do, but both vowed to never surrender.

Green portrays the war as a symbolic event for men to show their duty as an American to protect their own country. Green’s choice of words such as “honor” and “justice”, “glory” and “heroism” served as a motivator for his audience to show that partaking the role of being in the Union forces will

It is time for war with bullets flying pass you. Will you continue and try your hardest to win your country’s freedom or not. It’s the year of 1777 at George Washington’s winter camp, Valley Forge. I chose to re-enlist because of three reasons, the first reason is healthy men, like me are needed. I also need to think about others and help win this war, unlike others who don’t think about others. The Congress Committee is also finally starting to listen to us soldiers, they are doing their best to provide us food, like meat and some clothing. These are the three main reasons why I have chosen to stay.

This book withholds eight true stories entailing American men’s courage in fighting for their country. It contains no real names, just real stories. The book spans from 1776 to 2007 including the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War II, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and the Iraq War. The first account is that of a spy of General George Washington’s. This man was a school teacher when the Revolution began, but felt he needed to fight for freedom. He started at the bottom just as part of the militia This man saw many men in his unit die in battle and due to diseases such as influenza. As we continued to fight, his commanding officers saw him as being capable to blend in behind the enemy lines. He became a spy and worked under General George

As with many other countries at the time, America’s ranks during WWII were filled with what many would describe as “the common man”: men from farmlands, small towns and big cities. As detailed in James Tobin’s Ernie Pyle’s War detailed, there was no man more respected and trusted to accurately portray what these men went through than the war correspondent Ernie Pyle. Pyle’s upbringing in the Midwest, his unassuming “aw shucks” demeanor, and pre-war experiences touring the country uniquely suited him to the establishment of tremendous rapport; both with the soldiers he traveled with and folks back home.

Tonight is our last night in Valley Forge. General Washington says we’re moving out sometime tomorrow. The British had left Philadelphia and there are plans for us to zone in. After being stationed here for six months, I can’t say that I’ll miss it. If the British army had seen us during the first few winter months, they would have assumed that their work was all but done. They would only have to wait until all fourteen-hundred of us all died off or packed up and went home. The winter in Valley Forge was tough; there was a limited amount supplies and illness was common, but General Washington kept us together and Baron von Steuben helped turn us into an army to look out for.

Some of the soldiers were such cowards that they injured themselves just to be taken away in a helicopter and extracted from the war scene. The soldiers “spoke bitterly about guys who had found release by shooting off their own toes or fingers. Pussies, they’d say. Candy-asses” (22). However, deep down inside, the soldiers who did all the mocking “imagined the quick, sweet pain, then the evacuation to Japan, then a hospital with warm beds and cute geisha nurses” (22). The soldiers even dreamt at night about freedom birds. The men were flying on a “real bird, a big sleek silver bird with feathers and talons and high screeching… The weights fell off; there was nothing to bear” (22). The soldiers did not want to be at war, they imagined to themselves “It’s (the war) over, I’m gone!—they were naked, they were light and free” (22).

The stories of 47 Americans and their contribution to World War II as well as the struggles they faced were written down and shared through this book. Tom Brokaw, the author, shared some of their memories, dreams they had, their jobs, and how the war affected each of them personally. This book exposed this generation's remarkable bravery, their patriotism, and their accomplishments. Along with that, similar personal values, goals (both spoken and unspoken), and personality traits were shared between many of them. This particular group of Americans were modest people who often put the needs of others before their own.

Then one warm May evening in 1862, a Union troop gathered in my local hotel. I hid upstairs, eavesdropping through a hole on the floorboards. It was exciting to hear secrets poured out, and the adrenaline pumped through my blood. I rode out acting and bluffing my way past the Union sentries and conveyed my information, which allowed Jackson?s army to win a battle. I braved enemy fire that put holes in my skirt. For my contributions, I was awarded the position of captain, a true honor. I continued to carry more messages after that.

Not every man who 's fought in a war planned on doing so. In fact, not all of them even want to. It 's rare to find enough people voluntarily willing to lay down their lives for their country, so more often than not militaries used what we would call “citizen soldiers.” Citizen soldiers are exactly what they sound like, regular citizens taken from society and turned into people capable of serving in the military. Although it may seem obvious when plainly written out, citizen soldiers had vastly different experiences compared to career soldiers, and Stephen Ambrose attempted to pin down that specific experience in his book Citizen Soldier. Ambrose uses oral interviews from World War II veterans and other materials to explain the experiences of the common American soldier who served in WWII between D-Day and the eventual surrender of the German forces. However, when examining his book, it 's important to ask how successful Ambrose was in painting an accurate picture of this kind of soldier 's life during his service. Is the information he uses specific to the men who served in Europe, or can it also be linked back to the soldiers in the Pacific? This paper will evaluate his work by comparing it to oral interviews from WWII veterans both from the same areas that Ambrose 's veterans serve in and in locations not included in his work.

“General William Howe” I heard over the sound of the howling wind through the valley. “Yes lieutenant,” I mustered. “Do you have any food to spare.” “No lieutenant, I do not,” I said apologetically. I was sitting in a shallow ditch around the tiny fire. The ice and snow feeling like tiny needles on my skin. As I looked around me at the other soldiers, all I saw were the faces of desolation and despair. The wind whipped across my face chilling my bones, reminding me just how cold it was. This winter was one of the worst I'd ever seen. It was relentless, and it showed no signs of stopping. Everyday that passed more people were falling sick to illnesses and starving. People were dying by the tens and supplies weren't supposed to arrive until February. Washington is even struggling to keep his army united and strong. It’s at the point that he will let the men leave to come back in the spring. Just as I was about to stand up to clear my head, I heard the strong and pronounced voice of Washington. “Gather around now,” he hollered politely to us. Almost immediately the men rose to their feet and started walking. “I have something to tell all of you,” said Washington. “These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right, but "to bind us in all cases whatsoever" and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.” I then realized Washington had just read Thomas Paine’s The Crisis. I just stood still as it

[unclear: Segom] a line to let our relations know that we were well &c -- We paroled all the prisoners & sent them off home yesterday I found all the New Yorkers glad they were taken, and anxious to go home -- the officers, many of them intend to resign at once -- a Major from Palmyra gave me his revolver & told me four weeks was enough for him & had altered his opinions completely. I never saw a more splendidly dressed set of men -- the officers were all splendidly equipped & every thing there was new -- artillery & all - nothing escaped but 1000 Cavalry that got out along the tow path up the Potomac by a mile -- We have had a good many skirmishes with McClellan & have lost something because our main force was directed here, but our troops were massed night before last and a battle was fought yesterday morning from which nothing reliable has been heard, though it is rumored that Burnsides & 13000 men were captured near Sharpsburg & Shepherdstown I hardly believe it. I am going there today -- We blew up the

We all sleep and rest and eat in the trenches, but it’s not paradise. One night, the sound of loud booms woke us up. We were being attacked by some very dangerous artillery. We could feel every boom and every crack in the dirt above us. Many soldiers were not prepared for this and got sick. The attack come out of nowhere and frightened all of us.

Though the men are previously characterized as hopeful and strong, Wilfred Owen and his personal battlefront experiences contrast this view, conveying the soldiers as weakened and forgotten by the authority figures who once promised to award honor among such “heros”. Euphemisms convince Americans to