"Remembrance." By Patrick Cosper
This poem, about the unrest during the Vietnam War is a beautiful poem. Patrick Cosper expresses his emotions towards the war and its soldiers. He hopes that the future generations will not have to face what they did. At the end of the poem, Cosper expresses his relief that his fellow soldiers are with God in Heaven. I thought that this was a good poem to read because it relays some of the instances in the war that I could almost visualize (i.e. when "Incoming" breaks the silence of the night). It also made me feel sad when he talked about The Wall. It was a sad poem.
"The Soldier." By Rupert Brooke
I did not understand this poem at all. It did not mention any soldier (as far as I could tell). Also, as I could have guessed by the author's name, this poem was not about America at all. It was about England. This was definitely not a helpful poem.
"As the Team's Head Brass." By Edward Thomas
This poem is not very war-related, but it does discuss World War I and its effects on society. The man in the story talks about what life would have been like without the war. He remarks that he would not be where he is. He would probably be with his friend that had recently died in France. This was a pretty boring poem. I don't think it was a good resource.
"Welcome Home." By Frank Pilhouse
This poem analyzes the change of a man after Vietnam. He re-evaluates himself and his surroundings after the war. He states, "I'm nicer to people�I'm more in touch with my feelings, the things and persons around me�life." I thought this was a good poem because it gave an insight to less seen side of war: the home front, after the soldiers have returned. It was a good resource.
"Channel Firing." By Thomas Hardy
This is sort of a fantasy ("unseen side") point of view of growing warfare in the world. Men in graves are awoken by the gunfire and explosions and suspect that it is the Day of Judgement. They are assured by God, however, that it is just a mere gunning practice. This is more of a message poem, stating that war is bad, and should be abolished. This poem did not directly relate to my topic, but I thought that it would be good to include, only because I disagree with its views. I believe that war is a good thing and is necessary when tyrants are free to roam the earth.
Delaney, Bill. "US Veterans Who Left School for War Honored with Diplomas." Cnn.com. May 20, 1999.
This was a touching article that just adds to the honor deserved by our war heroes. In Massachusettes, 39 veterans were presented with high school diplomas. The reasoning behind these diplomas was that they had learned biology by first aid, geography by their travel, and cultures from experience. This story made me feel good because of how good it made these veterans feel. We don't even think of this kind of thing sometimes. These men were fighting for their country at the cost of an education. Now they have both.
Fouhy, Beth. "Veterans Concerned National Cemeteries are Filling Up." CNN.com. May 23, 1999.
When I visited Arlington National Cemetery last year, I myself queried as to how they would continue to fit so many soldiers into the cemetery. Now, it seems as though these soldiers feel the same way. Having a burial in Arlington is a great honor, only given to the best soldiers, and to be deserving, yet deprived of that privilege, would only be depressing. Many officials are now trying to handle the problem by setting up some new sites for the grounds.
Melymuka, Kathleen. "Why Military Veterans Make Great IT Leaders." CNN.com. May 28, 1999.
This less relevant (not useless) story explains about what a great mental resource our veterans are. While in the line of fire, these heroes learned all about new types of technology and are 100% qualified to aid in computer literacy. They were always kept on the cutting edge of technology. Now, when they are back, they share with us their computer literacy.
Saving Private Ryan. Director Steven Spielberg. Videocassette. Paramouunt Pictures, 1998. 165 minutes.
This was a great movie. It made me really feel the effects of World War II. Taking place just after D-Day, 1944, Capt. John Miller and his troop are assigned a task to retrieve the last remaining member of the Ryan family. While watching this movie, I looked at each soldier in the platoon and asked why they were there, fighting so hard for our country with such little material reward. At the end of the movie, however, I looked back on the plot, the acting, and the emotion, and realized that these soldiers wanted victory, no matter what the cost, because they felt it was the right thing to do.
Clancy, Tom. Fighter Wing. New York: Berkley Publishing Corp, 1997.
This is more of a guide than a story, but it does an incredible job of catching the drama of a dogfight, the threat of warfare, and the brutal training face by our air pilots everyday. I thought that this was an incredible book, though I thought it would include more storyline. I really enjoyed, however, the way I could almost imagine myself in one of the jets during the dogfight scenes. I felt every thought that went through the head of a pilot. It made me appreciate the service of our war pilots.
DeLong, Kent. "Standing Tall." War Heroes: true Stories of Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1993.
This was truly an inspirational story about John F. Baker, a short but brave soldier who fought bravely when fate called for him to step forth. He trained as a "tunnel rat," digging out Vietnam underground camps. When his platoon was under heavy enemy fire from all corners, Baker ran up to three enemy bunkers, tossing a grenade in each. After he returned back to the soldiers, his friend was shot in the head. This caused him to go frantic with anger. He killed many men that day and helped many men to survive that day. People like that deserve our nation's greatest honors.
DeLong, Kent. "His Duty." War Heroes: true Stories of Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1993.
This story, also from the same source, describes yet another brave hero of the Vietnam war. Thomas G. Kelly was a young naval officer, who worked his way through the ranks only to be sent to Vietnam (by request). When he arrived, he learned the value of teamwork and used his skills to retrieve teams of soldiers out of Vietnam. On one occasion, when their support was called away to another task, they were left open to enemy fire. Without hesitation, Lt. Kelly took his boat in the line of fire to cover the boat of soldiers. Though seriously wounded in a grenade explosion, Kelly barely made it out alive and was given the
Congressional Medal of Honor. This story inspired me to write on war veterans and their place in society.
Bonior, David E. "- preface -". The Vietnam Veteran. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1984.
At the end of the Vietnam War, this describes the protests going on outside of the White House. It basically describes how so many soldiers had gathered to honor those fallen in war. They were rebelling against a country that had so long ignored them. This story gave part of the initial inspiration to promote Veterans' Affairs as my topic. The soldiers in the story were without recognition and were so deserving. I hope that what I can do on Memorial Day will at least make up for part of their needed honor.
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