WWII Letter Home

                          February 27, 1945                                                                Fifth Marine Outpost, Iwo JIma

My Dearest Mummy,

            I cannot write much to you, not knowing if this letter will ever reach you. I was shot today, Mummy, and it hurts so much. But please do not worry, as I am relatively fine and the medic says he will patch my ribs up good and proper. I’m coming home mother, I hope you and Ms. Potter will be there to pick me up.

   Are you attending the church seminars everyday? Reverend Charlie says you must save your eternal soul. I think that the Japs are soulless demons, the way they march around their bunkers. Do you remember Jack, the Reverends son? The machine gun rounds tore his body to shreds on the rocks of the beach. I hope his immortal soul goes to heaven. The medic tent is on muddy ground, and the pristine white flag has now faded to grey. The Japs were waving that flag today atop Mount Sirubachi and it looked like Ms. Potter’s curtains. I killed them Mummy, ran my knife through their black hearts. His blood was hot and sticky on my face, like the ice-cones we used to share in summer. It tasted like cherry. The remaining one pulled the string out of grenade and ate it. He died about three seconds later…The doctor has just injected me with a clear liquid. He says it will make me feel better, but the only thing that will is seeing you and Winston, Alabama again. Maybe it was wrong to lie about my age. I wanted to fight so badly. The battleship guns were deafening, and then the airplanes came in dropping giant craters in the earth. I wore a flamethrower, spewing fire like little Timmy’s dragon toy. I ate the heroes with fire, and left a path of destruction

  I am getting sleepy. Very sleepy. I want to put in the picture they took of me. We had to take the camera from the photographer’s dead body as he lay huddled on the volcanic sand. His dog tag named him Joe Rosenthall. There was a picture of men raising a flag on it. I am getting numb all over, and the medic is back, he wants to take my pencil. There is so much to write about here, the green grass, the blue sky, the death and destru…

____________________________________________________________________

Dear Ms. Di Angelo

            Your son, Mike Di Angelo died at 10:01 PM CST from three bullet wounds sustained in the chest and third degree burns. I am extremely sorry for his death. He died with an honorable discharge. The photo he requested is attached.

 

                                                                        Regrettably Yours

                                                            John Grisham of 3^rd Medical Corps

 

Anne Frank Discussion Reflection

"In her diary Anne opined: “…if you’re wondering if it’s harder for the adults here than for the children, the answer is no…Older people have an opinion about everything and are sure of themselves and their actions. It’s twice as hard for us young people to hold on to our opinions at a time when ideals are being shattered…” (July 15, 1944.) Do you agree or disagree with this quote? When was the last time that you experienced the “shattering” of an ideal?"

My Response: I disagree with Anne Frank's opinion for a few basic reasons. First of all, it was harder for the adult victims of concentration camps like Auschwitz simply becuase they had to preform backbreaking phsyical labor, and provide food for themselves and their children. However, Anne Frank only deals with the psychological half of a concentration camp, not the realistic part like manual labor or the twisted version of natural selection they had to endure. On the topic of psychology of a prison camp, it probably was harder for the children. It is very tough to adapt to completely unfamiliar and dangerous surroudings as an adult, but as a kid, where you cannont know nearly as much about the environment, the difficulty level goes through the roof. The thin and flimsly notions a child may have of the world can be shattered by the commonest thing at Auschwitz; Death. In fact, that is what first shattered my ideals, watching how James Bond shot down anyone in his way. So overall, I have conflicting opinions on the above quote. It may have been harder for the adults physically, but it was unrealisticially hard for children psychologically.

Recipe for War

Recipe for WWII

Take a worn out piece of fading parchment

with words with no power or meaning

and chop it up into small, thin

slices

Using a hammer, smash up a seat

of no power

located in Geneva, Switzerland

and pour

in two smiling white men

who love pandering to

others

knead slowly while

adding three angry revolutionaries

screaming for war

Next, mix

in tanks, airplanes and

blitzkrieg.

don’t forget to add

a aggressive and relentless

island nation.

Place in an oven for twenty one years

when complete, sprinkle with

the National Socialist German Worker’s Party.

 

Sit back and enjoy the carnage.

Which Character Do I Most Closely Identify with in Animal Farm

The book Animal Farm by George Orwell contains many diverse and interesting characters with many steadfast beliefs and ideas. Since the whole book is an allegory of the Russian Revolution, each one of the characters really represents a key figure in the Revolution. In my case, taking a look at the wide range of options, I'd have to call myself a "Snowball." Throughout the entire book, there are many examples and actions that help me relate to Snowball. The earliest example is on page 17 when he writes down the seven commandments of Animalism, to make absolutely sure the equality of animals is kept. I may not be writing down commandments, but I do make decisions that are best for the people or the "animals" as a whole. Snowball is a visionary, who focuses on improvement and development. Just like him, when I'm working on a project and I have idea's, but it's sometimes hard to put them into action.  The above statements are "good" traits I share with Snowball, but we also share a flaw. Snowball is a super-optimist, meaning, while he has great plans for the future, he usually fails to consider the present, and the actions needed to achieve the vision, just like me. Therefore he was unable to for-see his own downfall. So, overall, while Snowball and I are visionaries and decision makers, we both focus too much on the future and not enough on the present.

Feedback January 19-23 Tyranny, Injustice, and self determination

It's best to start off this post by locating where these terms exist. They are key words that relate immensely to the cycle of power in Animal Farm by George Orwell. Let's start by defining the words we're dealing with. What exactly is tyranny, well, it's defined by merriam-webster dictionary as, "oppressive power exerted by the government." Pretty much, it's when the government has total control over the people and resources so that all development is diverted to the small group of rulers instead of for the people. The main example in the book is Farmer Jones, the character who represents Tzar Nikolas II. While he may seem like a normal farmer, in truth, he abuses the animals for their resources like milk, meat, and manpower, which acurately fits the description of a tyrant. They next term, injustice, can be defined as, "an unjust act that violates one's rights." Many animals suffered many injustices like slaughter, slavery, and suppression of basic humane rights under the reign of Farmer Jones. This leads to the third and final term, Self-determination. This can be defined as, "determination by the people of a territory over their own future." Because the animals were treated unjustly in Farmer Jones' tyranny, they sought their own freedom through a revolution. The above paragraphs can be summed up by a simple process. A tyrant rules unjustly resulting in self determination through revoution. This process of power that involves the three words repeats itself over again later in the book. Similar to Farmer Jones, Napoleon becomes a tyrant and rules unjustly, abusing the animals for resources. Because the animals suffer, and understand why they are suffering, the prepare to seek self determination near the end of the book. However, it finishes before the next revolution.

The Mustachioed Man

"Hello," I say

The big man with the mustache laughs

“Why?” I ask

We huddle closer together as he thumbs

the brass and wooden

trigger

“I am invincible!” he says,

swinging at us with the bayonet.

“Are you sure?” I ask

 

“I leave a wake of death and

destruction in my path,”

he roars, “Headstones are laid

wherever I walk!”

“Is that not power? Foolish boy!”

One man smiles, and collapses as

a bullet pierces his head.

“Are you sure?” I ask

 

“I Fight for king and Country!”

the man bellows over the explosions

As the dirt rains down, the others seem

to swell with

pride.

Maybe fighting is right.

I stare

“Are you sure?”

 

The mustachioed man grows quiet

his vigorous rantings dead

The color drains from his face

and his hands claw at my wrists

“All I see is death,” he whispers

His now dark and empty eyes

search my own

 

“I don’t believe in goodbyes,”

says the big man with the mustache

He leaps up, over the top…

and his body tumbles back down

“Hello,” I say

Feedback 12-16 The Millitary and YOU

I currently hold a U.S passport. In U.S, it isn't mandatory to fight in the millitary. It's an intresting delima, giving yourself and your experties over to a country. It requires ultimately supporting your country no matter what. Personally, I don't think I could commit my life to something else, especially, in this case, if it invovled killing other humans. The current age for the draft is 18-25. Lets consider this for a second, 18-25 years. Thats incredibly young, and sending 18 year olds to the war is like throwing our future into the fire. That would be a complete waste of whatever gifts and ideas I and anyone else could share with the world. We are given life, and life is ment to LIVE, to create and to prosper. How can I or anyone else achieve that if were fighting and killing in the name of someone else's mistake. I wouldn't join the army to fight a war, period.
If the draft was ever ressurected, I would probably flee to Canada. Fighting for a cause I don't believe in is worse then fighting to die.