“When liberty comes with hands dabbled in blood it is hard to shake hands with her.” Oscar Wilde

This is my final five hundred-word post for my Literature of Warfare class. In many ways, I am unsure of what to write since I have so many questions, thoughts, and opinions still unanswered about the war. Although, I have explained the psychological problem in prior blogs I want to re-emphasize how it is during the war, and how the war is never over. Throughout the whole semester, we have read thousands of pages illustrating war and different themes from each, but almost every novel displayed the psychological effects prevalent in war. Perhaps, Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers or The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien expresses the effect of war on soldier’s best, or maybe it is because the book is so fresh in my mind. Whatever it is, Fallen Angels affected me, and while I laughed at times, the harsh realities that this novel presented probably killed a little piece of me every time a soldier died.

What occurs during war is an interesting thing. Walter Dean Myers states simply in Fallen Angels that you die during war and hope that you are able to revive yourself if you return to the World (United States.) Richie Perry states, “We’re all dead over here, Monaco,” I said. “We’re all dead and just hoping that we come back to life when we get into the World again.” The sad realization of this quote is seen on the last page of Fallen Angels. Richie Perry is finally flying home, back to Kenny and Mom but rather then happiness he still is on a mission.

“I took the thin magazine from the pouch in front of me and began to thumb through it. I felt self-conscious, as if I shouldn’t be there. My mind began to wander, as I knew it would, back to the boonies. I was on patrol again. Monaco was on point. Peewee and Walowick followed him. Lobel and Brunner were next, then Johnson, the sixty cradle in his arm as if it were a child. We were walking the boonies, past rice paddies, toward yet another hill. I was in the rear, and for some reason I turned back. Behind me trailing the platoon, were the others. Brew, Jenkins, Sergeant Dongan, Turner, and Lewis, the new guys, and Lieutenant Carroll.”

I hope that soldiers at war now will be able to return and separate their war experiences from or find themselves through writing about it and enlightening others about the harsh rash realities of war. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien while fictional examines his struggles during war and after.

“I’m skimming across the surface of my own history, moving fast, riding the melt beneath the blades, doing loops and spins, and when I take a high leap into the dark and come down thirty years later, I realize it is as Tim trying to save Timmy’s life with a story.”

Alex Horton returned from Iraq and reflects his experiences of the war in the blog One written March 28,08. Not only does Alex express the losses but he also displays while a year after his return home he is still blaming himself for not knowing the lost soldiers better and cannot forget.

“a tangible loss that transformed our lives. While in country, we debated the merits of war, our reasons for staying and the effects of leaving. But that didn’t affect our dedication to the mission. It wasn’t a free democracy in the Middle East or the quelling of sectarian violence. It was to bring everyone home alive.”

Lastly, although this does not necessarily explain the psychological effects of war it evaluate the lost which is another important theme throughout these books and something every citizen should not forget when bashing the war and soldiers in Iraq.

“…..It’s been a year since that moment, and Chevy’s death, along with those of 3,990 of our countrymen and women, are counted like vertical slashes in a tragic tally in the media to mark five years of war. The only Americans who see more than milestones and figures are the 3,991 families that shoulder the burden of loss, where the number one represents their sacrifice more than anything else.”

So, I am done writing about war. If you were able to catch while I talked in class about how great my imagination is then you would know that reading these books might have enlightened me about the war, it also deeply hurt me. I saw the child hanging in the concentration camp while reading Night by Ellie Wiesel, I dropped the grass made doll I made for the Vietnamese child when she blow-up, I felt confusion when Ronald died, I felt uplifted in believing the war was right by Rupert Brookes then I understood the reality of war from Wilfred Owen, and I shot a guy. And lastly, all I can say is think hard and long before you enter yourself in the military and be prepared not only to loss your youth but also be prepared to never forget, because You wont.