DavesDigest

As I reflect on the posts that I have made this semester I have learned several things about war that I was not particularly aware of.  I read a lot of posts by soldiers who have been stationed in places like Afghanistan and Iraq who talk about there everyday lives during war.  I learned about the challenges of being away from family and friends.  In addition, I learned about coping with the realities of war and the psychological effects.  War also affects people that are not directly involved and at times it can be very depressing for families and relatives who have a soldier off fighting in war.   

I also learned about the cost of war.  The cost of war can be monetary and it can be people.  I learned that the cost of losing a life is more devastating to people who are directly involved.  However, there are people that overlook the death count and only focus on the monetary cost of war.  Exploring different literary works of war and viewing soldiers stories about there experiences overseas has made be appreciate what they do for our country.  I think that most importantly I was able to learn about some of the realities of war and expand my personal viewpoints.  Overall, I learned about the impacts of human conflict and how people directly and indirectly can be affected.             

The edublog experience has been challenging at times but overall I liked the experience.  I do not consider myself technologically advanced but I do enjoy exploring new areas of communicating while using technology.  Edublog was difficult for me to get the hang of at first but once I became familiar with all of the accessories I felt comfortable.  However, I would have liked to modify my theme from time to time and make some changes to my dashboard.  The one challenge that I encounter most often with Edublog was when I would write my blogs and post them there would always be some errors with paragraph spacing and/or font styles.  I would draft my post in Microsoft Word and then copy my text and paste it into edublogs writing program.  Typically when I would post by blog there would be errors with paragraph spacing and font style.  Overall, I think it was a good experience but I would not recommend edublogs for students in the future. 

This class gave me the opportunity to explore war in the context of different literary styles and express my thoughts using Edublogs and RSS technology.  As I will probably never use edublogs in the future, I expect to continue using Google Reader.  Google Reader is a very useful tool for finding articles on the web.  I use Google Reader to access all of my world wide news sources and now I have linked to some sports sources that I enjoy reading.  I have made recommendations to others and they have thanked me for introducing them to Google Reader and RSS technology.  It is a very useful tool and I plan on continuing to expand on my RSS feeds in my Google Reader account. 

  Here are the links to my comments made on fellow classmates posts.

http://tumac.edublogs.org/2008/03/12/a-picture-is-worth-1000-words/

http://ullreyg.edublogs.org/2008/02/03/on-death-and-dying/

http://wancourp.uniblogs.org/2008/02/05/rhetoric-to-reality/

http://tranln.edublogs.org/2008/02/05/the-only-thing-that-is-different-in-war-is-that-different-people-die-the-theme-still-remains/

http://kerijaynes.uniblogs.org/2008/03/19/the-american-public-indifference-concerning-todays-soldiers/

http://alpersa.edublogs.org/2008/03/17/strategies-of-war-has-it-changed/

http://thirdsquad.uniblogs.org/2008/04/11/stories/

http://thirdsquad.uniblogs.org/2008/02/23/carry-on/#comment-9

http://kerijaynes.uniblogs.org/2008/03/26/describing-realities-through-literature/

http://derekvp.uniblogs.org/2008/04/06/unfinished-business/

Imagine fighting a war that you didn’t believe in.  Imagine being misled by your President about fighting for something that didn’t even exist.  Iraq was a country that supposedly held nuclear weapons.  They still haven’t found nuclear weapons and yet the U.S. is still fighting a war.  What about the Vietnam War?  Why did the U.S. have to intervene in Vietnam?  Did the U.S. overreact to the threat of communist expansion?  How many soldiers believed that fighting for communist expansion was necessary?  Does the U.S. mislead its citizens and soldiers to only increase its global hegemony?  I ask these questions because I feel it is necessary to explore the events and reasoning that lead up to war.    

After reading some different war related literary pieces such as The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien and Fallen Angles by Walter Dean Myers I envision how hard it would be to fight a war that you didn’t believe in.  O’Brien told stories about dealing with the impact of guilt and realities of war.  He also talked about his personal beliefs of fighting in the Vietnam War.  O’Brien tells his audience that he didn’t believe in the war.  He writes,

“I was drafted to fight in a war I hated.  Young, yes, and politically naïve, but even so the American war in Vietnam seemed to me wrong.  Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons.  I saw no unity of purpose, no consensus on matters of philosophy or history or law.  The very facts were shrouded in uncertainty: Was it a civil war?  A war of national liberation or simple aggression?  Who started it, and when, and why?” 

O’Brien doesn’t believe in the war and doesn’t know what lead up to it.  He struggles on deciding whether or not to flee to Canada.  O’Brien conscience tells him to run and although he does, he comes back and is eventually a soldier in Vietnam.  But why did he decide to go?  Was it just because he felt embarrassed about not going and then pressured for the sake of his reputation?  The reasons are unclear, but O’Brien goes and fights in Vietnam even though he doesn’t believe in it and know why he his there.

As I searched for something interesting in my Google reader account I was fulfilled when I located an interesting article, website, and video that examines the what lead up to the Iraq War.  The article, “Unique Film and Website Expose Bush’s Rush to War in Iraq as Conflict Enters 6th Year” was very interesting as it lead me to the website http://www.leadingtowar.com/.  After exploring the website I located a video that chronologically looks at the path to the War in Iraq.

 “LEADING TO WAR, praised by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as “a staggering film,” highlights how Bush officials presented claims of imminent danger to rush the United States to war. This calculated strategy included warnings of nuclear peril and terrorists with biological weapons. Without narration or commentary, the film documents the rhetoric that roused the American people to support a military invasion, despite worldwide opposition. The film includes footage from press conferences, interviews and speeches.” 

The video significantly changed my perceptions on how the U.S. got involved in the Iraq War and how the Bush Administration pushed the American public to believe that Iraq housed nuclear weapons.  This makes me wonder why are we fighting this war in Iraq and how do the U.S. soldiers view the war.  There are many soldiers that say that they are doing good things over in Iraq and Afghanistan. But are there strategies that the U.S. government is using to persuade soldiers and citizens?  I think that after taking a look at the website and video you will have a different perception about what led the U.S. to the Iraq War.  

Tim O’Brien: The Things They Carried

Leading To War 2008

http://www.leadingtowar.com 

I can’t imagine killing somebody.  The blood.  The smell.  The guilt.  What would be worse? The reality of killing someone or the guilt ridden feeling that may stay with you forever? Maybe I wouldn’t feel guilty about killing someone. Maybe I would feel guilty about something else.  I might feel guilty of simply surviving enemy fire when one of my comrades didn’t.  Maybe I would feel guilty for the death of comrade. Guilt would be something that would stick me forever, just like it appears to have with the soldiers in Tim O’Brien’s book The Things They Carried.

Whether it is story truth or happening truth, Tim O’Brien in the chapter “The Man I Killed,” writes about how he killed a man.  O’Brien stares at the man he killed.  He describes the body to his readers and all the physical characteristics of the gun shot.  O’Brien looks to his fellow comrade Kiowa for support.

            “Think it over,” Kiowa said.  Then later he said, “Tim, it’s a war.  The guy wasn’t Heidi-he had a weapon, right?  It’s a tough thing, for sure, but you got to cut out that staring.”  Then he said, “Maybe you better lie down a minute.”  Then after a long empty time he said, “Take it slow.  Just go wherever the spirit takes you.”

O’Brien feels extremely guilty for killing the man. It sticks with him for the remainder of the war and for the remainder of his life.  I can’t imagine killing someone.  I think that it would be so hard to do but more so, harder to cope with after the fact.  It would be hard to escape guilt.  Guilt reappears throughout O’Brien’s book.  Kiowa later dies and soldiers like Norman Bowker feel like it was his fault.  O’Brien introduces survivor’s guilt when Kiowa dies.  O’Brien writes, “The truth,” Bowker would’ve sad, “is I let the guy go.”  When a fellow soldier is killed in action the soldiers in the squad sometimes feel that simply being alive is enough justification for guilt.  It was a challenge that many soldiers had to face in the Vietnam War where so many U.S. troops lost their lives.

Throughout his book O’Brien writes about guilt.  Guilt appears again when he his separated from his comrades and when Jimmy Cross feels guilty over the death of Kiowa.  Cross feels that it is his fault and writes a litter to Kiowa’s father.  Cross feels responsible for Kiowa’s death and says “my own fault” as he and his squad search for Kiowa’s body.  I can’t imagine dealing with the loss of a fellow comrade, especially if you speculated on how you could have prevented it.   

In Born on the Fourth of July, Ron Kovich has to deal with guilt after killing innocent woman andchildren, which haunts him even after he travels back to the states.   He also shot and killed a fellow soldier after a chaotic and confusing altercation with some Vietnamese soldiers.  He struggles to make it back home.  Struggling with guilt has appeared in several of the war stories that we have covered in class and seems to be most challenging when there is death.  Guilt seems to be an inescapable element of war, which impacts so many soldiers.  

The Things They Carried by Tim O’brien

Film: Born on The Fourth of July

We have discussed the psychological effects of war on people not directly involved like families and friends, but what about the soldiers?  How do the soldiers deal with the psychological effects?  Could we all agree that the psychological effects of war on a soldier would be more difficult to handle then someone who is not directly involved?  In Coping with Cliques, an unidentified soldier discusses his observations of how soldiers develop a way of “coping with the distance.”

The unidentified soldier speaks about several categories of soldiers.  There are the “PT Studs” who are the muscle bound marines that spend their time coping with the distance by working out.  The soldier states that the PT Studs have the time to “[s]hape their bodies into an Arnold-like state of physical perfection.” The soldier also identifies a clique of soldiers who are the Halo/Call of Duty/Unreal Tournament Super Virtual Soldiers who “spend their deployed time training their brains into becoming one with their warrior avatar.”  The soldier states that he is part of the “nerdy” crowd who spend time reading and surfing the web communicating with people all across the world.  The central theme of the post seems to be that becoming part of a group is a coping mechanism for soldiers. 

The unidentified soldier writes that the soldiers that are unable to find a method for spending their free time are usually the ones who have the problems.  These problems may affect their day-to-day lives and have serious psychological impacts in the future.  Soldiers who find their way of coping with the impacts of war may have a better chance of dealing with the psychological effects.  In The Things They Carried by Tim O’brien, soldiers such as Kiowa and Ted Lavender look to different ways of coping with the impacts of war.  Kiowa spends his time reading the bible and mentoring his platoon members.  Ted Lavender on the other hand, uses drugs and tranquilizers as a means of handling the challenges of the Vietnam War.

Although you could argue that the two wars have many differences, a soldier is a soldier and there are always going to be challenges.  In Coping Cliques, the unidentified soldier mentions that no matter what the group members are always happy and giving high fives almost every morning.  Soldiers have far different challenges than their family members and friends.  Finding a way of coping with those challenges sounds like the only way to get through tough times and it appears that there are soldiers that find happiness in an unpleasant environment.  The soldier states that taking things one day at a time actually works.  Taking things one day at a time sounds easier than it probably is.  I mean think about how hard it would be to not think about tomorrow, your family, or you friends.  A soldier’s lifestyle must be so mentally challenging.  The soldiers who are able to find happiness and wake up each morning with a positive attitude must have some special talent for coping with the distance. 

The Sandbox

The Doc in The Box

4/8/08   

A class theme presented throughout the semester has been the psychological effects and impacts of war on families, friends, and relationships.  As I watched Wood TV 8 prepare for the homecoming of Alpha Company Marine Josh Hoffman, I began to realize how people handle the impacts of war.  Hoffman, originally from Kentwood Michigan, was seriously injured in Iraq and came back to the U.S. where he has undergone serious medical treatment for his injuries.  His injuries are serious and as a result he is paralyzed and is aided my machines which keep him alive.  Hoffman’s injuries have impacted his relationship with his family and girlfriend. How they are handling it is truly amazing.

In an article published by Wood TV 8, Hoffman’s brother made a comment about his return from Iraq, “it’s just like getting a present that you know you’re going to have forever.” 

There are two ways for Hoffman to look at the future and how to handle it: 1) to be positive, thankful, and grateful or 2) be sorrowful, angry, and depressed.  And Hoffman, along with his family, friends, and significant other has chosen number one. 

The impacts of war can be life threatening for people and the approach that individuals take determines that outcome.   Hoffman has been in a relationship for several years and his girlfriends approach on their future is extremely positive.  Hoffman’s girlfriend said, “We get to focus on our relationship, and not have to just focus on the medical. We get to continue our relationship and enjoy that.”  The approach that Hoffman’s closest people have taken is difficult to do.  It also reflects his attitude on how he is going handle his situation in the future.  His brother said, “He’ll see all the support he has. He’ll be, like, ‘Man, I gotta get strong; show that I can do this.’ That’s just the way my brother was. He’s a fighter.” 

Hoffman was flown to the Airport in Grand Rapids where was greeted by hundreds of people.  Fortunately, I was one of them because of my position at a police department, and was able witness seeing Hoffman and his motorcade.  More importantly, I witnessed the support from the community that Hoffman deserves.   There were people standing on every street and on every corner waving, clapping, and saluting Hoffman as the ambulance that was carrying him went by.  Even though I am not a family member of Hoffman, I was impacted by what he did for our country and even more so, how he and his family are coping with the effects. I stood there with hundreds of others watching a soldier and a hero who sacrificed his life for our freedoms and more directly, the freedoms for the people in Iraq.  Hoffman’s heroism can be debated because there are people that don’t look at what Hoffman did, and significantly more so, how he is coping with his condition as a result of what he has done.  His character speaks for is heroism, “he did not want any pictures of his deplaning shown. Hoffman didn’t want ‘a pity party’.” 

How can others have the strength that Hoffman shows when dealing with such a depressing situation?  How can families, friends, and significant others cope with the impacts of war on their beloved soldiers?

Wood TV 8

March 25, 2008

One of the most difficult aspects of war is the psychological impacts that is has on others, such as family and friends.  Throughout the semester we have focused on themes found in the text that we have read and analyze the connections that the authors are making.  The psychological effects of war are something that I cannot fully understand or experience because I currently do not have a friend or relative serving in the military.  I find this theme to be challenging as a student to understand and discuss because of its psychological impacts.  As I read letters from the wives whose husbands are fighting in WWII in “Since You Went Away” by Judy Litoff and David Smith, I begin to understand how positive and supportive the wives were of their husband’s.

The letters show how much the wives cared about their husbands during the war.  The wives write the letters with a very positive tone of voice.  For example, in a letter from Isabel on December 28, 1944 she writes, “I find that I am thrilled at some of the visions I have of our life when you get back…”  In addition there is evidence of how difficult it was to cope with the stress and the loneliness of being a military spouse.  The latter theme appeared throughout most of the letters.  In a letter by Renee she writes, “I am beginning to get very weary now and nervous…” which illustrates again, how intricate it is to be a military spouse.

Since WWII there have been many American wives who have had to deal with the deployment of a husband going to war.  The psychological impacts are still the same, but the advanced technology has changed the means of communication from hand written letters to emails and satellite video.  As I listened to a podcast from a military spouse talk radio show, a spouse discussed the loss of her husband in Iraq and the emotional rollercoaster she has went through. 

Rachael Arroyave, who lost her husband when he died in a non-combat mission, became very emotional throughout her conversation on the radio talk show.  Her voice cracked as she tried to explain her experience of what it was like to be a single mother and explain to her children that “daddy won’t be coming home.”  Fortunately, her oldest daughter was able to see her daddy one last time via satellite video as he told her that he loved her with all his heart and to give her new baby sister a kiss for him when she is born.  Unlike during WWII, the methods of communication have become enhanced so that the families can interact with soldiers live over satellite video.  These new technologies offer more realistic communication and comfort to families but there are still the same physiological impacts of war that do not change.

Whether it is through letters or video, the words are still the same.  The pain, agony, and emotional rollercoaster still exist.  As Arroyave mentioned, “even after two years, I still have my really good days but my kids and I have more really bad days.  It just depends on the day.  The one thing I do is spend as much time with my kids as I can because they are the most important thing in my life.”

Dealing with the psychological effects of losing a spouse or having a spouse go to war is a life challenging experience.  For the individuals that do not have to deal with it should maybe step back and attempt to reach out to those who need support.               

As I read the post by Ken Mahoy called “The Fog of Life” I was so deeply moved by the way he told his story about missing his family.  Stanford mentions how he is “struggling” with being a soldier and being away from his family.  This made me think of so many things.  It made me think if what it would be like to be in his position.  I recall our class discussion on themes of text that we have read throughout the semester and I think of heroism, the impact of war on families, and the impact of visualization as it relates to Mahoy post. 

In class we discussed heroism as “self sacrifice for others.”  I think that Mahoy and other soldiers have made the sacrifice for family, which is the most painful element of going to war.  Leaving a family to go to war reflects some element of heroism.  I am a believer that heroism can mean so much, including sacrificing your family. 

Mahoy mentions the realities of war and how they have impacted his life.  His experience seems to have made him aware of how important family is, especially children.  He also discusses how change sets in and at some point it all seems to be over as reality sets in.  He writes that there is “no more patriotic propaganda or pep rallies” and how you “can’t just push past the pain of missing your kids.”

Mahoy’s post meant so much more than some of the other posts I have read because he added something; visualization.  He writes about his kids but he also placed photographs of them in his post.  The photographs allowed me, and I’m sure others, to look at the children that he misses so much and see exactly what they look like.  Pictures can mean more than words.  Just like the graphic novel Maus the author is able to use visuals as an emphasis of ideas.  Visualization also adds expressions, emphasis, and details that words cannot.  Mahoy is emphasizing his children and his love for them. War imposes the realities that one might not visualize in everyday life, which makes me feel a sense of guilt for taking everyday I get to see my family for granted. 

Ken Mahoy

The Fog of Life

3/14/08

The Sandbox       

The cost of the war.  Is it U.S. troops?  Is it Iraqi troops?  Is it Iraqi citizens?  Is it dollar signs $$?  What is the cost of the war in Iraq?  According to an article in the Gulf Times Professor Oweiss, an economics teacher at Georgetown University-Qatar, says that

“The US-led war against Iraq has turned out to be the costliest war in the history of America. According to him, since 2003, 4,000 US soldiers and 1,200 members of Allied Forces have been killed in Iraq, while 60,000 US soldiers have been wounded with an additional 17,000 injured for the Allied Forces. The death toll is 800,000 for Iraqis.” 

This represents the cost life.  To most people the cost of life would be more significant than the cost of economic loss.  Well this professor reiterated the point that the U.S. is spending a lot of money on the war.  The figures are quite stunning.   

Professor Oweiss said, “In 2003, the US was spending $93,000 per minute on the war in Iraq, which is $1 every 10 minutes. That has gone up to more than $317,000 every minute in 2008, resulting in a loss of $1 every three minutes.” Not matter how you look at it, the cost of the war is devastating “period”. 

I don’t know what impacts the U.S. more, loss of life, or of dollars.  I honestly can’t understand either.  I have lost a classmate in the war but I don’t think I’ve lost any money.  At least I can’t acknowledge or understand the loss of money in my personal life.  The economic cost of the war hasn’t really impacted my life.   I mean I’m still in college getting an education and have everything I need (plus some and some more).   

As I read Testament of Youth I realized the impact that Roland’s death had on his family and Vera Brittian.  Brittian doesn’t tell her story from an economics perspective.  Her story is about life, death, and love.  Brittian writes, “I never could have dreamed of the effect Roland’s death would have on me…and everything I loved and love, everything I lived for, worked, for, prayed for, seems to be slipping away…” The cost of war.  What is the cost of war?  To some it’s life.  To some it is economics.  I can’t tell you what it is because I haven’t felt the cost of war.  I hope I don’t have to, but for those that have felt it, I pray for.  Those who have felt the cost of life might not even recognize that there is any other cost…money.  What is more important to humankind?  Life or money?  I think some of us would have to think about that more a moment.  What do you value more?  The impact war has it different for everyone.  And how people live their lives may illustrate what impact the war has on themselves, their family, and their friends…The cost of war is it life…or is something else, like economics? 

Iraq war is costliest in U.S. History

Gulf Times

February 6, 2008

I have always been interested in the military and wondered what it would be like to be a pilot, especially a fighter pilot.  In our first class discussion we talked about the Ball Turret and read the Poem The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner by Randall Jarrell.

“From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State,

            And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.

            I woke to black flak and the nightmare of fighters.

            When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose”.

The poem makes a symbolic interpretation that being a gunner was like a baby in a mother’s womb because the gunner was attached to the bottom of a B-17 or B-24 bomber.  Our discussion also focused on a documentary film of a survivor of a ball turret gunner and his memories of the missions that he was sent on as a gunner.  The poem and the film had a significant impact on me because I was able to understand the reality of what it was like to be a gunner. After the discussion I was so intrigued by the turret gunner that I looked at pictures of B-17’s and B-24’s and witnessed how small a person had to be to be a ball turret gunner.

As I read an article titled Bombs Away over Iraq I began to realize how much the air war has changed since WWI and WWII.  In the article the authors indicate that “In the last 10 days, the military has dropped nearly 100,000 pounds of explosives on the area, which has been a gateway for Sunni militants into Baghdad.” Since WWII it may sound like a small number as the authors report.

“For those who know something about the history of air power, which, since World War II, has been lodged at the heart of the American Way of War, that 100,000 figure, might have rung a small bell”.

Since WWII and the ball turret gunners I think that the air war has changed significantly with technology and the advancement of intelligence in how to fight a war not only from the ground but from the air. 

The theme of the ball turret gunner signifies fright and terror of being enclosed in such a small space of the belly of the bombers much like a mother’s womb. In today’s air war with Iraq, missions of fright continue, supporting our ground troops and convoying through red zones to eliminate the threat of IED’s. 

“According to the Air Force Radio News an audio Pod cast from January 28 indicated that EOD flights (Explosive ordinance disposal) have been risking lives to defeat terrorist and their small arms.  The Air Force EOD has destroyed over 23,000 small arms in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The Air Force EOD has suffered more causalities than any other career field in the air force.”     

The theme of fright and terror of air war still continues as these fighters battle a war clearing the way and giving up their safety for the safety of their companions below.

Bombs Away Over IraqBy Tom Engelhardt, Tomdispatch.com. Posted February 4, 2008. Air Force Radio NewsJanuary 28, 2008 

I received this emial from a co-worker and thought that it was appropriate for my blog.  The original sender or author is unkown. 

—– Original Message —– No matter what your view, how can your heart not respond to this?  

you stay up for 16 hours
He stays up for days on end.

You take a warm shower to help you wake up.
He goes days or weeks without running water.

You complain of a ‘headache’, and call in sick.
He gets shot at as others are hit, and keeps moving forward.

You put on your anti war/don’t support the troops shirt, and go meet up with your friends.
He still fights for your right to wear that shirt.

You make sure you’re cell phone is in your pocket.
He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags.

You talk trash about your ‘buddies’ that aren’t with you.
He knows he may not see some of his buddies again.

You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.
He patrols the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.

You complain about how hot it is.
He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow.

You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.
He doesn’t get to eat today.

Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes.
He wears the same things for weeks, but makes sure his weapons are clean.

You go to the mall and get your hair redone.
He doesn’t have time to brush his teeth today.

You’re angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.
He’s told he will be held over an extra 2 months.

You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight.
He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home.

You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday.
He holds his letter close and smells his love’s perfume.

You roll your eyes as a baby cries.
He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they’ll ever meet.

You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything.
He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own people and remembers why he is fighting.

You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of men like him.
He hears the gunfire, bombs and screams of the wounded.

You see only what the media wants you to see.
He sees the broken bodies lying around him.

You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don’t.
He does exactly what he is told even if it puts his life in danger.

You stay at home and watch TV.
He takes whatever time he is given to call, write home, sleep, and eat.

You crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable.
He tries to sleep but gets woken by mortars and helicopters all night long.


REMEMBER our Troops, and do not forget them LATER
Lest we forget -