Justin Carlson
The Bugles of War
Thirty miles south of Washington D.C. a major event was about to take place in Prince William County, Virginia. At Manassas Junction politicians and states folk lined up in buggies with picnic baskets filled with food. None of these men had ever seen war before. Images of a gallant arrangement of bravery and honor frolicked in these politicians’ minds. The bugles sounded and a wall of smoke arose on the field. Five thousand lay dead and injured. Brothers, fathers and sons were on that field covered in blood and misery. They had not known why they were there or why they had been fighting. They had heard of war and thought of the same glorious arrangement and immediately chose their sides. These politicians were here to watch an amazing event. For none of these men knew what war really was and many still don’t today. This thing we call war is a fight between brothers, in an unknown cause, against men who could be your comrades.
War is a brotherhood among men; these brothers are beside you through every step you take. They have experienced everything you have in varied arrangement but feel the same as you do about what they are witnessing. Your comrades can understand you better than anyone else. You might have been friends or even have hated your comrades back home, but in wartime your friendship or rivalry adapts to fit war and to protect and respect each other and depend on each other on for the greater good. As Remarque said, “We did not break down, but adapted ourselves; our twenty years, which made many other things so grievous, helped us in this. But by far the most important result was that it awakened in us a strong practical sense of spirit de corps, which in the field developed into the finest thing that arose out of the war – comradeship.” – Pg. 26 AQotWF. These boys coming out of high school as friends go in to war and become comrades. They start to adapt themselves from boys in to men. These men believe that comradeship is the greatest thing that has ever come from war. War has a beautiful side to it and I believe that beautiful side consists of comradeship.
Is man ever sure why he is in war I believe war has a large influence of socialization in it. Many men have served their country to avoid conflict with others. In WW1 you were thought of as a coward if you didn’t join the military to protect the motherland. If you stayed home away from trouble you would be ostracized and victimized for not throwing your life away. If you leave marching in to the Valley of Shadow and Death you would be honored and cheered on as a sacrificial lamb. Many don’t know what possessed them to join. They might have joined for their family. These people hit bad times and join to give their family a future and money to feed the children. In the end these men did not have the biggest idea why they joined. Soldiers could join to make their own world better but in the end does fighting make any justice? Some men have a cause and a purpose when joining the military and signing up for war. In all of the millions that have signed up for war though, there are only a select few that joined with a real purpose or cause. It is not really apparent why these men join. Whether it’s to make the world a better place or to feed the family they aren’t helping their situation. At any moment these men could die and throw all of their hopes and dreams for themselves and their families down the drain. My grandfather joined the military and was in a MASH unit in Vietnam. He would start to act differently when I asked him about it. I believe he was ashamed he was ever there. From what I remember I don’t believe he had a clear reason to be there. From the tone on his voice he was ashamed of it as well. I believe that is the true question of war, Why am I here?
In Humanities my class read a book made by Kurt Vonnegut. Kurt Vonnegut is an author that is all over the place in this book. In Slaughterhouse 5 the main character Billy Pilgrim travels throughout time to different events in his life. In one point he skipped to Dresden. Dresden had been bombed by Allied troops and they killed thousands of innocent civilians including women and children. Billy and his comrades were assigned to do a dead count. They went from body to body doing a tally on the dead men. This point of the book I was wondering why is Billy here? Why doesn’t he care? I believe Billy showed the public what a soldier’s view is. I believe Billy knew why he was here since he was a time traveler and had been through that same event many times. In the end I believe no man really knows why he is there.
A soldier is a politician’s number one defense in protecting their opinion. The men fighting these battles are the shields that politicians use as a defense of opinion. Politicians and political groups march soldiers out as their pawns. They use these pawns to hide behind their fears. These men are brave to send men to their death but aren’t they cowardly for not striding in to battle with the man they just murdered with their poor decision making skills? These men sit in their high offices with their plush thousand dollar chairs sipping on their seven dollar coffees while they watch the morning news. While some man that politician helped send to battle is sleeping in a self-dug cold ditch with only a tarp and his assigned gear in the forest half-way across the world. Politicians can talk all they want. They can dish it but they are never ready to take it. Politicians use propaganda as a major weapon in obtaining these pawns. “Are you Army Strong?” is a perfect example of propaganda used to collect troops. These politicians ask citizens if they have it in them to fight for their country. They are saying hey are you strong? Than they make you feel like you’re are on top of the world and these commercials are used as the government’s main weapon. To take simple items and pieces such as that as a magnet they then send their pawns out as a comforting pillow. The lies these politicians lead send thousands to death and injury. In the end are these rulers Lions or Lambs?
Any man can be your comrade; to some comrade is a vague definition, many people do not know the true definition of comrade, the dictionary would say a comrade is a companion who shares one’s activities or is a fellow member of an organization. There is truth in this meaning yet the meaning of comrade goes far beyond that. A comrade is a man who has your back, he is loyal and will never leave you behind and will do all he can possibly do to protect his friends including sacrifice his life in some scenarios. Politicians and leaders send men who could be fighting in the same cause against each other. There aren’t any personal disputes between these two men trying to put a bullet in each other’s brain. You are two men fighting for your lives. Why should you have to be fighting for your life at this moment in time? You didn’t start a war with this man or this man’s comrades. This man could have the same nationality as you and the same opinions and views on the world. In seconds you and that man would have each other’s back if the politicians decided to go to war with both you and your enemy. In the end this doesn’t ever happen when it is the real case. Through propaganda and socialism you both are set against each other guns blazing. As Erich Maria said in Chapter 9, “But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late. Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony--Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy” I believe this shows the real truth on comradeship. It is a reliance and survival instinct and it keeps a personal bond between you and other men forever.
Why is that we attempt to kill men that lead the same fate as you, that have never done you wrong, and that could be your own brother or comrade? All soldiers are thrown in to a similar boat. You are both soldiers out there fighting for your lives, while the man in the coat which caused you both all of these troubles sits inside his warm office while you lay on cold wet bloody dirt. It is not right. Today they say fathers are out there killing men to protect their families, put food on the table back home and to ensure their children’s safety. When aren’t these men killing another child’s father while he is protecting his own? Why would you kill a man that could be your brother? In the Civil War soldiers picked sides depending on where they lived and who they thought would win. Many times one brother would join the confederates while the other brother joined the union. These men loved each other yet they had no personal disputes with each other but when they were on that battlefield it was life or death. These men could be each other’s brothers yet they fight against each other in fear. The fate of war is dark.
The Bugles of War
Thirty miles south of Washington D.C. a major event was about to take place in Prince William County, Virginia. At Manassas Junction politicians and states folk lined up in buggies with picnic baskets filled with food. None of these men had ever seen war before. Images of a gallant arrangement of bravery and honor frolicked in these politicians’ minds. The bugles sounded and a wall of smoke arose on the field. Five thousand lay dead and injured. Brothers, fathers and sons were on that field covered in blood and misery. They had not known why they were there or why they had been fighting. They had heard of war and thought of the same glorious arrangement and immediately chose their sides. These politicians were here to watch an amazing event. For none of these men knew what war really was and many still don’t today. This thing we call war is a fight between brothers, in an unknown cause, against men who could be your comrades.
War is a brotherhood among men; these brothers are beside you through every step you take. They have experienced everything you have in varied arrangement but feel the same as you do about what they are witnessing. Your comrades can understand you better than anyone else. You might have been friends or even have hated your comrades back home, but in wartime your friendship or rivalry adapts to fit war and to protect and respect each other and depend on each other on for the greater good. As Remarque said, “We did not break down, but adapted ourselves; our twenty years, which made many other things so grievous, helped us in this. But by far the most important result was that it awakened in us a strong practical sense of spirit de corps, which in the field developed into the finest thing that arose out of the war – comradeship.” – Pg. 26 AQotWF. These boys coming out of high school as friends go in to war and become comrades. They start to adapt themselves from boys in to men. These men believe that comradeship is the greatest thing that has ever come from war. War has a beautiful side to it and I believe that beautiful side consists of comradeship.
Is man ever sure why he is in war I believe war has a large influence of socialization in it. Many men have served their country to avoid conflict with others. In WW1 you were thought of as a coward if you didn’t join the military to protect the motherland. If you stayed home away from trouble you would be ostracized and victimized for not throwing your life away. If you leave marching in to the Valley of Shadow and Death you would be honored and cheered on as a sacrificial lamb. Many don’t know what possessed them to join. They might have joined for their family. These people hit bad times and join to give their family a future and money to feed the children. In the end these men did not have the biggest idea why they joined. Soldiers could join to make their own world better but in the end does fighting make any justice? Some men have a cause and a purpose when joining the military and signing up for war. In all of the millions that have signed up for war though, there are only a select few that joined with a real purpose or cause. It is not really apparent why these men join. Whether it’s to make the world a better place or to feed the family they aren’t helping their situation. At any moment these men could die and throw all of their hopes and dreams for themselves and their families down the drain. My grandfather joined the military and was in a MASH unit in Vietnam. He would start to act differently when I asked him about it. I believe he was ashamed he was ever there. From what I remember I don’t believe he had a clear reason to be there. From the tone on his voice he was ashamed of it as well. I believe that is the true question of war, Why am I here?
In Humanities my class read a book made by Kurt Vonnegut. Kurt Vonnegut is an author that is all over the place in this book. In Slaughterhouse 5 the main character Billy Pilgrim travels throughout time to different events in his life. In one point he skipped to Dresden. Dresden had been bombed by Allied troops and they killed thousands of innocent civilians including women and children. Billy and his comrades were assigned to do a dead count. They went from body to body doing a tally on the dead men. This point of the book I was wondering why is Billy here? Why doesn’t he care? I believe Billy showed the public what a soldier’s view is. I believe Billy knew why he was here since he was a time traveler and had been through that same event many times. In the end I believe no man really knows why he is there.
A soldier is a politician’s number one defense in protecting their opinion. The men fighting these battles are the shields that politicians use as a defense of opinion. Politicians and political groups march soldiers out as their pawns. They use these pawns to hide behind their fears. These men are brave to send men to their death but aren’t they cowardly for not striding in to battle with the man they just murdered with their poor decision making skills? These men sit in their high offices with their plush thousand dollar chairs sipping on their seven dollar coffees while they watch the morning news. While some man that politician helped send to battle is sleeping in a self-dug cold ditch with only a tarp and his assigned gear in the forest half-way across the world. Politicians can talk all they want. They can dish it but they are never ready to take it. Politicians use propaganda as a major weapon in obtaining these pawns. “Are you Army Strong?” is a perfect example of propaganda used to collect troops. These politicians ask citizens if they have it in them to fight for their country. They are saying hey are you strong? Than they make you feel like you’re are on top of the world and these commercials are used as the government’s main weapon. To take simple items and pieces such as that as a magnet they then send their pawns out as a comforting pillow. The lies these politicians lead send thousands to death and injury. In the end are these rulers Lions or Lambs?
Any man can be your comrade; to some comrade is a vague definition, many people do not know the true definition of comrade, the dictionary would say a comrade is a companion who shares one’s activities or is a fellow member of an organization. There is truth in this meaning yet the meaning of comrade goes far beyond that. A comrade is a man who has your back, he is loyal and will never leave you behind and will do all he can possibly do to protect his friends including sacrifice his life in some scenarios. Politicians and leaders send men who could be fighting in the same cause against each other. There aren’t any personal disputes between these two men trying to put a bullet in each other’s brain. You are two men fighting for your lives. Why should you have to be fighting for your life at this moment in time? You didn’t start a war with this man or this man’s comrades. This man could have the same nationality as you and the same opinions and views on the world. In seconds you and that man would have each other’s back if the politicians decided to go to war with both you and your enemy. In the end this doesn’t ever happen when it is the real case. Through propaganda and socialism you both are set against each other guns blazing. As Erich Maria said in Chapter 9, “But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late. Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony--Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy” I believe this shows the real truth on comradeship. It is a reliance and survival instinct and it keeps a personal bond between you and other men forever.
Why is that we attempt to kill men that lead the same fate as you, that have never done you wrong, and that could be your own brother or comrade? All soldiers are thrown in to a similar boat. You are both soldiers out there fighting for your lives, while the man in the coat which caused you both all of these troubles sits inside his warm office while you lay on cold wet bloody dirt. It is not right. Today they say fathers are out there killing men to protect their families, put food on the table back home and to ensure their children’s safety. When aren’t these men killing another child’s father while he is protecting his own? Why would you kill a man that could be your brother? In the Civil War soldiers picked sides depending on where they lived and who they thought would win. Many times one brother would join the confederates while the other brother joined the union. These men loved each other yet they had no personal disputes with each other but when they were on that battlefield it was life or death. These men could be each other’s brothers yet they fight against each other in fear. The fate of war is dark.