George Horgan is a man of many wise words with a hand extended out to whomever may need it, no questions asked. Who is George Horgan? He is a Vietnam, US Navy veteran, a man of age sixty-seven with white, neatly combed back thinning hair. He wore a dark navy blue polo shirt with three undone buttons from the neck down, for breathing room. Horgan used to find most comfort in wearing his cowboy boots daily, but they have been replaced with tennis shoes due to medical issues. He wore his blue jeans with the imprint of a faded wallet outline in the back right pocket. Horgan has a happy-go-lucky personality that he can find good in anything even when it seems completely undetectable. This man reserved, yet so open minded and aware of his surroundings, …show more content…
Not for salmon, but for dead bodies and magnetized mines on the bottom side of the ship. Horgan was placed on a minesweeper and was an underwater diver. Horgan’s job was to go into the water and pull the magnetized mines off the bottom of the ship. The purpose was to prevent it from maxing out the timer and blowing. He was awarded this position due to the fatality of the previous underwater diver. He would find four or five mines daily. If he were to miss any mines it would blow a hole in the ship, Mayday! Along with diving to remove mines, he would have to remove the dead bodies from the water. A river that was mined would lay dozens, if not hundreds, of floating dead bodies that were burned and mutilated past the point of identification. Horgan had to cradle the bodies as he retrieved them from the side of a haul ship. The first body he tried to retrieve from the water frightened him. Horgan tried to grab the soldier's arm and pull him out, the arm tore off and Horgan was left with a bodiless limb in his hands. Frightened and not knowing how to react to the situation, he cradled the mutilated body and brought it to the surface. He had never witnessed such horror. On his first day, Horgan retrieved eighteen dead bodies from the waters of Vietnam. He had never seen what happened to a body left in water. After some time, the fish would start to feast on the soldiers, and "The flesh would start breaking down" (Horgan). Horgan …show more content…
Horgan believes, the biggest enemy of war is unseen. TBI, which stands for Traumatic brain injury; PTSD, which stands for post-traumatic stress disorder; and in Horgan's case being sprayed with toxins. After being sprayed with the toxins, it took years for the effect to surface. Horgan has been diagnosed with Cancer, taking away his life as a normal person. Not only was he a survivor of Vietnam, he was also a victim of it. Horgan was able to return home after the war, but lay dormant inside of him was the progress of cancer. Horgan gave his life for his country, not in the typical way people may think. When Horgan returned, he wanted someone to love, but not knowing how to have someone to love. Horgan found himself going through what he thought life was supposed to be. Horgan was trying to do what he thought was right just like your typical person .Horgan now has two Children a boy and a girl. His concept of life was a ruff over his and his family’s head, food on the table and clothing on everyone’s back. He did not understand what they really needed. What he really needed. It took Horgan years to understand family value after his war experience and PTSD. He now lives by his own code that most are familiar with, “I do not do anything, I do not want done to myself”
William Higginbotham had a wonderful life and a wonderful family. He was born on October 25, 1910 in Bridgeport, Connecticut and he grew up in Caledonia, New York. He was married three times. His three wives were Julie Ann (died when they were still married), Margret (died when they were still married), and Edna (was still alive when he died). He has two daughters and one son. Their names are Julie Schletter, Robin Clark, and the one son William, of Bellport. He has one brother and on sister. The brother’s name is John and the sister is Dorothy Osgood. He also has two grandchildren.
Albert N. Hoxie was descended from a prominent family in Massachussetts. He was a philanthropist, a wealthy textile merchant, and was musically inclined. He was also a well known band director and often organized community sing alongs and WWI Liberty Drives.
War is a problem that seems inevitable. America was founded thanks to a war, yet many Americans such as Michael Herr and William James do not support it. They both wrote essays to show the negative effects of war and to shine a new light on the subject. The essay, “Illumination Rounds” by Michael Herr, was published in The New American Review #7 in 1969. Herr speaks of his experiences in Vietnam and shares the abundant coping methods the soldiers use to deal with PTSD. He asserts that war is not worth all of the negative effects.
George Remus was the king of bootlegging, he made tens of millions of dollars from the selling of illegal alcohol to anyone who would buy it. He would set the standards of success for the bootlegging industry, making bank on gallon upon gallon of illegal booze, buying a lavish, decadent lifestyle, and even when his business came crashing down he would walk away to live freely. The life of George Remus is a tale of crime, drama, and murder. Not only is his life an interesting and exciting story, but it has given us a peek at the American dream and what it may take to reach it. From pauper to prince, this is the life of George Remus.
Henry Fosdick once said, “The tragedy of war is that it uses man’s best to do man’s worst.” In “The Red Convertible” by Louis Erdrich, there is a conflict amongst two brothers, Henry and Lyman as ones awareness towards reality is shifted upon the return of the Vietnam War. Henry’s experience fighting in the Vietnam War is the responsibility for the unexpected aftermath that affects their brotherhood. The event of Henry fighting in the war through fears, emotions and horrors that he encounters is the source of his “Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome [PTSD].” It has shaped his own perception of reality and his relationship with his brother Lyman and the strong bond that they had shared.
The psychological effects, the mentality of fighting and killing another human, and the sheer decimation of human values is what makes war atrocious. War is not only fought on the battlefield though. This book also describes the feelings of a soldier fighting his own demons that war has brought on. The battle that the soldier has with himself, is almost if not more damaging than the physical battle of war. He will never forget his experience with battle, no matter how hard he tries the memories of artillery, blood, and death cannot be erased. “I prayed like you to survive, but look at me now. It is over for us who are dead, but you must struggle, and will carry the memories all your life. People back home will wonder why you can't forget.” (Sledge). This struggle still happens to soldiers today. Sledge’s words of the struggles still captures the effects of warfare that lingers today. The other effects that war has on the men is the instability that surrounds them at every hour of the day. They are either engaged in battle having bullets and artillery fired at them, or waiting for battle just so they can be deposited back in the pressure cooker of survival. “Lying in a foxhole sweating out an enemy artillery or mortar barrage or waiting to dash across open ground under machine-gun or artillery fire defied any concept of time.”
War changes the lives of each and every soldier who participates. It continues to change the way they experience events and the way their perception of the simplest things. Many veterans do not realize what truly happened until much later in life, if at all. Many live in denial of the truth, consciously or subconsciously, and many continuously remember their darkest moments. This is the case in “Salem”, written by Robert Olen Butler. The short story is about a man, late in life, recalling a past event from the Vietnam War. He remembers a man, alone in a clearing, whose life he ended. He starts to understand his actions and their true outcomes. The author uses symbolism, setting, and character to enhance the idea that one should always be aware of how his/her actions affect others.
The author, Tim O'Brien, is writing about an experience of a tour in the Vietnam conflict. This short story deals with inner conflicts of some individual soldiers and how they chose to deal with the realities of the Vietnam conflict, each in their own individual way as men, as soldiers.
Terry’s father and George Robinson share many similar astonishing experiences and traits. Conspicuously, they both fought in the Vietnam War; however, as a consequence, both men, whether physically or mentally, were injured. Furthermore, the both of them have mentioned or implied that they found it difficult to watch others die, especially their comrades. Moreover, Terry’s father and Robinson both survived the war, although they consider themselves as changed men because of the many ghastly situations they had lived through. Similarly, both veterans had no desire to discuss their experiences with their loved ones, finding it too difficult to do so. As Terry’s father explained it, their memories
“When I got back home, I expected to be bullied by my family, like before. But it was quite the opposite. They were proud of me for surviving the war. I gave John’s letter to his mother; it was a horrible experience to say the least. The whole thing is just senseless, killing each other. I hope no one else ever has to experience the things I saw. To this day, I feel like my soul is still there on that battlefield, twisting around in the barbed
The Vietnam war was an absolutely brutal time in American history. The war lasted for the majority of the 1960s and left many young men dead. The short story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien and the film Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam give us just a glance into the war by giving using the three themes of fear, pressures, and blame/guilt to embody the concept of war and how it absolutely changes a person. War not only destroys countries, but it destroys people.
“If I truly believe the war is wrong, is it then also wrong to go off and kill people? If I do that, what will happen to my soul?” (pg 60). Tim O 'Brien is an American man who was drafted into the Vietnam War. O 'Brien is not a violent man and struggles because he believes that the war is wrong. He debates whether or not he should go to war or move to Canada to avoid the draft. Tim O 'Brien decides to join the army. O 'Brien uses his personal experiences as a foot soldier in the Vietnam War to convey his possible bias perspective that the Vietnam War was a waste of people 's lives and a shameful venture for the United States.
America is well known and hated across the globe for its involvement in foreign conflicts and affairs. The self proclaimed police of the world, America often goes too far when it comes to its involvement overseas. Many times the outcomes of these conflicts is overlooked and the effect it will have on america and other countries. Often times the American news media and politicians will claim that America 's goal is to bring freedom and liberty to other countries. However, this is a ploy to get the public on board and in reality war is used to make politicians and corporations richer. Tim O’Brien experienced this firsthand when he was shipped off to Vietnam in 1969. When he came back he finished his education at Harvard and was inspired to write a memoir about his experiences. “If I Die in a Combat Zone Box Me Up and Ship Me Home” tells his story as a foot soldier and the effects it had on himself and other soldiers physically, emotionally, and mentally. The books starts with O’Brien as a child playing war games and then moves to when he was drafted. In the bootcamp O’Brien had contemplated deserting but ultimately decided not to so that his family would not be disgraced. He was then sent off to Vietnam where he was placed in the Alpha company. O’Brien talks about things like his involvement in ambushes to his interactions with locals. With this piece O’Brien was trying to show the horrors of war and and how it affected the soldiers sent to fight in
The short story that will be discussed, evaluated, and analyzed in this paper is a very emotionally and morally challenging short story to read. Michael Meyer, author of the college text The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature, states that the author of How to Tell a True War Story, Tim O’Brien, “was drafted into the Vietnam War and received a Purple Heart” (472). His experiences from the Vietnam War have stayed with him, and he writes about them in this short story. The purpose of this literary analysis is to critically analyze this short story by explaining O’Brien’s writing techniques, by discussing his intended message and how it is displayed, by providing my own reaction,
It can be hard to fully comprehend the effects the Vietnam War had on not just the veterans, but the nation as a whole. The violent battles and acts of war became all too common during the long years of the conflict. The war warped the soldiers and civilians characters and desensitized their mentalities to the cruelty seen on the battlefield. Bao Ninh and Tim O’Brien, both veterans of the war, narrate their experiences of the war and use the loss of love as a metaphor for the detrimental effects of the years of fighting.