Copy That Two-Niner

As we started reading Going After Cacciato, I found a very interesting subject matter in the opening pages of the book. On page 13, the lieutenant radioed that they were in pursuit of the enemy. When the voice on the other end replied he asked if they needed any gunship or artillery support. The lieutenant said it was not necessary, but the man on the radio continued to push the lieutenant into allowing them to give them supporting fire. He said, "We got a real bargain going on arty this week- two for the price of one no strings and a warranty to boot. First-class ordnance, real sweet stuff. See, we got this terrific batch of 155 in, a real shitload of it, so we got to go heavy on volume. Keeps the prices down."
"Negative"
"Well, jeez." The radio-voice paused."Okay, Papa Two-Niner. Tell you what, I like the sound of your voice. A swell voice, really lovely. So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna give you a dozen nice illum, how's that? Can you beat it? Find a place in town that beats it and we give you a dozen more, no charge. Real boomers with genuine sparkles mixed in. A closeout sale, one time only."
"Negative. Negative, negative, negative."
"You're missing out on some fine shit, Two-Niner."
"Negative, you monster."
"No offense"
"Negative."
"As you will, then." The radio-voice buzzed. "Happy hunting."
"Mercy," the lieutenant said into a blaze of static.

Now after I read this I had to stop reading for a second and think about what just occurred. Tim O'Brien put a soldier in the shoes of a salesmen. The man on the other end of the radio tried to convince the lieutenant to allow them to bomb something because they were getting some artillery two for the price of one. This blew my mind. Now this might have never happened, but it would not surprise me if it did. I imagine that if you were not directly in the line of fire, Vietnam was a very boring war. I can understand that this man was bored and he was trying to give himself something to do by swaying the lieutenant to order in a bombing. But still the idea that a person is so bored that he is running the risk of killing innocent people just to give him something to do. The only sane person over the radio was the lieutenant, we refereed to the other man as a monster. The lieutenant is an older man, he has probably seen and been around war and death and understands that war is horrific. It is one thing for say a used car salesman to pressure you into buying a car, but for someone to pressure you into allowing them to possible kill innocent people then you know you are in the wrong situation. I just thought that this conversation along with Slaughter House-Five give us the readers another perspective on the US during times of war.

Your Team Might Not Always be the Best

Since reading Slaughter' House-Five I have been thinking about what war can do to a person's mind. We hear stories about people with Post War Stress after being involved in a war. We always say how disgusting our enemy can be to kill that many people in that horrific way. Kurt Vonnegut, the author of Slaughter' House-Five, was a POW during WWII. He was held prisoner in the German city of Dresden. The city is best known for the controversial bombing during the later years of the war. Vonnegut first hand saw the horrific sights of war, not by an enemy, but by his our country. Not many people get to see two sides to war. What I mean is how one side reacts to certain events, and also how their enemies react. Kurt was able to see the reactions of Dresden's people after they found the bodies of their loved ones, or the stench of burning flesh. Kurt saw life changing views, but he also had his eyes stretched wide open. He was able to see that his own country is capable of such distruction, and mass murder. He could see in people's eyes what did we do to deserve this and he took a step back and really thought about all that was going on. He understood that even the most powerful and glorified country in the world was capable of doing such a disgusting and disgracful thing, the mass murder of innocent people. This is what I believe Kurt took from his experience, I could be totally wrong, but let me know what you think.

Reflection

The character of Joshua Chamberlain is very detailed, but he also has the ability to change. Chamberlain might be the best leader out of the three that we read about. He came from an educated background and was willing to do what is necessary to win. The book ends with Chamberlain sitting on a rock looking at Gettysburg and reflecting over the last couple horrendous days. He thinks about Pickett’s Charge, and how few people see a sight like that, and most that do don’t come out of the better end of it. He also contemplates how he will explain what happened there to his grandchildren. How he was a part of a change in this country’s history.

Chamberlain’s unique side is his ability to make rash decisions in crucial situations. When his lines were falling he put his brother's life on the line and ordered him to fill in the gap. "Chamberlain remembered using the boy to plug a hole in the line, stopping the hole with his own brother's body like a warm bloody cork, and Chamberlain looked at himself." (pg 342). Chamberlain loves the aspects of war, but when he takes a step back and looks at what war truly is, he realizes what it can make people do in certain situations.
Later on Chamberlain is talking to his brother Tom and the reason why they were fighting came up.' "Thing I cannot understand. Thing I never will understand. How can they fight so hard, them Johnnies, and all for slaver?" Chamberlain raised his head. He had forgotten the Cause. When the guns began firing he had forgotten it completely. It seemed very strange now to think of morality, or that minister long ago, or the poor runaway black. he looked out across the dark field, could see nothing but the yellow lights and outlines of black bodies stark in the lightning.'(pg 343).I think that it is interesting how some soldiers did not even know what they were dying for. This passage is a great example of how people think in a war. When that first gun goes off you are not thinking of the causes, but better yet what can I do to get through this.

Great Minds Might Not Always Think Alike

As we start our new book, The Killer Angels, we began to look at the Confederate's highest officials. The commander Robert E. Lee was a man that kept to himself. He never drank, chased women, smoked or gambled. He loved his state, Virginia and he kept his life in control. He was also a man who believed in traditional warfare. On the other hand, his second in command was Lieutenant General James Longstreet. Longstreet valued the lives of his men because in one winter he lost three of his kids due to a fever. Both Lee and Longstreet are smart men, but when it comes to their tactics they do not agree. Lee understands that he has men and a lot of them. He can afford to lose lives if it means victory. On the other hand Longstreet invented the defensive strategy of trenches which approve the chance of survival for his men. So with two men so close to each other is it beneficial for them to have different strategies on the field, or could it make the men choose what general to follow into battle.