My Father and I
My father and I started walking down the long, black, shiny wall. As we got closer are steps were slower. We moved with hesitation. My heart began to beat faster, and I felt an ache in the pit of my stomach. My father squeezed my hand as we approached a statue of three men cast in bronze. The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial or "The Wall" lay just beyond, but we found ourselves unable to move. My father stood staring at the statue, afraid to go on.
Between silences, he spoke about the incredible detailed work of the sculpture, such as the towel wrapped around the neck of one of the soldiers, the M-60 machine gun and the soldier's bandoleers of ammunition. I knew his thoughts were in a different time and a different place. The memories of the war were beginning to replace the day's reality.
For most of my life I have heard the stories of my father's experiences in Vietnam. He was drafted by the Army in 1967 and served in the infantry. While in the field he was engaged in numerous fire fights and combat situations and lost two thirds of his company during a four-day siege. When he returned home he encountered public opposition to the war and its Veterans. In actuality my father fought two wars, one at home and one abroad.
All of this pain that he kept suppressed was spilling over as we at last began our descent to "The Wall". He held my hand and I could feel him tremble. I turned to him and I saw he was crying. His tears were for friends who died and lives wasted.
I took a piece of paper and I scratched the name of a soldier my father knew off the wall. Names, row upon row, thousands upon thousands, etched in the black granite made me realize the exact meaning of war. People die. The tears slid down my cheeks because for the first time, I could feel and understand my father's pain.
The war is over for my father now but it will always be with him.
much more. Lyrically, it would take a Lit grad, such as Jenkins himself, to decipher the
The three narratives “Home Soil” by Irene Zabytko, “Song of Napalm” by Bruce Weigl, and “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen all have the same feelings of war and memory, although not everyone experiences the same war. Zabytko, Weigl, and Owen used shifting beats, dramatic descriptions, and intense, painful images, to convince us that the horror of war far outweighs the devoted awareness of those who fantasize war and the memories that support it.
War is cruel. The Vietnam War, which lasted for 21 years from 1954 to 1975, was a horrific and tragic event in human history. The Second World War was as frightening and tragic even though it lasted for only 6 years from 1939 to 1945 comparing with the longer-lasting war in Vietnam. During both wars, thousands of millions of soldiers and civilians had been killed. Especially during the Second World War, numerous innocent people were sent into concentration camps, or some places as internment camps for no specific reasons told. Some of these people came out sound after the war, but others were never heard of again. After both wars, people that were alive experienced not only the physical damages, but also the psychic trauma by seeing the deaths and injuries of family members, friends or even just strangers. In the short story “A Marker on the Side of the Boat” by Bao Ninh about the Vietnam War, and the documentary film Barbed Wire and Mandolins directed by Nicola Zavaglia with a background of the Second World War, they both explore and convey the trauma of war. However, the short story “A Marker on the Side of the Boat” is more effective in conveying the trauma of war than the film Barbed Wire and Mandolins because of its well-developed plot with well-illustrated details, and its ability to raise emotional responses from its readers.
Lin's work, unlike most previous military monuments, rejects the emphasis on heroics in favor of a poignant, contemplative, apolitical design which conveys an almost unbearable sense of loss. Simple, graceful, and abstract, the design specified two 246.75 foot long walls of polished black southern India granite, set below grade and connected at a 125 degree angle.2 Each segment of the wall is composed of 70 panels. At their intersection, the walls are 10.1 feet high and they taper down to a height of 8 inches at their extremities.3 The largest panels have 137 lines of names.4 The smallest panels have just one line. Each line consists of five names, which were sandblasted into the polished surface by hand, rather than cut into it with machine tools.5 Currently, the monument wall lists the names of 58,175 members of the armed forces who were confirmed killed or listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War.6
Although years have gone by, these recollections are still affecting how he lives. Simply standing in front of the wall reminds the speaker of all of this. The Veterans Memorial takes on a life of its own. While the speaker is in its presense, the wall controls him. It forces him to remember painful memories and even cry, something he promised himself he would not do.
In conclusion, while books, photos, movies and other historical documentation can portray information or a message about wartime events, they will never be able to produce the feelings of those that were personally involved in wars have experienced. Yet, it is incorrect to criticize these writers. The information they reveal is still very important historical information. Even if a reader or viewer of this media cannot feel exactly the same emotions as those involved, they still often experience an emotional connection to the events being depicted. This is important, not only for the historical knowledge gained about wars, but also to understand the nature and futility of their occurrence.
The impact of the Vietnam War upon the soldiers who fought there was huge. The experience forever changed how they would think and act for the rest of their lives. One of the main reasons for this was there was little to no understanding by the soldiers as to why they were fighting this war. They felt they were killing innocent people, farmers, poor hard working people, women, and children were among their victims. Many of the returning soldiers could not fall back in to their old life styles. First they felt guilt for surviving many of their brothers in arms. Second they were haunted by the atrocities of war. Some soldiers could not go back to the mental state of peacetime. Then there were soldiers Tim O’Brien meant while in the war that he wrote the book “The Things They Carried,” that showed how important the role of story telling was to soldiers. The role of stories was important because it gave them an outlet and that outlet was needed both inside and outside the war in order to keep their metal state in check.
I saw that soldier’s faces were lit eerily in the dim light. The sculptures apparel seemed fitting due to the light rain that was falling at the memorial site. I noticed the wall glimmering as the raindrops slid down the glassy surface and fall into the wilting flowers while the images illuminated from the glare of rain and light. I felt this morbid and realistic presence of the soldiers and for a mere second felt the gloom and menace of the war they were in. I walked around the site to gather more information on what the memorial was dedicated to. I walked past the mural wall and as I did I paid particular attention to the various images of people and equipment on the wall. All of the facial expressions of the people on the wall gave the memorial a very real presence to it. I continued walking down the granite walk and I read it was the Korean War Veterans Memorial and immediately got the message the artists were trying to convey. It was very clear that they were showing the public that freedom is not free. The memorial symbolizes the soldiers that have fought for the freedom of others and it recognizes the importance of these actions and
The Vietnam War tore some families apart (Olson). Some families were getting divorced. Being gone for so long can be hard on families and soldiers. The War lasted up to at least 15 years with United States involved. Loved ones were gone and not being able to take care of their families and loved ones. The deployment of loved ones was hard to comp with some families (Logan). Children were sad to see their dad have to leave and not knowing if he will come back. During the war many terrifying images were being showed (Friedman). The images made families and loved ones worried and scared if their loved ones had died (Friedman). The families with soldiers that had lived had to deal with their loved ones having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Logan). Not only do the families have emotions during the war so do the soldiers. Soldiers who had lived were feeling guilt over them living and their friends dying (Friedman). Soldiers were wishing it was them that had died and not one of their brothers. Some soldiers had committed suicide years after war had ended because of the guilt they had felt for living. (Fallstrom). The soldiers didn’t only have emotions after war they had some during war. A war veteran had said “every time I pull the trigger, I was killing a little bit inside me. “ (Friedel).Even knows he wasn’t physically killing a little bit of himself, mentally he was.
Ludwig Van Beethoven was one of the greatest classical music composers of all time. He was born around December 16, 1770 to a middle class family in the city of Bonn in the Electorate of cologne. His exact date of birth is unknown but he was baptized on December 17, 1770 and during this time it was law and custom for babies to be baptized within 24 hours of birth. His father Johann Van Beethoven was a court singer and his mother was Maria Magdalena Van Beethoven. Ludwig had four other siblings. The first Ludwig had passed away 6 days after he was born. Anton Karl was born on April 1774, Nikkolaus Johann October 1776 and Maria Margareta Josepha in 1786.
Unending exchange of bullets coming from rifles of the soldiers, a mother lamenting for the death of her young boy who goes to war, and great toll of loss life both of the soldiers and civilians- all these are not enough to describe the horrors brought by the war, but, these are enough to illustrate the price, expensive price, paid in war.
His father was a tenor court singer, while his grandfather was a prosperous musician in his community. Beethoven’s father was an alcoholic, and there are accounts of people saying that his father taught Beethoven music with extreme brutality. His father would beat him for every mistake he would make. This trauma affected his life in many ways. In Maynard Solomon’s book, Beethoven, he claims that Beethoven, gave up on establishing loving relationship with anyone; he withdrew himself from his society of friends and parents, as well. His happiest moments were those when he was free and away from the company of his friends and parents (Solomon). Beethoven’s father put together Beethoven’s first public recital in 1778. Even though he played brilliantly, Beethoven received no press or praises for his first recital. Additionally, Beethoven struggled with math and spelling for his entire life and said that music comes easier of him than words. Near the age of ten, he discontinued his secular education and went to study music full time. Beethoven was forced to financially support his family after his father’s alcoholism grew worse. He was sent to Vienna to study with Mozart to further his musical education. He later also trained with Haydn. This is where Beethoven’s musical journey
Beethoven born as Ludwig van Beethoven was born 1770 in Bonn, Germany. He was a musical composer of the classical and romantic periods. “He was born into a family of musicians.” (Ludwig). His father, Johann van Beethoven, was an ordinary court singer better known as an alcoholic than anyone with any musical ability (Ludwig). Beethoven 's grandfather was Bonn 's most prosperous and eminent musician. Beethoven childhood was very rough. Beethoven 's father first taught him music using punishment which affected Beethoven forever. He was usually forced, locked in a cellar to for long hours to practice (Ludwig). He studied the violin and clavier as well as taking additional lessons from organists around town. (Ludwig). Despite of the way his father
Ludwig Van Beethoven was born on December 16, 1770 in Bonn, Germany. He was the third child of Johann and Johanna Beethoven. Ludwig had a terrible childhood because his dad was an alcoholic. He woke him up in the middle of the night and made him play the piano until dawn. He would smack him every time he made a mistake. His father was a musician as was his grandfather. Ludwig loved spending time with his grandfather. His grandfather died when Beethoven was only three years old.
As we got further and further into the Vietnam War, few lives were untouched by grief, anger and fear. The Vietnamese suffered the worst hardship; children lay dead in the street, villages remained nothing but charred ashes, and bombs destroyed thousands of innocent civilians. Soldiers were scarred emotionally as well as physically, as