One Soldier Staring Death in the Face

One Soldier Staring Death in the Face

War is full of violence and death. This violence and death causes severe emotional trauma. I myself cannot imagine what war is like, or what it is like to have someone I love go off to war. I know I'm lucky because of this. When a loved one goes to war, they may die, they will be scared, and they will be gone. Worst of all, their fate is unknown. Any person that loves another, whether it be a spouse, parent, sibling, or friend, will feel sorrow when seeing that loved one go to war. I have seen some of the horrors of war retold in movies, books, pictures, interviews, and television. To me, war is also interesting. The History Channel has always sparked my attention especially WWII specials.

I have read Just and Unjust Wars by Michael Walzer and On War and Morality by Robert Holmes. These books have given me philosophical viewpoints of Just War Theory and Pacifism. Just War Theorists believe that war can be justified with a just cause for the war and fighting humanely. Pacifists believe that war is immoral and cannot be justified by any means. After both of these reading I gained many new viewpoints on war, but I still remained uncertain about war. To help solve this dilemma I interviewed a person with first hand experience in war. I believe that interviewing an actual war veteran is the most effective way of learning about war.

Brooks Henderson Jr. (277806) of the United States Marine Corps, Third Defense Battalion is a veteran of WWII. He entered the Marine Corps on November 26 1939, in hopes of becoming a Marine Guard of the American Embassy in China. Instead he was among the first Marines to step on Midway Island in 1940 to fortify the island for a possible war in the Pacific. Next he was sent to Pearl Harbor. There he remained in the Marine barracks and trained, specifically with the U.S. 90mm. Anti-Aircraft Gun and the U.S. Army Bofors. The 90mm shoots a twenty-one pound shell in any direction at a distance of 13,500 yards at twenty-eight rounds a minute (Kirk and Young 263). The Bofors are a much smaller anti-aircraft gun that is fully automatic but has no tracking system; the operator has to aim and shoot, unlike the 90mm that had data and a controller to help aim.