Reflections for the Soldier's Life Blog

After reading four entries about the "life of a soldier" was a real eye-opener for me. It was very interesting and moving.

The first post I read was called "What's going on with our schools?" As a student, I appreciate the thoughts he has for students far away from him. I would think being in the war would force him to focus only on the war and forget about the small things happening in the United States, but I was wrong. This soldier obviously cares and worries about the students and schools which is very touching. I definitely agree with his statements about having security guards surrounding the school, for I believe that day by day the world has becoming more dangerous. The next post I read was called "Stranger in a Strangeland." This post was very inspiring for me. His attitude was very optimistic and bright although he was in a hard situation. When he wrote that he was trying to keep things on a positive note despite the dangers he encounters made me feel like I shouldn't complain about my life and should become more positive as well. He also writes, "avoiding triggers [...] taking it day by day" was moving as well. For him having a good attitude about having to "avoid triggers...day by day" while I'm having obnoxious attitudes about going to school is making me realize that I shouldn't complain and instead be thankful for being safe. Another post I read was titled "Welcome to the real suck!" This entry allowed me to understand a little bit of the "insides" of the emotions felt AFTER war. I felt very sorry for the soldier and wished he hadn't felt the way he did. It was interesting because right away I was able to make the connection of his post-war experience to Philip Caputo's in his novel, "A Rumor of War." I did not realize how going to war and then coming home was such a big change for the soldiers. The problems the men experience is very sad and unfortunate. I just hope that we, as in Americans, can do something to help them besides therapy. It's just amazing how much the war can impact a person's life AFTER. It really surprised me. Finally, the last post I read by this soldier was titled "The Fog of War." I thought this entry was very interesting especially because in this post he shortly explains how it feels to be in the war. For example, he writes about how any amount of training before going into combat was never enough to prepare a soldier for the "real war." He lightly describes how when you are in "THE MOMENT" it is very fast and scary. And all your senses are heightened and everything is intense. That was intriguing to read. In addition he writes how the "long days" of war can give you bad "affects". He felt "strong yet meloncoly." I guess being in the war gives you mixed feelings. And finally in this post he mentions that he had named his gun after his wife's middle name. In class we are reading "The Things They Carried" which tells about the things the men carried while at war and its' purposes, so I was able to make the connection of the soldier's gun. How giving the gun a name reminded him of his wife and home.
I have such great respect for the men and women at war. It makes me feel proud to be an American.