Peggy Terry, a non-combat worker during World War II, did not know much about the war, except that she hated the idea of it, and that her husband was a soldier. All she knew was that the Germans needed to be stopped. After moving around trying to find jobs, Peggy found a job that required her and other women to make shells for the war. At the beginning of her working experience, she was not aware that she was making shells for the war, but after a while she realized she was. Although it was a priveledge that women were able to work in non-combat positions, it was not as great as it seemed because they were not given workers rights, and they were not respected. Peggy was against war because she did not like violence, but she had to keep her job because she needed to make money. Once her husband came back from war, she realized that she did not hate war only because of the violence, but also because it changed the soldiers into different people. Her husband came back an alcoholic, and a completely different man. "It seems so obvious to say- wars brutalized people. It brutalized him." (194) Peggy explained in her story that the war changed her husband, and all other soldiers in a horrible way because of what they were exposed to. This story relates to the Women's Auxilary Army Corps because Peggy Terry would not have been able to get her job building shells if that bill had not been passed. This story also relates to soldiers who are coming home from Afgahnastan today because they have been brutalized, just like Peggy Terry's husband.
E.B. (Sledgehammer) Sledge was a young, sensitive and caring soldier who had a different view on World War II than most other frontmen because he did not fight in the biggest battles, or risk his life as much as they did. Because he and his group were so young, they did not take the war so seriously, and they just wanted to get it over with. Sledge claimed that the only reason he and the other young soldiers fought in the war was because they did not want to let each other down. But as the war proceeded, it seemed as if Sledge started to understand what the objective of the war was, and how serious it was after seeing so many dead people, and worn out soldiers. Sledge came to realize that war was about killing the enemies before they killed you, so that it could end faster. Even though Sledge felt bad seeing people being killed, even if they were enemies, he knew that he had to suck it up. Sledge came across a Japanese man who was suffering, and he called a nurse to help him, only to realize that the Japanese man was playing a prank and he set fire. Sledge knew that he was being too nice, and that there was no point because Japanese soldeirs were evil, and they did absolutely anything to not surrender. "I have heard many guys who fought in Europe who said the Germans were damn good soldiers...When they surrendered, they were guys just like us. With the Japanese, it was not that way." (199) During Sledge's time in war, he realized that the only way to stop the Japanese army was through violence in war. The Japanese army proved that they would do anything not to surrender when they used suicide planes called kamikazes, which showed they were willing to kill themselves in order to not surrender. Sledge's story can relate to the soldiers who are fighting in Afghanistan today.
No comments:
Post a Comment