More Serious Than A Physical Injury: PTSD- Final Project

What is it Good for? Absolutely Nothing.

As I approached my last blog of the semester, I tried to think of something that I was passionate about that had to with war. After I ruled out the color pink in war, the Disney movie Mulan and the legend of Hua Mulan, I went to a song about war. I will focus on one of the most popular war songs. It’s not a coincidence that the name of the song is “War.”

    “War” was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1969. It was one of the first Motown songs that made a statement. It was first sung by the Temptations. However, the song was an Anti-war song so in order for the Temptations to keep their conservative fans, Edwin Starr then sang the song and recorded it.  Starr’s version of this song was on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1970.

"War"  protested the Vietnam War. I think one of the reasons this song did so well is because so many people were so passionate about getting American soldiers out of Vietnam.The lyrics are powerful and they convey the emotional side of how much people did not want their soldiers in Vietnam. Mother's of American soldiers can relate to this song when it says, "cause it means destruction of innocent lives. War means tears to thousands of mother's eyes." 

The Americans of this time had many things about this war to be angry about. First of all, they felt the Vietnam war was a war on Communism, and they felt it was it was not our place to get involved in. They also were angry because the draft was not a random pick. Mostly lower and middle class people were forced to fight and the upper class were excused. The last reason that American’s hated this war was because this was the first war that the American’s got television coverage of. Our nation saw blood on the television, and they saw no progress being made.

What I think of when I hear this song is “War, huh. Yeah. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.” I can just hear protesters screaming this song as they march down the road in protest of the Vietnam War. Sometimes a song can sing something that words can not say. This song is crucial in America’s history because it tells a story that a story can not tell.

Origins of War and Is War Necessary?

My English 101 theme for this semester has been war. As we as a class have traveled through the unit I have began to wonder when war started. It seems to me that it has always been around, not only in America but in countries all over the world. I decided to do more exploring of its origins. I wonder not only when it started but is there really no other way countries and states can solve their problems?

Historians do not know when the first war occurred because we have been fighting wars longer than we have been writing.  However, the first war  ever recorded was in 2700 B.C. I believe war has probably been around since the very beginning of time. I contribute this to the fact that humans had to be violent to survive. If humans were starving and food was scarce they may have chosen to massacre a village just to have food. I also think war has been around since the beginning because people want their way. I can just imagine a man wanting territory because he wants power. What does he do when he can’t have the land? Oh, just kill the people living there. No big deal he thinks… This brings me to a quote from Prussian military general Carl von Clausewitz, “War is thus an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will.”

Now that the world’s technology has grown more than we can imagine, wars are much more violent than they used to be. Is there not any other solution? Can we not just have the Olympics as a substitute for wars? On debate.org 55% of people say war is a necessary evil and 45% of people say war is not a necessary evil. What is interesting is that most people that say that war is necessary actually have a reason and the people that say war is not interesting have a reason but it is not logical. Some of the reasons people say war is necessary is for the nation’s advancement, it is the only way to bring peace and to unite, and it prepares humans to handle travesties better. The people that said war is not necessary said war costs to much money and time and that we should learn to solve our problems with love and compassion. Yes, that sounds wonderful but is this idea even feasible? 

This blog has shed some light on the subject of war for me. I would not say I am pro war but I am not sure peace could exist without war. War is upsetting and uncomfortable and honestly I am still exploring for sure what I believe. Here is a link to an interesting clip entitled War is Necessary.  Even though it is hard to see through all the deaths in war, war can bring good things. War sometimes boosts the economy but most importantly it can bring peace and solve problems.

The People That Pushed Us Into The Revolutionary War

When many people think of the Revolutionary War, they think that England was oppressing America horribly and that America needed to gain their freedom. Although some people thought that America should declare independent, they only represented one third of the population. The other two-third of the American population was either a loyalist to the mother country or they were neutral. In order for America to declare its independence it had to push its neutral population to be patriots. Two people did certain actions that pushed America into war and they were Thomas Paine’s essays entitled Common Sense and a statement made by Richard Henry Lee.

Thomas Paine had just moved to the colonies from Britain two years before the American Revolution. The essays he wrote first pointed out that England was not going to try to mend her relationship with the colonies. She was going to keep taxing the colonies and she was going to have total control over America. Basically Paine was saying if you think these taxes are bad, well then hold on, they are going to keep coming. Paine also said the colonists needed to stop blaming Parliament and to blame King George the third. This was a false statement because Parliament had the control and not the crown. Even though this claim was false, it pushed America towards war because the colonists were able to put their anger with a face and not with a group of people. Thirdly, Paine complimented the colonists by saying it was a great nation and it did not need anyone to help it succeed. This propaganda had a direct impact on the war because it pushed people to become patriots.

Richard Henry Lee was actually an ancestor of Robert E. Lee, who would eventually be crucial in the Civil War. Richard Lee made a statement at the Second Continental Congress that paralleled Paine’s third point in Common Sense. He said that “these united colonies are of right ought to be free and independent states.” Samuel Adams reaffirmed his liking of that statement and soon other delegates at the Continental Congress reaffirmed it too. The picture to the left is of Richard Henry Lee and other delegates at the Second Continental Congress.

Sometimes I wonder how life would be today if the American Revolution had not happened and if these events had not occurred that pushed America to declare independence. At the time war seemed not necessary to some people, hence the loyalists, but I am glad that the Founding Fathers pursued war after these forms of propaganda convinced the rest of the colonies to jump on the bandwagon.  If they would have just dealt with the issues that England was displacing on us (taxing us because they were in debt) would we still be oppressed by England today? Would a nation that is separated from us by water be able to govern us and know our needs when they aren't even on our continent?

The Consequence of Fighting War

      One time driving in Acworth, Georgia I saw a home that was decorated for their child in the war. They had signs that said “Bring them home” and red, white, and blue everywhere. While parents sons or daughters are off at war, the parents think about what could happen to their children and if they will make it home. What they do not think about is how many civilians, that have nothing to do with the war, are being killed where their sons or daughters are. In The Battle of Mogadishu America invades Somalia because Mohamed Adid is starving everyone in Somalia. Food trucks from Red Cross deliver food and Adid and his supporters shoot at anyone or anything around the food truck. America went into this battle to fight for our morals and to help the Somalian people. That sounds like something honorable and noble until you read “Does Black Hawk Down Portray an American Crime” by Jeffrey Goldberg. His article raises questions about if America committed a crime by killing so many civilians in The Battle of Mogadishu.
   
      Goldberg gathered information that eighty percent of Somali deaths in the battle were Somalian civilians. America’s original intent was to come to Somalia to stop Aidid from starving people and in the end we came and killed the people we were trying to help. The article describes a woman who lost two of her children when the black hawk helicopter came down on her home. Her name is Hawo Hussein Adan and she feels everything would be better if the Ethiopians and Westerners would leave Somalia alone.

      Conversations like this make us question if we are doing the right thing. Should we be intruding on someone’s land to kill people that we are supposedly helping? Before, I would think yes, when a “leader” is hurting people in another country and we have the power to help, why not? Now that I know how abundant the causalities are I wonder if I am right.

Side Effects

When soldiers go off to war, they often expect to return to a normal life and pick up things where they left off. A solider, however, has changed a tremendous amount by the time he comes back from war. All of the harshness of the war changes a person. Seeing some of your best friends die, killing someone just because you’re instructed to do so, and being away from normalcy can make a person very crazy, bitter, and cold. Sometimes it can make them go insane, but they each have to find their own ways to deal with the side effects of fighting for their country.

            In "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien, one of the soldier’s, Mark Fossie, girlfriends leaves the United States to visit her boyfriend in the Vietnam War. At first, Mary Anne is quiet, but she enjoys being with her boyfriend. Eventually, Mary Anne starts changing. One night Mark Fossie cannot find Mary Anne. After searching, he finally finds her in a danger zone. At first, she looks exactly the same with the same sweater and skirt. When he looks closer, however, he sees that she has on "a necklace of human tongues," (page 105). She tells him, "’Sometimes I want to eat this place,’" (page 106). Mary Anne was changed dramatically by the environment that she was in. She said that “’You are in a place where you don’t belong,’” (106). She was probably talking about how Mark Fossie did not belong, but in reality, she did not belong. She knew that her boyfriend had the potential of killing someone and that his enemy had the potential of killing him. The people that she was around in the base were not the happiest people because they were going through the horrific war. In her case, war changed her for the worse, although she did not believe so.

            Also in “The Things They Carried,” a soldier named Norman Bowker returns home from the war, but he feels lost. He drives in circles around his hometown trying to find something to relate to. O’Brien found a way to tell his war stories through writing. On the other hand, Bowker could never find anyone to relate to or anyone to tell his story to. So, three years after the war, he had decided that enough was enough. He hung himself in a YMCA locker room, (149). Obviously, Bowker was negatively affected by the war so much that he committed suicide. He could not find his peace or contentment after the war.

            Although not all soldiers’ lives turn out as negatively as Norman Bowker’s, the war does usually have a negative impact on all soldiers. I hate to harp on the negative side, so I will say war does bring good things sometimes. Soldiers protect the people back home. They also appreciate their spouses much more after they are away from them for so long. During war, they build relationships that will last a lifetime, and more importantly, they learn life lessons and go through intense struggles that make them a better person. To everyone that is not in war, we have to remember that war is harder than we will ever know and we must be aware that our loved ones will come home changed.

My Introduction

Hello everyone! My name is Mary Anna Brown and I am a Freshman at Jacksonville State University majoring in Psychology so that I can pursue a career in children's counseling. This blog will include everything that I write for my English 101 class. All of my blogs will be about war stories because that is our focus this semester.
            

                   I am from Cartersville, Georgia which is a town about thirty minutes from Atlanta, Georgia. I graduated from Woodland High School class of 2013. Some of my hobbies include band, marching band, psychology, watching TV, and hanging out with my friends. Some of my favorite TV shows are Friends and Once Upon A Time but I also love watching anything Disney. I love sweet tea, the color pink, and God. (Sorry for sounding Southern. I promise I don't have a bad Southern accent).

 

I play the flute in the Marching Southerners. The Marching Southerners is what brought me here to JSU. It has made JSU feel like home. I am excited to start blogging about war related topics and I hope everyone enjoys my blog!