well i have been really focused on My Lai. Do not really know what to write about it has me questioning a lot of different beliefs as to why a soldier can do things in a war situation. Anyways i wrote a poem, if anyone reads these i hope you enjoy.

Soldier, lonely like the soldiers one last shell,
Darkness overcomes him, leaves him without breath,
Shoot, fire, hide, all the while, think about death,
Think about nothing else until it is your hell,
With a bullet, the young and innocent never yell,
War is a drug, orchestrating illusions like meth,
The lies, but the eyes the soldier’s tale does tell,
When he arrives, his pain will be his end,
Upon his return, his end will be his pain,
Broken like the wind on a sunny day,
And the last shell becomes his only friend,
On the darkness, the soldier lies slain,
And he owes Hades nothing, no more death no more pay.

FOLLOWING ORDERS?

This week in class we tried to choose a foci assignment for the class to begin a study on. This week I did not learn a vast area of things but I did learn about My Lai. The story of Hugh Thompson really made me think about the age old question “I was just following orders.” On one side of things you have William Calley who is dead set on following the orders he was given. He even believed the orders included killing woman children and basically everyone there. Hugh Thompson however even in the heat of the battle was able to establish that what was happening was wrong and would not cooperate and attempted to stop them.

The thing I found most troubling about these events was the aftermath in which Hugh Thompson was condemned for his actions. It was not until 2001 he was actually rewarded with some gratitude for his accomplishments. It really makes me think about the boundaries of war and at what point is too far. In conclusion it is just nice to see a little humanity in war.