Surviving Hell By Leo Thorsness

Pat Tillman, an NFL superstar who gave it all up to defend our country, embodied the American dream and more. Worked hard on and off the field he earned a comfortable life for him and his family. He not only achieved the American dream, but also gave the ultimate sacrifice of any American – his life. Because of his importance, Sports Illustrated created two different magazine covers to illustrate Pat Tillman's death.

In Adam Gopnik 's piece “Caging of America,” he discusses one of the United States biggest moral conflicts: prison. Gopniks central thesis states that prison itself is a cruel and unjust punishment. He states that the life of a prisoner is as bad as it gets- they wake up in a cell and only go outside for an hour to exercise. They live out their sentences in a solid and confined box, where their only interaction is with themselves. Gopnik implies that the general populace is hypocritical to the fact that prison is a cruelty in itself. The citizens of the the United States preach moral equality and the wrongdoings of their government, yet they fail to realize the horrors that occur when trapped in a cell the size of your bathroom. The article makes great points against the criminal- justice system and their cruel punishment towards prisoners, but the author has failed to persuade me because although their current state in the system might be wrong, it doesn 't take from the fact that they are convicted felons who need to do their time, even if

While Paul, the main character, was on leave from the war he says, “I find I do not belong here any more, it is a foreign world” (168). For the soldiers the real world is hard for them to cope because they are so accustomed to battling for their lives. They are so used to be in a world where all they do is fight; to come home to normalcy where there is no battling and worrying is

I believe that being an American Is the greatest thing that could happen to a person and here is why. In the story "Veterans Day: Never Forget Their Duty" is about veterans who are P.O.W.s in North Vietnam. They were captured and tortured. But even going through all that they are still able to salute the flag of The United States Of America. A man named Mike Christian, he was the man who sewed an American flag on the inside of his shirt. Every day the would salute the flag during lunch and they would say the pledge of allegiance. One day the soldiers found the flag and beat Mike Christian severely until he was bleeding bad. Afterwards he was sitting in the only light in the room. He was sowing a new flag for them to pledge to before they eat. Mike Christian is a patriot. And being a patriot is apart of the American dream which I believe in.

The iconic design of the Stars and Stripes on the American flag has been a symbol of hope to every citizen in America since its making. Every time an American citizen sees these stars and stripes, they are reminded of their safe home in the United States of America. Every time a soldier sees the flag, they are reminded of what they are fighting for. They are fighting for the freedom that every citizen in the United States takes for granted, yet they still bravely fight for that freedom. As children, we were taught that Betsy Ross was the woman to thank for the flag that we see today. Betsy Ross was a seamstress for a living and she was not nationally known until George Washington himself came to her and asked her to make the first flag. At

In the short story, “The Man I Killed,” O’Brien focuses on this to show that everyone fighting in a war has a story. He spends the story describing the man he killed and searching for justification of his actions. He carries around guilt with him because of it, and his fellow soldiers try to help him justify and come to terms with his action by saying things like, “You want to trade places with him? Turn it all upside down= you want that? I mean, be honest,” (126) and “Tim, it’s a war. The guy wasn’t Heidi- he has a weapon, right?” (126) However, by giving insight on the man’s life, the reader learns that similarly to O’Brien, the man he killed originally had no intention of fighting. He wanted to be a scholar. The collections of short stories in “The Things They Carried” come together to show how complex war can be. It is not black and white, especially since soldiers are dealing with heavy issues and people are dying all around

First, the trauma of living in a war zone can add a significant amount of intangible weight into someone’s life. In “The Things They Carried,” we discover that Cross’s men “carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die (443).” Given that the majority of humans have experienced some form of trauma, we can understand how some men were driven to suicide and others into

How can extreme suffering change a person? Going through a German concentration camp causes many people to have life changing differences in their lives. Elie Wiesel tells his personal experience of going through a concentration camp in his book Night. He shares the horrific events that he, his father, and others had to experience. After going through so much, many people do not have the same mindset as they did before. Being tortured and watching others being tortured changes a person’s life, especially Elie’s, his father’s, Moshe the Beadle’s, and Rabbi Eliahou’s.

“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity” (Dwight D. Eisenhower). Throughout all of history war has surrounded human existence. From the Spartans in Rome to Infantry Marines patrolling the streets in Afghanistan, the presence of war has affected generations since the beginning of time. In the book, Fallen Angels, the author, Walter Dean Myers portrays how the harsh realities of war have a substantial impact on soldiers and their experiences by displaying the internal transformations, the power of fear, the permanent psychological damages, and the cruelty of the environment through a classic Vietnam War story.

This chapter “The Ghost Soldiers”, showed us how Tim O’Brien and the other soldiers were dealing with the war both physically and psychologically. It also shows us how the Tim O'Brien behaved and felt when he was shot, wounded and had a bacteria infection on his butt and how the war changed the way he thought, and viewed the other soldiers around him.

Louie went through many hardships during, and after the prison camp. Through the whole time, though, Louie was resilient and strong. He was making a positive situation out of a negative one. Louie’s experiences show how humanity can learn from their difficult experiences and use that knowledge to help others

Faith is such an important part of life. It is the drive, the motive to live, to breathe, to feel. When faith is lost, so is the reason to exist; life is lost in oblivion. Faith is a truly powerful weapon and as the story of Eliezer 's life during the Holocaust is played out through this book, a first-hand perspective is gained of what someone can do to cause questioning of faith and how people respond, whether by strengthening faith or losing it entirely. Eliezer is hit with every hard trial imaginable within a year of his life and eventually withers and hardens into this completely new person than the boy he was when he first stepped into that cattle car expelling him from Sighet, his home, and life. When everything familiar is taken, doubt

The issue of the confederate flag has been an important cultural discussion point for some years now, but has recently taken on even greater importance in light of recent hate crimes in South Carolina, as well as rampant police brutality and shootings across the country. Much of the discussion has been an argument between the two schools of thought being that either the flag is a symbol of cultural heritage and nothing more, and the other being that it is a symbol of systematic and violent racism that has no right being in a place of honor and reverence in today’s society. In a way both schools are correct. The Confederate flag is a symbol of southern cultural history; it also happens that that history is a history of systematic and violent racism, starting from the flag’s creation and on to its popular resurgence in the south at the time of desegregation and the civil-rights movement.

There was a man named Dr. Waldo, he was a surgeon for the Patriots. He says these things in document C; “I am sick”, “Poor food”, “Cold weather”, “Vomit half my time”, and “soldier has bare feet”. These things would want to make you and me quit, right? Yes, it would but even with those terrible things, he and many others still didn’t quit. So if he can stick with it, then so can me and you! Also, the soldiers were miserable but, they had “Spirit of Alacrity” which is cheerful willingness (Doc. C). Of course there were tough time, it’s winter! The soldiers had to suffer with not a lot of supplies but the soldiers knew that soon enough, it was all going to be over. After winter come spring and summer where there are good conditions. So if I stay positive just like the others, then I know not to quit and continue fighting for

Throughout one’s life, adversity is inevitable. It presents itself unexpectedly in many forms; loneliness, despair, loss of a loved one, stress, and even in the actions of others. In the novel “Three Day Road” by Joseph Boyden, Elijah faces adversity after joining the war. However, the approaches Elijah takes to overcome the several hardships he faces makes him an undesirable model for coping with adversity. Elijah’s approaches are ineffective at coping with adversity because he follows misguided advice and becomes apathetic during war, resulting in major impacts on his life which lead to his downfall.