ipl-logo

The Perennial Wanderer

807 Words4 Pages

For the average American, life outside the borders of the United States is often only seen thru images and news reports from a biased media base. These one-sided views are too often misleading and do not convey what life is really like for people living in less developed nations. This is certainly not true in the case of Steven Orr, who perhaps has one of the most diverse backgrounds among foreign aides. In his book, The Perennial Wanderer: An American in the World, Orr takes his readers on a wild and vivid trip through numerous different nations, of which he has operated in a great many of throughout his time overseas. Mr. Orr has held various positions, in many different organizations such as, the Peace Corps and the Red cross, from which …show more content…

This preparation Orr relates was pretty grueling and almost cost him his life during a rappelling incident. Bouncing back from this ordeal, Orr started his first assignment in the Republic of Panamá, where he worked with other volunteers at a school and met a teacher named Emilio, who he quickly bonded with. While in Panamá, the author traveled around other parts of Latin America. During this stay Orr, met with a representative from the U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID) about working in Vietnam. From his time in the Air Force and time spent studying prior to Vietnam war, Orr’s anti-war Semitism grew and Orr decided he needed to see Vietnam for himself, seeing as they were recruiting prior service peace corps volunteers he had no problem being accepted. Orr got married and shipped off to Vietnam working for USAID. While there, he was involved in bombing incident, during which he was wounded by shrapnel. Orr was involved in another fiasco during his time in Vietnam, this was the Tet Offensive of 1968. After the events, Orr started another journey working for Family Planning International Assistance (FPIA) during which Orr worked in many different positions in this organization and where he learned vital management skills. After leaving FPIA, Orr went to work in El Salvador as a consultant, during his stay there he is involved in a rather daunting ordeal. Orr along with other foreigners are taken hostage by the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMNL) who were fighting a bloody civil war in that country during this time. Orr and the other hostages were released without being harmed by their captors. In this part of the book, Orr elaborates on how the media messed up their reporting and how they did not report the correct details. Following this ordeal, the author

Show More
Related

  • Truong's A Viet Cong Memoir

    937 Words  | 4 Pages

    In A Viet Cong Memoir, we receive excellent first hands accounts of events that unfolded in Vietnam during the Vietnam War from the author of this autobiography: Truong Nhu Tang. Truong was Vietnamese at heart, growing up in Saigon, but he studied in Paris for a time where he met and learned from the future leader Ho Chi Minh. Truong was able to learn from Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary ideas and gain a great political perspective of the conflicts arising in Vietnam during the war. His autobiography shows the readers the perspective of the average Vietnamese citizen (especially those involved with the NLF) and the attitudes towards war with the United States. In the book, Truong exclaims that although many people may say the Americans never lost on the battlefield in Vietnam — it is irrelevant.

    Read More

  • Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: A Literary Analysis

    1292 Words  | 6 Pages

    Readers, especially those reading historical fiction, always crave to find believable stories and realistic characters. Tim O’Brien gives them this in “The Things They Carried.” Like war, people and their stories are often complex. This novel is a collection stories that include these complex characters and their in depth stories, both of which are essential when telling stories of the Vietnam War. Using techniques common to postmodern writers, literary techniques, and a collection of emotional truths, O’Brien helps readers understand a wide perspective from the war, which ultimately makes the fictional stories he tells more believable.

    Read More

  • The Gangster We Are All Looking For Thi Diem Thuy Summary

    1648 Words  | 7 Pages

    The Vietnam War in the late 1970s lead many of refugees including children attempting to attain better living condition relative to those in war-torn Vietnam. Escaping from a war torn nation and arriving to America meant getting accustomed to the much different western culture, while simultaneously facing the challenge of retaining your traditions. Le Thi Diem Thuy presents the story, “The Gangster We Are All Looking For,” to demonstrate her struggle as a migrant. Thuy discusses through her first- hand experiences the arduous struggle that was assimilating into American culture.

    Read More

  • Summary Of War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning By Chris Hedges

    907 Words  | 4 Pages

    Chris Hedges, a former war correspondent, has a memory overflowing with the horrors of many battlefields and the helplessness of those trapped within them. He applies this memory to write War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, where he tutors us in the misery of war. To accomplish this goal, Hedges uses impactful imagery, appeals to other dissidents of war and classic writers, and powerful exemplification. Throughout his book, Hedges batters the readers with painful and grotesque, often first-hand, imagery from wars around the globe. He begins the book with his experience in Sarajevo, 1995.

    Read More

  • A Summary Of Philip Caputo's A Rumor Of War

    1500 Words  | 6 Pages

    Men went through so many tasks during the Vietnam War physically and mentally. The beginning chapters focus on training for war and being prepared for the worst. For example, when there is a sergeant in a room with the marines. The sergeant walks to the chalk board and writes “AMBUSHES ARE MURDER AND MURDER IS FUN” (36-37). The

    Read More

  • On The Rainy River Character Analysis

    807 Words  | 4 Pages

    Planning Page Template Prompt Question: Discuss the ideas developed by the text creator about the role adversity plays in shaping an individual’s identity. Identity: Tim O’Brien thought of himself as an indisputable hero, the Lone Ranger, he exuded confidence, courageous. Adversity: Tim had been drafted to fight in the Vietnam war, a war of which he didn’t endorse and thought was frivolous and brainless. Over the course of the the story Tim endures a difficult man vs self conflict, can’t decide whether he wants to be seen as a coward if he flees to Canada or see himself as a coward if he allows societal pressures to override his values and beliefs on the war.

    Read More

  • Freedom Vs. Truth In American War By Omar Akkad

    323 Words  | 2 Pages

    American War' is a compelling debut novel by Omar El Akkad, a Canadian journalist, where the dystopian future subconsciously imposes the question is freedom more valuable than truth? While it may be hard to envision a world outside of the present tense, the 333-page novel manages to entwine its readers by coming across as an allegory of the Trump Era during a second Civil War and the ban of all fossil fuel. Freedom is nonexistent without truth for Sarat Chestnut, a female refugee held prisoner in the end of the 22nd Century, who wants to vengeance the murder of her family by any means necessary. Is it easier to empathize a refugee when they're American? For some, it may be even harder to associate a white terrorist when our national media always

    Read More

  • Summary Of Bloods: Black Veterans Of The Vietnam War

    1502 Words  | 7 Pages

    His 24-month long mission gave him the opportunity to use his journalism and educational experiences to cover the important roles that African American soldiers were playing in the Vietnam War. The military’s goal in this assignment was to show the American people and potential African American soldiers that African American soldiers were now treated equally. There was a stigma regarding the maltreatment of African Americans in the military, and with the passing of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964, the image of the African American soldier began to quickly change. The new breed of African American soldiers no longer tolerated bigotry and hatred. African American soldiers began uniting to combat the injustices in America as well as within the military overseas.

    Read More

  • Moral Confusion In The Things They Carried

    645 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Vietnam War leaves a legacy of moral confusion with each and every soldier who serves. Soldiers are fighting for a cause they do not necessarily believe in, killing people who do not necessarily deserve it, and watching their brothers die beside them. Tim O’Briens’ book, The Things They Carried, illustrates the soldiers struggle to define morality throughout the confusion of the war. On the Rainy River, Tim O’Brien faces what he feels is his moral obligation to answer his country’s call and fight in Vietnam, and a personal moral issue with the reason for the war.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Martin Luther King Jr Vietnam Speech

    674 Words  | 3 Pages

    On April 4, 1967 Doctor Martin Luther King Jr gave the speech, “Beyond Vietnam-A time to Break Silence.” In this powerful speech Dr. King addresses his followers, and explains why the same people who are advocating for civil rights, should also protest the war in Vietnam. Dr. King’s main appeal is towards pathos because he is explaining his reasons, most of which are moral in some way. Dr. King develops the central claim of the speech by explaining how the war is taking away resources from the poor, how the soldiers are disproportionately poor people, and lastly how the war is completely against his morals. His central claim of the speech revolves around war being an enemy of the poor.

    Read More

  • Ho Chi Minh's Letter More Persuasive Than Lyndon B. Johnson

    280 Words  | 2 Pages

    I find Ho Chi Minh’s letter far more persuasive than Lyndon B. Johnson’s. Using ethos, pathos, and logos, he forms a solid argument that supports Vietnam’s stance on the war. He appeals to one’s emotions by expressing the injustices faced by his people, writing, “In South Viet-Nam a half-million American soldiers and soldiers from the satellite countries have resorted to the most barbarous methods of warfare, such as napalm, chemicals, and poison gases in order to massacre our fellow countrymen, destroy the crops, and wipe out villages.” Words such as “massacre” and “barbarous” highlight the severity of these crimes, and invoke feelings of guilt and remorse in the reader. Chi Minh uses ethos to support his logos, or logical, views on the

    Read More

  • Vietnam War Speech Analysis

    572 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this paper an interview, speech, image, and audio is utilitzed to explain the The oral history interview with Doug Smith helps to establish a foundation which sheds light to the understanding of African Americans in the Vietnam War and their encounters with racial discrimination. Smith decided to join the United States army because he saw an opportunity to prove this worth to his country after the end of segregation

    Read More

  • Comparing Rumor Of War In When Heaven And Earth Changed Places

    1320 Words  | 6 Pages

    The novel written by Graham Greene, The Quiet American, conveys his point of view, as an English reporter, on the complexity of being forced to choose a side during the Vietnam Wars. While Phillip Caputo’s memoir, Rumor of War, is a heartbreaking journey of an American Marine who describes the true nature of the horrors experienced in the war zone. In addition, Le Ly Hayslip’s memoir, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, signifies a woman’s perspective as a Vietnamese peasant. Her story is unbelievable and inspiring because of the strength she has to battle against struggles and to forgive those who victimized her. These primary sources suggest how differing events of trauma

    Read More

  • Communism In Graham Greene's The Quiet American

    798 Words  | 4 Pages

    Fowler comforted the Vietnamese informant Mr. Heng when telling him, “If you are hinting that you are a Communist, or a Vietminh, don’t worry” (Greene 120). This shows that in almost all aspects Fowler can be extremely empathetic to where someone is coming from. This really speaks words to how Fowler behaves as a person day to day, he does not lack judgement, on the contrary all he suitably looks for is honesty in order to possess a more authentic perception on the other individual’s perspective. Fowler understands where the Vietnamese are coming from as well as that all they genuinely desire is to be able to take on their own fulfilling independent lives. The secretary of the notorious NSC committee warned the president that, “...every individual faces the ever-present possibility of annihilation should the conflict enter the phase of total war”(Doc

    Read More

  • The Asians Dying Analysis

    852 Words  | 4 Pages

    By 1975 the Vietnam war had claimed over 5 million lives, many of which were civilians. This has made it a war that Americans have been ashamed of and tried to forget. W. S. Merwin was outspoken on how he felt about war, which he shows in “The Asians Dying.” He makes a statement on the inhumane way the Vietnam war took human lives. ” The Asians Dying” will shock readers with its gruesome imagery and force them to look at what war does.

    Read More

More about The Perennial Wanderer

Open Document