1943 Poetry Response

Desiree Adams The Poem “1943” by Donald, Hall was a very good poem. When I looked at the title I thought the poem was going to be about WWII because the year 1943 was during the time of WWII. When I read the poem it was about a bunch of teenagers who are getting prepared for war and trained on how to act and be tough. This poem talks about how teen boys are getting taught in school and other places on how to be men in the army and go to war. It also talks about how they have to realize that war is bloody in brutal ,so they have to have tough skin if they want to make it into the military.

This poem reminds me of the story my grandfather told me about when he enlisted to the marines and had to go to Paris, Island for basic training. He told me that back home they made war sound like something a young boy should do in order to become a man. When he got to basic training he told me he was very nervous and as soon as he got there they trained them and toughened them up for the war that was happen in Vietnam. My grandfather would tell me about how the Marines made him into a fine man because it taught him to put away all the childish things and it toughened him up , so he could be able to face the challenges of the real adult world and life. The poem makes me feel glad that young boys are getting taught back then about how to be real men. I think that some of the boys we have in our society need a harder class other than ROTC to teach them how to become real men and grow up. This poem talks about how they were teaching boys in high school how to prepare for the war and becoming better men in life.