(5)Near the end of the story, the theme becomes apparent, that is because even with the losses and Martin, (one of the only few that made it back from no mans land who managed to crawl back into the trenches)the regiment did not reach their objective but instead just got mowed down.(6) As wounded Martin attempted to get back inside his trench, he describes that he sees on the way back “Again and again he passed…
Once we enter the fleet we are still required to stay on the path of self-improvement. To stay competitive we still have to train every day. From the PFT to the rifle range we must always strive to be the best. Even for promotions we must endeavor to be better than our peers. In the book they talk about Pvt James Smith who pushes to be a better marine in his squad. He looked up to Cpl Wilson and wanted to show him his willingness to be the best marine. All marines have a commitment to uphold the standards and traditions of the Marine Corps.…
The mental state of a soldier can be influenced by many variables. One of the more controllable variables is the commanding officer. In Battle Leadership, Von Schell outlined two ways he influenced his men. He instilled a sense of security, whether it was a false sense did not matter. He also gave them opportunities to be active, and in a way, let them control their actions. A third influence on his men’s mental state was not his doing, but random well placed jokes that lightened the mood.…
This brotherhood manifest has been highlighted not only by distinguishing the others, but also with the praise of Brothers. Andrew James Horton, movie critic and writer at Central Europe Review, explains feelings of Hero as “In Danila's books, sticking by your old battle colleagues is just as important as not letting your brother down, and so off he goes in search of the man responsible” (Horton, P.1). Daniel, tells to Dasha, a Russian prostitute in Chicago, that he is back to take her to homeland, because Russian don’t give up each other in the war. Daniel feels it like a soldier in the war by being in the US. His war is the war of ideology. He asks to a rich America “what is the power American?... you pay everyone and you think you won,…
Jim Frederick’s book “Black Hearts” explores the harrowing account of soldiers from 1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 502nd Infantry Regiment during their deployment in 2005-2006 through Iraq’s “Triangle of Death”. The story is one of failed leadership at all levels, resulting in broken bonds between brothers, drug abuse, and ultimately the rape and murder of an Iraqi family. The soldiers’ descent into complete isolation was brought on by not only dire combat situations, but also a complete disregard for their mental health by higher. This essay will compare and contrast the roles of SSG Eric Lauzier and SFC Jeff Fenlason, and how their leadership had a positive or negative effect on their subordinates.…
IT IS THESE INDIVIDUALS WHO WILL SUCCEED WHERE ALL OTHERS FAIL.I CHOSE THIS BOOK TO GAIN A NEW OUTLOOK ON MY OWN WORK ETHIC AND TO REDEFINE MY OWN MOTIVATION IN THE MARINES CORPS…
It Happened On The Way To War is a book by Rye Barcott. This book talks about a marine who dreams of making a difference in the world. We read about his life, feeling as if we were a part of it. Three values that he clearly shows in this book are balance, leadership and Inspiration. Somebody once said that in order to succeed in life, you have to have a balance between your personal life and your professional life. Rye Barcott not only shows us the importance of having a balance, but he also shows us how hard it is to find that balance. While he was a part of the Marines, he was expected to transition easily from the combat mode to peace keeping mode. He thought that he will be able to separate the founder of Carolina for Kibera(CFK) from the marine that he was meant to be and vice versa. However as he started his journey, he soon realized how difficult finding balance actually is. After he came back from Kibera and started bootcamp. Rye noticed a difference in his performance. His said that for the first time in his life, he was in the bottom half of the class. “ It’s like a dual culture shock” (90 Barcott, Rye) thats what is what his mother said that he was going through. This was the first time, we see Rye struggling to keep his personal and professional life separate. As time went by he was able to over come the cultural shock, however once he was an official marine. he was presented with a new challenge. He had to look at children that he was trying to improve the lives off, as potential suspects. As a marine he had to check kids that looked innocent for bombs and weapons and then then as a founder of CFK he had to go and help them. In my leadership class, I have been taught that in order to be a good leader you need to do 5 things. You have to model the way, inspire a shared vision, encourage the heart, challenge the process and enable others to act. In the book, Rye demonstrates most if not all of these 5 qualities. He…
Beowulf is possibly one of the oldest remaining long poems in Old English and is commonly cited as one of the most important works in Old English literature. It was written in England sometime between the 8th and early 11th century. Throughout Beowulf’s quest to conquer evil he shows bravery, super human strength, while risking his life for the greater good of society.…
Being himself in the war, as most American young men at the time, Mailer gives a arguably more accurate depiction of the experiences of war and the intense level of masculinity which is thus pushed to the forefront of most conflict between men. One of these themes is the dehumanization of soldiers. The soldiers are continuously referred to as machines within the novel. At one point, Mailer describes this dehumanization stating, “When a man was harnessed into a pack and web belt and carried a rifle and two bandoliers and several grenades, a bayonet and a helmet, he felt as if he had a tourniquet over both shoulders and across his chest. It was hard to breathe and his limbs kept falling asleep.”[4]:24 Thus, in this instance, the soldier is losing grasp of his bodily functions and simply going through the motions of being a “soldier”.…
When reading this book, I truley learned the history and truth behind the United States Marine Corps. As a whole, the Marine Corps had a very long journey in the beginning. We have overcame so many obstacles and struggles along the way, and it has only made us stronger as a whole "team". As we began to learn to work together as a team, we started to prove ourselves. General Krulak shared secret behind-the-scenes information on new assult vehicles that were needed to attack on enemy beaches. These vehicles provided new technology for our Marine Corps. General Krulak convinced an admiral to board one of the demonstration vehicles. Krulak ended up attacking a coral reef and knocking the vehicle off track. The admiral was already enraged by taking up time to try and give this demonstration veicle a chance to prove his thoughts wrong. Admiral ended up jumping into the knee deep water and was sent back out to his ship shortly after. Later after reading, I came to find out the obstacles we had to overcome with making and carrying out actions with our bombs in specific weather conditions. The Marine Corps are not always given many materials to make "weapons" with. We were taught and coached on how to make do with what was given to us. We learned to innovate and try new things. We had to learn and abide by the term of being "frugal" with our belongings. We had to experiment and never give up. We had to never lose hope or give in. After a while of learning to use our stock wisely, we were able to invent new weapons. Towards the end of my reading, I started to relate to the book, thinking of my actions in my everyday lifestyle. It talks about the Marine Corps relationship with the public and how people kind of "percieve" the Marine Corps. As a Marine, I know that we uphold one of the highest images and are always know to be ready for anything, and because we have been molded and shaped into that type of team, it has withheld that image for the…
In “Anybody’s Son Will Do” by Dyer we encounter a different chaos and a different method of routinization. The 18-year-old boys that enroll in the U.S. Marine Corps all come from different backgrounds, different beliefs, and enlist for different reasons. When they first arrive it is a frenzy of testosterone, but the drill instructors know exactly how to tame and conform the recruits before they even have a moment to themselves. They use the strategy of stripping down the recruits inside and out in order to rebuild…
This book is about 1stSgt. Kasal’s life leading up to his most honorable moment while in the battle of Fallujah. The book starts out by telling how 1stSgt. Kasal grew up in Afton, Iowa. He grew up on farm like most other families in his hometown. But with farming becoming obsolete in the shadow of large corporations, Brad Kasal already knew by junior high that he didn’t want to slave on a farm to barely scrape by like his father. He already had the Marine Corps in his sights. January 1984, Kasal left his hometown of Afton, Iowa and got a plane destined for MCRD, San Diego. Kasal shined right away and became a squad leader and was meritoriously promoted to Private First Class by graduation and instructed that he was going to indeed be a grunt like he wanted. After graduating as the honor graduate in School of Infantry, Kasal was stationed on Camp Pendleton with 2nd battalion, 1st marine regiment. He was a PFC in Weapons Co. as a Dragon gunner. Two months after checking in with his unit, Kasal was again meritoriously promoted. Kasal’s first deployed to the Western Pacific on a Marine Expeditionary Unit in June 1986. Shortly after he would win an NCO of the quarter award and once again get another meritorious promotion. Kasal throughout his career would consistently pick up meritorious promotions all the way to Sergeant Major. By March of 2003 when Operation Iraqi Freedom started, Kasal was 1stSgt of Kilo Co. 3d Battalion, First Marine Regiment. While still 1stSgt of Kilo, they were part of the second attempt to take back Fallujah in November of 2004. The mission was to take back Fallujah by getting rid of any insurgents left in the city. Because there were innocents still within the city limits, rules of engagement meant to not fire unless fired upon or if the enemy is seen with a weapon. This made things very difficult. It would have been very bad politically to go in and just blow up everything that moved, so instead…
The first chapter is titled Ethos, which describes to the reader what it is that makes a Marine, and leading Marines, different from every other walk of life. Being a Marine a full-time gig, never a part-time mindset or a paycheck. When Marines do things in the civilian world, they often hear statements like "that's such a Marine thing to do", or "only a Marine..." This is because Marines have a special way of going about things, a different way of looking at life and all it entails. Young people join the Marines because they want to be different, because they want to stand out. Marines desire the challenge and all that comes with it, because it is under these conditions that we form the cherished and unbreakable elitists mindset and sense of brotherhood so well adorned by the Corp. All Marines wear the title Marine as…
Mullaney learned from West Point not only strategies for battle, but also the reasons for someone to go into battle in the first place. Craig came from a strong Catholic upbringing being in a catholic school system where he went to confession routinely, “confessing all of the shortcomings that he faced during the week whatever it was, from losing a wrestling match to missing homework”, that had been taunting his conscience and where he was taught to “sanctify others, seeing even our enemies in the image of god” Now he is being asked to do things that conflict those beliefs immensely, such as running a dummy attacker through with a bayonet, and he starts to question his situation, “ I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be a warrior, a professional trained to kill”. So in search of an answer to his question he goes to the Catholic chaplain for better insight. The priest talked to him about believing in a just war, and that “war, although always horrible, is sometimes necessary to stop a greater evil”.…
This passage is very significant to the reality of the soldiers in the Vietnam War and brings to life the setting of the entire novel. The soldiers were primarily teenagers and young men in their early twenties who had not yet had the chance to experience life. They soon had found themselves in the midst of an intense war with nothing but uncertainty and fear. They hated it and they loved the fear and adrenaline that ran through their skin and bones. It was a crucial part of their young lives that changed the way they would see their own world. In this passage it shows how the characters perceived the war as their feelings changed everyday, every hour, and even every minute. A strong message is presented through this passage as it brings forth the true raw emotion of the soldiers and the reality of war; which is a major theme throughout the novel.…