Book Report
Rifleman Dodd
By C.S. Forester
LCpl Barbaglia, Anthony
General Support Platoon
MTM Company
3rd Maintenance Battalion
CLR 35
III MEF
Rifleman Dodd is a very interesting book that tells a story of a young soldier who is separated from his comrades during the battle in the 1800's. This book goes on to describe everything that Matthew Dodd had to go through in order to return back to the fight with his friends. Rifleman Dodd had ran into several problems during his journey. The three main challenges were battling starvation, fatigue, and the Portuguese boy he encountered. Rifleman Dodd's first challenge was battling starvation. This is a very serious problem because this has a major effect on how he can react in the face of danger. Rifleman Dodd showed a vast amount discipline through his journey by only consuming just enough food that he needed to give him the energy that he would need until he had to stop again. By doing this, Rifleman Dodd gave himself the opportunity to not only conserve his food, but also the energy that he may need in case he found himself in the heat of battle. The next challenge that Rifleman Dodd encountered during his separation was that the battle of fatigue was really starting to tear away at him. Fatigue is a major factor to a soldier who is in the heat of battle. The affect that it has on one's health is outstanding and Rifleman Dodd found a way to look beyond himself and continue to fight to return back to his friends. He used tactics to his advantage to help him sleep at night and continue on with his mission in the morning. For example, he would sleep with his pack on his back sitting straight up with his rifle in his hands just in case he had to continue the fight if something went wrong around him during the night. Rifleman Dodd was a very smart individual and very determined soldier to return back to his comrades. The last major challenge the Rifleman Dodd ran into was a Portuguese soldier that