Why I Should Not Reenlist

War will never determine who is right - only who is left, therefore, we as soldiers during our darkest moments, must focus to see the light. The date was 1777, and the soldiers at Valley Forge were struggling largely. As winter rapidly approached, the camp 18 miles outside of Philadelphia faced numerous challenges. Men were deserting, dying, and the Americans’ fate only seems to grow worse. Women developed “scarlet fever” or a fascination of the British soldiers and their bright red coats. Men were cramped in huts of 12 soldiers per hut, and Washington’s leadership goes into question. I have decided not to reenlist, for three reasons: the conditions at camp and at home, the death and illness rates, and because of the odds of the war at
My mother is growing old and possibly sick, and I miss my far away family infinitely (Roden 141). As I walk around, I see dead animals, and dying soldiers, some with and some without very much clothing (Powell 149). An acquaintance of mine, who is one of the surgeons at camp, states that there is,”Poor food, hard lodging, cold weather, nasty clothes, nasty cookery, vomit half my time, smoked out of senses ...” and later goes on to say,” … my skin and eyes are almost spoiled with continual smoke” ( Waldo 151 ). All-in-all, there is little food, and every soldier is suffering in some way, be it starvation, sickness, lack of clothing, freezing to death, or lack of ventilation in the huts (Waldo 151, Roden 141). A general now shouts out to the encampment, “No meat! No meat! No meat!...” as the words echo throughout camp, I realize that the sudden lack of meat can cause lack of protein, and energy amongst the soldiers, yet another reason for not reenlisting (Waldo 151). Ergo, the conditions are so bad that, sick or not, I would prefer to be in a warm house, surrounded by family, with my battle wounds healed, and provided with a nice warm dinner at the