Home-Based Learning (We Slept With Our Boots On)

War

We Slept With Our Boots On
They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes
They washed out the blood, we loaded our ruck’s and then took to the skies
Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew
Where we would land we had not a clue
Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot
We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not
30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your shit
Get ready to go and make it quick
My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins
I run as fast as I can through the lead rain
The noise is tremendous, terror I can’t define
The only reason I survived that day was divine
I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more
You do what you have to do, with that I will say no more
We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks
From house to cave, to car to creek
Dirty and tired and hungry and scared
We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared
Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies
The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives
Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod
Who knew hell was so close to God
Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink
So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think
Good men and bad men, Mothers lost son’s
Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns
Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire
I will never forget those who were called higher
They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood
Brothers aren’t born they’re earned. In the poppy fields, the tears, and the mud
And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell
Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell

– Steve Carlsen

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TASK 1: Based on your understanding of the selected poem, perform extensive web research and write a report on your blog detailing the conflict represented in the poem(s) of your choice. Bear in mind that this piece of background information will allow your blog audience to further understand the poem as well as your analysis of the poem in Task 2. Be sure to include your references and credit your sources.

Background Info

Steve Carlsen was born and lives in Dowagiac Michigan. He joined the United States Army in October 2000 and went to Infantry Basic Training, and Airborne School in Ft. Benning Georgia. He served in 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. He was deployed to Kosovo in November 2001 as part of peace keeping operations. He was also deployed to Afghanistan in of December 2002 where he participated in combat operations. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 2003 due to a lifelong injury. The regiment was created in 1942 in the Army of the United States, and his job as a parachute soldier was to take part in land operations to restore order in the countries in need.

Definitions

LZ – Landing Zone

Hindu Kush – A present-day mountain range in central Asia where, in the Iraq War, it was used as a battlefield frontline

Lock N Load – Load and prepare weaponry for battle

References

http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html

http://dictionary.reference.com/

http://www.google.com.sg/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=we+slept+with+our+boots+on+poem&oq=we+slept+w&aq=1&aqi=g2g-v2g-m2g-b1&aql=&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=4288l8981l0l12l11l0l1l1l0l186l1280l3.7

http://www.google.com.sg/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=steve+carlsen&oq=steve+carlsen&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=4555877l4555877l0l1l1l0l0l0l0l0l0l

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TASK 2: Complete the template provided below (Annex A), focusing on (1) Point of View; (2) Situation and Setting; (3) Language/Diction; and (4) Personal Response, and post your response to Task 2 on your blog. This template is based on John Lye’s ‘Critical Analysis of Poetry’, and you can make reference to this in Annex B when in doubt.

Point of View

This poem depicts the harsh reality of war. It was written from the point of view of a poet, Steve Carlsen, who describes the situation of being a frontline soldier in the Iraq War. This is evident from how he describes that his "heart is pumping adrenaline all through my veins" and how he always uses the pronoun "we", where all the soldiers were feeling the same during the intense moments of the operations. Countless people lost their lives each day, and the poet is shown as having a deep, strong opposition for war. However, in the words “whether we like it or not”, we can infer that he had no choice but to fight. In the poem, the poet leaves out much of his personal emotions to describe the cold hard facts. Although he is viewed as not patriotic, however, he is involved in a lot of action in the war. He has become this emotionless character who follows orders, and the daily ritual of killing and fighting has slowly but surely become more and more morally acceptable to him. He offers a religious tone in the poem, by how he acknowledges that he would soon be punished for his misdeeds which included handling a gun and killing people.

Situation & Setting

The poet was in a helicopter, and he and his comrades were “leaving this bird whether we like it or not, 30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your shit, get ready to go and make it quick”. This shows that the helicopter might have been shot down and was preparing for an emergency landing. “Where we would land we had not a clue, bullets are flying, the LZ is hot”. This shows that the situation was much tensed. This whole sentence means that bullets were spraying everywhere, and the dangerous landing zone could mean the end for the soldiers. They were in a desperate hurry so that they would not be shot down by enemies and get to safety. “Up the heavy mountains with heavy loads we trod” shows that they had landed in a mountainous region which was the Hindu Kush. The author mentioned “I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more”. We can infer from this sentence that the he and his comrades were fighting for their lives with enemies that most probably outnumbered them as they had to keep reloading. He also mentioned “I will never forget those who were called higher”. He was with brave comrades who risked their lives to save others. He respected them for this and would remember them forever.

Language & Diction

The author has a constant AA rhyming pattern in the poem. The word “hell” the poet used is a metaphor to describe his opinion of war. This is to discourage people from going to war as nobody would like going to hell. He uses military slang like “Lock N Load” and “shit” to refer to weapons. This increases the momentum of the poem. He uses personification, as shown in the sentence: “Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies”. This is to describe the sheer height of the great mountains, so high that they are practically touching the skies. He uses the poppy as a symbol of death, where he believes that his deathbed would be at a place of “tears” and “mud”, which refers to a battlefield. Another metaphor he used is “Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink”. Despite facing terror in war, he still had both the mental and physical strength to admire the scenery around him. He also makes quite a bit of reference to divinity, for example “Saint Peter”. This is an emphasis on how the close-to-death scenario of war is. Though the language is simple and concise, yet it gives readers a vivid description about the whole issue of war.

Personal Response

After reading this poem, my point of view about war has certainly changed. I used to think that war was just a game between countries and the stronger would win. However, I was not into the gory facts and the harsh reality of it. Now, I can just imagine if I was portrayed in that situation, how would I react, and most important of all, whether I would survive. Through the poem, the poet has succeeded in instilling fear in readers’ minds. The breakneck pace, together with figurative language and detailed description, has fully depicted the experience of being a frontline soldier. The fact that the soldiers are all in anxiety every second of the day and are even well-armed and dressed when they were sleeping shows how unpredictable war can be. Enemies could appear at any moment and everyone had to be on his guard. However, the one thing good about war is that there is a sense of brotherhood, where unity is key in success, as how the poet says that "Blood is thicker than water, well but lead is thicker than blood", which tells us that they were all bonded together with the bullets and weaponry they were carrying, which was to become part of themselves. This poem makes me feel a little more pessimistic about human nature because we realize that all the fear and intensity in the poem is because we are fighting against our own kind. All in all, I feel that this is an excellent poem and I would recommend it to everyone.

Term 2 Lesson 3 (War - A Journey In History)

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, was a Cold War era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the U.S. and other anti-communist nations.

Vietnam was independent after 100 years of the colonial rule of France. The North Vietnam government was communist and America did not want that to spread to South Vietnam. They feared that if it did spread then it would start a "domino effect", which meant that if the whole of Vietnam converted to communism then the surrounding countries such as Laos would turn communist. Subsequently, it would spread until all of south-eastern Asia was communist. This posed a big threat as if China and India, the two main influences of Asia due to their large population, became communist then there would be no stopping the spread until all of Asia was a big landmass completely devoted to communism. Thus, the whole of Asia could, with one accord, start a “continental war” to destroy other countries such as the destroying the U.S and other democratic nations in Europe. Thus, the American government decided to take first action by trying to stop this from happening.

The U.S. government viewed involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and part of their wider strategy of containment. However, the North Vietnamese government viewed the war as a colonial war, fought initially against France, backed by the U.S., and later against South Vietnam, which it regarded as a U.S. “puppet state”.

What started as an attempt to deter North Vietnam from spreading communism around ended as a war consisting mostly of guerrilla warfare which lasted for more than 19 years. The North Vietnamese Army engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large units into battle. The U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery and airstrikes. During this time, it was estimated that more than 2 million Vietnamese were killed and 3 million wounded. Approximately 58,000 Americans were killed in the conflict. U.S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973 as a result of the Case–Church Amendment passed by the U.S. Congress. The capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese army marked the end of the Vietnam War, which meant that both the South Vietnamese and the American army lost to the North Vietnamese army. This was a great blow to America, which was considered to be a superpower at that time and was not expected to lose to such a small country like Vietnam.

From this war many lessons are learnt. For example, we can see from the fact that America lost to Vietnam that strength does not prevail. America was a superpower, with high-tech weapons, a strong military army and large wealth. However, they were hit down by a small country which used mainly its army to defeat the U.S. navy and air force. The Vietnamese winning this war also helps us to understand that determination is a key factor in any situation. The Vietnamese were deemed to have no chance to stand against a superpower, but they persevered and managed to defeat them. This, to them is considered a great achievement and a big feat. They also showed loyalty to communism by sacrificing countless people just to maintain their rights and to have a firm hold on their stand that they were communist.

In conclusion, although this war was indeed a bloody and a violent one, but it has taught us, as future generations, many invaluable lessons that would directly or indirectly help us in the future.