I Want To Be A Soldier

The Horror of war on the Soldier in Charles Yale Harrison’s Generals Die in Bed Eng 22 PB 963 Words Some people say that war can change a man. What exactly do they mean by this phrase? What are some possible things that a soldier could experience in war? What are some things a soldier has experienced enough of that can fundamentally change his life? In Charles Yale Harrison’s novel Generals Die in Bed, the horror of war is a vital theme and is characterized through many challenges the narrator encounters in the novel.

The horror of war is portrayed throughout the novel through things such as having a perpetual fear of the unknown, the psychological effects of war, and conclusively: death. Not knowing what is going to happen is always an intimidating feeling. The idea of not knowing what is coming up always makes us believe that something horrendous is going to take place. In Generals Die in Bed, a non-stop fear of the unknown is an important point throughout the novel. In war, there are only millions of things that could take place during one single day.

Charles Harrison has made this point clear to the readers by focusing on one scenario after another of unexpected events right in the narrator’s face. It is through what the narrator experiences that we glimpse the true nature of war. In Chapter 4, “Back to the Round”, the narrator and the rest of his company have to move around the trenches on their bellies. This is because there are snipers in the trees which causes consistent fear of death. Although they identify that there is a sniper, they still fear it because they cannot anticipate exactly when he will strike. Sooner or later this German sniper, who keeps us cowering in a cold fear, will be caught in an advance by our troops. ” Also in chapter 4, the character of Brown, is killed by the sniper. Brown’s death would have made the narrator even more frightened of the unknown because he now knows what a sniper is truly capable of. This is the same fear that drove the narrator to long for a biting hunger for safety. This would seemingly show us exactly why the narrator would dismay the unknown. “The shattering explosions splinter the air in a million fragments. ” “The air shrieks and catcalls. “The air screams and howls like an insane woman. ” These are all statements that the narrator uses to interpret the sounds a shell makes as it collides through the sky and as it climactically annihilate anything and everything around it. These sounds would drive anyone psychotic. How can the soldiers even go through the war without going deaf? Being exposed to those noise levels would have a few long term effects on human being. In London, it is visible to us that the narrator has been affected in some way or another, by even exposure to the deafening sounds. Bang! An explosion on the street. I leap to my feet. My hearth thumps. She laughs. ” That bang was in reality just a motorbike back firing. Since the narrator had been so used to the loud sounds that were made when being shelled, he started to consider that every single loud sound is either a gunshot or a sound of a shell going off. This clearly shows us that war can psychologically affect soldiers for long periods of time, maybe even for the rest of their lives. This can be considered as a horror of war because it is a lifelong consequence.

Generals Die in Bed should not all be classified as a typical war novel because all of the deaths that occur in the novel, the death of the enemy German soldier “Karl” is what stands out the most. This is because out of all of the deaths the narrator has witnessed, Karl’s death is what truly affected his life the most. “The image of Karl, he who died on my bayonet, seems to stand before my eyes. The shaking becomes worse. The movements are those one of who is palsied. ” The feeling of knowing that you have killed a man would be unbearable.

The narrator himself could not take it. “I begin to sob. I am alone. ” The nature of his language highlights the damage war causes. This shows psychological effect that the narrator would have had to bear with himself for the rest of his life. The constant fear of war is something that cannot be avoided. This constant fear is what drives soldiers to keep fighting. This constant fear is the fear of death and the soldiers are fighting for survival. Death is one of the distinct, recurring themes that Charles Harrison has plainly placed in Generals Die in Bed for a purpose.

The idea of having to witness a comrade dying is a horrible thing. Death is an important point of the horrors of war because death takes everything from an individual. It strips them of their honour, dignity, memories and their life. The narrator is stripped of his friends. The people he had considered brothers throughout the novel. “Like the hundreds of other men I had seen die, Broadbent dies like a little boy too – weeping, calling for his mother. ” The most important word in that quote is “hundreds. The narrator clearly shows us that he has witnessed many men dying. Without any doubt, death summarizes “the horror of war. ” The narrator, who is still nameless, is a perfect example of one of the horrors of war. The way the narrator is kept nameless throughout the course of the novel is proof that war can transfer loss of individuality and loss of one self. The way that this clearly is kept constant throughout the course of the novel also proves that the horror of war is the underlying theme of Generals Die in Bed.

The United State Army was founded to defend our country, the United States of America, two hundred and thirty-three years ago. The U. S. soldiers had been in different battles; from the Revolutionary War to the global effort to combat terrorism, they have remained Army Strong, drawing their commitment to their values and beliefs.

The U. S. Army has achieved and is continuing to achieve excellence both here and abroad. They have shown willingness to make sacrifices in order to build a better future for our country (“The 233rd United States Army Birthday”). The U.

S. Army’s mission is to provide prompt and sustained land dominance over a full range of military operations in order to fight and win our country’s wars. They operate across a spectrum of conflict, supporting combatant commanders. Title 10 and Title 32 of the United States Code direct the U. S. Army to equip, organize and train forces in order to conduct sustained and prompt combat operations on land. The U. S. Army is tasked to accomplish missions that are assigned by the President of the United States, the Secretary of Defense, and combatant commanders.

(“Mission”) A key component of the U. S. Armed Forces, the army is made up of the most dedicated, most respected, and best-trained soldiers in the world. They protect America’s freedom both home and abroad, secure our homeland, and defend democracy worldwide (“About the Army: Overview”). The army is one of the three components of the U. S. military. The other two are the navy and the air force. These three report to the Department of Defense. The U. S. Army has two major components of equal importance. They are the Active Duty and the Army Reserve (“Organization”).

Those who work in the two distinct components of the army, the active and the reserve components, are enlisted soldiers, warrant officers, commissioned officers, and non-commissioned officers (“About the Army: Personnel”). In either component, the army conducts both institutional and operational missions. The operational army is consisted of numbered armies, divisions, corps, brigades and battalions, which conduct extensive operations around the world. On the other hand, the institutional army provides support for the operational army.

They provide the necessary infrastructure to train, raise, deploy, equip, and ensure the readiness of the army forces. Military skills, as well as professional education, are provided by the training base to every soldier, together with members of allied forces. The institutional component of the army also allows the army to expand in a rapid manner during time of war. The army is provided with world-class logistics and equipment by the industrial base. Power-projection platforms are provided by the army installations.

These are required to position land forces readily to provide support to combatant commanders. Once the forces are positioned, they are provided with needed logistics by the institutional army (“Organization”). The army is composed of a large number of soldiers. There is a necessity to organize the army into units because of its large number. Each unit has its own leader and reporting structure. Each unit was created in order to respond to any mission, regardless of complexity or size (“About the Army: Personnel”).

According to the Soldiers Almanac, soldiers are grouped into units, each with specified numbers. A squad is composed of 9 to 10 soldiers; a platoon consists of 16 to 44 soldiers; a company has 62 to 190 soldiers, a battalion is composed of 300 to 1,000 soldiers; a brigade has 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers, a division consists of 10,000 to 15,000 soldier; and the corps is consisted of 20,000 to 45,000 soldiers (“About the Army: Personnel”). Becoming a soldier is both a challenging and a rewarding life. There are three primary steps on how to become a soldier. The first one is to work with a recruiter.

The next step is to attend the Basic Combat Training after you have signed up and sworn in. After that the Basic Combat Training, a soldier will learn valuable skills by attending the Advanced Individual Training (“Soldier Life: Becoming a Soldier”). Basic Combat Training (BCT) is a training course that transforms civilians into Soldiers. Over the course of nine weeks these recruits learn about the Seven Core Army Values, how to work together as a team and what it takes to succeed as a Soldier in the U. S. Army. A civilian is transformed into a soldier by attending the Basic Combat Training.

This is a nine-week training course where recruits are taught of the Seven Core Army Values, working together in a team, and succeeding in the U. S. Army (“Soldier Life: Basic Combat Training”). After soldiers complete the Basic Combat Training, they will attend the Advanced Individual Training to learn the necessary skills to perform their army job. They receive hands-on training, as well as field instructions, to make them experts in a specific career field. In this training, they gain discipline and work ethic (“Soldier Life: Advanced Individual Training).

When the Congress passes the Defense Authorization Act each year, they indicate how many soldiers can be on active duty during that year. Congress also places a limit on what percentage of the whole active duty force can serve as warrant officers, how much percentage of the total active duty force can be posted as enlisted officers for the positions of sergeant and above. However, there are no statutory limits on positions of private, private first class, and corporals (Powers, n. d. ) For the positions of sergeant and above, there must be a vacancy in the next level in order for them to get promoted.

However, soldier ranking private first class, and corporal are promoted through decentralized promotions. Decentralized promotion means that the unit is in-charge of promotions; hence they are the promotion authority. The commander decides who should get promoted based on the promotion criteria set by the U. S. Army to preserve the promotion flow (Powers, n. d. ) There are 146,000 American troops in Iraq, including service and support personnel. The soldiers stationed in Iraq play various roles. Some of them are stationed as combat troops.

Combat soldiers, according to the military, “those whose primary mission is to engage the enemy with lethal force. ” However, these combat troops are scheduled to leave Iraq by June 30, 2009. This is in accordance with the agreement between Iraq and the United States, as stated in status-of-forces agreement (Bumiller, 2008). In spite of the agreement that combat troops will leave Iraqi cities, many military men are will be left behind as advisers and trainers. This new set of troops will be tasked to train and offer support to the Iraqi people so as not to risk the “fragile and relative Iraqi stability” (Bumiller, 2008).

Truly, the United States Army have played and continuously playing a vital role in our society. They have assured us of our liberties and made an effort to assure the liberties as well of those who are offshore. The soldiers in the U. S. Army have dedicated themselves in the service of the American nation and there is no reason available for us not to be proud of them. References: “About the Army: Overview. ” Army Strong. Retrieved 21 February 2009, from http://www. goarmy. com/about/index. jsp. “About the Army: Personnel. ” Army Strong. Retrieved 21 February 2009, from http://www. goarmy. com/about/personnel. jsp.

Bumiller, E. (2008). “Trying to redefine role of U. S. military in Iraq. ” International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 21 February 2009, from http://www. iht. com/articles/2008/12/22/america/22combat. php. “Mission. ” The Official Homepage of the United States Army. Retrieved 21 February 2009, from http://www. army. mil/info/organization/. “Organization. ” The Official Homepage of the United States Army. Retrieved 21 February 2009, from http://www. army. mil/info/organization/. Powers, R. “Army Enlisted Promotion System. ” Enlisted promotions made simple. Retrieved 21 February 2009, from file:///D:/httpusmilitary. about.

com-cs-armypromotions-a-armypromotions. htm. “Soldier Life: Advanced Individual Training. ” Army Strong. Retrieved 21 February 2009, from http://www. goarmy. com/life/advanced_individual_training. jsp. “Soldier Life: Basic Combat Training. ” Army Strong. Retrieved 21 February 2009, from http://www. goarmy. com/life/basic/index. jsp. “Soldier Life: Becoming a Soldier. ” Army Strong. Retrieved 21 February 2009, from http://www. goarmy. com/life/becoming_a_soldier. jsp. “The 233rd United States Army Birthday. ” The Official Homepage of the United States Army. Retrieved 21 February 2009, from http://www. army. mil/birthday/233/.