Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong free essay sample

Close your eyes and imagine a backdrop of densely packed trees in shades of olive and emerald green, a military supply helicopter on the helipad, blades swooshing around stirring up dust, and out steps a beautiful, young, blonde girl. Right in the middle of war-torn Vietnam, at the Tra Bong outpost, Mary Anne Bell arrives at the request of her boyfriend. When first reading â€Å"Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,† by Tim O’Brien, one might believe it is a love story turned sour, but on closer inspection, it is apparent that this story is about much more than that. This story is about the loss of innocence, personal evolution, and the attempt to define one’s self. A bit tired and out-of-place, a young Mary Anne steps off a helicopter and into Nam. A war is raging beyond the concertina wire, and she is oblivious to the enormous magnitude of the situation. We will write a custom essay sample on Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Mary Anne is a naive, barely 17 year old girl. She is cheerful, wide-eyed, and inquisitive all rolled up into one bundle. She is fresh out of high school with no life experience and no idea of how the world works; how it can tilt and sour one’s perspective. In the beginning, Mary Anne is very fascinated by the country, the culture, and the people. She sees Nam through untainted curious eyes, wanting to experience the customs and feel the culture. She probes the soldiers at the outpost with many questions and listens intently to their answers, consuming all the information given. She learns about claymore mines, trip wires, how to assemble and disassemble an M-16 machine gun, as well as how to cook over a can of Sterno. Like a sponge, she soaks up all the knowledge. She even learns the language; her thought is to take advantage of her situation and learn as much as possible while in Nam. Believing that the locals are safe, ordinary people, Mary Ann wants to venture to a close-by village to interact with them. This shows just how wet behind the ears she is; Mary Anne does not see the threat or danger in heractions, â€Å"It did not impress her that the VC owned the place† (OBrien 214). Some of the other soldiers were impressed with her courage, but not so much with her intelligence. The NCO of the outpost, Eddie Diamond described her best as â€Å"D-cup guts, trainer bra brains† (OBrien 215). However, Eddie knew that eventually she would learn the cold, hard truth like everyone else, and it would change her forever. Rat Riley, one of the medics at the outpost and new friend of Mary Anne’s, makes a direct comparison between her, him, and others, â€Å"†¦like you and me. A girl that’s the only difference† he declared, â€Å"†¦when we first got here all of us we were real young and innocent, full of romantic bullshit, but we learned pretty damn quick† (OBrien 215). Mary Anne would learn as well, she would lose the innocence that came with ignorance of the truth. The change was slow and murky to the untrained eye, but there it was, the progression from a pure untainted soul to one that had fallen into a dark abyss. It started with small things, the lack of emotion when dealing with injured soldiers, all the blood and guts. Not being the least bit frightened or put off by what she was seeing, Mary Anne would jump right into the middle of all the gore. â€Å"In times of action her face took on a sudden new composure, almost serene†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (OBrien 217). A new and different person was immerging; the young, innocent, bubbly, wideeyed girl was disappearing. There were other subtle changes showing how Mary Anne was becoming one of the guys. Just like the men, she cut her beautiful blonde hair short and wrapped her head in an army issue green bandanna to blend in. Gone were the small things that made her Mary Anne-her make-up, taking care of her fingernails, jewelry, and â€Å"hygiene became a matter of small consequence† (OBrien 216). It was, by pure design of nature, she had to adapt to the environment to survive. The softness as well as her exuberance were gone and replaced by rigidity and indifference. She no longer engages in activates with the others, instead; she stares intently into the dark jungle with a look of contentment on her face. Nam was claiming her, sucking her into the abyss. Mary Anne starts going out on patrol in the jungle with the â€Å"Greenies†, the Green Beret soldiers. Eventually, she becomes so comfortable with her surroundings that she ventures out on her own. Mary Anne makes the final transition; the innocent girl disappears within the new person she has become. She is now a war-born soldier. Now, there is no trace of the young girl who stepped out of the helicopter and into Nam for the first time. The girl joined the zoo† Mary Anne became just another animal in the vast Nam jungle (OBrien 221). The naive, innocent girl was gone; she vanished into the shadows. Mary Anne found her true self and was perfectly at peace. The wilderness succeeded in drawing her in, changing her, and making her part of the earth. Mary Anne wants â€Å"†¦to eat this place. Vietnam. I want to swallow the whole country-the dirt, the death-I just want to eat it and have it there inside me† she adds â€Å"I get scared sometimes-lots of times-but it’s not bad. You know? I feel close to myself† (OBrien 223). Perhaps for Mary Anne, she found something that was lurking deep inside her prior to arriving in Nam. Maybe Nam just expedited digging that part of her out. Mary Anne was alive, full of electricity, â€Å"perfectly at peace with herself† she explains â€Å"because I know exactly who I am† (OBrien 223). â€Å"Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,† shows us all that no one can survive a war and walk away unscathed by it. One can never return the same person that went over to another country on a mission that involved killing. Rat Riley describes it best, â€Å"you come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it’s never the same† (OBrien 225). This story is not about Mary Anne Bell, but about what she embodies. She personifies all the young, inexperienced boys that went to Vietnam and their stories. Mary Anne represents the loss of purity in the many young men that went by choice or by force to a foreign land. Nam devoured their souls transforming them forever, as if the very country cried out for a piece of them as payment for damages rendered. Nam claimed its price of those that trampled on her soil. Some young men may have found their inner killer and like Mary Anne did in the end, they became content. But on the other hand, many others were forced to become something alien just to endure the war. These are the souls that returned tortured. Oh my soul that I should weep for I no longer close my eyes and find innocent sleep. These haunted souls look in a mirror and ask, â€Å"Who am I? † Perhaps on some days, they see a glimmer of the person they once were when they were young and innocent. Works Cited OBrien, Tim. Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong. World Views Classic and Contemporary Readings. Ed. Macy, et al Felty. 6th. Boston: Pearson, 2010. 210-226.

When Is Military Force Justified

When Is Military Force Justified Too Much, Too Often – the Giant Military State We Live In It’s a sad fact that this beautiful, magical world has become a military state. We just hear about it so much these days due to social media and the Internet. Because of greedy, immoral people, the assumed solution to today’s many problems, especially between countries, is war – killing, genocide, torture, violence, and suffering. It’s frightening how often a country relies on military force to defend its country’s major multi-billion dollar enterprises – like ones refining crude oil, and mining other valuable entities such as metals and gemstones. MLA ESSAY EXAMPLE WAR AS SEEN THROUGH THE MEDIA War as an Assumed Solution to Today’s Many Problems When exactly is military force justified? Is it ever justified? The answer lies, of course, in the eyes of the beholder. But when one considers the tumultuousness nature of today’s world, they eventually come to the realization that, yes, military force is often justified. The important question, however, is when it’s justified. Before answering this question and arguing for when exactly military force is justified, it’s important to consider what comprises â€Å"military force.†   It is when a country’s military, also known as its armed forces, has no other choice but to use deadly force and weapons to support the interest of the state and of its citizens – its main function. This means casting fire on the enemy, dropping bombs from planes, detonating nuclear warheads, even resorting to biological warfare. Military Force Is Justified When There Is an Impending Threat to One’s Borders So, when is military force justified? For one, when there is an impending threat to one’s borders. If a country is on the verge of being invaded, it has the right to use military force. When a country’s citizens are on the brink of being slaughtered, the country as a whole should be able to resort to military force. It comes down to defending one’s way of life, not lying down and dying. Fighting for one’s borders, freedom, safety, and happiness is surely one reason to use violence and weaponry as a means for peace, though it does sound like a contradiction. In World War II, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor – and rather than doing nothing, which would assuredly invite similar attacks and possible invasion, America went to war against the Axis Powers. The country came together and stood up for its right to freedom and happiness; it meant that no country would attack America and get away with it. This is one prime example of when military force is ju stified. Secondly, military force is also justified when a larger, wealthier and more powerful country or group of countries threatens invasion, invades or attacks a less powerful country. For example, in 2008, Russia attacked the former Soviet Republic Georgia. It was the typical David vs. Goliath scenario. Russia accused Georgia of foul play against the autonomous republic to the south, and sent in troops to negotiate â€Å"peace.† Instead, Russia got whatever it wanted, a buffer zone between Russia and the Middle East, in turn bullying the small country into submission. Military force was not justified on the part of Russia, but Georgian military forces surely had the right to defend its motherland. And Georgia was not a NATO country, like Turkey, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and many other countries with powerful armies that could have used military force to defend the weaker, less powerful and wealthy country of Georgia. This is a classic case of how military forc e should be enacted when it’s justified. A big, powerful country was bullying a small country that could not defend itself; therefore, it had the right to resort to military force. To conclude, military force is, unfortunately, a reality in today’s world. But the lines of what â€Å"justifies† it are quite blurry. What is wrong in one country’s eyes are righteous in another’s. That is the tragedy of our times. But as long as there is good in the world, as long as there are countries like the United States, France, Ukraine and Germany and others that stand for peace and Democracy, good will prevail over evil. Though not without too much bloodshed and hatred along the way. We can only hope and plan for the world with no war, though it is quite unlikely to happen anytime soon. We can be sure of that fact.