Essay on What Makes a Good Soldier - 2584 Words

What is a soldier? What makes a good soldier? Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines a soldier as one who â€Å"engages in military service†, a â€Å"skilled warrior†, and a â€Å"militant leader or follower†. The characteristics of a soldier vary in the different military branches but ultimately a soldier is loyal to his or her country, willing to fight and die. In an article by B.R. Burg, the author states â€Å"The complete officer must be the complete man, they believed, and to measure up each had to possess an amalgam of qualities that included patriotism, courage, honor, loyalty, absolute honesty, and elevated standards of morality† (439). The epitomes of a good soldier are characters such as Sergeant Elias (Platoon), Captain John Miller†¦show more content†¦They are eager to fight for their country and believe that the enemy is easy to spot among a crowd. These young soldiers are usually in their late teens and early twenties. For the first few weeks or months they talk of their girlfriends and the going-ons back home. The stories are all the same, â€Å"When I get home I am going to marry her and we will run our own business.† Correspondence with the outside world is very important to each of the characters. Hearing about their hometowns often gives the men a feeling that there is something worth fighting for. An example of this type of correspondence comes from Corporal Michael Alan McAninch: From the word we got last night we should be going back to Hill 10 in about a week. Sure will be good, but we know that whatever they say were going to do can change in just a matter of hours. So we really dont count on anything. Ive been thinking about so many things lately. There is a new order out that we serve 11 months and 20 days instead of 12 and 20 days. So that would get me out of Vietnam about the 2nd of February. And it would take about 2 weeks back in the States before I get my discharge. Then a civilian--WOW. School wouldnt start until September, so that would leave about 7 months before getting back to school. Joanie and I should have around $1700. We will need an apartment and a car. Id like to get my old apartment back if possible. (So many good memories of 4623--Ive become very attached toShow MoreRelatedRespect in the Military1183 Words   |  5 PagesEssay The purpose of this essay is to further my knowledge of the Army NCO support channel, chain of command and why we as Soldiers use them. It is also to inform the parties that may be what I feel loyalty, dedicated service and also my interpretation of Military bearing and Discipline. I am explaining the importance of obeying a lawful order from an NCO and performing that order in a timely manner. The NCO support channel is designed to be subordinate to and supportive of the chain of commandRead More2000 Word Essay on Being a Team Leader1073 Words   |  5 Pageslimits. Which means being accountable for what you do or fail to do. Non commissioned officers are responsible to fulfill not only their individual duties, but in addition they must ensure their teams and units are successful. You are accountable for your personal conduct and that of your soldiers. Responsibilities are the one thing that cannot be delegated. A non commissioned officer, same as a soldier, is accountable for his actions to fellow soldiers, leaders, unit and the US Army. The role ofRead MoreRoom Inspections in the Military1029 Words   |  5 Pagesperformance, and excellent maintenance are important considerations that affect you directly. They are the earmarks of a good organization and one you should be a proud member of. First line leaders should inspect their soldiers daily and should regularly check soldiers’ rooms in the barracks.† A task in which, I, as PFC Kennedy’s first line supervisor, failed to accomplish. Good order and discipline as well as health and welfare are key aspects in the importance of holding room inspections. EnsuringRead MoreWhat It Means to Be an Nco907 Words   |  4 Pagesoffi cer (NCO). The mission of an NCO is to fulfi ll what we call the â€Å"backbone† of the Army. We are individuals who can hear and understand a mission and then take the necessary steps to make it happen. It is an honor to serve as an NCO because I take pride in leading my Soldiers to success. I take pride in contributing to the wider goals of my unit by helping other people succeed. These tasks require me to invest in individual Soldiers, to lead a group of people by instruction and exampleRead MoreEvaluation Of A Non Commissioned Officer927 Words   |  4 Pagescommissioned officer they want to work for instead of the non commissioned officer that does his job correctly and makes his soldiers do proper training. A great non commissioned officer knows how to incorporate both types of leadership aspects so that he can keep his soldiers motivated into getting the work that needs to be done over with and in a timely manner and when the soldiers do this they are rewarded for their hard work either by off post PT or a late call. Discipline is required when trainingRead MoreFollowing Orders935 Words   |  4 PagesThere are many reasons why a soldier should follow the orders they are given and every single one is important. An order is a tasking given to a soldier of something that needs to be done in a timely and efficient manner. The three main reasons why it is important for a soldier to follow the orders they are given is to be combat effective, disciplined, and to just be a good soldier. When a soldier doesnt follow the orders they are given in not only hurts themselfs but it hurts the team and the goalsRead MoreThe Good Soldier Literary Analysis1023 Words   |  5 PagesNarrative Structure The first rubric which I devised, is one surrounding narrative structures of three particular texts in the course: Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad, The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford, and The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West. The narrative structure in all three of these texts is experimental in nature, as is characteristic of modernist novels, and follows similar patterns. In these three texts, the narrative structure takes away from the characterization of the narrator as theRead MoreHonor And Recognition For Defending The Freedom Of The United States1183 Words   |  5 PagesSoldiers deserve honor and recognition for defending the freedom of the United States. They risk their lives so other Americans do not have to, and they are rightfully thanked for their work. Honoring soldiers is viewed as respectful and lets the soldiers know that Americans value their sacrifices for our country. However, for some people commending soldiers is often more about their own personal gain and se lf-esteem than about respecting the soldier. Honoring soldiers is often used as an excuseRead MoreWho Is A Soldier Refuse An Illegal Or Unjust Order?1309 Words   |  6 Pages Soldiers take on the role of Soldiers and accept certain norms or obedience to authority, and many in the lower ranks take the position that obeying orders are a part of their duties that must be carried out, without question. There are instances when Soldiers must face virtues such as courage, which would be a principal virtue of any Soldier. One moral dilemma and a question that may arise, is should a Soldier refuse an illegal or unjust order given by his/her superiors? Some Soldiers pursuant

In Cold Blood †the court case Free Essays

Defendant of clutters: In today’s case a young girl, named Susan, tells a story of how an innocent, well known family get murdered. In this plea for justice she describes the Clutter family as respectful, social and family oriented. The individual characters are described in a way that makes the jury feel the connection between them as a family , however the case also involves two individuals without whom we would not be here today- the murderers, Perry and Dick. We will write a custom essay sample on In Cold Blood – the court case or any similar topic only for you Order Now If we compare the mannerisms in which the inspector (who examined the case) talks about the family and these two we acknowledge that Perry and dick are seen very negatively and given the label, killers! Whereas he talks about the clutters as though they were his family which then forces the jury to feel a connection to them and thus distance from the offenders; Perry and Dick. Firstly let’s talk about the man of the family, Herb Clutter; a respected man among his society. Herb is recognised as a wealthy and successful man who earned his wealth and status rather than being given it. Being a family man meant that his family also respected him a lot, they would never dare to talk back to him. Mr Clutter was a perfectionist; he was brilliant at every task he dealt with making sure he worked to his full potential. In addition to his hard working attitude he was also a very social man; ‘his name was everywhere’ suggesting he was widely known in his society. Moreover he was a good employer who never exploited his employees. Herb Clutter was a man of dignity and truth he never lied and he always stuck to the rules; ‘laws were laws’. Additionally he was an intellectual man who ‘majored in agriculture’. Knowing all this just makes the act of murdering him all the more sinister, suggesting that he was shown injustice and that the two responsible for the crime should pay the consequences. Later on the barrister mentions Herb’s wife, Bonnie Clutter. He uses this member as a minor detail in the case; bonnie is not seen or thought of as very important in the story thus not mentioned as much. However when she is mentioned, she is described as a weak and unhealthy person -completely opposite to her husband. Your honour if we now take a look at herb clutter’s wife’s medical report we find that Bonnie Clutter suffers from depression which affects her health in many ways. She is also very timid and reclusive. Bonnie is a very different character to Herb as she is very unhealthy, both mentally and physically; ‘on and off psychiatric patient’ as quoted by a valid source suggesting her constant illness. Being ill majority of the time does not help the fact that she may not be totally sane; ‘Do you like tiny things? , this question is not something that a mentally stable person would ask, also her tone of saying it would make her sound mentally unstable. Now what I would like to ask off mr. hickock and his ally is what pleasure did they gain room killing such a fragile thing? What enjoyment could they possibly have felt in committing the sin? Now your honour I would like to introduce you to a very special young lady, someone who wanted happiness, someone who helped everyone, someone who was inspiration to the town of Holcombe, someone who died a horrible death and that someone who is vital to this case†¦. Nancy Clutter, the daughter of Herb and Bonnie Clutter. We are told that Nancy is a 16yearold teenager who undergoes more responsibilities than an average teenage girl. She was pretty and likeable shown by the views of the citizens of Holcombe; ‘town darling’ and ‘pretty girl’. Nancy made it her responsibility to cook for the family and too help the society as much as she could. Also she did all this willingly, ‘would have willingly’. As mature as Nancy was she was very respectful of her father, she would obey his every command and never talk back to him. Overall Nancy is seen as a very efficient and accomplished young lady who was never vain and hence i asked the question what did she do to deserve such torture? Let’s not forget just before killing the innocent teenage girl the offender Mr. hickock had wanted to rape her. Luckily he was stopped but imagine the pain this girl must have endure having two strangers in her home causing harm to all the people she loved the most. This girl was only in her teens and her life ended their for her. Nancy clutter had so much potential and so much to give to the world, yet she wasn’t even given the chance. This was all down to two killers with a greed for money and wealth and they are among us today†¦ Perry and Dick! Perry smith is proved to have a mind of a criminal; his desire for money suggests a certain criminal quality and his skill to be continually self aware allows him to be very manipulative. Consequently increasing the similarities between him and a criminal. There is no doubt that Perry committed this crime. Many have described him as a natural killer- without conscience. Perry is a short man- under the average height of a man of his age. Thus may feel the need to try harder to feel the characteristics of a man. Also Perry is an achoholic which totally goes against the one thing that Herb clutter would not endure. In addition Perry is a dreamer and has also been involved with the police in the past which suggests a huge contrast to herb as he would never go against the law. perry was seen to have said ‘ Cost me 30 bucks’ which is clear evidence of his materialistic view and his love /desire for money. Nevertheless if we look closely at something that has been said regarding Perry,’ a dictionary buff’ we recognise that wishes to be intelligent and so he reads the dictionary in order for him to seem smart using complex vocabulary. However he does not show this through his actions. At a young age Perry also could not, for whatever reason, educate and this left him feeling neglected and unworthy, this maybe the reason for his life of crime but it does not excuse what he has done. If he wished to educate then he could have done other things to accomplish something with life, he had no excuse to lead the life he has. The last character Truman introduces is Perry’s partner in the murder of the Clutters, Perry Hickock. Although this character may not be as successful as Herb Clutter, he was more accomplished than Perry. Dick was a 28 year old mechanic, who came from a descent background; he had been married and divorced twice and had three sons. Dick is created as more humorous and quick-witted than Perry- with more life in him. Truman Capote introduced this character to seem less devious than Perry; he did not seem like a criminal from his introduction. Although he was still distanced from the reader as the reader wanted to emphasise the death of the Clutters later in the book. He wanted the readers to form a pleasant view of the Clutter family before they died for the scene to seem more dramatic and to get the readers to sympathise more for the victims. The author of this book, Truman Capote, introduced the scenes , the characters and a little bit of the story in a way that allowed the reader to form a link ,whether it be negative of positive, between them and that of the characters. How to cite In Cold Blood – the court case, Papers

Analysis of Charles Colsons Essay on Gay Marriage free essay sample

Charles Colson talks about his reasons for opposing same-sex marriage. The essays’ main argument is built around Colson’s belief that legalizing same-sex marriage would lead to the decoupling of marriage, and ultimately result in what he describes as: â€Å"an explosive increase in family collapse, out of wedlock births and crime. † Colson shares his personal experiences as a prison minister, various studies, statistics, and real world examples to elucidate the reasons behind his controversial stance on marital rights. Although the essay provides a variety of different types of evidence to illustrate Colson’s position on the subject, it is through sharing his personal experiences from working thirty years as a prison minister that he gains credibility on the subject. Colson shares with the reader how he was a first hand witness to what he calls, â€Å"the disastrous consequences of family breakdown in the lives of thousands of delinquents. His personal accounts are supplemented by shocking statistics and studies done to gauge the impact of family breakdown on youth, specifically males. Among these statistics, Colson lists that: â€Å"Boys who grow up without fathers are twice as likely as other boys to end up in prison, and sixty percent of rapists and 72 percent of adolescent murderers never knew or lived with their fathers, and girls raised without a father in the home are five times more likely to become mothers while still adolescents. He continues to mention additional studies which illustrate the link between children who come from broken homes and the development of behavioral problems and poor academic performance throughout the child’s lifetime. While the evidence provided by Colson effectively demonstrates the existence of a direct correlation between criminal activity and broken families, there is little information present to allow the reader to directly link the evidence presented as being applicable to the disadvantages that would be imposed on children raised by same-sex couples. Through the studies and statistics he provides, Colson shows the undeniably crucial role that fathers play in the development of their children, and therefore it can be indirectly inferred through this information that perhaps a same sex couple comprised of two females would not be able to create the most advantageous environment in which to raise a child. However, this brings up the question as to what disadvantages would be imposed on a child raised by two fathers? While ample evidence is provided to solidify his argument for the importance of a father’s presence during childhood, there is none that would similarly suggest the importance of a mother’s presence during a child’s upbringing, and thus creates a significant gap in the essay’s argument suggesting the presence of a premature judgment. In an attempt to demonstrate the relevance behind his shared experiences and observations, Colson attempts to bridge the gap in his evidence by citing Stanley Kurtz of the Hoover Institution and his reference to the events that took place in Norway after the country amended existing legislation to include same-sex couples. He writes that, according to Stanley Kurtz, â€Å"It follows that once marriage is redefined to accommodate same-sex couples, that change cannot help but lock in and reinforce the very cultural separation between marriage and parenthood that makes gay marriage conceivable to begin with. In his original thesis, Colson states that allowing same sex marriage would not only result in increased criminal activity as a consequence of family breakdown, but would also lead to an increase in the amount of out of wedlock childbirths. To expatiate upon the latter part of his thesis, Colson enlightens the reader by sharing the events that took place in Norway following the leg alization of same-sex marriage in 1993. Prior to the imposition of same-sex marriage, Colson states that, â€Å"Norwegians enjoyed low out of wedlock birth rate. After the imposition of same-sex marriage, Norway’s out of wedlock birth rate shot up as the link between marriage and child bearing was broken and cohabitation became the norm. † While indeed relevant to the argument, the out of wedlock birth rate statistic alone lacked the potency necessary to successfully persuade the reader of the threat imposed by legalizing same-sex marriage. The single specific statistic does not provide enough information to justify Colson’s claim that legalizing same sex marriage would result in family breakdown and criminal activity as suggested by his thesis. As a result, the statistic is largely inefficacious since it does not provide any additional background information to further illustrate that the spike in out of wedlock birth rates experienced by Norway was in fact, a direct result of the legalization of same-sex marriage. Consequently, this error in procedure leaves the premise of Colson’s argument vulnerable to scrutiny in addition to suggesting the presence of a post hoc fallacy, as he does not offer any reasons to rule out that the sequence of events detailed may be purely coincidental. Nevertheless, Charles Colson’s â€Å"Gay Marriage: Societal Suicide† is a thought provoking essay that addresses some of the concerns associated with the controversial issue of same-sex marriage. While the essay falls short of being a hard hitting and trenchant argument through the use of unwarranted assumptions, post hoc fallacy, and hasty conclusions, the combination of personal experiences and studies shared by Colson stimulates the mind and generates a far reaching interest in the subject.