Sassoon and Jarrell

I found these two poems very interesting. In "Dreamers," Sassoon describes what it is like to be a soldier under fire. Even though the military may seem glamorous with the nice uniforms and honor, once you are under fire you forget all of that. When you are put in a life or death situation you quickly resort back to thinking about "firelit homes, clean beds, and wives". That glamor that you once wanted is all gone. You would give anything to have your real life back. At the academy, even though we are not at war, we still have sacrificed many things to be here. We have given up the traditional college experience to serve our country. As a highschooler this seemed really honorable, but now that we are actually here dealing with the day to day grind of the academy, it doesnt seem so appealing anymore. Some days it feels like I would give anything to be a civilan again, but then others I feel a sense of pride in being here (although not many). So I can relate to how these soldiers may feel. But in war that feeling must be amplified a hundred times to what its like at the academy. In Jarrell's poem, "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner," the author talks about the like of a ball turret gunner and how they spend it curled up in the fetal position firing 6 miles off of the gorund until they are killed. This poem almost paralelled to an abortion. When Jarrell said, "When I died they washed me out fo the turret with a hose," it me of a woman given brith to a stillborn. It is a horrid image, but one that results form the author's choice of words. Overall, these poems made me think a lot.