Battlefield experience

The soldiers are the pride of their nation. They protect their states honorably and fight for their country with their life and blood. Soldiers must climb above their needs in order to protect their countries. They are not considered to have any political affiliations, and their only known job is to defend their lands to the ground.
A soldier’s life is difficult, and they must still be physically and emotionally prepared. He must keep his body in good health and be prepared for any fights that could happen. A soldier is the best specimen of humanity willing to offer his life for the lives of their fellow citizens (Boyd, 98). He fights in an unknown land and therefore has to embrace the cruelty of nature.

As much as the soldiers fight for their nation with much vigor, at times their efforts are not recognized which ends up in them taken for granted. A soldier only wants recognition for the effort he puts in defending his nation. In most nations monuments are build that stand for the thousands of the unknown soldiers who fought for their countries. A single monument to represent the whole squad does not provide enough recognition for a man who served his country without any fault (Owen, 1161). He was a saint because he served his state perfectly without dismissal until their death.

He paid his dues to his country since he was a member of the various unions and did not take extreme views on anything as he valued the importance of peace in his motherland. When there was war, he was ready to fight. In spite of all this, he is treated like an ordinary citizen.

A battle would go on for an unknown period. They did not have time specifications. The purpose of the battle is met by reaching the mission goal by use of military force. Battles are made of a multitude of individual combats, in which the soldiers experiences a share of the events of the battle, though they seem small, the effects are grueling for one person to hold.

Not every battle ends in victory, and only accomplished armies would be more efficient and win the skirmish. The hard experiences of the battlefield go a long way in shaping the fight. The group surviving the harsh conditions of the battlefield emerges victorious over their opponents.

A battlefield is an unforgiving scene. Nothing is guaranteed while fighting for your nation as one minute a soldier may be perfectly healthy and the next minute he is life is over. Land mines strategically placed on the ground, and once the pressure stepping on the landmine is relieved, the weapon blows up everything in its reach. Curt Lemon, a soldier, killed when he steps on a rigged mortal round (O’brien, 78).

The soldiers are required to be continuously aware of the dangers posed by their environment, and this may not be achievable every time. As soldiers walk along the battlefield anticipating the moves of their enemies, a poisonous gas is released which leads to one soldier dying. The soldier is slow when wearing his protective gear; he is thrown into the wagon where he coughs and throws up until he dies (O’brien, 92). A single lapse in the concentration of the fighter led to his bereavement.

The battlefield makes the soldier carry a bunch load of baggage, both tangible and intangible. The war corrupts the militia, but it also makes them feel alive. One of the most devastating experience a soldier has to deal with is the feeling of guilt due to his execution of command while the field. While at the combat zone, a soldier has to carry out all the commands relayed to him by his superior. He follows the commands to the letter.

Though not pleased with the commands, the warrior swore to carry the duties concerning the actions of a soldier. Tim Obrien kills a man by use of a grenade. He ambushes the man and throws a grenade at his feet. Due to his guilt over the killing, Obrien imagines the living of his casualty, from his younger age to the way his life would have shaped up had he not spotted the man and thrown a grenade at his feet. The guilt eats him up to the extent where Obrien tries to relay the story of the man to his daughter. Obrien conveys the whole ordeal including the sound of the grenade while killing the man. He explains that even though the action passed a long ago, he has not adequately dealt with experience.

The swearing is a weapon that soon against him as he is met with a situation on which his gut tells him that doing something is wrong, but the fighter in him convinces the soldier that it all right to commit the act for the safety of all the innocent citizens back in his country. The guilt of his actions catches up with him and eats the warrior up.

As the warriors carry out their duties, they require special attentions to the wounds they suffer while protecting their citizens. Fighters are only humans, and there is the need for them to be treated for them to carry out their duties in the field. As such, medical personnel are required in the field. In most countries, execution of this expertise left at the hands of a fellow soldier who has mild experience with medicine. Such a fighter is not acutely aware of medication and may offer services that do more harm to the fighter than good.

Obrien tells of Curt Lemon who faints in the line of duty. An army-issued dentist tries to save the soldiers face by pulling a healthy tooth. Obrien continues to tell of his fellow soldier, Lee Strunk, who dies from the injuries he sustained by stepping on a landmine (Tim Obrien, The things they carried). The soldiers are not presented with the best medical care while they are putting their lives on the line to fight for their countries.

As the warriors fight on the battlefield, a bond develops amongst themselves. Soon they begin to fight as a team, not protecting your life but also ensuring that your fighter survives the battle. Soldiers go to the extent of risking their lives to save the life of a fellow soldier. They fight as brothers while on the battlefield. Unity bond is encouraged by most if not all commandants. The relationship ensures that the numbers of the fighters are adequate to fight off the resistance of any enemy, which ultimately hands them the victory. The connection has gone on to be a survival tactic used by the soldiers to keep their numbers high.

However, this is not always the case while at the battleground, as the group end up losing their fellow fighters to the war. A war may bring a stop to a life of the soldier who was much loved and respected by the group, which may even affect the fighting spirit of the warriors. Obrien narrates the death of Kiowa, one of his closest friends. He sees that he failed Kiowa, killed by a mortar. A fellow fighter writes to Obrien that he has not found a system to make his existence meaningful after the war. Obrien then decides to tell the story of Kiowa’s death to discuss his feelings of blame and void.

Ugly scenes at the battlefield are some of the things that the fighters have to deal with them mentally. Sometimes, the death of an enemy is not pleasing to the eyes of the warriors. The weapons used in the war zone range from powerful guns such as HK416 assault rifle to powerful explosive weapons such as the C4s. These weapons deform the body of a fighter when it strikes to the extent that they are not recognized.

The picture displayed by the aftermath of the weapon on the fighter may even lead to post-traumatic stress on the soldiers disposing of the bodies. The soldiers might be horrified of the scenes the extent that their concentration on the battle is weakened, thus endangering the lives of his fellow soldiers.

The soldiers are always advised to seek the assistance of the army-psychology and talk through the ordeal so that the specialist to rectify the mental state of the fighter as that is one of the most valuable tools for a warrior on the battlefield.

Obrien narrates the grueling death of his friend Kiowa killed by the action of a mortal round. He tells how Kiowa was raised from the ground and land head first into t a field dominated by woody plants. The mental picture of this death cruel death would feel like a horror story.

Soldiers go through enormous challenges fighting and protecting their nations, and much credit given to their selfless and noble actions. Better pay would be one of the ways to appreciate the work done by the fighters in the war zone. Nationally recognition of the soldiers would also be vital in recognizing their efforts. The offering of incentives, such as good education for their children is also a better way for the country to take care of a soldier’s family while he is out there protecting his country.

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Works Cited

Boyd, Stephanie. ”Soldier Quality of Life Prompts Military Spending on Fitness.” Club Industry, vol. 26, no. 5, May 2010, pp. 97-101.

O’brien, Tim. The things they carried. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009.

Owen, Wilfred. Dulce et decorum est. na, 1995.