Home Learning Day 2: We Sleep With Our Boots On Analysis

We Slept With Our Boots On

They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes
They washed out the blood, we loaded our ruck’s and then took to the skies
Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew
Where we would land we had not a clue
Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot
We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not
30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your shit
Get ready to go and make it quick
My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins
I run as fast as I can through the lead rain
The noise is tremendous, terror I can’t define
The only reason I survived that day was divine
I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more
You do what you have to do, with that I will say no more
We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks
From house to cave, to car to creek
Dirty and tired and hungry and scared
We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared
Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies
The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives
Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod
Who knew hell was so close to God
Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink
So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think
Good men and bad men, Mothers lost son’s
Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns
Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire
I will never forget those who were called higher
They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood
Brothers aren’t born they’re earned. In the poppy fields, the tears, and the mud
And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell
Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell

Steve Carlsen

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Based on my web research, the poet had joined the Army in 2000, but was honourably discharged in 2003. He is currently attending Southwestern Michigan College, where his professor, Dr. Michael Collins, challenged him to write about his experiences.

In the first quarter of the poem, we can infer that the poet is/was a paratrooper as they "took to the skies", "Over the mountains, villages and valleys we flew", and that they were "leaving this bird". The term "LZ" is the abbreviation for Landing Zone.

The poet was already prepared to die, and felt that it was a miracle that he did not perish in the battlefield. "The only reason I survived that day was divine", suggesting that it was miraculous that the poet had not died in "the lead rain". The "lead rain" refers to the numerous bullets that were raining down on the soldiers.

The poet was most likely fighting in/or near Afghanistan, as the "Hindu Kush" is a 500-mile mountain range that stretches between north-western Pakistan and eastern and central Afghanistan, and based on my research, the poet was deployed to Afghanistan for combat operations.

By stating that "who knew hell was so close to God", the poet suggested that he was fighting on the peak of the Tirich Mir, the highest point of the Hindu Kush as that would be the closest place to the sky. This point is further strengthened by "Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies".

The poet also made several biblical references, like the point above. The poet mentioned "washed in blood, baptized by fire", referring to Martyrdom, which is baptism by blood. This enables martyrs who had not been baptized by water to be saved. The martyrs refer to the soldiers who lost their innocence "when they carry guns".

Another biblical reference is "when I get to heaven to Saint Peter". This suggests that the poet is already prepared to die, and that the poet is a Catholic, as Saint Peter is regarded as the first Pope by the Catholic Church.

In conclusion, the poet was writing about the terrors of war, and that war is like hell, as can be seen when he said he would tell "Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell".

References: War Poetry 2010

Wikipedia

Weekly Insight

POLITICS, regardless of where (office or whatever), is always dirty. D=

A new Idea

Hey guys! It's been a while since I last posted anything. Sorry about that.

This post is to inform you guys that I have decided to introduce something new today: Weekly insights on what's happening in my life. Something like what the Straits Times does, the 'One Week in Singapore" cartoon column.

AND... You're MOST WELCOME to comment on them, so yea, stay tuned =D

Singapore Considering Nuclear Energy

SINGAPORE IS considering going into nuclear energy. They will be holding a convention sometime in June to discuss this issue. However, the kind of power plant to be built would most likely not be the huge scale ones you see on TV. It would most probably be a smaller-scale reactor currently in its testing stage in Japan. These kind of reactors are more suited for countries like Singapore, and for operating underground.

This is a start for Singapore, as we are finally looking into nuclear energy. Nuclear energy, like everything else, has, of course, its advantages and disadvantages.

One advantage of having a nuclear power plant here in Singapore is that we can reduce our reliance on other countries for electricity. We would not be affected, or at least too affected, by power outages happening in, for example, Indonesia.

However, with advantages always comes disadvantages. Nuclear waste is not easy to dispose of. The waste have to be stored in large cement containers and buried underground for millions of years as radiation lives for a very long time. This reduces the amount of land available for use.

Another bane of nuclear is that, if not operated carefully, nuclear is potentially fatal. Take for example the case of the Chernobyl disaster in Russia.

Killer Litter

This post was made after one of my cousins was hit by an egg from above. This was definitely on purpose, as my uncle had noticed a broken charcoal had hit the ground near him. Let me give a summary of what happened:

My six cousins and I were playing 'monkey' in a mini amphitheatre near the void deck. My uncle joined us slightly later.

My uncle was sitting down watching us play when he heard something crack near him, and found 4 broken pieces of charcoal. He went around trying to find out who was the culprit, but to no avail. Note that he did not inform us.

Subsequently, an egg landed on one of my cousin's left shoulder, and an egg shell grazed her neck and created a mess on the floor. My uncle immediately went to the nearby (and it was VERY near) police post to report the incident. The officer on duty told him that his colleagues would be coming over shortly. While waiting for the officers to arrive, we started on our own investigations. Our investigations found that the 8 floor corridor was the only floor which had charcoal.

When the officers did arrive, it was around TWENTY MINUTES LATER. By that time my cousin had already gone back up to change into a new set of clothes and returned! The officers merely took down my uncle's and my affected cousin's statements, and left without even making an inspection!

I would like to ask: What are our police doing? How are they going to solve crimes like this, or are they even going to bother solving it at all? The police should at least attempt to find the culprit, and not let these CRIMINALS escape unpunished!

Although I recognise that this would not be easy, but they should at least have put in some effort in trying to solve it, like narrowing down their searches to households which have charcoal and eggs, instead of coming to scene talking on the phone and leaving after taking down statements.

Fortunately what the CRIMINAL (I choose to call him/her that) has thrown was an egg, and not something more solid like a rock. The person might have been irritated by the noise that we were generating, but s/he could have at least told us, instead of throwing things down from high-rise buildings.

After this incident, we were afraid to play in the amphitheatre again, and stuck to playing in the playground. And if we did play in the amphitheatre, we would ensure that the block where the suspected culprit was was videoed (of course the camera was quite hidden).

Mrs Henry Lafayette Dubose's Obituary

Image of old lady obtained from http://www.travisjensensf.com/blogs/posts/Travis-Jensen-Blog*

I know that is not very fantastic photoshopping skills, but well, that is the best I can do.

*No infringement of copyright intended

An Interview on Prejudice & Discrimination

An interview on prejudice and discrimination was conducted with Mr Liaw Jun Xian over Instant Messaging on 2 March. Mr Liaw is a colleague of my mother.

Below is the transcript of the interview.

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Me: Good morning Mr Liaw. Thank you for granting me this interview. May I have your opinion on prejudice and discrimination?

Mr Liaw: Prejudice and discrimination are both very wide topics. Prejudice is a pre-disposition of a person versus a certain topic/subject/person.

Me: Well, how about towards the racism side?

Mr Liaw: Racial prejudice?

Me: Well, yes, since this assignment is based on the themes in To Kill A Mockingbird.

Mr Liaw: I think it is dependent on cultural differences. Like in the book, it is because the Negroes have always been view to be lower class, hence the pre-disposition of society is always prejudiced.

Same as for example in SIngapore, when mothers discipline their kids. They always say, "Wait Mankali come and catch you."

So mainly I feel this kind of prejudice is created by two factors. First, the societal archetype between cultures due to a lack of understanding and also the propagation and reinforcement of such behaviour by parents. Another example (which is very prevalent in your school), because there are only a small number of Malays, people who graduate from your school has the prejudice that Malays are lazy. Don't ask me why though.

Anyway, back to the topic. Discrimination and prejudice have a thin line. What do you think discrimination is?

Me: Yes, I agree that is is very difficult to differentiate between them. In my opinion, I feel that discrimination is like differentiating someone from another by say, their race.

Mr Liaw: Differentiating is a very neutral word. What is the difference between discrimination and identity then? I can say "I am Chinese." Is that discriminatory? It is not.

Me: Oh no. What I meant is like, you would not want to hang out with a person because of his/her ethnic group.

Mr Liaw: Correct. In a way, I think prejudice and discrimination have a cause-and-effect relationship. Because you are prejudiced against someone or something, you discriminate against him/it, so therefore discrimination is the action, like in your example. If you discriminate someone, you would 'criminalise' him.

Me: Yes, in a way.

Mr Liaw: It is the assumption of guilt in getting the facts right, simply because you are prejudiced.

Me: So what do you think can be done to stop them (prejudice and discrimination)?

Mr Liaw: I think the only way to stop them is via an open mind and more understanding.

Me: Yes, I do agree.

Mr Liaw: So these are my thoughts on them. Anything else?

Me: No. Thank you Mr Liaw once again.

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Note: Some parts of this interview have been edited.