If one is in my position, one would think, “Hey, I’m a soldier! I get to get a gun and shoot people.” Although you might feel like this if you volunteered for the army, the truth is quite different when you are forced into war. I, Uno Ramirez, have felt the pain of being torn away from my family and friends, then taken control of by strangers, and threatened into a form of work that I have feared all of my life. I knew that this day would come and now I am stuck in this horrid place. I used to fear these ruthless creatures and I still do, but now I am forced to become one of them, and that is far worse. Eventually, I will be molded into a rough copy of my fellow soldier’s ruthlessness. Juan is a jerk and he cares about me as much as he did about his studies, but that just means that I too could one day become like that. This does not mean, though, that everything is bad. Captain Mendoza, even though he brought us here, is actually quite nice and friendly. He listens to what I have to say and I respect him for that. The food is pretty tasty too, but all the same I am stuck in this prison with a couple of rocks and trees called a fortress. I might have a gun like my fellow soldiers, but I am only a useless soldier who is constantly surrounded by the one thing he fears most. And that is death and destruction.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Day One
Day Two
For those generals and captains who lead the war, war is something that might be painful and fearful but must be endured and therefore logical. For those who volunteer to become a soldier, war is to feel more confident about themselves. It is a way to feel like a successful person who helps his country and people. Or it is something that you just believe in, and you feel that you want to fight for that team. For those who make the rifles, AK-47’s, and other destructive weapons, war is a time of economic benefit and just another reason to hire more workers. And then there are people like me who were forced away from their homes, and threatened unless they became soldiers. For such people war is just another form of slavery. When the war is over they still are part of this army and although they can visit their homes they will soon be called back for another pointless war. The only way for such people to ever be free is to die. But on extremely rare occasions, one does get to return to his home and adapt back to his former lifestyle. In the end, and the soldiers learn this the hard way, it might have been a war for change but the only thing that usually changes is the fact that the revolutionaries become loyalists and vice versa! And that is why the whole thing is senseless. Just because the revolutionists want to help the poor does not mean that will end up helping the poor. A lot of innocent poor actually die or lose their homes in such wars and their life worsens instead of getting better. The irony is that after a while, a new war starts, new people get recruited, and the whole vicious circle repeats itself again.
Day Five
That village and the two children who were the only survivors of the loyalists’ ambush were the memories that remained with me ever since I saw them. If I hadn’t seen those corpses and the wounded girl with her infant brother, I would not have become part of the patrol and certainly not had joined those that fired during the ambush. I would not have understood the true reason for why we were fighting the revolution. Once I saw the bodies, I realized just how much the revolution can save but also destroy the country. The revolutionists are trying to help the country’s poor by rearranging the social order, but that exact cause, and how they are trying to achieve it, is the reason that all those helpless poor died. Those people died just because a member of their family was on the opposing team, or their village was now in the opposing teams land. I also realized today that if you have a gun, you do not necessarily have power. Didn’t we have guns? Yes, we did. But, did we save those people? No. A gun, although a powerful tool is not a symbol of power, but instead just a tool that is used to show your devotion to your country and your people. If used wisely, it can help the country fight its enemies, but if used out of hatred or dislike, it could do major damage instead. No matter how much an army tries to save the innocent, a war usually results in lot of destruction and death. My hatred for the loyalists might have lit a flame in me today but it was still not enough to overpower my humanity. I couldn’t shoot before, during or after the ambush. The human in me ended up taking care of the baby – the change had begun.
Captain Mendoza
Kind, Understanding, Tough, Hard Working
Captain of the Revolutionary Army
Lover of his son, his job, and a free world
Who needs a son, a new job, and to win the revolution
Who feels that this war should be over, that there is now need for fighting, and who feels extremely proud of Uno
Who gives soldier training, guns and hope to his army
Who fears a heartless soldier, a weak and horrible army, and the loyalists
Who would like to see the war end, his family again, and the poor better treated
Citizen of Mexico
Mendoza
Day Six
As I become more and more a part of this revolutionary army, I get to know as to how we work. While we call ourselves soldiers, I think we are more like bandits. Other than the fact that we are trying to help the country and make it a better place for those oppressed poor, we are actually bandits who take money, clothes, food, and guns, all of which are stolen, and all of this only for our own purpose. This is our way to finance our cause. We don’t know of any other way and this is what our leaders teach us. When we seized that large city, one of the first things Captain Mendoza did was to loot a bank and steal money for his airplane, which he justified for use in the war. Even the guns we use are almost all stolen or bartered for. Our clothes, boots etc are all stolen or sometimes even taken off the corpses. Remember Lolo did not hesitate a bit to promptly take those nice, shiny leather boots from the corpse of the loyalists soldier who had just killed in an ambush outside that village. To finance their cause, the revolutionaries kill people, steal their belongings, and go to kill more. Revolutions are usually fought through guerilla tactics using ill trained and brainwashed soldiers who are usually misled to believe the war they are fighting is to improve the life of their poor countrymen. The revolutionist generals usually have good organizing skills but are selfish and not shy of using any means to achieve their goals. The main difference between a revolutionary army and a country’s army is that the revolutionists usually fight from jungles or other hiding places and run their operations in a covert manner.
Day Seven
The moment I heard Juan talking, I instantly started thinking, “I couldn’t even kill the guy with the big nose during the ambush, and I had just seen the rampaged village before that. If I didn’t have the guts to do it after those intense moments of hatred, how the hell will I get the guts to do it now?” The next thought bubble to pop in my head was, “I have barely even begun my proper training, and I still am one of the worst recruits on the army. Knowing all that they must be idiots to send me into a war I am half trained for and only barely mentally prepared. I’ll probably be killed by my own general for the horrible job I will do.” In the end though I had no choice and I knew it. I might have not even been better than those two-day old recruits who just got issued their rifles. But the only thing I could and should do was to go on with it. So I went along. I was a terrified, unprepared, and nervous about shooting, but this war was going to go on whether I was ready or not, so I might as well try while I wait. I had to go and do the one thing I have feared all my life. Kill. Although I might not do anything useful or helpful to the team, I am still part of it and therefore must try to do my part.
Day Eight
Eight Days! It took eight days of hard work, determination, and fatigue to change my opinion of the army and its goals. Before my recruitment I had believed that all soldiers were ruthless and mean people with a heart of steel and a menace to the society. I had now become part of these cruel killing machines. I once thought that the rest of the world outside our village was filled with evil, danger, pain, and constant fear, but now I have escaped that stage and have begun thinking that the war and everything about it is not about me or you, but it is about us as a country. I have begun to feel that being part of this army is actually an honor. I feel that although soldiers act and work like bandits, by stealing money and people away from their homes, they are in fact reliable and trust worthy. We were molded into killing machines not for hatred but for the far important reason of saving the country. Soldiers like me do not kill only the enemy but anyone who does not serve his or her country wholly and properly. A good soldier is one who is willing to put his life out of the way so that he can serve his country and make it a better place. The one and most important accomplishment of a soldier is to be able to handle continuous bloodshed and service to the country. That is what being a soldier is all about and I realize that now.
Bibliography
My pictures came from the following places:
- http://www.refugeesinternational.org/files/4528_image1_16days_child_soldiers.jpg
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/04/africa_sierra_leone0s_civil_war/img/1.jpg
- http://www.stolenchildhood.net/images/drc_children_congolese_child_soldiers_congo_child_fighters.jpg
- http://www.foxnews.com/images/180132/0_22_101305_child_soldier3.jpg
- http://www.ajedika.org/images/PhotoChildSoldiers1.JPEG
- http://www.spirituality.org.za/uploaded_images/Israel%20bombs-730040.gif (Photoshop by me)
- http://intellibriefs.com/images/Marri_Baloch_Child_Wounded_002-19.12-05.jpg
- http://www.fototime.com/9BE9DA6A5906566/standard.jpg
- http://www.jamd.com/image/g/2208400
