My goal for this essay was to show how American people will eventually stop enlisting in the military because they will realize that their sacrifices are not truly appreciated by the American public and Government/Military. While researching and writing this essay I realized that the American Military does not focus on returning soldiers and veterans enough. Veteran soldiers are not given the support they deserve post war.

Matthew Willson

Advanced Essay #4

3/28/16

Historically, the armed forces have been revered in America. With the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, soldiers’ perceptions of military service and the public’s views on war have changed. While these changes may have begun during the Vietnam War, the effects of recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been had different.  Soldiers have begun to seriously doubt whether their sacrifices are truly appreciated by the American public. If this continues, views of being in the American military will change significantly, and it will become much more difficult for the military to successfully recruit and retain soldiers.

Since the Vietnam War, America has been involved in approximately 18 wars.  According to Stephen Kinzer of the Boston Globe, soldiers are today’s American heroes:  “Who is a hero? In today’s America, it is someone who chooses a military career, puts on a uniform, and prepares for war. Placing soldiers and veterans on this kind of pedestal is a relatively new phenomenon. Past generations of Americans saw soldiers as ordinary human beings. They were like the rest of us: big and small, smart and dumb, capable of good and bad choices. Now we pretend they are demi-gods.” The following picture captures this point of view perfectly.

There is a soldier on top of a mountain or hill. His face is hidden in darkness. The scenery and the soldier are depicted in dark colors while the American flag that he is holding shines bright in contrast to the darkness surrounding it. The biblical quote below the photo could be positive in a different context but instead it connects God and the bible to the actions of the US army. In this way, the soldier’s work is reframed not as violence and war, but rather “peacemaking.” To call soldiers the “children of God” not only legitimates violence as a crusade-like religious act for good, it also implies that the soldiers as blindly following the orders of their superiors and God--they are only children.

Historians have written extensively about the ravages of war and their toll on soldiers throughout time. While nobody doubts the impact of violence and war on soldier’s lives, the effects of recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have differed from past wars in several ways. Soldiers were fighting wars on two fronts; many saw the duration of their deployments extended because of poor post-invasion planning, and many have also subjected to stop-loss measures that prevented them from leaving the military until their units returned from war, even if their tour should have been finished.  It is clear that US soldier’s own perspective of their role has begun to change because of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

One reason is the way they are treated after they have finished their tour of duty. According to Gabriela Acosta of USC, “Almost a quarter million Iraq or Afghanistan vets have been diagnosed with mental health injuries from combat service. Many more are not diagnosed, yet go on with their lives while experiencing short-term memory loss, headaches, insomnia, anger or numbness -- conditions that can range from merely annoying to highly disruptive on the job and within the family.”   Unfortunately, many soldiers that suffer from PTSD or other mental and physical injuries they received while serving time in combat are not provided with equitable resources to survive and live a healthy life after they serve their country and put their lives on the line. It is disappointing to see the American society have so much faith in their military when so many people's lives are traumatically changed by it. According to Stopsoldiersuicide.org, “22 veterans take their lives every day.” This statistic is horrific and America should recognize this and try to fix it. We are clearly not supporting the needs of soldiers when they come back from war.

The VA (United States Department of Veteran Affairs), the agency charged with taking care of returning soldiers,  has also received a large amount of negative press in the past few  years regarding their poor support  and terrible veteran healthcare system. According to CNN, “the managers at the VA concocted an elaborate scheme to cover up long wait times there. The sources said more than 1,400 vets were placed on the purported secret list and that documents were shredded to hide the evidence. According to sources, at least 40 U.S veterans died waiting for care at the facility, many of whom were on the list.” This is just one example of many terrible things the VA has been guilty of over the years.  

At the same time, it is important to remember that most people don’t serve in the military, and the wars are being fought far far away from US soil.  The military’s promotion of their actions in the press has also created expectations in the general public. Loudly describing the Iraq invasion as an example of ‘Shock and awe’ created an unrealistic public perception of the war. According to Captain Scott Hubbard (a returned Iraq vet (US News)) “We expected to come in and throw another 3-pointer and everyone stand up and cheer. There was a lot of emotion, a lot of rhetoric, all the country music songs getting everybody fired up.  I think a lot of folks screaming for war just don't understand what it takes.”  With the impact of the press and misperceptions of the public fed by the military itself, returning soldiers wonder whether the public is behind them and whether they have the capacity to truly understand what they have experienced.     

Overall, the poor treatment of returning vets and the public’s reactions to news surrounding the war has created serious doubts in the minds of the soldiers regarding whether or not America truly values their military service.  According to Anna Mulrine (US News), “the sacrifices are great and sometime soldiers wonder why they keep making them.”

Bibliography:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/12/07/joining-military-doesn-make-you-hero/AtnLFFGkkVvxX2gKXKJE7L/story.html

Kinzer, Stephen. "Joining the Military Doesn’t Make You a Hero - The Boston Globe." BostonGlobe.com. Boston Globe. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. <https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/12/07/joining-military-doesn-make-you-hero/AtnLFFGkkVvxX2gKXKJE7L/story.html>.

https://msw.usc.edu/mswusc-blog/veteran-mental-health/

Acosta, Gabriella. "The Impact of War: Mental Health of Veterans and Their Families." USC.EDU. USC, 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. <https://msw.usc.edu/mswusc-blog/veteran-mental-health/>.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/30/health/veterans-dying-health-care-delays/index.html

Bronstein, Scott, Drew Griffin, and Nelli Black. "Phoenix VA Officials Deny There's a Secret Wait List; Doctor Says They're Lying." CNN. Cable News Network. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. <http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/30/health/veterans-dying-health-care-delays/index.html>.

http://www.usnews.com/news/iraq/articles/2008/02/13/how-the-war-in-iraq-is-changing-the-american-soldier

Mulrine, Anna. "How the War In Iraq Is Changing the American Soldier." US News. U.S.News & World Report. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.

<http://www.usnews.com/news/iraq/articles/2008/02/13/how-the-war-in-iraq-is-changing-the-american-soldier>

Matthew Willson

11/25/15

Water Stream

Advanced Essay #2

Intro

While creating this paper the skills I mainly focused on were connecting the experience I had reading The Hunger Games and what I took out of that experience to a larger idea. I am proud of how I focused on a recent topic and related it to a book I read many years ago.  I have always been a good writer when it comes to creativity and making up stories. But I have never been that good or enjoyed writing and researching about real world topics. As I grow as a writer I hope to get better at writing bigger issues around the world.

Essay

Literacy is a way to communicate and a way to share ideas. This communication allows us to understand people's perspective through time. This communication can help humans understand and ideally learn from their mistakes so they are not repeated. Without literacy, good ideas cannot be shared and people also can’t learn about bad ideas, which risks bad ideas being repeated. By looking at the present Syrian refugee crisis, we can see that crimes are being committed against humanity. We have an opportunity to help the refugees. However, there is political pressure in our country to keep the refugees out because some people are afraid they bring the risk of terrorism.  This is important because we never want to repeat the history of not helping people in crisis.

When I was 11 I read The Hunger Games, a series of three books written by Suzanne Collins.  These books take place in a world called “Panem” which is divided into a very wealthy capital and twelve very poor districts that exist solely to support the capital.  At the start of the first book, each district sends one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 to the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death.  The children are chosen by lottery, with the event staged for the capital’s entertainment and as a “reminder” to the districts of the time when they attempted to revolt against the capital and were defeated. When I first read the scene where the children, called tributes, are chosen, I was shocked.  I just couldn’t imagine being at the whim of a person picking my name out of a raffle to be killed. The characters had done nothing and it was just a sick game for the powerful people from the capital.  I thought of what my world would be like in the future.  Would it have districts and segregation?  Reading the book emphasized how cruel it is for some people to make life decisions regarding other people. Power becomes the force that decides the fate of peoples’ lives, whether they live or die. Humanity is not even considered in this type of power relationship. It’s not about what's right or wrong, it's about who has power and who doesn't.  As an 11 year old this was a lot of me to comprehend. As humans our duty should be to make sure everyone is fairly treated. Throughout history people have done many sick evil things to set people behind due to their race or beliefs like Hitler or Slavery. The human race needs to look back and make sure that those things don’t happen again. We have to make sure the world doesn’t end up in a scenario like The Hunger Games.

Right now, the Islamic group ISIS has claimed responsibility for attacks in Paris that killed over 130 people. The group is forcing people in Syria and other Middle Eastern countries to either join them or abandon their Muslim religion.  At the same time, there is a civil war in Syria between the government led by Bashar al-Assad and the rebels.  As a result, there are hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, without homes because of the civil war, attempting to flee the country and avoid both the conflict and ISIS.  Many countries including the US are questioning whether they should allow the refugees to enter their country.  People are afraid that some ISIS terrorists will be hidden amongst the refugees, and so they feel it is just safer to say “No”.  This is not the time to abandon people we should be helping.  During the first Hunger Games, the main character, Katniss Everdeen, did not attack the other tributes.  She defended herself, and actually helped some of the other tributes to survive.  The lesson is that it is important to do the right thing, even if it may put you at some personal risk. These are the values that define who we are as a country.  We should not be afraid.  We should do the right thing and help the refugees who are in need.  Just after the attacks in Paris last week, the French President Francois Hollande said that France would allow 30,000 Syrian refugees into the country, honoring a commitment they had previously made.  Despite suffering the worst attack on French soil since World War 2, that is the right thing to do.  We need to do the same.

My goals for this paper were to show how having a special connection with someone you look up to is important. Having someone to show you the ropes is a very important thing in the development of a young person. Sharing a connection or passion with a parent or someone you look up to is an important thing that every child should have. One thing I did well for this essay was connecting scenes from my childhood to my idea. One thing I would have liked to improve was my development of a larger issue. I did a good job talking about my issue and I connected it to my scenes but I could have gone more in depth.

Advanced Essay

When you hear the word “legacy”, you may think of something that is left behind, or when someone does the same thing that a former family member has done. Legacy doesn’t have to be either of those things. It can be a type of mentality or outlook or even a passion or love for something that is passed on from someone to someone else.  Sharing a common experience with somebody makes you closer – you learn about that person and what makes them tick – and you gain an appreciation for the things they value and how it relates to you.

My dad is Canadian and hockey is a very large part of his life.  Most kids in America grew up having a catch in the front yard with their dad.  As a kid I played many sports but hockey was my main focus. Those moments where I could have been playing catch, I was on the ice with my dad.  My older brother and I both played hockey and my dad coached our teams.  We were on the ice together all the time.

When I was very young my dad bought a poster displaying a picture of a famous goal from a famous hockey game between Canada and Russia during the 1972 Summit Series. This was an 8 game series between Canada’s best professional team and the best Russian players.  The game took place at the height of the Cold War and it was such a big deal in Canada that grade school children were allowed to watch the games from Russia in school during the day. Everyone crowded into the gymnasium and the watched black and white TV’s perched on tall TV stands.

My Dad also bought a DVD about the series that was made by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) - and my brother and I watched it with him.  As the documentary moved onto the final game of the series I started to pay more attention. The way the narrator spoke over the slow motion shots gave me goosebumps and made me lean forward closer to the TV. My heart rate went up and I started breathing faster but I wasn’t moving at all. The emotion from the players and the fans was so greatly illustrated in the film that it was almost as if you were there.  As the game got close to the final moment where Henderson scored the game winning goal the narrator stopped and it played the voice of the commentator, Foster Hewitt, from the game.  As the final goal was scored it felt as if an extreme amount of pressure was released through my body.  I realized how fast my heart was racing when it started to slow down.  Sharing this moment with my family wasn’t very important to me back then, but now I realized how interesting the moment was. My dad watched this same game live forty years ago and he shared that moment and experience with my brother and I when we were almost the same age.  

As I grew older I stopped playing competitive hockey because of concussions.  The same thing happened to my brother.   Since both of us still liked to play,   we would rent the ice on Fridays during the winter at Simons Recreation Center and play pick-up with 15-20 people including my dad.  The games were always fun, and I was always one of the better players, since I played so much as a kid.   I really enjoyed playing and sharing the experience with my dad and brother.  Every kid in the world needs someone to look up to and learn from.  When children grow up and don’t have good parental guidance they may end up doing bad things and may make bad decisions. Having someone to show you the ropes is a very important thing.  Sharing a passion for something with your parent is a special thing only some kids have in life.  

My Dad takes a team from Philadelphia to play pond hockey in a tournament in Canada every year.  I have been going with him since I was 10 years old.  My brother goes to university in Canada now, so it is a chance for us to get together and have fun.  There is usually 3 feet of snow – and it was 28 below zero last year.  At the tournament my brother and I skate and play pond hockey with people from all over North America.  It is an absolute blast.  We play, we talk about it. We play, we talk about it some more.  You realize that it is not playing the games so much as sharing the experience together that makes it great.

Matthew Willson

10/2/14

Como Es SLA

Me llamo Mateo, tengo quince anos. Soy en 9 grado en el Science Leadership Academy.(SLA) SLA es divertidos y muy desafiante. SLA tiene 500 estudiantes y Muchos profesores. SLA tiene 4 pisos. En SLA nosotros tenemos muchos actividades. SLA tiene fútbol, baloncesto, voleibol, béisbol y disco volador. Me gusta practicar fútbol.

Mi clases son espanol, ingeniería, bioquímica, matemáticas, inglés, historia, drama, y tecnología. mi clase favorita es ingles, ingles es divertidos y bobo. En Inglés Leemos libros. No me gusta drama, no me gusta actuar. En drama nosotros tener que realizar parodias.

Mi favorito profesor es la Señorita Dunn. La Señorita Dunn enseña inglés, ella es mi advisor. La Señorita Dunn es muy divertidos y inteligente. la Señorita Dunn le gusta conversation profunda. La Señorita Dunn’s clase es divertidos. La Señorita Dunn es un muy bien profesor. La Señorita Jonas ensana Africano Americano historia. La Señorita Jonas es alto y muy agradable. La Señorita Jonas le gusta historia. Africano Americano historia es muy relajado y divertidos. La Señorita Jonas es muy bien profesor, ells es muy inteligente. El Señor Kay enseña inglés. El Señor Kay es muy cómica y bobo. El Señor Kay es corto y diportista. El Señor Kay le gusta poezia y baloncesto. Inglés es muy desafiante y muy divertidos. El Señor Kay es muy bien profesor. El Señor Vk ensana ingeniería. El Señor Vk es alto, muy inteligente y cómica. El Señor Vk le gusta futbol y ingeniería. Ingeniería es muy divertidos y desafiante. El Señor Vk es muy bien profesor.