War Opinion Letter | Teen Ink

War Opinion Letter

April 18, 2011
By PaRaNoRmAl627 GOLD, Mountainside, New Jersey
PaRaNoRmAl627 GOLD, Mountainside, New Jersey
15 articles 0 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do what you want. If it's something you'll regret in the morning, sleep late."


My Dearest Darling Evelyn,

I love you so much. More than you can ever even begin to fathom. The day we said our vows was the happiest day of my life. Second only to the day your letter came telling me about the birth of our beautiful daughter Isabella. Seven pounds, eight ounces. I remember. Aren’t you proud of me for remembering? Please be proud, darling. No one is proud of me here. No one is proud of anyone fighting this pointless, pointless war.

Today I saw my first death. It was Adam. Yes, Adam from down the street. Adam from church. Amelia’s husband, Adam. He’s gone, Evelyn. He’s never coming back. God, he was so full of confidence. He thought he was going to be the last one standing. We all believed him too. Why wouldn’t we? He was always so strong. Even on the worst of days, he could find a reason to smile. I’m gonna miss him so much. How will the rest of the platoon get by without him? Why should I even bother going on, Evelyn? If Adam couldn’t make it through this war, none of us will. It’s over for me, baby. I’d rather die on my own terms than be brutally murdered by an enemy who doesn’t even understand why we’re here.

You see sweetheart, they told us at home that if we went into this war, we would come out heroes. They didn’t tell us that we would watch our friends and neighbors be blown to bits by hateful, wicked weapons of unimaginable force. They didn’t tell us that we wouldn’t be able to go home for our mothers’ funerals. No one said that we would be killing innocent people just because they lived in the same barely-habitable village as someone who might be Vietcong. No one told me that mothers would hand me their children strapped with bombs. Think about the look on a child’s face in that instant before the bomb goes off. Think of the desperation of the civilians. It makes me sick to my stomach. I can’t do it anymore, Evelyn. I’m not fighting for America anymore. I’m fighting for my sanity. Darling I haven’t slept in weeks and weeks. The dreams I have aren’t nightmares. They’re night terrors. I wake up screaming, sometimes sobbing, drenched in sweat that I can’t wash away because there’s no lake to bathe in nearby. All of my terrors are soaked in my skin. Even if I could wash them off, where would they go?

And after all that, no one is proud of us. I got a letter from a friend who went on R&R for a few days. He said he got spit on at the airport. Someone threw food at him and yelled obscenities at him. What kind of country do we live in? What kind of world is this, honey? I’ve killed people. There are people who have died; there are families who are in mourning because of a gun that I fired. I went through that mental torture for my ignorant, selfish country. I hope they’re happy. This is the end for me. Tell Isabella that I love her, and I wish I could’ve gotten to meet her. Don’t tell her about the horrors of war. Don’t let her ever find out. Protect my little princess no matter what.

Most importantly, Evelyn, please don’t ever doubt that you are and always were the love of my life. I don’t want to put you through the mental anguish that I’ve gone through when I get home. There’s a condition called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that would keep me from living a normal life after I got home. You have a brand new baby to take care of. You can’t be responsible for me too. I’ll be there looking down on you every single night. I’ll keep you and Bella out of harm’s way. But by the time you get this letter, it’ll be too late. The gun that my dad gave me on our first hunting trip is sitting right on my left. Remember? I had you send it to me because the ones that they gave us were so unreliable. America is also unreliable. But my dad’s gun was always there when I needed it. I love you darling, and I hope you and Isabella live a very happy and fulfilling life. I can’t wait to watch it from heaven.
All my love,
Michael


The author's comments:
This was a piece for English. The assignment was to convey our opinions about war through a form of creative writing. I chose to write a letter from the point of view of a soldier in the Vietnam War.

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This article has 175 comments.


on Jul. 20 2011 at 1:16 pm
PaRaNoRmAl627 GOLD, Mountainside, New Jersey
15 articles 0 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do what you want. If it's something you'll regret in the morning, sleep late."

lol, a huuuge mess :) thanks for reading!

on Jul. 20 2011 at 11:37 am
SecretFlame PLATINUM, Portland, Oregon
20 articles 1 photo 373 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I have a life. I just choose to ignore it."
-one of my friends

This is sooooo amazing! SO sad, SOOOOO moving! I absolutely loved it! I am soooo putting this as one of my favorites, and giving you five stars. Awesome job!

on Jul. 20 2011 at 11:37 am
SweetPolarBearHugs PLATINUM, New York, New York
27 articles 0 photos 75 comments

Favorite Quote:
"All conflict in literature is, in its simplest form, a struggle between good and evil." - unknown author.
"All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream." - Edgar Allan Poe

This was amazing but very sad, it's a great letter

on Jul. 20 2011 at 11:34 am
writeamongthestars BRONZE, Portland, Oregon
4 articles 0 photos 50 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever." - Walt Disney Company

That's sad! But it's true that that war was a big mess. This is really good. :)

on Jul. 20 2011 at 10:50 am
PaRaNoRmAl627 GOLD, Mountainside, New Jersey
15 articles 0 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do what you want. If it's something you'll regret in the morning, sleep late."

thank youu! :D

on Jul. 19 2011 at 8:31 am
Love it! :)

on Jul. 18 2011 at 10:26 pm
PaRaNoRmAl627 GOLD, Mountainside, New Jersey
15 articles 0 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do what you want. If it's something you'll regret in the morning, sleep late."

thank you so muchh! glad you enjoyed itt :)

on Jul. 18 2011 at 10:17 pm
whitstar27 GOLD, Edison, New Jersey
15 articles 0 photos 38 comments

Favorite Quote:
when life gives you lemons, make grape juice. Then step back and let the world wonder how you did it
and
when life gives you lemon, throw them back at life

This kind of felt realistic. It conveyed so much emotion. I enjoyed the second paragraph.

on Jul. 18 2011 at 3:02 pm
PaRaNoRmAl627 GOLD, Mountainside, New Jersey
15 articles 0 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do what you want. If it's something you'll regret in the morning, sleep late."

thats okk :) thanks for readingg, I'm glad you enjoyed itt!

on Jul. 18 2011 at 12:55 pm
Hippiealien SILVER, Fair Oaks, California
7 articles 5 photos 43 comments

Favorite Quote:
A Idea and a number 2 pencil can take you anywhere.

whoa,i don't know what to say but this was amazing! Really sad but a great piece overall! :)

on Jul. 17 2011 at 7:55 pm
PaRaNoRmAl627 GOLD, Mountainside, New Jersey
15 articles 0 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do what you want. If it's something you'll regret in the morning, sleep late."

yeah there were definitely a couple of lines that didnt flow right. but im glad you liked it overall :) thanks for reading! can't wait to read some of your pieces :)

on Jul. 17 2011 at 7:33 pm
Bushra Ghaniwala BRONZE, Oakbrook, Illinois
2 articles 0 photos 14 comments
For a second after I read it, I said 'wow' to myself. Great job man. There were a few points here and there which didn't going with the flow because its supposed to be a bit emotional, but other than that, good read!

on Jul. 17 2011 at 2:48 pm
PaRaNoRmAl627 GOLD, Mountainside, New Jersey
15 articles 0 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do what you want. If it's something you'll regret in the morning, sleep late."

thank you!

on Jul. 14 2011 at 2:03 pm
Tongue_Blep PLATINUM, ????, Ohio
40 articles 1 photo 769 comments
It was an awesome story!!! Great job! i just wrote two stories called nightstalker and the beast. If any of u read them please post comments if u liked them or not or if i should change anything. Thanks! :D

on Jul. 13 2011 at 7:33 pm
PaRaNoRmAl627 GOLD, Mountainside, New Jersey
15 articles 0 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do what you want. If it's something you'll regret in the morning, sleep late."

of course! i loved your piecess! and by the way, your comment put me in second place for most discussed in historical fiction, so thank youu! :D

on Jul. 13 2011 at 6:58 pm
Anytime. I would like to say thank you for your comment on my piece "Clover". Though 100 pieces is a bit much for one to read, I do hope that you enjoy reading my work as much as I enjoy reading yours! ^^

on Jul. 13 2011 at 6:26 pm
PaRaNoRmAl627 GOLD, Mountainside, New Jersey
15 articles 0 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do what you want. If it's something you'll regret in the morning, sleep late."

ok i asked my mom about the vietcong/viet cong thing and she said that it was derived from two words so it could probably go either way. i dont know if she was just trying to appease both sides or if thats actually truee, but i think that makes sense :) again, thank you for reading and for all the super nice things you said on all of my pieces; it was really nice of youu :)

on Jul. 13 2011 at 6:22 pm
PaRaNoRmAl627 GOLD, Mountainside, New Jersey
15 articles 0 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do what you want. If it's something you'll regret in the morning, sleep late."

lol well someone else just said that viet cong was two words so now i guess we're even :P 

on Jul. 12 2011 at 10:05 pm
That was absolutely beautiful. Though unlike most I don't get sentimental when reading work, I do appreciate the historical accuracy, tone, and word choice in this. Also, I'm pretty sure someone else said this already, but it's Viet Cong.

on Jul. 4 2011 at 9:13 pm
PaRaNoRmAl627 GOLD, Mountainside, New Jersey
15 articles 0 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do what you want. If it's something you'll regret in the morning, sleep late."

thank youuu!