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 May. 23 2011 at 2:41 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."

thanks so mcuhh! just to be clear thoughh, which parts do you think sounded upbeat?

on May. 22 2011 at 10:45 pm
taylorf463 GOLD, Marion, Kentucky
13 articles 0 photos 152 comments

Favorite Quote:
If he'll lie for you, he'll lie to you.

An ending was an ending. No matter how many pages of sentences and paragraphs of great stories let up to it, it would always had the last word.

That was great. For real. I loved it. It had such emotional impact. It's like you were standing next to him, watching him write but unable to do anything. You saw this poor man's thoughts and emotions but were stuck in place. Your ability to put emotion in words is excellent. Although at some points he seemed too upbeat for what it's about. Maybe it was sentence structure, I don't know. But I'll try and give this piece six stars even though I don't think it'll work! Haha! Great, great job! :)

on May. 19 2011 at 5:34 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 youu! sorry about the tearss :P

Keeper6 GOLD said...
on May. 19 2011 at 3:59 pm
Keeper6 GOLD, Buffalo, Minnesota
16 articles 0 photos 39 comments

Favorite Quote:
Giving up doesn't always mean you are weak, sometimes it just means you are strong enough to let go.

I'm crying! :( that was amazing! i really got into it and that's why im now crying! good job!

on May. 18 2011 at 9:07 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."

made my daayy :) thank you so muchh

on May. 18 2011 at 3:14 pm
BookFreak14 BRONZE, Grand Prairie, Texas
4 articles 1 photo 50 comments

Favorite Quote:
" We didn't invent the Chicken, just the Chicken Sandwich."--- Chick-Fil-A

That was BEAUTIFUL!

You are an AMAZING! Writer

I can't wait to read more of your work!


on May. 17 2011 at 7:08 pm
its great that it had an effect on you, thanks so much for reading and for the complimentt :)

on May. 17 2011 at 4:23 pm
Tyler_Tyger BRONZE, Victoria, Other
3 articles 3 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
Life without a friend, is like death without a witness.

i just wanna say it is sooo AMAZING! it totally changed my views on war and what it must be like to be a soldier. it is very realistic and all together outstanding! Marvelous!

on May. 15 2011 at 7:28 pm
yupp thats what happenss :) thanks for readingg!

on May. 15 2011 at 9:23 am
bookworm29 PLATINUM, Rockville, Maryland
28 articles 2 photos 61 comments
I like it because it's practically a full story in one letter. He explains why he went to war, why hated it there and why he's gonna kill himself (That's what happens right?)

on May. 14 2011 at 10:17 am
thankyouthankyouthankyouu!

on May. 12 2011 at 8:18 pm
Wonderment DIAMOND, Scranton, Pennsylvania
75 articles 0 photos 141 comments
This is so deep. I felt like I acually got into the head of micheal.You really knew the character. Two thumbs up! :)

on May. 12 2011 at 3:40 pm
yaayy glad you liked itt :D

on May. 12 2011 at 2:39 pm
TheBananaKing SILVER, Convoy, Ohio
6 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me.-???

Wow. All I can say. I'm honstly speachless right now. I feel the same way about america in such a manner as Micheal. This was very well written and originazed well. I have to say I loved it.

on May. 11 2011 at 5:54 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."

thanks so muchh! :)

on May. 10 2011 at 9:25 pm
IncorrectlyWired GOLD, Milford, Virginia
16 articles 0 photos 57 comments

Favorite Quote:
"No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness." - Aristotle

Darn it... that was sad. It was amazingly beautiful, but it was sad. It all flowed really well; there was nothing out of place. I didn't realize at first that it was a suicide note, so that ending came as a surprise. IT sounded like the final words of a broken man to the woman he loved. Really well done.

on May. 9 2011 at 2:18 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."

thaankss!!

on May. 9 2011 at 4:36 am
Garnet77 PLATINUM, Sinagpore, Other
31 articles 6 photos 577 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Everything's a triangle." ~ My mother

"Write what you love, write what you care about, because sometimes, it's the easiest way to be heard."

I really liked this! I thought you wrote it perfectly! It was sad yet inspiring. Good job! :)

on May. 8 2011 at 3:15 pm
yaayy thankk youu :) And about the gun bit, we had someone's uncle come speak to our class because he was a Vietnam veteran, and they said that the postal service was very lax about what came through the mail to soldiers. He told us that almost every soldier that he knew had a backup pistol with him because the ones that the government supplied were basically cr*p lol. anyway, I'm soo glad you enjoyed the piecee. Thanks for readingg :)

on May. 8 2011 at 2:44 pm
RainyWriter GOLD, Redmond, Washington
14 articles 0 photos 41 comments

Favorite Quote:
Only the smart, talented, amazing, and insane are remembered in history.

 You must've gotten an A+++++++++ for this! The bit about the gun seemed a little unrealistic (the fact that it was sent to him anyway, not sure how'd that fly through security), but I understood why you tried to incorporate it. I loved the descriptions, it brought a realistic side to all the charming romance. We're learning about Vietnam in my history class too. I hate how they were treated the way they were when they returned. The troops did not decide to start a war, the government did. I thought you represented that very well. The entire piece, as a whole, is fantastic.