Patton Vs. the VictorsEssay Preview: Patton Vs. the VictorsReport this essayPatton and The Victors have both taught me more than I previously knew about World War II. Coming into this class, I really did not know much about the war. Everything I have learned about war was enough to hold a decent conversation. I am anti-war so getting into the book and movie was extremely hard for me. I do not think fighting is the solution to problems, but I also know sometimes war is what needs to be done. Though the book and movie were best sellers and academy award winners, they were pretty graphic for me. Graphic is not always negative, but reading and seeing people get shot and murdered is not quite what I prefer to imagine.
The Victors includes stories of individual battles, acts of courage and suffering, and explanation of the opening hours of D-Day. I learned more about bravery from these soldiers than I have in my own life. Their strength and will to fight harder as time passed was very inspiring. Every battle these soldiers fought gave them more and more confidence each day. These acts were very admirable. The way they continue each day even though it could have been their last. I do not think I could ever fight in a war for more than a day and the way these soldiers kept fighting made me open my eyes and realize how courageous a person can be.
The movie, Patton, was very informational also. This movie was very graphic to see. Every scene seemed to be more and more realistic. I was very naive to the fact of how gory war is, and this movie really made me see what it was like to be in a war. In the movie, the soldiers were very dedicated to fighting well. They showed me how dedication can really make you grow stronger as a person. Patton was a harsh, cruel man but yet an admirable war hero. Patton may have seemed uncaring but he cared about his troops. At times he was nasty, but he was in the Army because he loved it, not to make friends. His actions seemed a little callous, for instance when he slapped an enlisted man, but he had to do what needed to be done to fight and win.
The knowledge I obtained from The Victors I remember more than what I saw in the movie, Patton; therefore, I believe I learned more from The Victors. The book follows events of the war from D-Day through the final days when allied soldiers pushed German troops out of France, chased them across Germany and destroyed the Nazi Regime. The book taught me a lot about D-Day. D-Day was fought on June 6, 1945. I learned that D-Day was fought by kids who grew into men just from fighting in the war. This really made me see that this could have been me or even any of my family or friends and that scared me. Kids my age and even younger were fighting for our country and I thought this was huge. One event about these kids on D-Day really stuck with me. It was when a solider looked at a young kid named Danny Brotheridge and realized that all their training was a waste because it only lasted a matter of seconds and this poor, young kid was dead. He could have been graduating high school or college,
I learned a lot about D-Day. I was shocked to see that all these kids died in vain. They never had to use their time to grow up and develop in their community. They never needed to be scared, especially when the war happened on their day.
Nowadays I am happy to see these kids in my community, but I am also very disappointed with their actions. It shows how little they learned and the fact that their lives were totally ruined. I believe they lost a valuable asset to our country and that this lost asset is still alive and well with the memories of these kids still living.
D-Day War Diary
In January of 1946, one of the students found that his schoolmate had died. I am sure the teacher and his family felt the same when he was able to locate the missing student. This is also a small story that happened that is still haunting me. That was a man I met from the future who loved the fight. This man is in prison where, like all of us who will live through the war, he must fight for his country. As this man was getting older, I realized how much we can do, especially when the war is on our side. When our country is on our side, fighting makes these young soldiers feel like heroes. With the war coming to an end, it is time to come together to be part of this great war. What we must do is go all out and do nothing short of be here tonight. Fight.
Thanks for reading,
Peter B.
* I’m on a trip. I got an email from my school. A friend was doing a seminar on how not to talk to the children who were fighting. He mentioned his experience: D-Day. I tried to read him but he didn’t let me. (He can understand what I’m saying but he didn’t try to give me any insight.) I was in a hurry and when I started looking it up, he showed me the D-Day War Diary. He told me about all the pictures and had given me some tips: First go down any street where civilians are killed. They have little cars. If you know where they are, you can spot them on a street or a highway. If you are near an airfield, look for people moving in or about to move in. Be mindful of that fact and don’t make you stop and look. This could be a safety hazard or a way to have fun after the war or not at all. There is information already available on the WW2 D-Day Diary. The diary and the info on its side shows that the army was losing ground and it was going to suffer more losses. When I read that info, I realized I had read quite a lot. Then I realized I hadn’t read enough about D-Day. I was too ashamed to get my life back together as I spent all day writing and collecting about all the things that I needed to know to make my life a better one. I decided it would be better if I just said what I knew and didn’t believe it. I wanted to send a message about wanting more from my time and life. I’m not a total fan of the D-Day Diary, but this was my chance to get a full understanding of D-Day before I decided to not participate in more “dirty wars”. I realized I had to change and get involved. I read some different books and talked with a lot of people. Now I can be really honest with myself when I read the “good” stuff and not give the same kind of answers to questions like, “When did you say ‘the battle’?” or a quote based on facts, like: “I don’t know,” like soldiers were just killing the enemy just as much. I was