Poetic project
What we did for this project was we had to write a poem about war, peace, power , truth, and violence. Then we had recite it in front of a audience.
Fire Breather
I signed up for the respect
When I was leaving, man, the flowers thrown at me!
I felt pride for what I was doing
Fighting for Freedom and justice for all
When I was put out into the field
A trench in the middle of nowhere
It was my first night when it started to change
We all ran out
Pinned ourselves against anything that would protect us
I looked up
I saw explosions
Dirt, men, and bullets flung through the air
Then the first shell hit us
Oh God, the dust everywhere and thick as blood
After it settled, I look up and saw an army of people coming at us like flies on stink
They started to fire at us
It looked like a black wall of gun powder
Coming out of its red fire from the bullets’ heat
My comrade poked his head up, but it was too far up
One bullet, right between the eyes
He fell over like a piece of rolled up salami
Before I realized that he was dead, I saw men doing the same thing that he was doing
Firing back
Firing back
So I stuck my head up and shot franticly at the mob
When I crouched down to reload, I saw my own men getting exterminate like rat with poisen
Until the last time I stuck my head up and looked around
I saw that no one was alive on either side
I walked through the dead men of my side
I went to an open field
I pointed two guns at my eyes and pulled the trigger
You might ask why I did that
Because I would not have to see what war has turned into
If I had not done that I would have been a war hero
But think about this,
Is it better to live through war and be remembered for nothing
Or lay your life down
Knowing that the respect was for nothing
When I was leaving, man, the flowers thrown at me!
I felt pride for what I was doing
Fighting for Freedom and justice for all
When I was put out into the field
A trench in the middle of nowhere
It was my first night when it started to change
We all ran out
Pinned ourselves against anything that would protect us
I looked up
I saw explosions
Dirt, men, and bullets flung through the air
Then the first shell hit us
Oh God, the dust everywhere and thick as blood
After it settled, I look up and saw an army of people coming at us like flies on stink
They started to fire at us
It looked like a black wall of gun powder
Coming out of its red fire from the bullets’ heat
My comrade poked his head up, but it was too far up
One bullet, right between the eyes
He fell over like a piece of rolled up salami
Before I realized that he was dead, I saw men doing the same thing that he was doing
Firing back
Firing back
So I stuck my head up and shot franticly at the mob
When I crouched down to reload, I saw my own men getting exterminate like rat with poisen
Until the last time I stuck my head up and looked around
I saw that no one was alive on either side
I walked through the dead men of my side
I went to an open field
I pointed two guns at my eyes and pulled the trigger
You might ask why I did that
Because I would not have to see what war has turned into
If I had not done that I would have been a war hero
But think about this,
Is it better to live through war and be remembered for nothing
Or lay your life down
Knowing that the respect was for nothing
My perspective as a writer during this project has grown in detail and refinement from my first draft to my final draft. An example from the first draft is, “I pointed two guns at my eyes and fired, You might ask why I did that is because I would not have to see what war has turned into.” Here in an example from my last poem “I pointed two guns at my eyes and pulled the trigger, You might ask why I did that, Because I would not have to see what war has turned into, If I had not done that I would have been a war hero, But think about this, Is it better to live through war and be remembered for nothing, Or lay your life down, Knowing that the respect was for nothing.” This shows the differences between the first and the last draft of my poem, since my ideas are laid out more clearly and there is better detail about the soldier’s experience.
The biggest refinement from the first draft to the final draft was developing a better order and flow. At the beginning everything was everywhere. Some phrases were in odd spots and or did not belong at all. I improved this by having people read over it several times. By having people read it they told me what I should change and I did that but I kept what I felt needed to stay. One major thing that I changed in my poem was from present to past tense and I also added more detail to some of the lines. “You might ask why I did that is because I would not have to see what war has turned into.” This needed to be improved because it did not have the detail that I wanted for the ending. For the final draft I wrote, “You might ask why I did that, Because I would not have to see what war has turned into, If I had not done that I would have been a war hero, But think about this, Is it better to live through war and be remembered for nothing, Or lay your life down, Knowing that the respect was for nothing.” This improved the poem by adding more insight to the soldier’s life and how he is feeling.
The biggest refinement from the first draft to the final draft was developing a better order and flow. At the beginning everything was everywhere. Some phrases were in odd spots and or did not belong at all. I improved this by having people read over it several times. By having people read it they told me what I should change and I did that but I kept what I felt needed to stay. One major thing that I changed in my poem was from present to past tense and I also added more detail to some of the lines. “You might ask why I did that is because I would not have to see what war has turned into.” This needed to be improved because it did not have the detail that I wanted for the ending. For the final draft I wrote, “You might ask why I did that, Because I would not have to see what war has turned into, If I had not done that I would have been a war hero, But think about this, Is it better to live through war and be remembered for nothing, Or lay your life down, Knowing that the respect was for nothing.” This improved the poem by adding more insight to the soldier’s life and how he is feeling.
Globalization project
Project description
What we had to do for this project was research about something that is Globalization and write an op-ed paper. What is an op-ed you might ask, well it is an opinian based paper
Learning
I learned that video games bild perseverance
Cartoon
What your looking at is my poster that goes with my op-ed at it means is globalization through video games.
Op-ed
My op-ed is an opinionated base paper and what I wrote about is globalization through video games.
My Op-ed
Ben Clark
Video Games Globalize
Video games allow me to connect with people locally and far away. For example you can interact with people who are all the way from Australia without leaving your home. While some people believe that playing video games is not a social activity, video games are actually a way to play with people from all over the world and learn about different cultures. For that reason they are positive force in the globalization of technology.
The world’s largest MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) is World of Warcraft. It had about 7.7 million accounts (number of individual players) in 2013 (Karmali, 1). ”Games like World of Warcraft…[are] really the ideal collaborative problem-solving environment.” “There always something specific to be done , and there are tons of collaborators, everywhere you go, hundreds of thousands of people ready to work with you to achieve anything.” (McGonigal, TED Talk)
Examples of MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) are 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate), CMSG (Construction and Management Simulation game), CRPG (Console Role-Playing Game), FPS (First Person Shooter), MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online), MMOFPS (Massively Multiplayer Online First-Person Shooter), MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game), MOO (Multi-User Domain - Object Oriented), MORPG (Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) MUD (Multi User Domain), RPG (Role Playing Game), RTS (Real-Time Strategy), RTT (Real-Time Tactics) SHMUP (SHoot 'eM UP), TBS (Turn Based Strategy) TBT (Turn-Based Tactics) TPS (Third Person Shooter). Various combinations of these acronyms are used in games, for example, a game can be RTT with FPS or any other combination.
When people play video games they build perseverance. In her TED talk, “Gaming Can Make a Better World,” Jane McGonigal states, “When we're in game worlds I believe that many of us become the best version of ourselves… The most likely to stick with a problem as long as it takes, to get up after failure and again.” (McGonigal, TED Talk) People who play video games build perseverance and the people who don’t have a harder time building it. How I have built perseverance is by playing MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) and SHMUP (SHoot 'eM UP) because because people act differently and you have to do different things to not get yourself killed. I have gotten better with perseverance throughout the years. The best example of perseverance for me is working at school because I have a disability, which I have to perseve through school work. Video games help me to think logically about what I do in school. With me playing video games it has also helped me with my reading by making me use different tactics to read the article.
I have two friends from two different countries. One is from Sweden and we played Counter Strike Source MMOFPS (Massively Multiplayer Online First-Person Shooter) and we had a competition where we tried to kill each other. It was fun because not only were we will match, tell about how we were going to kill each other we. He was friendly and he would tell me a little bit about Sweden, I learned a little bit about Sweden and everything that it has to offer. My other friend is from Australia and we play Payday the Heist FPS (First Person Shooter). Since these games are both FPS (First Person Shooter) you can play with people from different countries from your own living room,which is a lot of fun. I have not gotten to know not that well, but I would like to know is what is it like over there? Because we play video game s together I can ask anything and they will describe it to me
Here are some statistics that tell you how gaming is social. “ Many gamers are now not playing alone, in fact, only 24% of gamers only play games alone, which means 76% plays games with other people at least some of the time. Since video games can now be connected to the internet, more people can connect with users of the same game and create a social atmosphere. This can occur in video games where you must work with a team to achieve your goals, or in games where the gameplay is more one-on-one, like playing Madden or FIFA. However, this social atmosphere does not end with the console. The Pew Study found that people that play video games are more civically active than people that don’t play video games. People that in the same room are more likely to take party in a larger experiences outside the game.”
At the start of this project I found is that people think that videogames are antisocial. But hopefully I have proved that video game aren't antisocial and that they are very social. They are social by video letting player play game, and interact with other people from other countries. Video games allow connection and collaborate with people near and far.
Video Games Globalize
Video games allow me to connect with people locally and far away. For example you can interact with people who are all the way from Australia without leaving your home. While some people believe that playing video games is not a social activity, video games are actually a way to play with people from all over the world and learn about different cultures. For that reason they are positive force in the globalization of technology.
The world’s largest MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) is World of Warcraft. It had about 7.7 million accounts (number of individual players) in 2013 (Karmali, 1). ”Games like World of Warcraft…[are] really the ideal collaborative problem-solving environment.” “There always something specific to be done , and there are tons of collaborators, everywhere you go, hundreds of thousands of people ready to work with you to achieve anything.” (McGonigal, TED Talk)
Examples of MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) are 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate), CMSG (Construction and Management Simulation game), CRPG (Console Role-Playing Game), FPS (First Person Shooter), MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online), MMOFPS (Massively Multiplayer Online First-Person Shooter), MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game), MOO (Multi-User Domain - Object Oriented), MORPG (Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) MUD (Multi User Domain), RPG (Role Playing Game), RTS (Real-Time Strategy), RTT (Real-Time Tactics) SHMUP (SHoot 'eM UP), TBS (Turn Based Strategy) TBT (Turn-Based Tactics) TPS (Third Person Shooter). Various combinations of these acronyms are used in games, for example, a game can be RTT with FPS or any other combination.
When people play video games they build perseverance. In her TED talk, “Gaming Can Make a Better World,” Jane McGonigal states, “When we're in game worlds I believe that many of us become the best version of ourselves… The most likely to stick with a problem as long as it takes, to get up after failure and again.” (McGonigal, TED Talk) People who play video games build perseverance and the people who don’t have a harder time building it. How I have built perseverance is by playing MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) and SHMUP (SHoot 'eM UP) because because people act differently and you have to do different things to not get yourself killed. I have gotten better with perseverance throughout the years. The best example of perseverance for me is working at school because I have a disability, which I have to perseve through school work. Video games help me to think logically about what I do in school. With me playing video games it has also helped me with my reading by making me use different tactics to read the article.
I have two friends from two different countries. One is from Sweden and we played Counter Strike Source MMOFPS (Massively Multiplayer Online First-Person Shooter) and we had a competition where we tried to kill each other. It was fun because not only were we will match, tell about how we were going to kill each other we. He was friendly and he would tell me a little bit about Sweden, I learned a little bit about Sweden and everything that it has to offer. My other friend is from Australia and we play Payday the Heist FPS (First Person Shooter). Since these games are both FPS (First Person Shooter) you can play with people from different countries from your own living room,which is a lot of fun. I have not gotten to know not that well, but I would like to know is what is it like over there? Because we play video game s together I can ask anything and they will describe it to me
Here are some statistics that tell you how gaming is social. “ Many gamers are now not playing alone, in fact, only 24% of gamers only play games alone, which means 76% plays games with other people at least some of the time. Since video games can now be connected to the internet, more people can connect with users of the same game and create a social atmosphere. This can occur in video games where you must work with a team to achieve your goals, or in games where the gameplay is more one-on-one, like playing Madden or FIFA. However, this social atmosphere does not end with the console. The Pew Study found that people that play video games are more civically active than people that don’t play video games. People that in the same room are more likely to take party in a larger experiences outside the game.”
At the start of this project I found is that people think that videogames are antisocial. But hopefully I have proved that video game aren't antisocial and that they are very social. They are social by video letting player play game, and interact with other people from other countries. Video games allow connection and collaborate with people near and far.
Vietnam project
Gulf of Tonkin
Ben Clark
On August 2, 1964, the U.S.S. Maddox was attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin. On August 7, 1964 the United States started to send troops over in mass quantities to Vietnam. Even though the United States says that the attack was unprovoked, the United States gave North Vietnam a reason to attack us by such activities as destroying bridges and roads.
The United States was in Vietnam to try to stop the spread of communism and to protect Southeast Asia’s freedom. The thought was that the Vietnamese attack on the U.S.S. Maddox was unprovoked. “United States is assisting the people of Southeast Asia to protect their freedom” (Document #1) “In each land the forces of independence would be considerably weakened, and Asia so threatened by Communist domination would certainly imperil the security of the United States itself” (Document #5). The United States was only trying to stop communism from going into South East Asia. The United States was going to do anything to try and to stop communism.
The United States was using force and violence in Vietnam to stop the spread of Communism and Vietnam retaliated by attacking the U.S.S. Maddox. In a private conversation between president Johnson and Robert Anderson, the President was giving evidence of the administration trying to cover up the truth: “There have been some covert operations in that area (Vietnam) that we have been carrying on- blowing up some bridges and things of that kind, roads and so forth. So I imagine they wanted to put a stop to it. So they fired and we responded immediately with five-inch artillery shells” (Document #3). Cables from Captain Herrick suggest that the attack may have not actually happened and that the US just wanted to fight for a suspected attack on the U.S.S Maddox. “The first boat to close the Maddox probably launched a torpedo at the Maddox which was heard but not seen. All subsequent Maddox torpedo reports are doubtful in that it is suspected that the sonarman was hearing the ship’s own propeller beat” (Document #7). The US was trying to stop Communism coming down from North Vietnam, but the North Vietnamese did not want the United States destroying their land. The US should have not been trying to stop Communism by destroying North Vietnam’s land. What the US should have done is taken a better way to prevent Communism from going into Southeast Asia by talking to the leader of North Vietnam to see what he wants for the situation.
Ben Clark
On August 2, 1964, the U.S.S. Maddox was attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin. On August 7, 1964 the United States started to send troops over in mass quantities to Vietnam. Even though the United States says that the attack was unprovoked, the United States gave North Vietnam a reason to attack us by such activities as destroying bridges and roads.
The United States was in Vietnam to try to stop the spread of communism and to protect Southeast Asia’s freedom. The thought was that the Vietnamese attack on the U.S.S. Maddox was unprovoked. “United States is assisting the people of Southeast Asia to protect their freedom” (Document #1) “In each land the forces of independence would be considerably weakened, and Asia so threatened by Communist domination would certainly imperil the security of the United States itself” (Document #5). The United States was only trying to stop communism from going into South East Asia. The United States was going to do anything to try and to stop communism.
The United States was using force and violence in Vietnam to stop the spread of Communism and Vietnam retaliated by attacking the U.S.S. Maddox. In a private conversation between president Johnson and Robert Anderson, the President was giving evidence of the administration trying to cover up the truth: “There have been some covert operations in that area (Vietnam) that we have been carrying on- blowing up some bridges and things of that kind, roads and so forth. So I imagine they wanted to put a stop to it. So they fired and we responded immediately with five-inch artillery shells” (Document #3). Cables from Captain Herrick suggest that the attack may have not actually happened and that the US just wanted to fight for a suspected attack on the U.S.S Maddox. “The first boat to close the Maddox probably launched a torpedo at the Maddox which was heard but not seen. All subsequent Maddox torpedo reports are doubtful in that it is suspected that the sonarman was hearing the ship’s own propeller beat” (Document #7). The US was trying to stop Communism coming down from North Vietnam, but the North Vietnamese did not want the United States destroying their land. The US should have not been trying to stop Communism by destroying North Vietnam’s land. What the US should have done is taken a better way to prevent Communism from going into Southeast Asia by talking to the leader of North Vietnam to see what he wants for the situation.
The video that you are going to watch is about veterans stories that fought in vietnam
The story is about how how the US got involved into the Vietnam war
We are reading a book called "The thing they Carried" By Tim 0'Brien
WW1 Creative Historians project
Short Story "To Be Dead or Not To Be Dead"
The season is fall and the air is starting to get brisk the leaves are starting to change color and it smells like syrup in the town of Saint Jean Pied De Port, France. In the train station people are leaving to go into Paris to get away from the coast the town people are afraid that they will be attacked by enemy ships. In the crowd there are eight French soldiers that are dressed in uniform going to the Western Front of the country.
In the station the loadmaster accepts all of the tickets from all of the men that are going to the front. It is in the morning and no time has passed. What the train station looks like is one rail that goes through the whole station. There is a clock over the tracks and the walls do not exist just beams that are holding up the roof. The roof looks like it is going to fall down and the floor is just a wooden platform. The whole station smells like wet wood and smoke from cigars and the train.
We wait an hour for the train. We wait two hours nothing came, three hours later I could see the train puttering into the station. It stopped and the first people to get on were the elderly, then the children, next us and last everyone else that could fit in the train. Luckily, we could fit everyone on and then we were off.
After a five hour train ride we get to the Paris train station. It has eight clocks, one in the middle of each platform, the walls are all metal and the floor is brick. There are sixteen tracks that go through the station. The next train that we have to get on is right next to the train that we left so we don’t have to go and find it. When we get on the train we see that there are men in every nook and cranny. It smells like cigarettes because everyone is smoking one. We wait for a half an hour until we move. The train ride will be long.
What woke us all up after one day of being on the train was the train making a sudden stop which jolts everyone forward off of their seats onto the floor. There was a guy dressed in a navy blue train uniform who was yelling “Get off my train while you are still alive and while I am”. “Leave leave be gone.” Dash and Acel both say to everyone at the same time “The line has ended, it was a blind corner he could not see the barrier coming.”
After an hour we finally found the places where we are going to sleep for the next few days. It was nothing at all it was all rubble from all of the shell bombardment. In the middle of the rubble sat an abandoned tank.
We slept in the tank because it was so cold outside. All eight of us slept in our assigned operating positions inside the tank. Major David is the commanding officer of tanks 244, 360 and 163 he is in tank 244, and is the father of Sergeant Adrian. Sergeant Adrian is the main engineer of tank 163 the oldest tank, and he is about to have a kid. Edward is the forward driver for tank 244 and his wife is 4 months pregnant. Geoff is the forward gunner in tank 360 the newest tank and is the cousin to Edward. Dash is left gunner and his twin brother Acel is the right gunner and are David’s sister’s sons and are in tank 244. Durango is the forward gunner and the main gunner for tank 244. He signed up for the war because his whole family died from German shell bombardment. Frankie is the rear gunner and driver tank in 244 and brother to Edward. Gaston everyone calls him Gas because he is the main engineer for tank 244.
A few days have passed and nothing has happened we are still waiting for are tanks to come in, so we can use them for battle. General Odo comes up to Major David and his unit and says “Your tank 244, 360 and 163 has come in so go get them.” I go to the tank, as Major I think I should be the first one to look at them. I tell General Odo that I did not order that old piece of metal that is all rusted. General Odo says “Did you order tanks 244, 360 and 163?”
I say “Yes.”
General Odo says, “Well that pile of metal is tank 163. It has been loved very much. It is the oldest tank that we have. You get no more tanks. You will love it as much as those guy did before you, ok.”
I yell to Edward saying “Get your ass over here now! You got to drive tanks off of the train cars ok.” Edward comes over in no time at all. He hops in to tank 163. He tries to start it four times and it won’t start. I yell to Gas to get over here. He takes a little longer than Edward to get over here. He gets in and pulls a wire and the tank starts right up. “Do that to all of the tanks,” I demanded to Edward and Gas. “Bring all of the tanks to the place that we are sleeping.”
After a few hours all of the tanks are unloaded and moved to the place that we are sleeping. Then we waited for our time to go to the Western Front and it came after another few hours when General Odo said “You’re going out. Here is the rest of your men.” The only people that know their names are Sergeant Adrian for tank 163 and Sergeant Geoff of tank 360.
We drive the tank for a few hours, it feels ten to twenty but we finally make it. Edward sees first corpses and limbs everywhere but we could not smell anything because of the engine burning fuel we are thankful for that. Ten minutes later we get to the Front and the first one to greet us is General Rene who says “When you’re ready go get them and get to the bridges for each of your tanks so it is easier to get over the trenches ok.” To get ready, we stock up on food, ammunition, and medical supplies.
We all say our prayers then we attack on September 15 1916. Ever one is at their posts in tank 244. After a few minutes shell bombardment starts and the dirt turns into mud. After a few more minutes, tank 360 is hit and explodes next tank. The tank 163 Sergeant Adrian’s tank caught fire from the engine being it is so old. Flames are going out of all the openings in the tank. No one could have survived in any of the tanks but we still push on. Sergeant Adrian is dead.
We get to the middle of no man’s land. It takes us a few minutes to get here and we can see the trenches of the Germans. We get stuck and we try to move the tank but it only makes it worse by making the tank dig itself a hole where its treads are so that we can’t move at all. Sell from every gun that the Germans have are aimed at us and firing at us. We try to get them back, but with our main gun useless all we have to get them are the rifle that we have and that does nothing to them. We hear a cling clang on the roof Durango yells “Grenade.” We all hit the deck, it rolls of and blows the left track off. Dash says “Now we are not going anywhere for sure now. We have no track at all.”
After an hour or two Frankie grabs a rifle and runs out of the tank trips on what looks like a log and falls over. He gets right back up and tries to back to the French line but gets gunned down by a plane right in is tracks.
When it starts to turn to night the gun firing dies down and so do we. But before we lie down we seal up the tank, then we got to sleep.
The fighting goes on for one more day. On the second day we hear a boooom zinnnng go by the tank so we go to battle postions. I hear another boooom zinnnng that followed by a boom, we are thrown down to the floor I see smoke. I walk to the tank seeing if everyone is all right, I get to the front. I get to where Acel is I see a hole I taste blood, metal and gasoline everywhere but no Acel. I go up jest a little farther, I see Edward on the ground bleeding from his gut. I run to the back of the tank and get the med kit and run back to Edward. One of the men say “It is too late, you could have done nothing about. The wound was to deep.”
I go to the back of the tank to morn for my son and stepson. I do that for an hour. I feel it with all the men that they are trying to help me cop with the losses but I keep it down and do not tell any of the men how I feel.” What we do for the rest of the day is try and fix the hole in the tank.
The next day Durango is gone. He is nowhere to be seen anywhere in the tank or out of the tank so what we all believe is that he made it all of the why back to the French line. I can feel it with all of the men they all want to go home. They don’t want to be hear and neither do I.
It has been the same for about a week. Every day we wake up to gun fire. We eat during gun fire, we go to sleep to gun fire. A few grenades thrown at us we rented fire and still not doing anything to them and they are not doing anything to us. No one is getting out of the trenches to get us. We think that they are too scared or they have no men to spare. Ether way we will die it is gest ammeter of time before our time is up.
One week has passed I think I let the men sleep in and get up when they feel like it. Around ten everyone gets up, we all eat, and go to our positions. Around one o’clock we hear a rumble and engines as loud as can be. We all look around the Germans line but see no such thing as tanks or airplanes. Than we all look back to the French line and we see tanks and airplanes and we all are like. “Thank god Durango as come through for us.”
After a few hours of battering the Germans line they came after us to get us out of no man’s land and to bring us home to be with our families and to be on leave for a month or two. What we do first is mourn the lost, and then we go home and never look back to this week at all.
In the station the loadmaster accepts all of the tickets from all of the men that are going to the front. It is in the morning and no time has passed. What the train station looks like is one rail that goes through the whole station. There is a clock over the tracks and the walls do not exist just beams that are holding up the roof. The roof looks like it is going to fall down and the floor is just a wooden platform. The whole station smells like wet wood and smoke from cigars and the train.
We wait an hour for the train. We wait two hours nothing came, three hours later I could see the train puttering into the station. It stopped and the first people to get on were the elderly, then the children, next us and last everyone else that could fit in the train. Luckily, we could fit everyone on and then we were off.
After a five hour train ride we get to the Paris train station. It has eight clocks, one in the middle of each platform, the walls are all metal and the floor is brick. There are sixteen tracks that go through the station. The next train that we have to get on is right next to the train that we left so we don’t have to go and find it. When we get on the train we see that there are men in every nook and cranny. It smells like cigarettes because everyone is smoking one. We wait for a half an hour until we move. The train ride will be long.
What woke us all up after one day of being on the train was the train making a sudden stop which jolts everyone forward off of their seats onto the floor. There was a guy dressed in a navy blue train uniform who was yelling “Get off my train while you are still alive and while I am”. “Leave leave be gone.” Dash and Acel both say to everyone at the same time “The line has ended, it was a blind corner he could not see the barrier coming.”
After an hour we finally found the places where we are going to sleep for the next few days. It was nothing at all it was all rubble from all of the shell bombardment. In the middle of the rubble sat an abandoned tank.
We slept in the tank because it was so cold outside. All eight of us slept in our assigned operating positions inside the tank. Major David is the commanding officer of tanks 244, 360 and 163 he is in tank 244, and is the father of Sergeant Adrian. Sergeant Adrian is the main engineer of tank 163 the oldest tank, and he is about to have a kid. Edward is the forward driver for tank 244 and his wife is 4 months pregnant. Geoff is the forward gunner in tank 360 the newest tank and is the cousin to Edward. Dash is left gunner and his twin brother Acel is the right gunner and are David’s sister’s sons and are in tank 244. Durango is the forward gunner and the main gunner for tank 244. He signed up for the war because his whole family died from German shell bombardment. Frankie is the rear gunner and driver tank in 244 and brother to Edward. Gaston everyone calls him Gas because he is the main engineer for tank 244.
A few days have passed and nothing has happened we are still waiting for are tanks to come in, so we can use them for battle. General Odo comes up to Major David and his unit and says “Your tank 244, 360 and 163 has come in so go get them.” I go to the tank, as Major I think I should be the first one to look at them. I tell General Odo that I did not order that old piece of metal that is all rusted. General Odo says “Did you order tanks 244, 360 and 163?”
I say “Yes.”
General Odo says, “Well that pile of metal is tank 163. It has been loved very much. It is the oldest tank that we have. You get no more tanks. You will love it as much as those guy did before you, ok.”
I yell to Edward saying “Get your ass over here now! You got to drive tanks off of the train cars ok.” Edward comes over in no time at all. He hops in to tank 163. He tries to start it four times and it won’t start. I yell to Gas to get over here. He takes a little longer than Edward to get over here. He gets in and pulls a wire and the tank starts right up. “Do that to all of the tanks,” I demanded to Edward and Gas. “Bring all of the tanks to the place that we are sleeping.”
After a few hours all of the tanks are unloaded and moved to the place that we are sleeping. Then we waited for our time to go to the Western Front and it came after another few hours when General Odo said “You’re going out. Here is the rest of your men.” The only people that know their names are Sergeant Adrian for tank 163 and Sergeant Geoff of tank 360.
We drive the tank for a few hours, it feels ten to twenty but we finally make it. Edward sees first corpses and limbs everywhere but we could not smell anything because of the engine burning fuel we are thankful for that. Ten minutes later we get to the Front and the first one to greet us is General Rene who says “When you’re ready go get them and get to the bridges for each of your tanks so it is easier to get over the trenches ok.” To get ready, we stock up on food, ammunition, and medical supplies.
We all say our prayers then we attack on September 15 1916. Ever one is at their posts in tank 244. After a few minutes shell bombardment starts and the dirt turns into mud. After a few more minutes, tank 360 is hit and explodes next tank. The tank 163 Sergeant Adrian’s tank caught fire from the engine being it is so old. Flames are going out of all the openings in the tank. No one could have survived in any of the tanks but we still push on. Sergeant Adrian is dead.
We get to the middle of no man’s land. It takes us a few minutes to get here and we can see the trenches of the Germans. We get stuck and we try to move the tank but it only makes it worse by making the tank dig itself a hole where its treads are so that we can’t move at all. Sell from every gun that the Germans have are aimed at us and firing at us. We try to get them back, but with our main gun useless all we have to get them are the rifle that we have and that does nothing to them. We hear a cling clang on the roof Durango yells “Grenade.” We all hit the deck, it rolls of and blows the left track off. Dash says “Now we are not going anywhere for sure now. We have no track at all.”
After an hour or two Frankie grabs a rifle and runs out of the tank trips on what looks like a log and falls over. He gets right back up and tries to back to the French line but gets gunned down by a plane right in is tracks.
When it starts to turn to night the gun firing dies down and so do we. But before we lie down we seal up the tank, then we got to sleep.
The fighting goes on for one more day. On the second day we hear a boooom zinnnng go by the tank so we go to battle postions. I hear another boooom zinnnng that followed by a boom, we are thrown down to the floor I see smoke. I walk to the tank seeing if everyone is all right, I get to the front. I get to where Acel is I see a hole I taste blood, metal and gasoline everywhere but no Acel. I go up jest a little farther, I see Edward on the ground bleeding from his gut. I run to the back of the tank and get the med kit and run back to Edward. One of the men say “It is too late, you could have done nothing about. The wound was to deep.”
I go to the back of the tank to morn for my son and stepson. I do that for an hour. I feel it with all the men that they are trying to help me cop with the losses but I keep it down and do not tell any of the men how I feel.” What we do for the rest of the day is try and fix the hole in the tank.
The next day Durango is gone. He is nowhere to be seen anywhere in the tank or out of the tank so what we all believe is that he made it all of the why back to the French line. I can feel it with all of the men they all want to go home. They don’t want to be hear and neither do I.
It has been the same for about a week. Every day we wake up to gun fire. We eat during gun fire, we go to sleep to gun fire. A few grenades thrown at us we rented fire and still not doing anything to them and they are not doing anything to us. No one is getting out of the trenches to get us. We think that they are too scared or they have no men to spare. Ether way we will die it is gest ammeter of time before our time is up.
One week has passed I think I let the men sleep in and get up when they feel like it. Around ten everyone gets up, we all eat, and go to our positions. Around one o’clock we hear a rumble and engines as loud as can be. We all look around the Germans line but see no such thing as tanks or airplanes. Than we all look back to the French line and we see tanks and airplanes and we all are like. “Thank god Durango as come through for us.”
After a few hours of battering the Germans line they came after us to get us out of no man’s land and to bring us home to be with our families and to be on leave for a month or two. What we do first is mourn the lost, and then we go home and never look back to this week at all.
Project Reflection
My literary strength for my short story is historical integration. Within my story is the use of tanks from WW1. WW1 is the first time in war history that used tanks. Many countries believe that they are the first ones to invent the tank. “We get stuck and we try to move the tank but it only makes it worse by making the tank dig itself a hole where its treads are so that we can’t move at all.” this quote explains how tanks in WW1 could get stuck very easily. This quote shows the reader the technological advancement of tanks.
My literary weakness for my short story is plot and round character. I revised the story several times. I changed the climax in the story to make it more interesting for the reader. Since I did not have good round characters the climax was not that good. How I overcame this is by is by having people read the story over and give me feedback.
My literary weakness for my short story is plot and round character. I revised the story several times. I changed the climax in the story to make it more interesting for the reader. Since I did not have good round characters the climax was not that good. How I overcame this is by is by having people read the story over and give me feedback.