Exploration 6: Anthony Applegate

1.  The active reading has helped me retain information better and better correlate the information as I read more into the novel. In my opinion the biggest strength the book has is its way to portray human life in a different environment than what every-day Americans are used to facing. It is important to understand that because all the soldiers once had a normal American life before the war and had their own perspective on life and people and then it seems to change once they go to a combat zone. The author does a good job explaining how people react to different situations such as taking a life, losing a best friend, or even losing a girlfriend over in the states and that’s what I like about his writing the most. It makes me think about how I would react to those same situations if I were in those peoples shoes. The greatest weakness I find with the novel is the lack of constant description of the scenery because of how scenic Vietnam and of how often they move positions and i like to have a constant visual in my head of where he is and what it looks like because that is how I relate to things the best. 
My favorite chapter so far has been "On The Rainy River" because, Tim is just an ordinary citizen like I am right now and his entire future is flashed right before him. One quote that really interested me was when his brain kind of broke and he heard this sound in his head that gave him a paralysis feeling and Tim said "I remember a sound in my head. It wasn't thinking, just a silent howl. A million things all at once - I wad too good for the this war." Even though he is an American citizen like everyone else, he views himself as better than all the other war draftees. Rat Kiley has got to be my favorite character so far because of the note he wrote for his best friend Curt Lemon to his sister telling her how good of a soldier and person he was. He passionately writes to her event though he receives nothing in return over some time. I know anyone of my family members would appreciate that to the fullest. I like the description they give Curt and Rat when they describe them being friends and how it says "...and they were giggling and calling each other yellow mother and playing silly a game they'd invented." I like this because this expected between best friends but it surprised me that they could still be playful and have fun inside a war zone.

2.  I learned that it affected almost all my uncles in my family because they all signed up and joined a part of the military instead of waiting for their draft number to be called. They all took none combat roles during the war and my grandpa always makes the joke that in the Air Force he flew a type writer because, he had a desk job that required a lot of typing. My grandpa and I had talked the most about the Vietnam War and he had a good story of when another officer pissed him and my Grandpa had the job of assigning officers to different bases and he sent the other officer to a base Vietnam but wasn't worried about sending him to his death because the other guy played a non combat role in the Air Force as well. This fascinated me because, my grandpas had never really shared his time in the service with me.