Blog The Last

The reason there's only a few documents, videos and movies on 9/11 is because most people don't want to see the tragic part of the US history, they want to see a fairytale, like a love story or a dream coming true. And many people think it's bad to show the world how bad that day was and how many people died and suffered because of some people that just wanted to hurt others and that didn't care about anything else, not even their own lives. But there's no logical explanation why people would do something like that.
The song from Bruce Springsteen that is a really good anthem for 9/11 is Paradise. This song says that for some people this day was like any other, because maybe it didn't mean anything to them, or because they didn't know about it. But for the people that were affected, the only thing they could think of was of the people in the building, and they just wanted everything to be alright and that this was just a dream. For the family's that lost people they loved that day, they wanted to have the person by them and think and know everything was going to be fine, but that was only a dream, because in reality, they knew how bad it was, they just didn't want to believe it. And for the people in the towers, they wanted to be out of there, and in a safe place where they knew everything was okay and nothing could ruin the day.

Songs of the 1960s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgFz3tZYg-M

I chose Blowin in the Wind by Bob Dylan, because it talks about everything that went on in the 1960s, and also how many times people have to be turned down to get what they want, but that shows how bad the people want it. Many times, people tried and tried to be free, but they kept getting hurt and dying because of it. But after a while fighting for what they wanted, they got it, because they were brave enough to keep trying. But many other times, some men and women tried to get something they wanted, but got turned down and quit, because they thought it was a waste of time or were tired of trying. Bob Dylan is trying to explain that when something really matters, people will keep trying and eventually get it, but he doesn't know how much it's going to take so they can get what they want.

Kennedy Assassination Conspiracy Theories

I think Oswald was part of the K.G.B., because it says that he lived in Russia for a few years before he returned to the United States. Maybe, because of the tension between the Americans and the Soviets, he came back trying to cause a war between the two countries. The Soviet Union might have agreed to remove the missiles in Cube because the U.S. said they would remove their missiles from Turkey, and they did, but what the Soviets really wanted was to actually go to war with America and destroy most of the important cities, and then after that the Soviet Union could be number one in the world, with military power and economy. And, when Oswald was assassinated, people started saying that if the assassin hadn't killed him, Oswald would've said something and confess why he assassinated JFK. But maybe, that was the reason the night club owner killed Oswald. Everyone knew he was friends with the police, but who knew if he was behind the crime and just wanted to make sure Oswald wouldn't confess anything, because he didn't want to get in trouble, even though he did after he assassinated Oswald.

Wounded

Now, aside from all those things, Larry had to deal with being hurt. He hurt his left leg, but thankfully he survived. Many people who have the smallest wounds die because of infecitons and other things that cannot be healed. Most people that get hurt, go to the "hospital" and nurses take care of them, they rest and soon enough they are back in teh battlefiel. But sometimes, there are too many casualties for so little nurses and doctors, so many deaths happen after the wounded man got help. And some wounds take more than a year to heal, but soldiers just have to deal with it. The doctors might try everything they can, but sometimes it take a long time to heal, or it won't heal at all. And moving from one place to another doens't help the wound, because it can cause an infection. Larry Bennett went through a lot with his wound that wouldn't heal, he was strong and survived through it all, even when he got very weak.

Anzio

Being in the army was terrifying, especially when open fire happened and there isn't much you can do, but run for your life. But it's even worse if you're a "doctor" and had to go save wounded men at night trying not to be caught by Germans, but they had to do it, it was their job. The planes flew low, and sometimes scary low, but somehow it seems like the pilots didn't want to hurt others, because Larry worte that a German pilot waved at them, so maybe most of the people fighting were against this war after all. But even the ones against it had to fight for their countries, so Germans shelled the Americans "inviting" them to surrend. The soldiers also had fun, getting mascots and joking around. And they also won medals for bravery and honor.

On to Europe

Larry Bennett wrote about how life was in teh army during WWII, and it's really scary and lonely. You get to meet people, but if something happens to you or to them, you won't know what would happen to your friendship, would both stay behind to help each other? It shows that soldiers wishes they were home with their family and not having to worry about being killed, or surprised attacks, just live their lifes normally. But they couldn't. Instead, they spent days, without eating and living in the woods, their only goal was to survive. Larry seems afraid of everything that can happend to him, and wants to go home. But somehow he forgets a little about that because he's focused on surviving the little fires he's been through, and when he was almost killed by a granade, but wasn't because he hid behind a rock that protected him. He reminded himself about his mother and girlfriend's birthday and wanted to be with them. Life in the army was really hard and scary, but the soldiers couldn't give up now, they had to go through it all, and it's much worse than we can ever imagine.

The Story of Larry Bennett

Lary Bennett's journal entries seem calm. He writes about his life and how he went from high school to the army. Larry didn't say if he wanted or not to go to the army, but he had to go because he was drafted after receiving his 1Aclassification. He had a girlfriend Betty Rendell, who accepted to stay with him even though he'd be gone. Larry sounded upset to be leaving his family and his girlfriend, knowing that maybe he would never see them again, but it was an honor to fight for his country. Betty went to college and he received his letter for teh U.S. Army, so he had no choice, but was proud to be drafted.

Winston Churchill

When I heard the speech, I was afraid for Britain and all the countries being attacked by Germany. But Churchill knows he has to help and stand by his allies and protect the territory. I realized that Churchill is loyal and wants the best for the people. He also explained how everything happened and why, who broke treaties and who is trying to help. On the part that he says, "We shall fight on the beaches, fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender...", he is saying that he will fight until there's nothing left to do. I think the United States should help England, because they are actually trying to help and not giving up. Germany is breaking treaties and not caring for any other country or person. They are blaming innocent people for what happened in World War I, and England is doing its best to do whatever it takes to help and not let Germany take over.

Final Blog

My favorite topic we learned in this class was The Civil War. It was fun, because of the book project, which was different from our other assignments. The book I chose was really good and helped me understand more about the Civil War and how it happened and how people reacted to it. But the topic I found least interesting was World War I. It was confusing of all the countries involved, all the different opinion, alliences and agreements between these countries. And also all the problems after the war. We could've done some activity including the whole class, something like a scene. Each person would be a country and we would debate to see who won or who was right. We also coud've done more projects like the one to change song lyrics, because it was a lot of fun. I learned and reviewed many topics during that assignment. I had a lot of fun in this class. (:

The USS Indianapolis

I really liked listening to what he had to say. It was very interesting how everything happened so fast. The Indianapolis, that was carrying the world's first atomic bomb, was hit by two torpedoes and started sinking, and then suddenly all men jumped into the water. It's really scary to think that you're in the middle of the ocean and there's nothing you can do besides try to sruvive without food, good water and sharks swimming and attaking everyone around you. It was even worst when he started to talk about how he felt the sharks touch his legs. And it was also frightening to think about the days they spent by themselves trying to get someone to rescue them but failing and his paycheck was so little comparing to everything he had gone through and eerything he had to do every day. I noticed how he didn't really want to talk much about if he ever felt and thought that he was going to die, and I understand, because it must be a really bad feeling. I felt like I was the one in the middle of nothing going through all the things those men went through. And then the Doyle began rescuing almost dead men and that was when I realized that even if these lost men were enemies, the crew inside Doyle, would've rescued them anyway. And that shows that the war couldn't stop men from helping each other.