“One in 8 returning soldiers experience PTSD” which sometimes leads to the end of their journey (Mental Health, NBC). Lots of soldiers have suffered in the past years and now people should learn and understand that the United States should not engage in future wars. Books and movies, such as, Johnny Got His Gun, Attack, and Path Of Glory can decrease the likelihood of engaging the United States in future wars because all together they give an idea of the suffering of soldiers during war time. Both of the movies showed how soldiers live in awful conditions, and how they experience stressful moments. In addition to the two movies, the book Johnny Got His Gun talked more about the emotional experiences of soldiers during war. In other words, the ideas, emotions, suffering and scenes of soldiers that are contained in the movies and the book Johnny Got His Gun can make people take actions to prevent future wars, or sending the U.S. troops to Syria to end the threat of ISIS.  

“Ordinary people were ignored in history” (Zinn) and soldiers were the ordinary people who did not have a voice during war. The movie Path Of Glory is a really powerful movie which talked about the untold stories in war throughout history. The enemy in the movie was unseen, as the film was showing that French soldiers were fighting each other: “we have met the enemies and he is us” (Paths Of The Glory). The point of this idea was to tell people that in war, soldiers fight their brothers and sisters who are human like them. Also, the movie showed that governments during World Wars I and II didn’t care about their soldiers, and an example of that is an execution scene of three innocent soldiers who tried to tell their friends that their government doesn’t care about them. Finally, the movie did a really good job by including a scene of soldiers in tears after they heard a German woman singing “Oh please, Mother, bring a light, / My sweetheart is going to die” which showed how the soldiers were feeling sad about leaving their families to die for nothing. The movie relates to the Gassed painting that showed a picture of soldiers suffering in the foreground and civilians or leaders playing in the background  by showing two scenes.  The first scene is how soldiers used to suffer from injuries, smell the poisonous gas, and endure rats in trenches. The second scene show leaders who represent people who play soccer in the back of the image, staying and living in a safe places. In other words, the movie and the painting show how wars are only pain for soldiers but not for their leaders. Clearly, the movie Path of Glory tells the reader that there should be no wars because all soldiers are human even if they came from different countries.  Also, it makes people think why wars are not worth soldiers’  lives so citizens can take actions to prevent future wars to save future soldiers’ lives.  

Mothers would rather die than see the death of their kids, and countries are like mothers who would see their soldiers suffering by sending them to hell. The movie Attack showed lots of scenes about soldiers being killed as a result of their leaders’ actions. The movie showed how Captain Cooney didn’t care about his soldiers and hated Lt. Joe Costa because he cared about the soldiers’ lives. The movie showed how soldiers were killed and injured just for invading hills and lands. Also, the movie presented how soldiers hated their leaders who were supposed to be their role models. One of the powerful scenes in the movie was when three soldiers shot their leader after they figured out that he was the one who caused their friends to die. Both of the movies Path of Glory, and Attack showed how soldiers hated and distrusted their government. For example, Lt Costa knew what war meant based on his awful experiences. To sum it up, the movies Path Of Glory, Attack, and the book Johnny Got His Gun may make people think about war from a soldier’s perspective so war can be avoided in the future.

There is nothing more important than life and there is no right for taking honorable lives to hell just for power. The book Johnny Got His Gun talked about Joe’s nightmares of losing his legs, arms, and family. In the book, Joe experienced a psychological disorder after he was drafted. In one of the chapters, Joe talked about being traumatized by returning home as a disabled man. He didn’t want his kids to see how their brave, gentle dad turned into a man who deserved compassion. Also, Joe was scared of seeing his wife dating someone else who had arms and legs. In other words, Joe was afraid of losing the love that he had with his family before he was drafted. The point of the book is to tell the reader that people should prevent future wars for two reasons. One of the reasons is because lands, hills, or buildings are not worth soldiers blood. The second reason is because soldiers are having psychological disorders that sometimes cause death after living in a place that lacks love. I believe that this book in addition to Attacks and Paths Of Glory, can make people take actions to prevent any future wars to save soldiers lives. Clearly, at the end of the book readers will conclude that “Nothing is bigger than life and that there’s nothing noble in never seeing the sunshine again or having legs and arms blown off”, so the U.S should never engage in future war for soldiers  (Trumbo, Johnny Got His Gun).

World Wars I and II ended decades ago and movies, books, and ideas, such as Attack!, Paths Of Glory, and Johnny Got His Gun can play a big role in decreasing the likelihood of engaging the United States in future wars. Russia’s engagement in the Syrian crisis didn’t make Saudi Arabia or the United States happy because potentially it could have been the start of  World War III. I believe that the ideas in the movies Attack, Paths of Glory and the book Johnny Got His Gun can play a big role by making people aware to not engage in any future wars. Although the United States has to take actions to stop the threat of ISIS in the Middle East, the United States should not send any soldiers to countries in the Middle East in order to reduce the suffering of soldiers and innocent people’s lives.

To sum up, I believe that some history books are not the correct sources to reveal the truth of wars and the suffering of soldiers. Usually, history books are only words that describe battles and wars that took a place throughout history. History books can include in one page an important event, such as dropping an atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki that might actually take hours to be described by soldiers or civilians who were there. Moreover, the problem is what is left out from descriptions of the events are the suffering and the emotions of people who experience these events. I believe that history and soldiers who suffered throughout history will be forgotten in the future if books were the only sources to reveal history. However, books that are written by soldiers, such as The Bomb by Howard Zinn, can be effective and important to readers by helping them look at wars from different angles, such as a soldier’s perspectives, which will decrease the likelihood of starting new wars.  In my opinion, the United States will continue to be involved in wars if people weren’t educated well to take actions, and the best way to educate people is to use a combination of movies, books, and even interviews of soldiers or veterans to describe their experiences in wars with them. In other words, I’m confident that history books will not describe or show the scenes of a veteran’s emotions in front of the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Wall or an idea of how hard it was for soldiers to go back to their normal lives after they have spent an awful time in wars. It’s important to have a variety of sources to learn about history, such as the book and movies, like Johnny Got His Gun, Attack, and Paths of Glory because they all describe war and the emotions of soldiers from soldiers’ perspectives. In addition, books and movies like those can decrease the chance of engaging the US. in future wars because they can change people’s perspectives of war and make them think more about whether risking the life of soldiers by sending them to wars is worth it.

Works Cited:

“Attack 1956.” N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=940CE2D71F31E23BBC4851DFBF66838D649EDE>.

“Bryan Stevenson.” Bryan Stevenson. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. <https://www.ted.com/speakers/bryan_stevenson>.

“Paths of Glory.” RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. <https://www.criterion.com/films/27522-paths-of-glory>.

SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/johnnygun/>.

“1 in 8 Returning Soldiers Suffers from PTSD.” Msnbc.com. N.p., 30 June 2004. Web. 21 Jan.  2016.<http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5334479/ns/health-mental_health/t/returning-soldiers-suffers-ptsd/>.