...Turret gunner In the poem, The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner, Jerrell uses time, irony and symbolism to depict the life and death of the ball turret gunner. In the drab and desolate background of world war II the gunner is hunched upside down in the belly of a bomber aircraft flying bombing missions over Germany. He is fighting off bullets and flak, constantly staring death in the face. The life expectancy of the turret gunner is short. The stench of the previous occupant still Lingers. Jerrell scribes from the first person a monologue of this ill fated gunner. We hear the gunner speak to us from the grave. The brevity of the poem is short. The life of the gunner is short. Most strikingly, the poem whisks us in time from birth to death. Perhaps the gunner is experiencing the death flash. His whole life flashes before him in an instant and we are reading his thoughts. The irony, symbols and choice of words Jerrell uses set the tone of the poem and leaves the reader with mixed emotions. In horrific times of armed conflict everything is turned inside out. What we think of as normal is abnormal. Our values are inverted. Life becomes cheap. Jerrell’s choice of metaphors and words has a traumatic impact on the reader. In a clever twist, Jerrell uses time to shorten time from decades to seconds. First, he advances time as if he knew nothing in life matters but death. The gunner goes...
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...“Utilitarianism is the best approach to environmental issues.” Discuss. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist ethical theory and therefore when evaluating ethics and the environment they would look at the end result and not necessarily the action. Utilitarianism is a teleological theory and would look at the purpose or the end goal of an action. With regards to deforestation the end goal is to create space for new homes, particularly in Brazil and therefore according to utilitarianism this is ethical because it brings great pleasure to those who are provided with homes. Utilitarians believed that ethics could be found in what bought about the greatest amount of pleasure and providing these homes would do just that. This also according to Mill who was concerned with qualitative pleasure rather than quantitative pleasure is a good and ethically just thing as having shelter, a basic human need, is a high quality pleasure. However, the quantitative part of the theory with regards to deforestation seems flawed. It is inaccurate to calculate whether more pleasure will be gained from homes being provided for those without one, or whether more pleasure will be gained from preserving the forest, not only for those who are concerned with the environment, but also for future generations who will have to pick up the pieces. Instead it makes sense to select an ethical theory that is more practical in its method of dealing with deforestation. Kant would state that we should not be allowed to...
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...Should Student Athletes be Paid? Should the student-athlete receive pay for his athletic performance for the school? This argument has been the topic of debate for many years. Some argue that the student-athlete receives a full scholarship, and this should be his total pay. After all, receiving a college degree should be the player’s primary concern. The point has to be made, however, that the scholarship does not cover all of the student-athletes’ living expenses (Meshefejian). When the student cannot pay his extra expenses, they either chose to leave college or move on to professional sports. Leaving school for any reason eliminates the whole purpose of attending college, which is to receive a degree. The college and the NCAA receive enormous amounts of money from the student-athlete’s sports ability. Because the student-athlete provides the college with such a large sum of income, the student-athletes should be given enough scholarship funds to pay the total cost of attending the school which would provide the student-athlete with a diploma and a degree. The college, as well as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), earns substantial amounts of money from the sports programs at most colleges. In the 2013-2014 basketball season, NCAA received over $1.15 billion dollars just from advertising sales during the tournament(Benedykcik). Mike Benedykcik further reports in his article, The Blue Line: College Athletes Should be Paid that the University of...
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...and ninety-seven deaths because of school massacres. Imagine those people who have died possibly becoming something great in our time (or later on). Someone in the Colombia High shooting could have been our President or maybe someone from the Virginia Tech shooting could have invented something so astonishing to our society. We will never know if they could have a made impact in this world or maybe could have been just a regular person walking down the street. However, if we could have had something that could take down those gunners, maybe that death toll would have been reduced by a lot. However, one might think, “Well, that’s why we have security guards.” That is in fact true, but what if a school couldn’t afford a security guard? What if the security guard was gun downed by the gunner and no one else could stop the gunner? These are the questions that we must ask ourselves if we want to protect students and faculty in the future by these crazed gunners. However, what if we allowed the faculty to carry a gun to protect themselves and their students? We don’t expect to hand over a firearm to a teacher and expect them to know how to use it and when to use it, but our government can fund classes for teachers on how and when to use a firearm. The idea of having guns on campus upsets parents and even more when a suggestion that faculties could carry a gun to protect themselves and...
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...should be on our guard. We began boarding the Blackhawk and getting all of our gear strapped down and the Machine Gunners began doing weapons checks on their M240Bs. When we took off from BIAP everything was going according to plan, the helicopter was operating perfectly. It wasn’t until 20 or so minutes into the flight that I would realize the true purpose of the flight was. We were given the brief that the mission was just a typical fly over for surveillance on a market in Baghdad, but after a while I noticed we were nowhere near the particular market. The Blackhawk slowed down to a halt over a small building and I could hear the pilot barking orders at the two men sitting up front but couldn’t make out what he was saying. The two men began unstrapping themselves and hooking up rappel ropes to the outside edge of the floor. I began hearing gunfire and realized we were taking small arms fire to the right side of the helicopter. The right side gunner began returning fire, I looked out the window and could see a few enemy combatants standing on a roof adjacent to the one we were above and they were firing AK-47’s at us. The gunner on the right side took a hit directly in the head; he slumped over dead before his hands fell off his weapon. I heard the pilot screaming for someone to “jump on that fucking gun!” I unbuckled myself as fast as I could, and moved the dead gunner into my seat. As I...
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...completion of basic training and AIT I was assigned to 3rd BDE 2-70th AR Fort Riley Kansas where I served as a Bradley driver. Six months later I volunteered to deploy to Baghdad with 4th BDE 1-28th IN Black Lions where I served as a dismounted RTO. Seven months later I redeployed to Fort Riley Kansas where I served as a dismount fire team leader. In 2009 I deployed with Attack company 1-28th IN to Balad where I served as the TOC NCO. Ten months later I returned to Fort Riley to my three week old daughter. In 2011 I moved to Fort Benning Georgia where I was assigned to 3BDE 3ID 1-15IN CAN DO BN. I was assigned to 1ST PLT of Hardrock Company where I served as the PSG Bradley gunner. In April of 2012 I graduated the Ranger Training Assesment Course and became the Company Commanders bradley gunner where I currently serve. My short term goals are to advance to the rank of SSG, Graduate Ranger school, and bring all my soldiers home safely. My long term goals are to obtain a degree in English, retire from the Army as a SGM, and open a small coffee shop with my...
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...flowers, yet a beautiful sight of the monster of war that has ravaged through the previously undisturbed lands. He nor the other nine men that he had served with for the last two years knew what was in stake for them on July 7, 1944. It was six in the morning on the first Friday in July of 1944. The men of the Kilpatrick crew, including Lt. Wrobel, were preparing in the one of the many hangars at RAF North Pickenham. Merely miles away from the coast of Britain, they tried to catch their nerves for another gut wrenching raid. “You came back from a raid, and seven beds in your hut were be empty. Seven friends gone-an entire crew- men you had been laughing and joking with a few hours earlier,” recalled Bob Pierson, a 19-year-old tail gunner on a British Lancaster. This one would mark the 15th mission deep into the heart of Germany for the Kilpatrick Crew. Just a week prior, they had taken off into overcast skies to hit a marshalling yard in Saarbrucken, Germany where they had been damaged by German flak guns. Finally the night before while sitting in the dimly lit briefing room, they receive all the information for the missing they would be hitting the next morning. Six hours away, they would target a Junkers aircraft factory in Bernburg, Germany. One by one, the 23 B-24s chosen for the raid slowly taxied onto the 1,710 meter long grey concrete runway and awaited the signal to takeoff. Some of the planes flaunted olive drab paint, other planes flaunted silver paint,...
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...Narrative Writing “The Sniper” Shorty, after the firing stopped he looked into his brother's eyes and was in shock not a word came out of his mouth. He was cold as piercing ice, his hands trembled and his heart stopped. Instanitous flashbacks of his brother teaching him how to defend himself haunted him as he stared at his lifeless body.Then the firing continued close to him at another platoon of marines. He knew he could not leave his blood in the hell that was war no, he would return him back home where he belongs. “Over here!” said the marine from across the street as the machine gunner kept firing endless round into the sand. “Were comin to get you, are you hurt!” The sniper knew he was tough enough he could survive anything he would...
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...Ad1. John Clendenin faced a number of different challenges, depending on the stage of his career. First, as the administrative manager of parts and supply area. He started to be the leader of long-term experienced logistic guys with the usual confines action. Moreover, the Clendenin’s previous success cause that his team became reluctant to continue providing the information necessary to compliment his strategy. He had particular issue with Tom Gunner, who had been working with Xerox for 20 years. Clendenin had no authority and did not raise Gunner’s confidence because in Gunner’s eyes he had very little experience and knowledge. Clendenin took an open and honest attitude for the obstacle above. He presented the awareness of the own weaknesses to Gunner. Moreover, he showed that he respects and appreciates the long-term Gunner’s experience (he put an effort to find favorite Gunner’s restaurant). However, he informed Gunner that he expects win- win situation or both acting together, or their paths diverge. Second, Clendenin’s first experiences with the CISB. He realized that to follow the main Xerox goal (higher ROA) the necessary changes nave to be implemented and to achieve that he would need support within the USMG organization. This meant finding an alignment with the different system managers across the organization, and creating an organizational structure conducive to sharing information and inventory across functions. The strategy to deal with above obstacle...
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...December 23, 1967. The second my rubber soles of my combat boots touched the tarmac stepping off the ramp of the bird having to squint my eyes from the sun, at the end of the runway, I knew I had made a big mistake. What on earth am I doing here? This is the place where I will be spending 13 months, oh boy I’m in for a treat. This wasn’t my idea, this writing in a journal thing. I’m not the type that likes to write down his feelings and then share it to his stuffed animals over tea time, so don’t start getting any ideas. My mom gave me the thing before we shipped out and made me promise that I would use it, so I guess I’ll try. I don’t really know how to do these types of things so I guess I’ll start with this; my name in L.Cpl. Charley Brown Smith, ya I’ve heard all the peanut jokes. My parents thought it was funny, its not. I have 4 siblings, 2 sisters and 2 brothers. Molly is a math freak and going to Harvard on a full ride. Sammy and Emily are one grade apart but they’re two grades ahead in math. John and I are also one year apart, we didn’t get blessed with the brains like the other three, most of the time John and I would be happy if we made a 70 for the year. Mom and dad were always on John and I to be more like them, I guess that one of the reasons I joined. I’m not going to miss that, but one thing that I will miss is Ashley, my fiancé. Ashley and I started dating in 8th grade and we’ve been in love ever since. I proposed to her at prom when we won prom king and...
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...Galvanized Gunners still lacking pizzazz before Christmas Santi Claus arrived early at the Madjeski Stadium this week as it was none other than Mr Cazorla who bamboozled a meagre Reading side, netting a hat-trick in the process in order for Arsenal to win 5-2. The much required win will indeed ease the pressure off a flailing Arsenal side that have appeared flaccid throughout the majority of the season. However Arsenal’s defence still appeared lacklustre and two schoolboy errors allowed Le Fondre and Kebé to break through and score. Thomas Vermaelen, a former PFA Team of the Year player, still looks languid when under pressure and Per Mertesacker’s lack of pace has shown that even the best of the best need to get to grips with the fast pace of the Premiership. With 3 games remaining of 2012, it is fundamental for Arsene Wenger’s side to grab the maximum 9 points in order to boost the team’s morale going into 2013. Subsequently, the real test for Mr Wenger will be who exactly he will sign during the January transfer window as Mr Wenger has often been berated for his poor or merely lack of activity during the transfer windows of the past; with the £10 million signing of Gervinho in August 2011 serving as a case for this argument. The Gunners have been linked with acclaimed frontman such as Klaus-Jan Huntelaar of Schalke 04, Llorente of Athletic Bilbao and midfield powerhouses such as Yann M’Vila of Rennes and Moussa Sissokho of Toulouse; with no defenders appearing in...
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...With the British ships now cutting the battle lines of the combined fleet the grand melee that Nelson was looking for was now joined with the British ships firing into the rear and fronts of the combined fleet. This major tactic of crossing the “T” gave the expert gunners of the Royal Navy the upper hand in the combat. The French tactic for gunner was to shoot high and into the mast of the British while the British fired into the hull of the enemy ships. Being in the closeness of the melee the French could not fire upward at the mast of the British so most of their shots were non-effective. During this time with the British ships piercing the combined fleet’s lines and raking them with broadsides the Victory got her mast tangled with the French ship Redoutable. The captain of the French ship knew that his crew could never match the British in gunnery trained his crew instead in marksmanship and boarding actions. This would prove to be the downfall of Nelson. A French sailor on the top mast shooting down on the deck of Victory hit Nelson with...
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...Although they ran into many problems, the small group of soldiers, about 17 men, was attacked by a German machine gunner killing nine of Yorks’ men. He then proceeded to flank the German positions. York humbly recorded all of his actions in his diary that he kept. A few others followed York’s lead and began shooting the German soldiers. Slowly, they got closer to the machine gunners. The German commander, thinking he had underestimated the numbers of York and his men, surrendered his group of about 90 men. On the way back he and his men picked up some more Germans totaling out to about 132 captured Germans. Alvin York always tried to be humble about his actions. He was given credit for killing more than 20 German soldiers and promoted to the rank of...
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...indiscriminately the fleeing civlians. Within an hour, women, children, infants, and old men were rounded up. Calley ordered his men to begin shooting the villagers. His platoon hesitated, but within seconds the massacre had begun. Soilders raped an unkown number of women, slaughtered livestock, and burned down houses. The massacre only ended when an American helicopter pilot on a recon mission landed between the fleeing villagers and the American soldiers. Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, door gunner Lawrence Colburn, and crew chief Glenn Andreotta flew the dozen of My Lai survivors to get medical care. Thompson and his crew later received the Soldier's medal. As many as 500 Vietnamese civilians were killed and not a single shot was fired at Calley’s men. After the event, officers in the high command of Charlie Company and the 11th Brigade made efforts to cover up the incident. Thompson and Vietnamese officials reported accusations, but were ignored. In April of 1968, Ronald Ridenhour, a helicopter door gunner of the 11th Brigade, heard reports on the massacre. He was not a participant and began to investigate the My Lai Incident. In 1969, after separating from the army and returning to the United States, Ridenhour sent his investigation findings to members of Congress, the Pentagon, the State Department, and President Nixon. He received no word and decided to break his findings to Seymour Hersh in November of 1969. When the story became public knowledge, it sparked a global and national...
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...General Patton was an admirer of the M1 Garand (the greatest implement ever devised, he call it). The M35 2½ was what was needed to move those vast supplies when and where necessary. On the other hand, the M4 Sherman (in most of its variants, except for the British Firefly and quite possibly the Easy-Eights) was vastly inferior in combat capabilities when compared to most other medium tanks, and definitely all heavies. The M10 3-inch GMC, and the far better 76mm armed M18 Hellcat were fine vehicles but suffered heavily from the US Army Tank/Tank Destroyer doctrine, where only Tank Destroyers could engage tanks while tanks should avoid tank to tank combat, usually leading to disastrous consequences since the Germans failed to follow said doctrine. All this nonsense was finally scrapped and the M26 came to be. So, let's head to the T34. Revolutionary is an understatement when applied to this magnificent piece of Soviet engineering (hold your shots, Christie fans!). Just to mention some of its characteristics we could say that it was fast, well armed, well protected, reliable, simple, sturdy, easy to build, easier to maintain, sporting an amazing ground pressure ratio, easy to man by crudely trained Siberian draftees, economical, and to top it all handsome as hell. The first tank to have an all-aluminium diesel engine, which made it far less prone to burning at the first strike that the M4 Medium, Ronson, and provide a fantastic power to weight ratio (some 16 HP per tone in the...
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