"In average exchange I'll be speaking with an arabic translator who is speaking pidgin Turkish who is trying to tell me he needs to get in touch with a person who's name he doesn't know, but who I still need to contact, while some Parkistanis, Bangladeshis, and Filipinos are trying to steal back the knives I confiscated from them as the Koreans bring fifteen kids into their hospital for medical attention. Meanwhile, the guy in the corner is making threats against my control team because he is sick of waiting for somebody on the base and the screaming kid just stopped screaming because he puked on my weapons/contraband searcher who now wants to shoot the Korean escort for letting that sick kid loose" (Gyokeres 135).
In his journal entry, Staff Sergeant Parker Gyokeres explains everything he thinks people should know about the conditions the soldiers are living in. He goes on to talk about the privacy issues, size of their tents, the bathrooms, everyday activities, and so on with lots of detail. The way he describes everything makes it seem like the worst job ever, but in just the last line he expresses that he loves what he does.
Some of the things that were said in the journal enrty seemed too bad to be true, but I doubt that what he was saying was too far from the truth. It made me feel really bad for the soldiers who had to put up with this everyday, and made me realize how bad they had it. I was glad that at the end, despite all the negative comments about the war, he assured the reader that he enjoyed what he did.
The part of the entry that I quoted above reminded me a lot of a certain part of Sunrise Over Fallujah where Robin and his team were at a house were they suspected illegal weapons were hidden. It wasn't quite as hectic as the situation Staff Sergeant Parker Gyokeres explained, but it was pretty overwhelming for Robin to listen to the translator try to talk to the adults while they were yelling and being uncooperative, while him and his team were searching the house. This was the first time Robin had been in such a hectic situation, and he was confused at what he should be doing. After Marla found the bomb, and he had been no help he wondered if he was cut out for the job. Although Gyokeres didn't express the same kind of doubt, they were both able to recognize the chaos that came along with their job.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I'd be so overwhelmed if I was in his position with all the things he has to do!
I thought the same thing, and not only the work, the way he described where they slept and how they spent there free time was rough too.
Post a Comment