Jarhead RR Blog Post #2

The book Jarhead by Anthony Swofford explains the hardship and bizarre times that a modern soldier goes through. While schlepping 10-pound protective gear, a soldiers’ commander may give them a series of tasks that could range from shooting drills to playing touch football in front of reporters. Many deeply miss home, and will do anything to be reminded of it. They also want something that is in their heads all the time, sex. They’re all off the wall.

            The men at war yearn home and all parts about it. At one point, reporters from the Times asked some of the men if they could want anything from the states, and the answers varied from Oreos to Cocaine to Whiskey to Pocket-Pu**y. They fill their days from playing football, getting into fights, and watching r**e scenes. Then, sergeants tell them to take a shower and mast****te. The narrator even recalls many memories, such as a girlfriend from Vietnam and climbing Mt. Fiji.

            All of the men in the army want to have sex, badly. They can’t contain themselves. When one of the jarheads brought in a po**o, all the men eagerly watched (that is, until the jarhead found out his wife was cheating on him). Also, the narrator recalls a lot of circumstances of when he’s had sex with miscellaneous girlfriends. They range from Vietnamese ones to Japanese to Saudi one to American ones. And of course, they spend their most of their days mast*****ing. They’re addicted and they just can’t get enough, unfortunately.

            Soldiers go through some particular unorthodox times while serving in war, or at least I certainly think so. However, I do wonder why all the grunts seem to take war like a joke. They goof around with the commanders, they only talk about war and sex, and the courses they do take (sniping, bomb drills, etc.) are treated nonchalantly. War appears to be a puzzling time for everyone.