Private



I think that this brief, but very descriptive story was pretty good. I think that this journal/letter thing shows how most men felt as a result of having to enlist in the army. I'm sure that every guy that was required or even voulenteered to enlist in the army was a tad bit nervous... The first paragraph of the reading really says it all. Especially when Warren Lee Goss says, ""Cold chills" ran up and down my back as i got out of bed after the sleepless night." He was obviousley nervous about enlisting in the army and was probably thinking about what would lie in the future for him after he enlisted. Maybe he would become a hero, maybe he would die a very long and hard death on the battlefield. As of this point, he knew nothing about hsi future. Just the fact that you have no idea what is to come for you and that you have no control over your future now, can make a person a nervous wreck- especially since humans always like to be in control. I can't even imagine what was going through these men's minds after they enlsited in the army. I don't know about anyone else, but I would be pretty scared if I were in their shoes. 1204583329

I thought that this story came from a good perspective of what it was like to be drafted into a war back then. It showed good description of how a man might have felt when he went to the recruiting office to see if he was drafted or not, because he was very nervous. He then thought deeply about it and made himself think that it wouldn't be that bad. I can't imagine how people that joined the army must have felt because back then it wasn't just getting shot and dying it was about facing amputation, conditions, infection, memories, fields that were soaked in blood, and sometimes even fighting against your best friend. They did not have any antibiotics back then so you were almost doomed to die if you were shot and still a large chance of death if you were not shot. There was a lot on the soldiers' minds, so much that it may have seemed like they were fighting an endless battle.

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This story shows a lot on what went through the mind of a enlisting soldier. In life, you have those moments that you look back on and you can remember every little detail of what went on, and it just stays with you forever. This was one of theose moments for Goss. It's just amazing how he can tell the whole story of his enlistment as if it were yesterday. The situation must have been so impacting on his life that he can talk aobut his first unifrom and explain how it fit.

I think Goss's pride affected on his decision to enlist. He seemed so proud and that he had to do this for his country. That is something that i respect greatly because that image of going into the war scares me and it shows of the courage he had overcoming all of his emotion for his country. He went through all of the antisipation for something that he knew he had to do not only for himself, but his country.1205090113ape2

I agree with ape that there are some moments in your life where you can remember how many tiles are on the ceiling or how many steps you ook to the table. It is nuts, but Goss was put in the postion of emlistment which for anybody volunteer or not is a very, very memorable moment. especially in the Civil War because at that time you were bascially signing up for your own death. of course you would remember odd things i would to. He made himself think that it wouldn't be that bad, and some people say that is what you are supposed to do, but i think in any postion about going to war you have to make it seem better than it is, because there is one cold hard truth, no war is better, best, or fun. So Goss was just doing what he had to do to collect himself and go through with it.

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This story showed me what it would be like to enlist as a soldier and a mind set of one too. To be a soldier at that time would have been a different experience in general. You would not be able to hold on to friends you met there just incase you lost one. And you would have to be really good at what you were doing to be a great soldier. I think that it is amazing how Goss can tell this story like it was just yesterday. He explains it in great detail which makes for a great story. I think that being involved in battle really has a tow on you life and will affect you forever. You seem to be much more proud of your country and what people live for. He had a lot of courage and heart to be apart of this war and fight for his country. 1205380173

Exacfly Jimmy the story did tell about the begining of the journey to becoming a soldier. I know for sure I do not want to be a solidier and I will not be enlisting anytime in the army, navy, MC, etc. I would be dropping friends like flies if I was in the army. That was a good point Jim. IT does just seem like yesterday it puts you right in the action of what was going around what was running through his head it really was couragous. One thing I didnt say is how the solidier did not know what they were getting there heads into. They were just in it becuase it just seemed like thats what everyone was doing and that was the right thing to do. Yes Jimmy War does have a huge effect on your life even 25 some od years after the war. I was talking to my grandpa's friend who was in the army as a repairman for helocopters. Even though he never had to shoot at anything he still saw the damage war did and He told us that when he looked at the soliders face he siad they were white as a ghost and looked like they just became 10 years older. Back then and even today it taks a tremendous amount of braveness just to step into a battle. 1205466551Ale2

This is an account, obviously, of a private. He speaks of how he was very nervous of having to go into battle and how he was never nervous about enlisting; he never really knew it was coming. He talked of how his uniform didn't really fit him, which was a common problem for both armies. His, luckily, was too big, rather than too small. Before he enlisted, everything seemed so exciting. And it all seemed to crash down to a boring, heavy load at the time he wrote this. He made do with what he had, fixing his uniform, and working very hard to do his drills correctly until he finally went to Washington. This is a very interesting narrative told from an unusual time and setting that is different from most civil war literature. 1205468282

This story it talks about how a private enlisted in going into the army. I can relate to this because a member of my family has died in the war. Though I respect all men and women that are in the army, i think that everyone that enlists in the army is scared, but i think that they are very brave because to know that you are risking your life every day takes a lot of courage. I think that for the people that are in the army makes a huge impact on thier lives because it not only affects them but their friends and family. When you are in the army, everyone that you know worries about you, so i think that this story was good because it relates to everyday life. With all the deaths of the young soldiers that fought for us, i think it scares not only the familes of soldiers, but the soldiers themselves. I think that every man and every woman in the army, are scared, but they overcome that because they are doing something to help not only themselves, but our country. They fight for our freedom, so they have to right to feel whatever they please. I respect everyone that fight for our country, and believe that they make up the foundation of our nation. 1205472201