Blog 9

Hugh Martin, Brian Turner, and Yusef Komenyaka are veterans of war that are well known by their peers for their achievements in poetry. Martin and Turner actively served in the Iraqi war, writing many poems along the way conveying their firsthand experience in war. Similarly, Yusef Komenyaka expresses to the best of his ability the feelings of death, anxiety and coming to terms with the death and destruction occurring on both sides. These three poets all shared their remorse, in poems, for surviving or being the ones “lucky enough” to have survived the war. Both Turner and Komenyaka use personal accounts and writing styles to get across the suspense and impact of war.  All of these writers attempts to bridge the disconnect civilians have between war and normal life, by bringing their firsthand experience thru poems. The three of them have contributed a lot to poetry and have received recognition and prices for their work as a result.

I do not believe that war has changed since the Vietnam war. Although the Vietnam war used a draft to fight the war and the Iraq war used volunteer soldiers there are still fundamental similarities between the two. Both the Vietnam and Iraq war were a developed nation pinned up against a developing nation that had never directly attacked the United States. In both of these wars guerrilla warfare was used against the US military, making both wars a war of attrition. Battles still take place within one side´s territory, and is still one sided. However, there has been huge technological advancements both in the weaponry and battle tactics that the US military employs. The Vietnam and Iraq wars both have major political controversy surrounding their discussion, thus they will remain prominent in Americas history.