Pvt’s experiences with the World War II are unique with a comparison to other soldiers’ experiences. First, he receives a ‘greetings’ letter from the Head of state, Roosevelt, inviting him to the physical examinations at Albany, N.Y, and evidently passes the test. The act of being acknowledged by the Head of State to join the army is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and is not common for every soldier who joins the army.
Another unique incident is when he failed to ship out with the rest of the trained platoon because he had three missing teeth. This saved him from the commencement of the Bulge battle (Glass p.4). During the delay, he managed to make friends with another soldier, Rodda, who had also missed the platoon shipment for similar reasons. The two close friends volunteered to work at the K.P, which gave them a chance to become friendly to the mess sergeant. When they were working at the K.P, they could get enough to eat which is uncommon among other soldiers’ experiences. At one instance Pvt was given leave, but when he went to collect it, he was informed that it was canceled. His friendship with the mess sergeant saved him since he paid off to the second lieutenant, and he was granted leave to visit his wife, Louise. He volunteered to be a machine gunner while a typical soldier would choose to carry his rifle and ammo as his weapons.
This helped him earn a sleeping place inside instead of sleeping outdoors like the other soldiers. At one time during the battle, Pvt and other soldiers were shot, but he was able to manage with the wounds until he was taken to Field Hospital, at Malmedy in Belgium. Most of the other soldiers did not survive. Pvt sustained major abdominal injuries which caused him to undergo a laparotomy and a colostomy. After the surgery had been done, the surgeon had saved Pvt’s jacket and the bullet they operated from his abdomen. He was transferred to Paris and received a priority flight to Southampton on a hospital plane; not every soldier received such as favor. He was admitted for the next four months, and he used to receive seventy-eight letters daily.
Another unique experience is that penicillin and sulpha were discovered when Pvt was ailing in the hospital and he got the advantage of being the pioneer patients to be treated with one these drugs (penicillin). After the war was over and the soldiers returned home, Pvt was taken to the Brookhaven Rehabilitation Center where he received a Certificate of Disability Discharge (CDD) after receiving more training. Later he returned home permanently. Lastly, he received five unique rewards of achievement which include the bronze star; another reward is the Purple Heart; the combat infantryman’s badge reward, the ETO medal with two battle stars and the WWII Victory medal.
Pvt is depicted as a humble man. He did lots of volunteering jobs which shows he practiced altruism. This is the primary reason why he more than fifty years to share his experience in the World War II. His sharing was as a result of his family persuading him to do so. This reading teaches about altruism, loyalty to one’s country, volunteering, and humility. This primary source of data enables one to receive firsthand information which has not undergone its modification so as to regard it as biased. Another value of primary data is that it is interpreted in the right way, there is decency of the data received, and moreover, there is efficient spending of information.
Works Cited.
Glass, Charles. The Deserters; a Hidden History of World War II. New York: The Penguin Press, 2013.
