John Aubrey

I just finished reading this, my third favorite novel, for the fourth time and it still hits me with the same force and intensity it did the first three times. An unanticipated part of reading this a fourth time is realizing the foreshadowing that takes place at the beginning for the first time. One of the company going home and coming back serves as a prelude for landers own experience. Landers gazing out at the California coast is a foreshadowing of what he will see and experience later on. The end results for the four main characters still hit me as hard as they did the first time I read this masterpiece. The ptsd that they try to deal with on their own proves to be a losing effort. Insanity, suicide , depression, and uncontrollable rage are the end result. No one can truly understand what someone else is going through unless they’ve been through it themselves. In cases like this empathy is so important. The lack of empathy displayed to these four brave individuals is an indictment on a society that didn’t give these poor souls the help they needed. Who knows how things would have turned out? The one thing missing was an understanding ear. James jones knew what he was writing about. He experienced it himself. He expressed the sympathy and love for fellow soldiers whose sacrifice and suffering were misunderstood by a society who couldn’t, or wouldn’t, empathize. Having never served myself, I can’t say that I know what the brave men and women who defend our country with their lives go through. But I will say that the respect alone that has been earned through their dedication and sacrifice is unequaled and should never be questioned. James jones expresses this fact nobly and succinctly.