Coursework
ENGL. 2610 - Diversity in American Literature
Narrative Adaption of Mark Twain's "War Prayer"
(An imaginative prequel)
(An imaginative prequel)
A feeling of unease settled over the church as the robed stranger finished speaking and for a moment, no one did anything. After what seemed to be a lifetime, the preacher ushered the strange man back from the pew and off of the stage and that’s when the hushed murmurs began throughout the entire church,
“Who was that mad man?”
“What the hell was that non-sense he was speaking?”
It filled the church until the preacher calmed everyone down and quickly dismissed the man as a lunatic and suggested that they pray for him. This seemed to suffice for everyone in the church, everyone but a young man dressed in Army blues who was apart of the battalion that was set to leave the next morning. What the “old-lunatic” has said seemed to be echoing his own thoughts sinve he had learned of his deployment. He had never voiced those thoughts because he felt that he would be shunned not only by the United States Army and his fellow soldiers but his own family and town as well. These days it seemed that you were either with everything America and its military did, or you were against them.
As the church service was called to an end, all chatter of the old stranger had all but died down. The young soldier, sandwiched between his parents, headed home for one last night before he was due to be shipped off. Thoughts of what the man had said at church plagued hum all night long and when morning finally came, he was at his breaking point. He was due to be on a plane in three hours but he couldn’t bear to deploy to another country and fight a war he didn’t believe in and kill young man on their own countries soil. With a fiery motivation and a will to stand up for what he believed in, he headed to the recruiting office where his battalion was to meet before the airport. He knew that no one would be there apart from his commanding officers and those are just the people he needed to talk to.
The young man walked right into the recruiting office and told his superiors exactly the way he was feeling; how could he go into another country and kill their sons and fathers dead? The commanding officers of his battalion listened with earnest faces until he was done talking. The young soldier said all that he could say and judging by the looks on their faces, they were sympathizing with him…or so he thought. One officer cleared his throat and said,
“Well son, it seems as though we have a problem on our hands. You enlisted into the service a patriot and somewhere along the line, you seem to have lost that. Now, if you don’t want to fight for your country alongside your brave brothers, we have a few options. One, we could force you but why would we want a non-competent solider out there getting his fellow Americans killed? Two, we could get you a dishonorable discharge from the army or three; we could say you never showed up today and went AWOL. Now, if you want to avoid all this, I suggest you dig deep to your patriotic roots and remember why you enlisted in the 1st place. Be back in a couple hours with your decision.”
The young soldier’s mouth dropped open as the officers turned around and went back to their business. How could these be his only options? Come back in a couple hours and be shipped off to the Philippines to fight for a cause he did not believe in? Or be branded with the disgrace of having gone AWOL or being dishonorably discharged. He enlisted in Americas Army because he believed in this country and wanted to do all he could to help others around the world but this cause did not seem to fulfill what he enlisted for. He considered his options; he could go speak to his family or even the preacher about it but he felt he knew what would come of that; he would be thrown into the same pile as the old man from the night before, labelled a lunatic. He chose to walk to the local cemetery, somewhere quiet where he could be alone with his thoughts. It was here that he made his final decision.
Walking amongst the military graves of the brave men who had fought before him for causes they believed to be righteous, he had clarity. Something that the officer had said came back to him, “We don’t want a non-competent soldier getting his fellow Americans killed”. He didn’t consider himself a non-competent soldier physically but he realized that maybe in this case, he was mentally. He could not stand for something that he did not believe in or he would fall in battle and potentially bring his brothers down with him.
His decision was made when he walked back to the recruiting office a while later. He entered in and walked right up to the officer who had laid his options out for him and said, “I will take a dishonorable discharge sir. That is the only option that I can live with. I am still a patriot and I still love this country and am willing to die for what is right here in America but I am not willing to kill for something that is wrong. It would not be fair to my fellow soldiers to half-heartedly join in this battle and run the risk of getting people hurt because of my lack of passion for the cause. I am not willing to do wrong for a country that I consider right in so many ways and if that makes me a non-patriot in your eyes, then so be it. I will accept the dishonorable discharge.”
Hours later, after the battalion had left town for the Philippines, this young soldier was walking home and in his hand was a discharge from the United States Army; neither honorable or dishonorable but instead a medical discharge for psychotic tendencies.
“Who was that mad man?”
“What the hell was that non-sense he was speaking?”
It filled the church until the preacher calmed everyone down and quickly dismissed the man as a lunatic and suggested that they pray for him. This seemed to suffice for everyone in the church, everyone but a young man dressed in Army blues who was apart of the battalion that was set to leave the next morning. What the “old-lunatic” has said seemed to be echoing his own thoughts sinve he had learned of his deployment. He had never voiced those thoughts because he felt that he would be shunned not only by the United States Army and his fellow soldiers but his own family and town as well. These days it seemed that you were either with everything America and its military did, or you were against them.
As the church service was called to an end, all chatter of the old stranger had all but died down. The young soldier, sandwiched between his parents, headed home for one last night before he was due to be shipped off. Thoughts of what the man had said at church plagued hum all night long and when morning finally came, he was at his breaking point. He was due to be on a plane in three hours but he couldn’t bear to deploy to another country and fight a war he didn’t believe in and kill young man on their own countries soil. With a fiery motivation and a will to stand up for what he believed in, he headed to the recruiting office where his battalion was to meet before the airport. He knew that no one would be there apart from his commanding officers and those are just the people he needed to talk to.
The young man walked right into the recruiting office and told his superiors exactly the way he was feeling; how could he go into another country and kill their sons and fathers dead? The commanding officers of his battalion listened with earnest faces until he was done talking. The young soldier said all that he could say and judging by the looks on their faces, they were sympathizing with him…or so he thought. One officer cleared his throat and said,
“Well son, it seems as though we have a problem on our hands. You enlisted into the service a patriot and somewhere along the line, you seem to have lost that. Now, if you don’t want to fight for your country alongside your brave brothers, we have a few options. One, we could force you but why would we want a non-competent solider out there getting his fellow Americans killed? Two, we could get you a dishonorable discharge from the army or three; we could say you never showed up today and went AWOL. Now, if you want to avoid all this, I suggest you dig deep to your patriotic roots and remember why you enlisted in the 1st place. Be back in a couple hours with your decision.”
The young soldier’s mouth dropped open as the officers turned around and went back to their business. How could these be his only options? Come back in a couple hours and be shipped off to the Philippines to fight for a cause he did not believe in? Or be branded with the disgrace of having gone AWOL or being dishonorably discharged. He enlisted in Americas Army because he believed in this country and wanted to do all he could to help others around the world but this cause did not seem to fulfill what he enlisted for. He considered his options; he could go speak to his family or even the preacher about it but he felt he knew what would come of that; he would be thrown into the same pile as the old man from the night before, labelled a lunatic. He chose to walk to the local cemetery, somewhere quiet where he could be alone with his thoughts. It was here that he made his final decision.
Walking amongst the military graves of the brave men who had fought before him for causes they believed to be righteous, he had clarity. Something that the officer had said came back to him, “We don’t want a non-competent soldier getting his fellow Americans killed”. He didn’t consider himself a non-competent soldier physically but he realized that maybe in this case, he was mentally. He could not stand for something that he did not believe in or he would fall in battle and potentially bring his brothers down with him.
His decision was made when he walked back to the recruiting office a while later. He entered in and walked right up to the officer who had laid his options out for him and said, “I will take a dishonorable discharge sir. That is the only option that I can live with. I am still a patriot and I still love this country and am willing to die for what is right here in America but I am not willing to kill for something that is wrong. It would not be fair to my fellow soldiers to half-heartedly join in this battle and run the risk of getting people hurt because of my lack of passion for the cause. I am not willing to do wrong for a country that I consider right in so many ways and if that makes me a non-patriot in your eyes, then so be it. I will accept the dishonorable discharge.”
Hours later, after the battalion had left town for the Philippines, this young soldier was walking home and in his hand was a discharge from the United States Army; neither honorable or dishonorable but instead a medical discharge for psychotic tendencies.