B. The stress, the pain, the agony. Though I am filled with honor toward our country, I cannot help but feel as if I would be better off somewhere else. I am tired, hungry, and angry at all that I have lost, and I do not know how long I can bear it
C. Palatial (page 9, line 4) - befitting or suitable for a palace; stately; magnificentCarbolic (Page 13, line 20) - Pertaining to, or designating, an acid derived from coal tar and other sources; as, carbolic acid
D.
I recently got a cartoon from a newspaper in a city we raided. It shows a picture of an American showing the basic beliefs about war. If you don’t fight, you do physical labor to help those who do fight.
E. Every day I am realizing more and more that war is on the mind, body, and soul. Which in turn makes life is tough. It also let me see that relationships don’t last forever.
Chapter two.
A. Today, I recalled my memories of home, my thoughts on my life, and I had to watch my friend Franz die slowly as I sit beside him.
B. It kills me inside, to see my life cut short at its prime. I see I have been brainwashed, and I am alone in the world with nothing to return to after this war. But what hurts me most is to watch someone who does not deserve to die suffer an untimely and agonizing death as he lost his limb. May god save his soul.
C. pettifogging (page 22, line 18) – to bicker or quibble over trifles or unimportant matters
Gangrene (page 29, line 25) - necrosis or death of soft tissue due to obstructed circulation, usually followed by decomposition and putrefaction
D.
Here is another cartoon I have received. I see the skeleton with the trident represents a sort of underwater grim reaper, our U-boats. From underneath they stab their unsuspecting victim with a torpedo of death.
E. This war has torn me from a world I was just thrown into. When I leave this war, what is left for me? Nothing, for I have lost everything. I see now its goals are to isolate me from a life which could be so much better than this. I have also learned I need to hold dear those who are close to me, for they could leave at any time.
Chapter three
A. New recruits have come, each about two years younger than us. We took a few and went off, and set up camp. We lacked food but Kat was always able to get some for us. We talked about old times. Later, revenge was showed to our old non Commissioner, we took him while we was drunk, and whipped him.
B. It is a beauty to know you have power, especially when new recruits come in and you feel older and stronger than them. But power corrupts people and that is why we suffer the fate we do now. Sometimes power can make you suffer, but other’s it makes the world to you, like the punishment we gave our good old friend.
C. signal mast (page 48, line 13) - elevated sign
Remonstrance (page 49, line 10) - a protest
D.
Apparently Americans claim that we German’s are only hear to repress and destroy them, in symbolism as our underwater ships to their regular boats.
E. I have learned power in the hands of any man is bad, though it may seem differently to different people. Being oppressed by our commissioner is horrible, but our revenge upon him is sweet and fruitful. Life is a game you play by your own rules because every move you make is a bad one in the eyes of the masses
Chapter Four
A. War is upon us. We have driven into the battlefield, and now we are taking heavy fire. Horses nearby have been harmed, and their screams fill the air. A soldier next to me is obviously afraid, for he has lost control of his bowels. Gas has been released into our trench, and a young man is in much pain.
B. Death surrounds me as I lay in this trench. The pain of being grazed by fragments of shrapnel tear away at me, but I seam to be able to bear it.
C. Tabernacles (page 52, line 26) - The portable sanctuary in which the Jews carried the Ark of the Covenant through the desert
Rutting (page 59, line 11) - a fixed or established mode of procedure or course of life, usually dull or unpromising
D.
I recently received this cartoon, which depicts an the world (or the nations of the world) complaining about submarines being annoying to the father who is an American inventor (referring to how the Americans need to solve the problem of submarine warfare)
E. I have come to see how brutal war is to one who is ignorant of it. The young child I was with had lost his hips, and his ability to walk for the rest of his short, yet painful life.
Chapter 5
A. Today our old Non com has come back. We spent most of our day talking about what we would do after the war. Tjaden has been sent to jail for three days for insubordination. Later me and Kat decided to go kill some geese and get some grub today.
B. What will I do after the war? I am lost, and I have been taken from the world. I haven’t gotten a grip, and now that I have lost it how can get hold again.
C. peat (page 83, line 10) a highly organic material found in marshy or damp regions, composed of partially decayed vegetable matter: it is cut and dried for use as fuel
Dixe (page 93, line 20) a large iron pot
D.
This cartoon is a cartoon that I have been given. It portrays a dog, named the dog of war, which represents the First War. The league of nations is used to prevent the dog from attacking, or from war to break out.
E. Our relationships are the only thing we have left to cling to. Our lives are torn from this horrible war, and now all that we have left is eachother.
Chapter Six
a. A. We have seen so much as we battle amongst the front lines. Day after day we fight, being shelled relentlessly, taking wave after wave of men charging to destroy what is left of us. So many of our soldiers corpses we see strung around us, and now as recruits come in, we must teach them how to survive for if they do not learn now they will never keep hold of the life they love.
B. Danger is everywhere, and now my eyes burn as I must see the horrible sights of men dying all around me. Though I have become numb to the thought of death, I cannot help but feel sorry for those who die here, those who suffer for a cause unknown to them. It is horrible what we go through, and I cannot stand to be here anymore
C. garters (page 126, line 21) –An elasticized band worn around the leg to hold up a stocking or sock.
Haemorrhages (page 131, line 12) Excessive discharge of blood from the blood vessels; profuse bleeding.
D
Recently I found another cartoon, which basically shows Jesus blessing our troops as we go to war. It exposes how people will go to any means to say war is right as long as they gain something.
E. So many people I have watched Dying and suffer, I can only imagin how long I have left before I suffer the same fate. Life is so short, yet so much pain can be held in each breath you take.
Chapter Seven
A. I have been given leave for the next Seven weeks, and in that time I have tried to make the best of my time away from war. Me and some pal’s met three French women and snuck into their house late one night, and I had an amazing night with them. I was sent home for two weeks, so I could see my family and home for a while. My mother seems to be ill, and I realize no one can understand me after the war, no one can feel what I feel. My old teacher acts as if I am an idiot and tells himself his own tails of an imaginary way that war works. I have to go to a dead comrade’s house and tell his mother about the bad news… it is hard on me, but I have dealt with it.
B. The world is a much different place now that I have gone through so much. Life seams if anything to easy, and I am not sure if I enjoy it. Though my night with my little brunette French woman was one of the best I’ve had, going home to see an ill mother has been tough. I would do anything to be with her, but it pains me inside to see her like she is. The war has changed me… what will I be like after it is over?
C. apoplexy (page 161, line 20) a sudden, usually marked loss of bodily function due to rupture or occlusion of a blood vessel
Parapet (page 161, line 20) a defensive wall or elevation, as of earth or stone, in a fortification.
D.
I recently saw an American poster, and it simply implied, if you aren’t willing to fight in the war, your going to do as much as you can to support them so you don’t have to fight
E. After leaving the fighting for a while, I can see how different life is now. I can see that I lust for the action, no matter how painful it is to me. No one understands my feelings, unless they suffered alongside me. I have let the tides of war consume me, and It has torn away at my life.
Chapter Eight
A. While I was away at camp, I pretty much had to re do my training as a soldier. Drills, Saluting, and poor food is what I went through for 4 weeks. The Russian prison next to us was even worse, and everyday I watched them suffer and die. My family came by to visit me before I go back to the front lines, though we did not have much to do together.
B. Drills just make me realize how much I hate being in the army, I can’t stand sucking up to the higher ranked officers and so on. It also depresses me to see the horrible conditions of the prison next to us, and I pity the people in there.
C. Dysentery (page 190, line 23) an infectious disease marked by inflammation and ulceration of the lower part of the bowels, with diarrhea that becomes mucous and hemorrhagic
Furtively (page 190, line 23) taken, done, used, etc., surreptitiously or by stealth; secret
D
In an American poser you can see how the government begs for money through the loans of its people. It can’t support itself in war so it has to rely on its people to survive.
E. Though The army is tough, I can see how life can be worse, I could be a prisoner of war like the Russians. It pains me to see how pitiful their lifestyles are, and how much they suffer every day.
Chapter 10
A. As I return to the battle field I am glad to see my brethren again, but once again the shelling and the occurrences of death plague my mind and my sight. We wonder, why is this war being fought if those fighting it don’t want to fight? A question no one can answer. I am stuck next to a dying man in a shell-hole… he sit’s there and dies slowly. I have to kill him so I can last myself. And I lay next to a dead man for longer than I deserve
B. The faces of my friends please me as I know they are alive. I am overjoyed to know that they still exist. Sadly now though I must return to the anger and hatred of the battle field, and I do not know if I can bear it once more. The screams of the near dead haunt me as a I suffer next to those emitting them.
C. Peevish (page 202, line 2) cross, querulous, or fretful, as from vexation or discontent
Gendarmes (page 205, line 2) police officer in any of several European countries
D.
Once again I found another American poster. From the looks of it, they do not have the food to support their country and their troops, just as Germany is with us. They have to use their rations in smaller portions just so they can survive…
E. I never knew the pain and suffering that occurred when death was so close until I saw that man today. Lying next to him gnawed at my soul until I could not bear it any longer. I would much rather die than lay in agony hoping to survive.
Chapter 10
A. Today we got a little more rest, seeing as we didn’t have as much of a role on the front lines. While we were using a fire, an observation caught sight of us. We were soon after taken fire on. To my dismay me and Kropp had to go to the hospital due to our wounds. Mental conditions are harsh in the hospital. Kropp had to get his leg amputated. After we are both healed, we must part ways, I back to the front lines and Kropp to get his artificial limb.
B. The pain of a real injury is tough, not one I have experienced in this war. And the madness of a cramp hospital takes at you. You can’t move, leave… you just sit their lying away hoping to survive while death and suffering surrounds you… its worse than the battlefield. Though once it is over, I am more depressed that I must bid a friend farewell.
C. excreta (page 263, line 2) excreted matter, as urine, feces, or sweat
Mantilla (page 266, line 1) a silk or lace head scarf arranged over a high comb and falling over the back and shoulders
D.
Recently I picked up another American Poster. It basically forces the Americans into choosing to pay to help support the war, or else you are associated with the Kaiser. That is horrible propaganda.
E. The conditions inside the hospital were mind-wrecking. To know the pain that goes on there eats away at your soul, tearing out ever little bit inside you. I Am Glad to have the ability to leave, and to have my life in good condition
Chapter 11
A. Our conditions are getting increasiling worse, and now Deter has run away and is a deserter of the military. Muller is dead, and Kat got shot and as I carried him to a hospital to save him, he dies in my very own arms.
B. I have lost my friend, my lover. How could such horrible thing happen, he was in my arms talking to me one moment, and before I knew it he was dead. I am distraught with anger, sadness, and shame as I let him down… I couldn’t save him.
C. rapt (page 276, line 21) to carry off; transport
Aberration (page 277, line 10) the act of departing from the right, normal, or usual course
D.
This is just another one of the American propaganda techniques they use to force innocent children into war. They basically say if you are of Christian denomination, that you should go to war because the church believes in it…
E. Life… is so frail. I have lost my best friend, my most important friend to me… Cherish the bonds you have, because they can only last so long
Chapter 12
A. I had been given 14 days of rest due to swallowing gas. I am now alone as the rest of my class has died. My will to live is becoming smaller and smaller. As I Stand up to examine the surroundings and reflect upon myself… I take a blow to the face with a bullet… and with that my life is ended.
B. My friends, my comrades… my brothers. All of them are gone, and now I am left alone in the world to fight without a reason to live… thank the lord my life was taken as quickly as it was.
C. Brothels ( page 295, line 4) A house of prostitution
D.
The Poster I was given makes you think that life at war is easy… and that you could possibly have time to play pool… I laugh at such silly ideas.
E. I am alone… I wish to be swept away by an angel. Life is meaningless without the bonds that I once held, nothing tying me to life anymore…
