Vietnam Veterans' Reflection On Full Metal Jacket

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For what reason would you raise your hand and give away your privilege for the following 4 years? For what reason would volunteer to the Marine Corp and get shouted at, for not making your bed perfectly at 4:00 in the morning while dealing with hideous treatment. For what reason would you need to go to a foreign country and fight for their freedom, even if they don’t need you there? For the same reason now Vietnam veterans stood tall to face their enemies. At that point leaving the military and becoming one of the 453,000 veterans. As far as I can tell literature isn’t my obsession. However, I find stories more intriguing in movies or TV shows. Most veterans including myself appreciate watching military films, it brings old memories for the time serving as active duty. “Full Metal Jacket” is a movie with great reminisce and horrific moments when going under military training and getting deployed overseas.

The Full Metal Jacket director’s Stanley Kubrick discuss that this film is a strongly unquestionable project, due to a standout among one of the most famous war movies ever filmed. Kubrick argues the film popularity shocked most service members by implying details on what goes down in real life boot camp. However, for the most part of this being the main intense war film, we as veterans began to spread how good the movies were. Kubrick concludes that service members that have seen the film had left an enduring engraving in mind and heart. It’s not an exaggeration to state that for every generation that has enlisted into the military was because of the arrival of this film. Their expectation of basic training has been molded to have a boot camp as hellish as the Marines did during the Vietnam War.

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I believe that today most veterans watch military movies to remember their greatest and awful moments during their time in the service. This film brings great memories of how the drill instructor trained recruits on how to be a killing machine. For example, in Full Metal Jacket has rigorous scenes where the drill instructor is assigned to an obligation of training new recruits entering the military. In this movie, the drill instructor job was to make sure they know Marines are depending on each other at all times. Sometimes it comes to a point when Marines don’t carry out their responsibilities effectively and when that happens Marines or civilians get killed. The main character obligation is to train recruits and to show them core values, honor, courage and commitment. Another example of why veterans love watching this film is to recall when they were no one, having a job with a low gain salary. I love watching this movie because it changed my life completely. The military show me a set of skills that can be useful in the civilian world after you’ve done your 4 years contract. In my twenties, I was somewhat of a vagabond. I’d been to college, parties, worked in bars, and was weak a child. I’d attempted a few things that didn’t work out, so when I returned from the Dominican Republic my mother gave me the message that the time had come to get myself together. I settled on a genuinely difficult decision at a young age that totally transformed me now in which I ended up joining the Marine Corp. trying to keep my hat on was difficult, however, the things I realized there gave me a totally new point of view on what I was able to do in life myself.

The first memory I recall by watching this movie was making friends with discomfort. Let me explain, being a Marine implies living rough when it’s time to go out in the field. Making friends in the military was hard at first because all you wanted to do is complete your training and rest. To clarify I used to rest on the floor with no mats and aside you don’t get the chance to shower frequently. When I was deployed to Afghanistan in 2012, I spend 10 months and recall showering very few times that I can actually count with my fingers. We had no other choice to be outside either in the burning heat or freezing cold and expected to simply make the best out of it. Thinking about regular citizen working under an AC cooling system, comfortable beds, hot meals that you can get it through UberEat. When you become accustomed to living in a discomfort zone in the military and all of a sudden complaints is just tap on the shoulder for service members.

In conclusion, if this movie wouldn’t have been released, most veterans wouldn’t be standing with so much success right now. I give credit to the director Kubrick for this film because it brought great flashbacks as a well horrible experience that hardens the man I am today. The military is terribly dangerous, hazing of all types, life-threatening injuries, and even death will occur. Although these dangers are present in the military career. Several advantages are offered for people qualified for entrance to the military. For future reference join the military and you’ll see your life make a 360-degree change within a short period of time. “Military life isn’t for everyone but then again, the military is here for everyone.” (Captain Robinson)

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