Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan

The Longest Day, by Cornelius Ryan, is a book about the D-Day landings in Normandy, France. Ryan collected many veterans' stories who had taken place in the events leading up to, during, and after the battle that turned the tide of the war in Europe. The book begins with the planning of the invasion, with General Eisenhower planning Operation Overlord, the codename for D-Day. The middle of the book explains the disaster of the paratrooper landings the night before, and how nearly everything went wrong with where they landed and how their missions were conducted. The last part of the book explains the actual landings on the five beaches: Omaha, Gold, Juno, Utah, and Sword. This part shows the true sacrifices in war, and what many of these soldiers and their comrades went through to achieve victory for the Allies. Each of the soldiers' stories are honest and interesting, but many are sad as well. Many soldiers who were interviewed had been injured or had seen a friend get killed. In the end, the book showed the true experiences and horror of war and its soldiers.
1. Would you give your life, or be crippled with a life-long injury for your country?
2. Do you think D-Day was necessary, or was it a waste of human life? On a greater scale, is war necessary?

11 comments:

Morgan O 7-8 said...

1) I would not go fight in a war not because i am afraid to risk my own life, but because i am a pacifist and i know i would not be able to bring myself to kill another human being.

Tyler W 1-2 said...

I do not believe war i necessary. I do believe that war is inevitable because not everyone knows how to handle disagreement. D-Day served its cause; it put an end to what could have been an even more fatal plot.

Abby M. 1-2 said...

For the most part I don't think war is necessary because I think it is just a foolish way that world leaders resort to to solve conflicts because they don't have the skills to work them out peacefully. The only time I think attacking other people would be necessary would be if you were trying to save someone else.

Ashley B. 1-2 said...

I think D-day was necessary and it was successful. If we hadn't stopped the Germans there, who knows what could have happened?

Kyle N.1-2 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kyle N.1-2 said...

Like Abby said, I think war should not be the necessary course of action if it can be avoided. In WWII, I guess the US entered the war in self defense after the Japanese attacked, so we only got in it because we had to.
Yes, I also believe D-Day was essential to ending the war against the Germans like Tyler and Ashley said, that was necessary to ending the war.

Jacob C. 1-2 said...

1. I would gladly sustain an injury/give up my life for the security of this country.

2. D-Day was necessary. It was an important turning point in the war. And yes war is necessary in many cases, especially when one country tries to take over multiple other countries.

Nathan S. 7-8 said...

1) I would go to war gladly if I felt the conflict was necessary. That said, with advances in technology ( in military and communication), the formation of special operation branches in the military that can strike with precision, and the formation of the UN and organizations like it, an all-out land war isn't necessary.

Adam B. 7-8 said...

1. I would go to war if the situation came to it. I think that if our country were in serious danger I would go and fight in the war.

Andrew C 7-8 said...

1. I think that it would depend on the situation i was in on whether or not i would give my life. I think if i was fighting in the war, and it was taking a heavy toll on me physically and mentally it would be easier to give my life or risk injury for my country.
2. I dont think war is necessary in any situation, but it is often unavoidable. However i do think D-day was necessary as it ultimatley saved more civilian lives than soldiers lives were lost.

Rafiq O. 1-2 said...

1.) Ahhhhhhhhhhh, no. Nope, nuh-uh, no way, nah, nadda, nosireee, nein, negatory, not even, not in this lifetime, It ain't happenin', never in million years, veto, NOT BY THE HAIR OF MY CHINNY CHIN CHIN.

2.) War is necessary.