Blog #5

The story of Peggy Terry, or "the hillbilly" speaks to a large number of Americans, especially women. The reason is that she was poor and had no job after the Great Depression, like many others. Her first job was at a shell-loading plant where her, her sister and her mother all worked to contribute to the war effort. The family made 32 dollars a week, and to them at the time, it was an absolute miracle. She also recalled the horrible fumes from the paint of the shells, and she remembered many of the women developing breathing problems. Of course that wouldn't stop them from working, though. When they had nothing, working was the only way to keep on living. Her husband was in the war, and she saw him go just about crazy. He couldn't watch movies with shooting in them, and if he did, he would shake for hours. He started drinking, smoking, and when he came back, he was much more hot tempered. He would slap Peggy around, slap the kids around, etc. She just wanted the killing to be over, and I don't blame her, I'm right there on the same boat. She had some similarities to E.B (Sledgehammer) Sledge, who fought in the war. The reason I say they have some similarities is because they were both afraid, and they both did what they had to do for a job. E.B Sledge did not want to fight in the war, he did not want to have his life on the line, but he had no other choice. He says, "I don't like violence, but there are times when you can't help it...you knew all you had was that particular moment you were living" (198). This is the tragic part, besides all of the deaths; men who before wouldn't kill a fly, were killing the enemy like there was no tomorrow. I think that definitely comes from somewhere inside, where you just can't handle anymore killing of your soldiers, so you think, "In order to stop the killing, I have to kill."