Term 2 Home Learning Task : We Slept With Our Boots On

Poem Chosen : We Slept With Our Boots On by Steve Carlsen

We Slept With Our Boots On

They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes
They washed out the blood, we loaded our ruck’s and then took to the skies
Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew
Where we would land we had not a clue
Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot
We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not
30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your shit
Get ready to go and make it quick
My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins
I run as fast as I can through the lead rain
The noise is tremendous, terror I can’t define
The only reason I survived that day was divine
I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more
You do what you have to do, with that I will say no more
We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks
From house to cave, to car to creek
Dirty and tired and hungry and scared
We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared
Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies
The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives
Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod
Who knew hell was so close to God
Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink
So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think
Good men and bad men, Mothers lost son’s
Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns
Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire
I will never forget those who were called higher
They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood
Brothers aren’t born they’re earned. In the poppy fields, the tears, and the mud
And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell
Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell'

Steve Carlsen 

Task 1 - Background Research

Not a lot of information could be found as the poem is not exactly well-known. However, I might managed to find some background information about the writer, Steve Carlsen. 

From this website : http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html#Slept

About Steve Carlsen

Steve Carlsen was born and lives in Dowagiac Michigan. He joined the United States Army in October 2000 and went to Infantry Basic Training, and Airborne School in Ft. Benning Georgia. He then reported to D Company 1^st battalion 504^th Parachute Infantry Regiment. 82^nd Airborne Division in Ft. Bragg North Carolina. He deployed to Kosovo in November 2001 as part of peace keeping operations. He was deployed to Afghanistan in of December 2002 where he participated in combat operations. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 2003. He is currently attending Southwestern Michigan College where his professor, Dr Michael Collins challenged him to write about his experiences.

Apart from "We Slept With Our Boots On", he has also written other poems such as "Take Your Pills" , "Thunder in the Valley" and "Death of a Hero". Based on what he has gone through during his years in the army, I think that the poem is mainly revolving around the experiences in Afghanistan. I infer that it is Afghanistan as the poems mentioned the soldiers getting onto the helicopter, and flying over mountains and valleys, which can be found in Afghanistan. Also, the most obvious hint would be the Hindu Kush.  It is actually a 500 mile mountain range stretching between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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Task 2 - Annex A Poem Analysis

1) Point of View: First person point of view

Evidence:  "They unloaded the dead “ "My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins / I run as fast as I can through the lead rain"

Elaboration: The pronouns used in the poems are all "I" and "Them" where he describes the situation in war.

2) Situation and Setting: In the Afghanistan war

Evidence: “Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot” “Lock N Load” “Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir” “Hindu Kush”

Elaboration: The word paratrooper quite obviously shows that the writer is a soldier. This is further supported by the phrases “Lock N Load” and “bullets are flying”. The first phrase is a common phrase used in war, whereas the second phrase describes the scene. The word “bullet” shows that there is fighting using guns. Also, it shows that the war is in Afghanistan from the mention of the soldiers in the helicopter flying over the Hindu Kush, which is a 500 mile mountain range between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

3) Language / Diction: Rhyming with every two lines. Common “warfare” way of speaking is mostly used in the poem.

Evidence: As there are a lot, I decided to copy the poem again and bold all of the ones that I am using as evidence.

We Slept With Our Boots On

They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes
They washed out the blood, we loaded our ruck’s and then took to the skies
Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew
Where we would land we had not a clue
Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot
We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not
30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your shit
Get ready to go and make it quick
My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins
I run as fast as I can through the lead rain
The noise is tremendous, terror I can’t define
The only reason I survived that day was divine
I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more
You do what you have to do, with that I will say no more
We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks
From house to cave, to car to creek
Dirty and tired and hungry and scared
We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared
Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies
The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives
Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod
Who knew hell was so close to God
Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink
So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think
Good men and bad men, Mothers lost son’s
Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns
Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire
I will never forget those who were called higher
They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood
Brothers aren’t born they’re earned. In the poppy fields, the tears, and the mud
And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell
Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell'

Elaboration:

We can see that it rhymes with every two lines, such as “eyes” and “skies” , “flew” and “clue”.

“They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood” Here the writer takes a famous saying and rebukes it.

The language used in this poem is quite plain, so to speak. The poet mainly writes things from his point of view, what he thinking of, what he feels. He does not seem to make an effort to use a lot of literary devices.

He also writes the poem in a negative tone towards war, and is quite pessimistic also. “The only reason I survived that day was divine” This phrase shows that he thinks that he survived only because of luck, and would die very soon. He feels that in war everyone is bound to die.

I feel that he just fights for the country without a lot of emotion for the country. “Everyone loses innocence when they carry guns” He does not glorify war, but instead feels that there is nothing to be justified, we lose our innocence when we carry guns and start killing people. It is not justified.