blog 15

I agree with everything that Ms. Silko stated in her article. I lived in Yuma for approximately four years, and Yuma is very close to the Mexicali fence she talks about. My family is from Las Cruces, so I recognize many of the checkpoints that she describes. In my journeys and throughout the time that I spent in Arizona and the traveling between Texas, New Mexico and California I have also noticed that many border patrol agents are extremely biased in who they pick for searches. I know that the stories that she tells of people that refuse a search without a warrant are made to wait and subjected to very rude treatment. The demeanor that the border patrol agents have is not one that the police abide by which is to protect and serve, but rather the accomplishment of one mission and that is to find as many drugs or illegal aliens as possible no matter how they come across. The entire border patrol culture is corrupt in my opinion. They feel as though they can treat you however they want with no regard as to how it may dehumanize you. At one time I had a old seventy two Chevy that I had to bring across one of the checkpoints on my way to Arizona from New Mexico, my truck broke down not even several hundred feet from the checkpoint and not one agent came to help me or see what was wrong, the only thing they wanted to know was why I looked suspicious because my truck broke down close to their checkpoint. That brings me back to my original point that their mission is not to protect or serve, they are solely looking for illegal activity in who ever they think may be doing it. I even had a border patrol agent who after Inspecting my military I.D. and confirming the fact that I was a Marine still proceeded to treat me aggressively as if I was trying to sneak something past him.

blog 14

If I were a soldier in Lt. Cross's unit I would carry only the things that I considered essential to my survival. All writing gear I would leave at base camp. I would not carry anything outside of what I was told to carry or anything that would hinder my movement or add unnecessary weight to my gear. I would try to disassociate myself with outside concerns knowing that the lives of the men around me were of utmost concern. In the story we see that Lt. Cross fails his men because of his daydreaming, this is because he didn't want to fight in this war. He was drafted against his will, he had no desire to be a warrior, this caused him to neglect the life and well being of the men he was in charge of. I think this story shows the schools of thought among the services; it may have been that in the Army we see lackadaisical Lieutenants who had no desire to be there in the first place. From my experience as a Marine I know that the men under your care come first at all cost, troop welfare is one of the most important virtues a Marine leader can possess and express through action. With this responsibility and rank as an officer comes instant willingness and obedience to all orders given to the troops under your command. I just think his entire mindset as a leader was wrong and the institution that put him in that leadership position without the proper training may have failed him. I honestly never carried anything outside of what I was told to carry or what may become a hindrance later on during my combat training. The only thing I would consider would be a small amount of letter writing gear, maybe. Your mission as a lower level soldier is not writing letters, your mission is to kill the enemy and protect the soldiers or Marines around you.

journal 13

Zitkala's accomplishments in her story are a by-product of the environment that she was forced to participate in. One could say that through hard work, determination, perhaps at times to undermine and learn the white-mans ways are what motivated her to study hard and in turn win the oratorical contest. To me that is a positive direction that the "American Dream" gave even the most looked down upon members in society a slim chance at success during this early time period in American history. This small achievement is testament that the American Dream would be a positive force in the years to come towards the same people that early American society oppressed at times. It is apparent that she is intelligent especially when she talks about not conforming to the white-mans bible and her bitterness to what she deemed as cruel care of her indian sisters in the school which maybe in her mind went against the very biblical teachings she was forced to learn. This bitterness is deeply portrayed when she says, "I blamed the hard working, well-meaning, ignorant woman who was inculcating in our hearts her superstitious ideas" (434). I guess what I am trying to express is that, even though she did succeed in a white-mans system, that is exactly what it was, a system that was not her own. While her success is a testament to how early Americans set up a society that in theory gave everyone the ability to be successful, it was not the society of her people, thus in my mind because she was forced to live this way I think it negates the whole idea of being free, which to me is the core concept of the American Dream. She expresses her disdain for this system when she says, "The melancholy of those black days has left so long a shadow that it darkens the path of years that have since gone by... Perhaps my Indian nature is the moaning wind which stirs them now for there present record" (435). It seems apparent to me that although she enjoyed the success of winning in the white-mans world she deplored the way in which it came about. She didn't have a great relationship with her mother because of it, and it seemed that she was far removed from her family. If one considers family an important aspect of the American Dream, from what I gather from the reading, her family because of this societal intrusion were at odds with what was deemed appropriate for her, therefore causing a rift between her mothers culture and the culture she was forced to learn.