Johnny Got His Gun

"Johnny Got His Gun," by Dalton Trumbo, was written in 1939 and is still as relevant then as it is now. I would rank this book right up there with Smedley Butler's 1935 book, "War is a Racket."

"Johnny..." is about a young man named Joe Bohnam who was drafted into the military to fight in WWI. Joe wakes up in a military hospital and eventually realizes something horrible has happened to him, his legs, arms, and face had been blown off and he was also deaf.

The book is totally from the point of view of Joe. All the things that happen around him are as much a mystery to the reader as they are to him.

Shusli showed me the 1971 movie on Youtube, a must see, and equally disturbing as the book though the perspective is an observer of Joe and Joe's observations instead of just Joe's perspective. These two media pieces work well together.

I found out in trying to find a picture for this post that there is also a 2008 version of "Johnny..." I had never heard of nor realized that. I'll have to see if it is available on video.

Some powerful points come out of "Johnny..." Why are our fellow workers killing our fellow workers? What is liberty? What kind of liberty did Joe have after getting blown to bits? What kind of liberty do other folks get when they are damaged by war? Why aren't we killing the folks that lead us to war but never follow folks into battle?

All in all, war is one pretty stupid act in which folks get all worked up by other folks to kill other folks so a handful of folks can make some money. So what if say, children in Gaza are slaughtered? So what if say, soldiers come back damaged and dead? So what? The most important thing is that those with the money make more of it when we "at the bottom" are killing our fellow human beings for their greed. You can get those ideas of freedom and other bullshit! What the hell is freedom when you have to kill others to achieve it?

I had a photo of the mutiliated soldier up here, too, but decided to take it off. I wonder if he was thinking, "I did my part for the freedom of my fellow Americans." Or maybe he was thinking "MY GOD! WHERE IS MY FACE AND HANDS? WHERE'S MY MOTHER? SOMEBODY HELP ME! WHAT THE HELL HAVE I DONE?"

What do you think folks in Gaza feel, those mutilated and otherwise? Do you think they are greatful that Obama stated that Israel has the right to defend itself from school children, the UN, mothers and grandmothers, and wounded in hospitals?

This book and the movie combined are great motivations to ask yourself WHY THE FUCK DO WE KILL EACH OTHER AND NOT THOSE WHO LEAD US INTO WAR!?