Johnny Got His Gun

In the dirt, Joe Bonham lies face up, the smell of blood around his body and the smell of mud below his back. His arms lie next to him, barely holding onto his body. His left leg remains attached, but he cannot move it, his right leg lies far away from him in a ditch, barely recognisable as a limb.

It was an artillery shell, it came out of nowhere and hit him directly, leaving him paralysed but alive, just enough time to think about life before he bleeds out.

He had joined this war a year ago, he joined because he was drafted, and had to go. Him and all the other men, they came here to fight because of liberty, dying without even thinking about what liberty was.

They didn't choose to come to war, somebody grabbed them by the arms and took them, fed them lies about how they were making the world a safer place and gave them a gun. They died not knowing what their lives were worth, and with no opportunity to live them.

They didn't die for peace and democracy, they died because the big guys didn't want to fight themselves so they send the little guys out to do it for them. The guys who are just trying to live the American dream, guys who have wives, and kids, and friends and families who just wanted to live happily without some guy telling them that they have to fight and die for some bullshit cause for democracy.

That's all Joe is, a little guy, and if there would be a second chance to fight he'd say no. he'd say “No, I value my life because life's important. My life is more important than shooting at people I don't even know and getting killed by somebody who's probably not that different from me. Somebody who if the same happened to them, might be thinking the same thing.”

What the hell is liberty anyway? When a guy says “Come on, lets fight for liberty!” he has no idea what he's talking about. Normally when you're proving something you can point to it, but you can't with liberty. You can't point out liberty, you can't prove liberty in any shape or form. So when he tells soldiers to fight and die for liberty he can't prove shit. He's just sending thousands of people to their deaths for a false sense of freedom.

He can feel the blood pouring out of his wounds, he doesn't have long left. It doesn't matter, his body's in such a bad condition he's better off dead. That's another note for democracy, his body. If people could see what war has done to his body there'd be peace across the world, nobody would fight again after seeing his mangled flesh. They would realise that there's more to life that dying in war and would give up arms indefinitely. They'd ask questions about liberty and what they were throwing away, and sooner or later the bigger guys would have to give them answers and if they find out that their death's are making a profit for the bigger guys then there would be no more war because they'd all realise that something stupid like that isn't worth dying over. What the hell will his girl think now, not even knowing that her guy is crying out her name as he dies in some godforsaken pit a thousand miles from her.

She was the last person he saw before he left. He still remembers the time he spent at her house, the time he'll never forget. The time he wishes to be back in. What will she think when she goes to the train station and finds out that he's not there, that his body is lying in the north of France, bruised and beaten beyond recognition.

What will his Mother and Father think? Knowing that their son his dead and that he's never coming back can change anyone's view about liberty and democracy. His father was always supportive of democracy, when he was younger he told him that he was gonna make the world safe for democracy. If only he knows about the situation he finds himself in now. Democracy. Democracy is a load of bullshit, the same as liberty, nobody can prove it's existence but they send young men like him to die for it anyway.

Joe isn't going to live his life the way he wants, he's not gonna go back home and settle down, he's gonna die here screaming and moaning like a baby, shouting out to anyone that can here “I wanna live! I wanna live! I wanna live!” Nothing is more important than life! Life is something to be cherished and preserved, not wasted in an instant.

Joe's never gonna see anybody again, he's gonna fade from life forever and never see it again. He's scared, he's more scared than he's ever been before, he doesn't wanna die he wants to go home, he wants to live a normal life and not worry about death. He wants to live! He wants to live life to the fullest and never look back!

He can't do that though, he'll die now not knowing what life is really about. He'll die in tears and frustration because he'll never get to go up to the big guys and give him a piece of his mind. No. No he'll die here today.

Joe Bonham didn't die for liberty or justice or democracy or to make the world a safer place. He died because his own government wanted him to die for their own personal gain, just like every other soldier in war and conflict. This happened to millions of soldiers because they were blind to the fact that they were fighting for nothing.