We Were Soldiers Once... and Young: Synopsis

We Were Soldiers Once... and Young by Lt Gen. Harold Moore(ret) and Joseph Galloway is a gripping and intriguing novel about the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. The Battle of the Ia Drang was the first major engagement between the U.S. Army and the Peoples Army of Vietnam. The novel includes the personal accounts of many of the American soldiers who survived the battle and made it back to the United States.

We Were Soldiers Once... and Young gives a voice to the forgotten hero's of the Vietnam War, in the words of Joseph Galloway "The Battle of the Ia Drang is a battle our country does not remember and our war does not understand." The soldiers who went to Vietnam did not go because it was their duty, they went because they were forced to by their government. When they came home they were not greeted by civilians as hero's they were ignored and neglected by their society. They were forgotten and never were appreciated for the sacrifices they made. This book is a tribute to the young men who fought and died for a valley that was abandoned after it was captured and for the over 58,000 men who died in a war that was never fully explained by the government. We Were Soldiers Once... and Young is a remarkable account of these men and their stories.

Genetic Discrimination Political Cartoon

My Position On The Northern Gateway Pipeline

Recently in humanities we have been researching and discussing Enbridge's Northern Gateway Pipeline. After reading two articles and watching two videos both for and against the pipeline I have come to my final decision that I am against the pipeline. I say this because overall it would be more of a benefit to Canada if we did not build it. Specifically the initial costs outweigh the benefits of the pipeline, for the construction and operation of the pipeline alone the cost will be 6 billion dollars. Also the lasting costs such as maintenance will be millions yearly. To add to that the pipeline will be transporting the dirtiest, thickest oil in the world from Edmonton to Kitimat, BC. Northern Gateway will send 525,000 barrels of oil a day under one of the most valuable rain forests in Canada. Since the oil is so thick it needs to be diluted with another substance called "condensate", condensate is a dilution mixture that will be sent from the United States to Canada through another pipeline. The Condensate would be another heavy cost. One key argument supporting his position is the environmental impact, if there was a spill it would pollute rainforest, fresh-water bodies, First Nations reserves, farmland, wildlife, livestock and many people ways of lives. I say this because if a spill were to take place the impact would be indescribable. The St. Albert Gazette writes "Enbridge also confirmed it is applying for two separate permits at the hearing, the export pipeline to ship bitumen and the import pipeline to import condensate into Canada. Each pipeline could go ahead separately depending on what the review panel board rules. The $6 billion price tag includes construction and operation of both pipelines." This is why I am against the construction and use of the Northern Gateway Pipeline.

My Silent Reading Novel

At first sight We All Fall Down seems like a child's book with wooden blocks making up the face of the book, but when you begin to read the book you realize that it is an emotional, suspenseful and heart wrenching story of a boy named Will and his father John. Will is on a "take your kid to work day" with his father at his business on the 85th floor of the south tower of the world trade centre. During the early hours of the work day the tower they are working in is unexpectedly attacked when United flight 175 slammed into the side of their tower. They make their way past the blaze where the plane hit, rescued a trapped business woman and they escaped the building just before it collapsed. To sequel We All Fall Down is the second book in the series United We Stand. like We All Fall Down United We Stand is about Will and his father John. It is about their life after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre, the novel also includes their struggles with coping with what they saw and had been through and helping Will's friend who lost his father in the attacks. I would recommend this series to anybody as it has become one of my favourite series.

Bamfield Experience

It was a cool september morning, a slight dew had damped the the lush green grass. I dragged across the yard soaking my shoes in the dew. I loaded my luggage into the open hatch of my mothers Buick before setting off to the airport. I had been anticipating this for weeks. I was anxious maybe even a little nervous. But I knew what was ahead a work loaded but fun school trip to Bamfield, BC on the west coast of Vancouver Island. I became more anxious as we neared the airport, its bright lights illuminating the tarmac polluted the surrounding countryside developments. After receiving my ticket and handing in my baggage we boarded the plane and headed to Victoria. After landing we boarded busses and made the final leg of our six hour travel day to Bamfield. After arriving we settled into our dorms and caught some sleep. The first three days flew by as we only had labs and only one field trip. But on the Fourth day we had all of our remaining field trips the one I had most anticipated was the trip on the Alta. The Alta was a small fishing vessel used by the camp to dredge the sea floor the capture animals to study. Finally it came we walked down a narrow walkway between land and the wharf, just ahead the Alta it was tied to the dock its windows shimmering the sunlight into our eyes blinding us from the view of the boat and the town in the background. I stepped aboard slipping at first on the wet deck, I found a place to sit. we departed breaking away from the dock and setting out into the inlet we steamed past the Coast Guard station and the rest of the small homes making up Bamfield. Finally we made it to open waters, I saw an island in the distance. That was our destination, as the jagged, rocky coastline came into view we heard echoing barks in the distance. It was the sea lions, closer and closer the shore was now close enough we no longer needed binoculars. The sea lions barked at themselves not even acknowledging the fact that we had arrived. We quickly passed them by as we headed back into open waters, the driver of the boat left the small wheel house to drop some sort of fishing device into the water. It quickly fell to the ocean floor we slowly gained speed moving at just a crawl when we once again stopped. The driver raised the dredging device out of the water and draining in contents onto a fishing table in the centre of the boat. Sea cucumbers, sea stars, crabs, seaweed all came out we examined the creatures and tossed them back into the ocean. Once all the creatures were gone we made our way back to the dock where we unloaded and left for lunch. When I think of Bamfield this is always one of the first thoughts that comes to mind, I will never forget it and will cherish my time there for the rest of my young life.

Bamfield Haikus and Show Don't Tell Paragraphs

Haiku 1:
Under the bight light
The plankton move rapidly
As I watch in awe

Haiku 2:
The sun slowly set
The fishermen returned home
But as we still worked

Show don't tell 1:
The sun slowly set into a soft cushion of clouds, causing the calm still water to reflect a bright yellow shade. Birds sang in the distance past the quant little houses lining the coast. The smell of seawater and the town create a unique aroma down the near silent inlet. The still water begins to ripple as kayaker cuts through the inlet shattering the mirror that once showed the towering pine isolating Bamfield while the sun finally set.

Show don't tell 2:

A small crab skittered across my hands, its minuscule feet tickled me on every step sending a shiver down my spine. Its small hand tried to pinch me but with little success, as its minuscule claws could not catch a grip on my colossal hands. He slipped off my hand into the wet muddy sand. I quickly moved on attempting to find more small creatures, to examine them as they tired to comprehend what had just happened.

Introduction

Hello everyone, my name is Charlie Johnson I live in Calgary, Ab, Canada. I created this blog for a school project but we will get more in depth about that later. First I will give you a quick sample of who I am and what I enjoy. As I previously stated my name is Charlie and I am from Calgary, I play Hockey, Box Lacrosse and I enjoy to play recreational soccer. I am also a Royal Canadian Army Cadet and I enjoy rodeo and occasionally do steer riding and wild pony racing. The school project that I created this blog for is a reading assignment on my book that I am reading called We All Fall Down. We All Fall Down by Canadian author Eric Walters. We All Fall Down is the story of a boy named Will who is an American high school student on a "take your kid to work day" with his father, John. His dad works for a trading company in an office located on the 85th story of the south tower of the World Trade Centre. Unfortunately Will's school trip is on September 11th 2001. The story is about the courage and bravery shown by will and his father. More on this will be posted in the coming future.