 Sgt. Elias and Sgt. Barnes Just as Chris and the platoon are divided between Elias and Barnes, viewers also feel somewhat divided. You feel compelled to side with Elias because he is jaded and righteous and seems to care about his men, but you can't help but admire Barnes' hardiness, his determination to win the war and ability to survive.
After our class discussion about allegory, the Christ figure and Machiavelli, as well as the inability of humans to be purely good or evil, you understand that this is a decision that is not as easy as one might hope. Imagine that you are a soldier in this platoon. Who do you follow, Sgt. Barnes or Sgt. Elias? Take into consideration all factors: survival, morality, reality of the war environment, psychological effects of the war, constant extreme stress, and any other factors that would affect your decision. Explain your decision in a thoughtful and well supported blog entry. PLEASE ADD WORD COUNT AT END OF EACH BLOG ENTRY! Primary Blog Entry Expectations (respond to the prompt above): 200-250 words, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the assigned "pen name" given to you in class. Secondary Blog Entry Expectations (read everyone's first responses, select two that interest you, and respond to their ideas): 100-150 words EACH, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the assigned "pen name" given to you in class. (3 total blog entries for this assignment)
6
2/27/2015 02:42:34 am
If I was a soldier in the war I would choose to follow Sgt. Elias. The reason that I would choose to follow Elias is because he cared about the people around him and the choices that he makes for himself. Although Barnes was a tough leader that was determinant on survival Elias was just as good as him. For example, when they got ambushed in the woods Elias went his own way and did a good job in fighting off the Viet Cong. The only reason he died was because of Barnes but if it was for him killing him Elias would still be alive in the movie. Elias knew the reality of the war environment and was willing to fight for what was right. In the village Elias knew what he had to do but did not agree with the brutality that Barnes and the other men were putting onto the villagers. I feel as though during this war the people who were afraid to die went along with Barnes and the people who were caring and willing to take a risk went along with Elias. Elias is someone that would be admired for everything that he does and that’s why I would choose to follow him. word count:209
11
3/1/2015 01:47:28 pm
I totally agree with you! Sargent Elias is definitely the person I would follow because of his self pride and how much respect he has for others unlike Sargent Barnes. Elias was well aware of his of his surroundings and how his actions will not only affect him but every other person their. I always think of others before myself which sometimes does not work out for the best but, leaves me with no heartache.
#3
3/2/2015 04:05:31 pm
Hell Yes I Agree that Sgt.Elias is the better leader for the wellbeing of our country. Like you said Elias has more respect for others let’s not forget the fact that Elias the smallest man was the only man to step up to Barnes when he was clearly making an illegal military act out of respect. I respect Elias because he was fair and would have been as much of a snake as Barnes. Barnes is an untrustworthy B**** and will only stab you in the back of the day just to try and make yourself look successful and bad ass in front of your platoon.
8
3/1/2015 01:51:52 pm
I also picked Sgt. Elias and I agree with everything you are saying. He did care for his men and he was very skillful and smart when it came to surviving the war. It’s so unfortunate that he died from being shot by that monstrous Barnes. I like how in the end of your comment you said how half of the group was with Barnes because they were afraid to die and how the other half was with Elias because they were caring and willing to take a risk. Its puts an interesting view on why they behaved the way they did towards each other and how they were during the war overall.
24
3/1/2015 03:02:56 pm
I agree with you although my choice will remain Sgt. Barnes. I feel Elias is just as good a leader no doubt. But... in war situations morality can get as easily neglected as the fact that your taking innocent lives as well. So yes Barnes killed Elias to save his back but if the situation was vice versa who's to say Elias wouldn't do the same I mean sure he was the more conservative one but nor was he in the same predicaments as Sgt. Barnes yes Barnes may have dug himself into a ditch but he was a trained killer along with every other man in the infantry. So is he completely wrong? The stress of war can be overwhelming who's to say Barnes was just messed up or traumatized by his own mistakes and that caused him to toss brotherhood out the window and save his back out of fear. They were all fearful some more effected then others especially Barnes.
14
2/27/2015 02:46:15 am
If I were to pick between the two soldiers Elias and Barnes, I would follow Elias. The reason I would follow Elias is because he does cares for his other teammates. Unlike Barnes he only cares for himself in the war. That is why he divides from his teammates because he feels they were moving slow and he cause do the job himself much faster than the rest. Elias would be the one to make sure his fellow teammates are ok and be on top of things. He may not seem like the type to keep his men out there to stay and fight, but he would fight for what he believes in and he will fight for his country with no problem. I wouldn’t want to follow anyone that wouldn’t care if I get shot. Barnes killed some of his teammates that were rebellious. I wouldn’t want anybody like that on a squad that I’ll be on. Why would anybody want follow the footsteps of a person who has a terrible heart Barnes has. Leaving one of his teammates to die was a very cruel move that a friend or squad shouldn’t let happen to try not to happen. (200 words)
11
3/1/2015 02:01:31 pm
You could not have said it better. Sargent Barnes does not care what happens to his solider. All that is in his mind was winning. No matter what he only thinks of himself and his pride. He doesn't think of his teammates nor does he motivate them to do anything that is civil. Sargent Elias on the other hand is the total opposite. He thinks highly of his teammates and treats them in a civil manner. I would not like to be intimidated or pressured to do anything that I won't do.
6
3/2/2015 03:49:53 am
I agree with you when you said that Sgt. Barnes doesn’t care about anybody but himself. In my opinion that’s why I feel as though it was so easy for him to kill Elias. Elias was a good soldier and did well in leading the platoon. I wouldn’t want to follow Barnes because I feel as though soon as you become unimportant to him he no longer cares about what happens to you. Who would want to follow someone like that? Elias was someone that truly cared about the people around him and did good at fighting for his country as well. word count:102
24
2/27/2015 02:46:55 am
If I was a soldier and had to choose a Sgt. to go with it’ll be Sgt. Barnes. I understand most people will feel his ways are barbaric or belligerent but at the end of the day its survival of the fittest. I understand he killed Elias and it was wrong morally and against anything the military stands for. However, in situations in where my life is in danger I have a choice my life or the person trying to take it. You know I’m going to take yours; I don’t like being threatened nor like having to constantly look over my shoulder. I want to wreck and get through the war yes life is precious and I feel that during war your choosing someone else’s fate which is wrong but I’m not going to let you choose mine. So Sgt. Barnes will be my choice because he does what’s needed to survive I want to get through the war and live to tell the story no offense to Sgt. Elias but it’s a dog eat dog world and I’m trying to eat.
20
3/1/2015 05:12:35 am
I kind of don't agree with you. I understand that it may be survival of the fittest, but don't you think Barnes as a Sgt, he should act more of a leader and try to protect not only himself but his collegues fighting the war too? It's not him against his own people . Its them against their enemy. He was put in charge for a reason, and it certainly was not to take advantage of the power he did have. In previous discussions we spoke about brotherhood in war, where is that in this? Barnes makes it seem that the idea of brotherhood is bogus. How are you going to be against your own? Honestly he ended up killing himself by his actions. If he were a true person he would have at least try to work something out with Elias instead of killing him or put their differences aside.
10
3/1/2015 12:19:23 pm
K, but at the end of the day Barnes was disobeying military rules by killing innocent people for no reason. Someone as negative and intimidating as Barnes is no where near a fittest for survival. But 🐸☕️, and yes peoples lives were in danger but still had no business killing and raping other villagers who had nada to do with the war.
22
3/1/2015 02:14:20 pm
I see what your saying and i understand that because if we were in that situation we would do our hardest to survive but I wouldn't take that risk of following Sgt. Barnes because what if I don't die and someone rats me out, that makes me a dirty soldier. I wouldn't want to make everyone else pay for what I did you know, not let everyone think all soldiers are barbaric.
4
3/1/2015 03:38:48 pm
I completely agree. Sgt. Elias and Sgt. Barnes are both clearly experienced soldiers who are very good at what they do, only Barnes is better leader. Barnes is much more focused than Elias, this is mainly because Barnes enjoys what he does and Elias doesn't believe in the war anymore. He says that America has won too many wars and its time for them to lose one. So I see what you mean when you say Barnes is a survivor and a better leader.
6
3/2/2015 03:55:31 am
I do agree with you when you say survival of the fittest and that your life is more important when someone is threating you but I don’t see how Elias was a threat to Barnes’ life enough to kill him. All Elias did was stand up against Barnes when he seen how brutal he was being to the people in the village, other than that he was a good help to the platoon. Barnes went against the rules when he didn’t have to at times and that’s not a soldier that I personally would look up to or follow. I like people who take risks when they truly care about something. word count:111
11
2/27/2015 02:47:13 am
If I was in a platoon during the Vietnam War, I would be more than likely to follow Sargent Elias even though I believed that Sargent Barnes would have been more likely to come out of the war alive. But, if I had that mindset of coming out alive rather than fighting the war how it was supposed to be fought I would end up killing innocent people that cannot defend themselves against the guns and the terror of just being told what to do and when to do it. Unlike Sargent Barnes, Elias treats innocent Vietnamese people like he is supposed to with dignity and respect. I would have done the same because you have to live with everything you do for the rest of your life. I would not like to have regret after I have done something because that would be on my mind forever and just eat me up inside. While fighting on the same side with his teammates he actually realizes that they are all in this together and that they have to stay strong because all of their lives on the line. Sargent Elias’s straight forward morals and hospitality towards other human beings will not only bring his platoon together but also realize that they have a reason for being there and doing what they are doing. I would definitely have a sense of what my role would be if I was in his platoon. I also would like to leave the war with a good clean heart with no regrets and also know where I stand during war.
20
2/27/2015 02:48:44 am
I would most likely follow Elias because the way that Barnes portrayed himself it was to say “every man for himself” instead of working as a team and working together in order to leave home with the least bit of harm. For example when they had made it to the village, Barnes allowed some of the soldiers to beat some of the guys but also rape the women as well. Its understandable that they were mad that their enemy killed one of their soldiers, but that does not give them the right to rape the women in that village because they are still human. Then Barnes was ready to shoot a guy’s daughter when he did not answer him or any of the soldiers who spoke to him. Then Elias saw what was happening and stopped it. For the most part Elias was trying to help because he could have probably killed Barnes first if he wanted to because of their differences but he was worried much about that. He just wanted a way to get the mission done. Even Chris seemed to have looked up to and looked out for Elias instead of Barnes.
5
2/27/2015 02:53:16 am
If I had to choose between Barnes and Elias to follow into war I would choose Barnes. When it comes to the circumstance to surviving in war time, you have to consider sacrifice, and Immorality. S*** happens in war, and you need to do your job, and follow your procedures no matter the hardship. They say when a man goes to war his brain turns to water and runs out of ears, and all he has is instinct, and the man to the left, and to the right of him. With Barnes, he is willing to go full throttle to keep his men alive to the end. On the other hand, Elias has a character flaw in war-time which is his morals. He’s a cancer to the platoon. When s*** hits the fan, Elias won’t be able to react, and the platoon will be dead. I know morally that killing women and children is wrong. But what about when a platoon raids a village, and the babies have bombs strapped to them? Or child soldiers? Elias is not focused on the war, his only concern is life outside the platoon. With Barnes on the other hand, he is dedicated, and will stop at nothing to win the war, and keep his men alive.
5
2/27/2015 02:54:05 am
word count 213
0
2/27/2015 03:01:17 am
Blank.
13
3/1/2015 11:47:56 am
I agree with what you’re saying. That Barnes would be the men to follow, as you said, he willing to go full throttle to keep his men alive to the end but it seem he will go even farther to keep himself alive. It’s true that things can happen in war and that instinct can lead you to the right path or the wrong path. For example, there are two doors, one of them has a bomb and the other has what you want. Your instinct will lead you to what you want or to your death. Elias character flaw in war-tame could be his morals but I believe that his morals won’t be the reason why his platoon will be killed. Both Barnes and Elias are the same rank(title Sgt) so you could say that they face almost the same things in the war. Both of them have to be smart and strong to become Sgt, The only thing that can kill them is what they can’t see coming or if their luck runs out. Even through its war, it doesn’t last forever. Having morals even in war can prevent regretting the decision you made in war. I believe living the rest of your life wondering whether you did the right thing or not is like living in a nightmare. 222
8
3/1/2015 02:04:05 pm
I see your point when you say how S*** happens, but when that happens you have to do what’s right and that what Elias tried to do. If anything Barnes caused some of the bad events that happened between all of the characters. I also disagree when you say how Elias wouldn’t know what to do when something horrible happens. He is a Sgt. For a reason. He is trained to know what to do and he’s not a pansy either. If a child had a gun or a baby did have bombs strapped to them, well then you’re screwed mentally. I can’t say anything more about that subject, you win in that case. To me, he isn’t the cancer for the platoon, just for Barnes.
22
3/1/2015 02:20:06 pm
I don't agree even though I get you meed to survive but a soldier's job, in a way, is to make justice, it's to contribute to kill the enemy not innocent people who are just in the middle. I guess its hard to believe I, as a soldier, would kill my buddy, the guy who is helping other and I to defeat the enemy.
24
3/1/2015 03:09:52 pm
110% completely agree most people judge the decisions made by Barnes because they were immoral but you're in war. Lives are constantly being taken you're taking them yourselves. The truth is war is something humans weren't meant to wistand your conscience will always be eating away at you but to survive it's all "instinct". It's not that Barnes wanted to he his animal instinct lead him to who's to say he wasn't traumatized by the lives he took he did his job no matter what and he did survive longer then elias. Yes it's shady and inhumane that he can kill a teammate but who's to say Elias wasn't going to if he had the chance.
7
2/27/2015 02:53:31 am
If I was a soldier in this platoon, I couldn’t help but drift to following Elias. I am a person who believes in always doing what’s right, even if it means standing alone. Elias was a soldier who cared about his fellow men, and carried a string of high honor in fighting for what is right. I could not imagine being under and following a man who did anything just to win something. Barne’s killed fellow soldiers just to get what he wanted in the best interest of himself; even if that meant hurting others in his platoon. These are not characteristics of a true and righteous leader. Whenever Elias saw something that he knew was against their honor, he voiced his opinion; he stood up for what was right. Barne’s is the type of man that has been through the tragedies and unfortunate folds of war, and has become cold hearted and numb to any feeling or emotion. This makes it hard for men to be able to connect and relate to him. He should be someone his men feel that they can freely go to and feel comfortable relying on him. If I were one of his men, I would be intimidated and more so afraid to need something from him.
20
3/1/2015 05:22:52 am
I agree with you 100%. Elias did try to be the voice of reason especially when they were in the village. Despite their anger to what happened to one of his men he didn't think it was right for him or the other men to be threatening the people's children or raping their women. It's understandable that they're angry because their people actually involved in the war did that, but its barbaric to think its okay to rape the women. They are still humans just like them. Elias was trying to be a reasonable person understanding the circumstance. In this case it wasn't about winning something or getting revenge , it was more about doing the "right" thing which was following orders they were given from the military base.
13
3/1/2015 12:19:41 pm
I agree, I would also follow Elias because he is a person I can trust. That he will always have my back. Barne’s and Elias are the opposite of each other. Both had different ideas on what to do. To say which had the right idea, well it all depends on the result of it. Following Barne’s will seem to lead to death for all, even the people who had nothing to do with it. Elias morals will stop him from doing anything that will harm anyone who trying not to kill them. Following Elias will bring least regret in the future when the war is over. 107
23
2/27/2015 02:54:30 am
If I had to choose which person I would follow I would have to go with Sgt. Elias. I’d go with Elias because unlike Barnes, Elias has feelings and emotion towards his pairs and you can tell that he really cares about them. Another reason why I would go with Elias is because he had that heroic like spirit. From his actions throughout the movie you can tell that he wanted to destroy the enemies also make sure that his fellow soldiers were okay while destroying the enemies. Barnes wanted to destroy the enemies as well but he didn’t have any sympathy for the life of his fellow soldiers. He basically killed Elias and left him for dead. Who would want to follow the footsteps of a cold hearted, cruel soldier like Barnes? Before Elias was killed he technically sacrificed his life for the life of his soldiers. When he told Chris that he was going by himself to ambush the Vietnamese, which was kind of a way of telling him that he was doing this to protect them. Elias thought that he would die saving his brothers being the brave heroic character he was. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
23
2/27/2015 02:55:02 am
word count : 256
1
2/27/2015 03:00:09 am
I agree with this because isn't a good solider supposed to help there people and not kill their own kind. That's not being a good solider I think that Barnes was jealous of Elias. Elias was going by the rules such as not killing people just to find answers as to what was going on.
25
2/27/2015 02:54:38 am
If I was a solider in the “Patton” I would choose to follow Sgt. Elias. I would choose Elias because he seemed to have more of a heart and understanding towards the other soldiers. He seemed to care a lot of about their feelings and how comfortable they were going out to war. I would also choose Sgt. Elias because he had more of a heroic figure to him. He was a leader and you could tell that he never gave up when things didn’t turn out right. Sgt. Barnes wanted the victory of winning the war more than the safety of his soldiers. You can tell that he only cared about himself because later on in the movie he basically killed Sgt. Elias. Sgt. Barnes wanted to kill his enemies. I’m not saying that’s bad because that’s the objection of the war. But also he didn’t care if it took lives of his soldiers. He put their lives at risk for himself so that he can survive. He would do anything to survive even if that meant killing one of his soldiers.
1
2/27/2015 02:55:08 am
If I was a solider in the platoon I would follow Sgt. Elias. I would follow him because he cared about his men, and not only that but he did have good survival skills. As you seen in the movie most of Sgt. Barnes solders died while Sgt. Elias solders made it home. The war environment that he gave of was being hard working solders. He wanted to fight for what was rite and was following the rules. As to Barnes when he wanted to get answers from the village people, he would scare them or kill one of their love ones. One factor that would affect me would be how he wasn’t hard on his solders as he should of have been. I think that this would of gave them more motivation and not as scared as they were in the beginning. Sgt. Elias was a good solider because he had lots of energy, motivation, and he knew what he was talking about. When he had died he also gave one of the solider the enthusiasm to fight back for him. This is why if I was a solider in the platoon, I would follow Sgt. Elias he was a good solider. (203)
16
2/27/2015 03:01:47 am
If I were a soldier in the army I would choose Elias because he was the only one who seemed to do the right thing. He didn't do any illegal killings or rapes like the rest of Barnes soldiers and he fought for what was right. He had the right morals and knew what things were wrong. In my eyes barnes was the bad guy and elias was the good guy.
17
2/27/2015 03:03:01 am
If I was a soldier in Bravo Company of the 25th infantry and I had to pick to follow one of the sergeants in each platoon, either Sgt. Elias or Sgt. Barnes, I would choose to follow Sgt. Barnes. I would follow him because he is a hardened soldier and has the experience and has his focus on the war and nothing else. Barnes has been shot 7 times already and will never quit till the jobs done. He is one guy I would trust to never run from the sides of his men if it got tough. Barnes knew how to be a vicious soldier. Barnes would be the guy to lay his life down to go get a soldier who fought with him out of a bad situation. War is a mentally and physically corrupting event and is only for the ones who can handle the consequences that come with it. Barnes was one of those soldiers that could handle it he would defend his position and prove to people that he had the initiative to never quit and get the job done. This guy would stand his ground till the end and wouldn’t take excuses from anyone
9
3/1/2015 11:12:16 am
I agree with your post. Even though Barnes was an evil man, he had what it take to win the war, that is his experience no one has, also it was a war and in a war there is only one winner and Barnes was all about winning the war.
22
2/27/2015 03:46:22 am
I would completely follow Sargent Elias because of his ethics and his pride of being part of the American army. I admire him for is that even though he was in a stressful, frightening situation twenty-four hours a day he wanted to die with honor; he didn’t want to stain the American soldiers. Even when he saw Sgt. Barnes pointing at him, he did nothing to defend his self; I feel he knew it was coming. Sgt. Barnes was a horrible person because he committed illegal killings and only cared about his survival not his platoon’s. Sgt. Elias was more focused on winning the war or being part of the killing of the enemy and protecting, in a way, of his platoon. I rather die a person who was killing because it was my job than someone who killed innocent on purpose. Sgt. Barnes killed because he was full of hate; just like Bunny killed that poor boy even though it couldn’t have been him who killed the other soldier, and killed because of the frustration. They both had different views of reality, Barnes looked at it by doing all possible to survive and get away with what he wanted, Elias look at it by doing what he was told but in a moral way.
2
2/27/2015 08:39:55 am
if I was a soldier in platoon, I would choose Sergeant Elias, even though Barnes was determine to win the war, he was too heartless on his own people. Elias was strong, courageous and was willing to sacrifice himself for the Koreans by protecting them, he cared about his men and was there for them. Barnes showed no mercy to the people, he shot a farmer's wife in front of the people and wanted the farmer to talk in other to kill his daughter but Elias made him know how important an innocent person's life is. He argue with Barnes in front of the people and put him right. He did the right thing. He set a good example and stability to his men and believes that the right thing should be done. if all soldiers were to be like Elias, many innocent lives would be save.
10
3/1/2015 12:22:14 pm
Right I agree, Elias showed more than leadership, but he still was in contact with reality and wasnt losing his humanity. While some of the other people in the platoon who were abusing others and killing, raping etc... Literally losing their mind. After losing someone on there platoon, of course od everyone was angry, but Elias still choose to keep it together and avoid hurting the villagers because he knew they had nada to do with it.
8
2/27/2015 10:35:10 am
I would pick Sgt. Elias for many reasons. He is seems to have his head on straight and he has good morals. In the scene where the whole group was at the village, Barnes was trying to get information violently. He shot the wife of the man he was interrogating and he even threated to kill his daughter if he didn’t say something about how the guns got into the village. Barnes only sees red when it comes to his decisions and judgment and that’s something Elias, thankfully, doesn’t have. Elias tried to stop him because is he knew what Barnes was doing was wrong, disturbing, and unfair. Elias wanted to, if anything, probably help them from the mess caused by Barnes and try to find information the right way and not having to use his weapons against innocent human beings. When it comes to survival, Barnes may have the upper hand in some people’s opinion, but I say otherwise. Elias doesn’t do anything to get himself killed. He is very cautious and defiantly won’t cause a split in the group like what Barnes did. When Barnes killed Elias, Chris killed him. Karma played a role in this. Barnes is irresponsible for his actions and just does everything drastic based off his emotions and people like that don’t survive. I’m pretty sure Elias would’ve probably wanted to kill Barnes as well but he’s too righteous to do so and plus he would’ve thought twice. If Barnes was out of the picture, Elias would’ve survived in the end.
9
3/1/2015 11:02:11 am
I agree with you. Elias was a man with morals and had his head straight. He cared about his man and the live of the innocent people at the village, stopped Barnes from killing innocent people and if Barnes was died,Elias would had been alive because he was a good man.
10
2/27/2015 11:40:04 am
In this movie platoon, there are two people who were leaders of platoons. Elias and Barns, Elias has a mindset that it he wants to win the war and get it over with, but he also is hot headed and have a heart. Although he is fighting against people who pose a threat to the United States, he still tries to have remorse for the people who are innocent in the villages. Barns is the complete opposite, he doesn’t follow orders and has more of a mindset that he wants everyone he is fighting, especially the men he dislike on his platoon to die. In the movie you see barns yelling at other men for no reason, and giving them cruel orders that wasn’t even his call. During the movie he kills a mother in front of her daughter, then after tries to attempt to kill the daughter when Elias come and tackle him to stop, barns was evil in ways unexplainable. He also allowed other men to attempt to rape other of the little girls as revenge to someone being killed in there platoon, in a addition to that he always had a negative mindset and kills Elias later on in the end of the movie, with that being said, if I were in the war and had to choose who to follow I would choose Elias. He wasn’t going around killing innocent villagers for no reason, and doing other senseless things to them, he had one to and one goal only which was to protect his men in the platoon from dying and winning the war.
9
2/27/2015 01:07:35 pm
If I was a solider in the Vietnman war, I would choose to follow Sergeant Elias. He comes off as a good man, cares about his men's well being, whatever they do, wherever they are and makes sure everyone and everything is alright. Also he plays a heroic part when the soldiers were ambushed. He decide to take the role of a leader to go and find the enemies and kill them, and also win the war. But Sergeant Barnes, the tough one who was deter to survive at that time decide to fall back. He was also an evil man,he kill an American solider to safe himself due to his wrong actios, he also did not care about his people. When the soldiers got to the village he had no idea of what to do and kill that old lady which is illegal, he also cared about himself alone. When Sergeant Elias came over there, he stopped him and safe the lifes of the innocent people. I think Sergeant Barnes was the weaker one of the two Sergeants, he and his men lived in fear. He had nothing to offer but was just arrogant and felt he was very smart. Elias was a strong man, a man who did his job well or played his part in the war, he was trustworthy and would even sacrifice his own life to make sure his job is done well, he had what it takes to win the war and more to offer, that why I chose Sergeant Elias.
2
3/1/2015 05:34:41 am
I agree with you, because Elias was trustworthy and sacrifice himself for his soldiers even though their main aim was to win the battle or war. He saved innocent people by stopping Barnes who wanted to kill them. Barnes had nothing to offer but arrogant and heartless.
13
2/27/2015 03:13:36 pm
Who would I follow if I was a soldier in the Vietnam War, Sgt. Barnes or Sgt. Elias? Barnes will do anything to win the battle so that he will live on. He helps his teammates, but he will kill anyone who can stop him from moving on. Even a teammate who knows something that Barnes wasn’t supposed to do. Elias is jaded and righteous and seems to care about his men. Both of these men have what it takes to survive. They’re the opposite of each other, Elias seems to be more loyal then Barnes referring to the moral of a human being. I would choose Sgt. Elias just because he will do anything to survive but will not go against his moral to do it. He is a person I can trust to back me up, and that he will never run away but since its war we will sooner or later die anyways. War can cause stress but I grew up with a family that taught me to never do anything that wasn’t right. Barnes got rid of Elias because he was in his way and he almost killed another teammate. I know you have to do anything to survive but what is the point if you do things that go against your way of life. If I would have killed my teammate just so that I wouldn’t get in trouble, I will live the rest of my life with guilt. I would question myself asking if I did the right thing. 256
#3
3/2/2015 03:06:47 pm
If I was a soldier in the Vietnam War placed in the same platoon as Sgt.Elias and Sgt.Barnes I would choose to follow Elias. I would choose to follow Sgt.Elias because he is a lot wiser. I state this because within the film he says that it’s about time we get our asses kicked and that is exactly what ended up happening. When the platoon set the village on fire and Barnes held that little girl hostage Elias was the only one to step in and spot it. The thing is Elias knew at that moment that their own men in the platoon where forming alliances and this war would be about America fighting them. I would follow Sgt.Elias because he had a good grasp on how things would plan out. And this is all besides the fact that he did get shot by Barnes because who knows how things could have turned out if tables turned. I’m not saying that Barnes is a bad leader I just think when it comes down to being realistic in a realistic situation Sgt.Elias would have better answers. Both of these men should be honor for the timed they served for out army. Comments are closed.
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