World War I Reaction Essay

The book excerpt Eye Deep in Hell, Trench Warfare in World War I is an amazingly written account of the tragedies that occurred during this "war to end all wars." It provides an in-depth description of the heroic soldiers' everyday lives and of the horrors they witnessed and/or endured. These horrors range anywhere from trench foot to mud to cold winters to rats, lice, and much more. Although many citizens felt aware of the catastrophes in Europe, the average citizen could not possibly imagine what these men had to go through in the true sense of the words.

I truly enjoyed reading the excerpts because they opened my eyes to the true nature of the suffering that happened in the war. First of all, I was not aware that trench foot was such an issue. I did not even truly know what it was in fact. So many men had toes amputated because of it! When I initially pictured the war, I pictured more deaths from cold weather and fighting than I did from wet feet. Second of all, I did not know that the soldiers went to such an extent just to get rid of lice. I simply figured that they dealt with it just as much as they did any other bothersome conditions. Third of all, the "mud issue" truly shocked me. Who would have ever thought that men could essentially be swallowed by muck?

In conclusion, I feel that the reading was necessary to expand my knowledge of conditions during World War I. Many Americans did not know of the rats and the disease, of the stench and of the mud. These excerpts definitely "humanized" the situation and made it easy for me to picture the horrible conditions. Fighting was not the only issue that transformed the war into a living hell, and the soldiers relearned that brutal lesson each and every day.

World War I Diary Entries

Mark Platopat
March 12, 1916
London
08:00 PM



What a horrible day! At first I believed Wilson, and his promise for the "war to end all wars," but now I am not so sure. Conditions are terrible! He probably meant that this will kill off people so there are not enough for fighting future wars. Ha! What a joke. Anyways, the mud is killing me. It is by far the worst natural nightmare. Some men have been trapped up to their neck in it, and many die from the stuff too!

The most important thing that I can do is to distribute my body weight evenly. That is the key to survival. All these stupid trenches are good for are killing an otherwise sound man. Ugh. The frustration alone is killing me. Even walking is a chore. With the mud, one can not step very fast. When this war is over, I will surely come out with nothing more than strengthened leg muscles. The mud is even clogging the weapons! I can't even write a proper journal entry...



Mark Platopat
March 13, 1916
London
09:00 PM



Great! I got trench foot today! It's just another thing to add to the list. I have never even heard of trench foot before today, and I surely will never forget it! I should have known that these damp conditions would cause some kind of problems. Is it really normal to wear wet socks and boots for days on end? At first, I thought that it was just frostbite, but apparently not. All of these fancy names make me sick.
To best describe what happened, my feet went numb at first. Then they turned a reddish-blue color. That sure scared me to death! I was so frightened that I would have to lose some toes, like Paul did. I feel bad for the poor fellow. All he did was try to make his country proud. As far as I know, they discovered about fifty cases or so today. I can't believe that they didn't notice anything sooner! This will surely pose a threat to our unit's strength as a whole. If it isn't one thing, it's another...


Mark Platopat
December 08, 1916
London
08:45 PM

I haven't written in awhile, but conditions have been really harsh lately. The winter is completely dragging us down. All I can really think about is the terrible cold. My lack of clothes is seriously contributing to my problems. Everyone literally has to jump around in order to keep the blood flowing in their veins because it appears to want to freeze us from the inside out. We have had to deal with these issues since October! What a long winter it will be!
My boiling hot tea actually froze solid in a few hours! Rain, snow, and sleet are guaranteed daily occurrences. The alternating periods of extreme cold and thawing made a grand ole recipe for mud as well...And standing in water usually leads to being surrounded by a ridiculous sheet of ice. Our braziers do not really work all that well, so I guess I have to deal with the cold like everyone else is. After all, this is a war, not some luxurious vacation.