Crawford Response

After reading through Crawford’s The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell, I find myself sitting in my chair with an unsettling feeling deep within my stomach. As I think carefully about why I’m feeling this way, I realize that I, like many others, have completely taken for granted the sacrifices that are currently being made by our troops in Iraq. Crawford’s very detailed and casual account of both his experiences in combat and his interactions with fellow troops shows me a different side of the war that I have never been thoroughly exposed to. I believe that my detachment from the war is part of a larger national issue, which stems not only from a nation wide failure to effectively educate the average citizen on the war itself, but a failure to humanize the war so that people can relate.

One of the most striking aspects of Crawford’s text is the realization that the account of the Blue Crab Festival is a fictional story. Before reading through the last chapter in its entirety (“The Last Story I’ll Ever Tell”), I was overcome with joy to see that John was able to make a smooth transition from the war back into society. However, when I was made aware that this account was, in fact, fabricated, my joy quickly turned to dismay. It was at this point where I came to realize that on a daily basis I live my life in complete ignorance, failing to acknowledge the true scope of the war and the effect it has on our troops. Although we all may claim to understand the war and be their to support our troops when they come home, we will never truly understand their experiences. For this reason, I believe that efforts should be taken on the home front to inform the public about the war on a more individualized level so we can more easily relate to soldiers’ experiences and emotions.