It’s February of 1778 at Valley Forge where General Washington has camped to watch the British who have quartered in Philadelphia. Food is scarce, and the cabins are filled with smoke due to bad ventilation. All of us soldiers are suffering from the cold and hunger. Many are ready to quit, or not re-enlist, because they can’t handle the harsh weather and conditions. Some have just simply deserted the camp and have never returned. Limbs are torn off of every day, and the smallpox is getting worst. I have almost reached the end of my term, and now have to decide the answer to what I’ve been questioning to myself, “Should I quit?”. My answer is no, I will not quit and will re-enlist because the number of soldiers are running out, Congress brought
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Now I realize that some of my fellow soldiers say that they would quit because of the conditions, like not having enough food, or the harsh climate beating up on them, but I prefer to re-enlist because we would need to make up for those soldiers that would eventually quit or that are sick and dying. The numbers are dropping by the minute, and we need all the help we can get. Just like Thomas Paine said in the American Crisis, “The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman… What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly:...” (Paine 153) Thomas meaning that the people who fight when the battle is easy to win, shouldn’t be noticed in hard times like this. If we ever doubt something, we’ll be the ones to be defeated and regret our decision of doubt, or in this case, quitting. His words inspired us to not quit just because of our state, and to try harder. Now this is a very important question to ask because what if we win the war? Maybe we’ll beat the British in this war. Or the fact that we actually NEED an army in order to fight the powerful British soldiers. We should never give up just because our enemies may be stronger, healthier, and have more supplies than us. Instead that should drive us to become stronger and to not quit. Who knows? We actually could become a free country some
Now I realize that some of my fellow soldiers say that they would quit because of the conditions, like not having enough food, or the harsh climate beating up on them, but I prefer to re-enlist because we would need to make up for those soldiers that would eventually quit or that are sick and dying. The numbers are dropping by the minute, and we need all the help we can get. Just like Thomas Paine said in the American Crisis, “The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman… What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly:...” (Paine 153) Thomas meaning that the people who fight when the battle is easy to win, shouldn’t be noticed in hard times like this. If we ever doubt something, we’ll be the ones to be defeated and regret our decision of doubt, or in this case, quitting. His words inspired us to not quit just because of our state, and to try harder. Now this is a very important question to ask because what if we win the war? Maybe we’ll beat the British in this war. Or the fact that we actually NEED an army in order to fight the powerful British soldiers. We should never give up just because our enemies may be stronger, healthier, and have more supplies than us. Instead that should drive us to become stronger and to not quit. Who knows? We actually could become a free country some