Hugh Martin

     In the first section of Stick Soldiers, Hugh Martin's first poem "Spring in Jalula" is used to set the tone of his future stories of life in Iraq. Instead of saying life was hopeless there, he provides different examples of hopelessness through his descriptions of what he saw. In this poem and others, the title gives of the opposite idea of what the poem is actually about. Naturally, when one thinks of Spring, thoughts of growth, freshness, and joy come to mind. However, the poem is about the opposite in Iraq; the environment is basically described as a extremely polluted, miserable desert, and there is also the depressing mention of a child that desperately needs food and bombs being found everywhere. In a season that is supposed to be re-birth and growth, there is only destruction on top of destruction.
     I found "Four-Letter Word" to be a unique poem because it gave a new insight on what a soldier feels when people constantly ask about a war he/she is about to go to. It shows the anxiety build-up involving the push from normal life to war life and gives the soldier's perspective of hearing a well-meaning voice of a loved one remind them of the danger zone they are about to enter. He creates a relatable feeling because most people who are anxious or sensitive about a topic will not want to here that particular word, and it is only more stressful to repeatedly here the word.    
     One major difference about Hugh Martin and the other authors is that he is writing from more recent memories; he writes about a war that is still breathing. The other authors had experiences with a war decades in the past. Martin experiencing a recent war has a different effect on the audience. Because the Iraqi war has happened in our lifetime, we have our own awareness of the war. Also, his descriptions tend to be more vivid and understandable because time has not altered the events.