Illumination Rounds

No one knows war as well as someone who served in it. No one can explain their own experiences like a writer. Clearly the best person to write about their times in war would be a soldier and an author, like Michael Herr. He wrote Illumination Rounds which is made up of several personal stories of his service in Vietnam. The Vietnam War started in 1955 and was a conflict between the US and Vietnam. The stories in his essay range from his helicopter being shot as he watched his fellow soldier die, to getting high with his friends. The contrast between these two types of events really shows how crazy war was for him. He had an interesting experience no one else had. This was written to inform people who were never in a war what battle is actually like. Not only is it terrifying, like when he saw a little girl’s leg detached next to her, but it can also be funny, like when an angry soldier tricked a Chaplain. The fact this was written in a narrative form really gave the reader the feeling of being there himself. It made it clearer to imagine Herr’s experience. The dialogue also helps with this; It is written differently in this essay than in other texts.  Correct grammar or spelling is not used. A man Herr was talking to said, “You git up onna ridgeline, see y’keep yer head down. Y’heah?( Herr 336)” This is to show how the people Herr interacted with actually talked and what it sounded like to him. It gives the passage a more realistic feel to it. Herr also used abbreviations including: ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam), LZ (landing zone), and LOH (light observation helicopter). All of these devices together allowed Herr to explain his unique war experiences to the readers who have never been in a war themselves.

An American soldier aiming his gun at the enemy from inside a Huey helicopter during the Vietnam war

Source: history.com